Happy Friday. Here’s what we’ve got today…

• An early look at Pinegrove Capital Partners’ launch (and purchase of SVB Capital)

Quick start for new firm Pinegrove Capital Partners

By Bob Clair

Less than two weeks after Pinegrove Capital Partners began raising its debut fund, the firm has entered into an agreement to buy SVB Capital.

Pinegrove, which is backed by Brookfield Asset Management and Sequoia Heritage, will acquire SVB Capital from bankrupt parent SVB Financial Group for a combination of cash and other economic consideration, according to a company press release.

Pinegrove and SVB Capital will continue to operate independently, each led by their existing management teams, but with the combined long-term backing of Brookfield and Sequoia Heritage. The deal remains subject to bankruptcy court and regulatory approval.

Pinegrove is launching with a focus on venture secondaries, providing customized liquidity solutions for both limited partners and general partners—primarily targeting mid-to-late-stage technology companies.

The Financial Times reported last year that Sequoia and Brookfield had each committed $250 million to the firm and would hold 50 percent stakes in the business. They had also indicated an interest in raising more than $2 billion of outside capital for the effort.

In April, Pinegrove filed a Form D in preparation for those fundraising efforts.

The firm will benefit from a prolonged lack of exits for early-stage investors, who have struggled to return cash to their limited partners through a challenging period for initial public offerings and a slowdown in deal volume.

Pinegrove may be able to pick up discounted start-up stakes from GPs trying to bump up their distributions or LPs looking to sell down stakes in early-stage funds.

Oaktree Capital Management veteran Brian Laibow has taken the top role at Pinegrove, joining the firm as part of its founding team last August. Laibow spent 17 years with Oaktree, most recently as co-head of North America and managing director for the firm’s Global Opportunities strategy. Pinegrove and Laibow declined to comment for this story.

• Energy Capital Partners, Access Industries, and CPP Investments are considering the sale of Calpine Corp, a U.S. power plant operator, which could fetch around $30 billion.

• T-Mobile (Nasdaq: TMUS) is nearing a deal to acquire a portion of United States Cellular (NYSE: USM), while Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is separately in talks to acquire other parts of the company, per the WSJ.

• CVC Capital Partners acquired a minority stake in Farrow & Ball, a manufacturer of premium paints and wallpapers, at a valuation of around $3.6 billion.

• Sony, Blackstone, and KKR & Co. are among second round bidders for Infocom Corp., a Japanese e-comics provider that could be worth around $1.3 billion, per Bloomberg.

• Brightstar Capital Partners agreed to acquire PlayAGS, a distributor of slot and table gaming supplies, for around $1.1 billion.

• nVent Electric (NYSE: NVT) is considering the sale of its heating cables business, which could be worth more than $1.5 billion, per Bloomberg.

• Gridiron Capital is preparing to sell Good Sportsman Marketing Outdoors, a retailer of hunting and outdoors products, that could be worth around $1.5 billion, per Reuters.

• Fincantieri, an Italian shipbuilder, agreed to acquire the Underwater Armament Systems unit of Leonardo S.p.A. for up to €415 million.

• Bain Capital made a $250 million growth investment in Sikich, an accounting and professional services firm.

• Basware, backed by Accel-KKR, agreed to acquire AP Matching, a UK-based provider of cloud-based invoice management solutions.

• Eldridge Industries is in talks to acquire Hayfin Capital Management, a European private credit firm that had held discussions with Antares late last year.

• AlTi Global (NASDAQ: ALTI) agreed to acquire Envoi, a Minneapolis-based multi-family office with around $3.0 billion under management.

• Sinclair Broadcast Group (Nasdaq: SBGI) has hired Moelis to advise on the potential sale of up to 30 percent of its 185 local broadcast TV stations.

• Corlytics, a Dublin-based regulatory intelligence firm backed by Verdane and Infinity Capital, acquired Deloitte UK's digital RegTech platform.

• Kline Hill Partners invested in Agile Displays, a provider of electronic shelf labeling solutions for food retailers.

• Olympus Cosmetic Group, a portfolio company of VSS Capital Partners, acquired Artisan Plastic Surgery.

• Veterinary Pharmaceutical Solutions, a portfolio company of Granite Creek Capital Partners, agreed to acquire Diamond Animal Health, a contract manufacturer of animal pharmaceuticals, from Mars Corporation.

• W Investments Group, in partnership with Desjardins Capital, has acquired Groupe BFL, a Quebec-based HVAC supplier.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• DEEPX, a developer of lightweight, on-device AI chips, raised $80 million in new funding led by SkyLake Equity Partners, with participation from BNW Investments, AJU IB, and Timefolio Asset Management.

• Stonal, a real estate data management startup, received up to €100 million in new funding from Aareon.

• XTEND, an AI-driven operating system for drones and robots, raised $40 million in Series B funding from Chartered Group and Clal-Tech.

• Canopy, an accounting firm operations suite, raised $35 million in Series B funding co-led by Ten Coves Capital and Ankona Capital, with participation from Pelion Venture Partners, Tenaya Capital, and NewView Capital.

• Electricity Maps, a climate tech platform mapping grid emissions, raised €5 million in new funding led by Transition and Revent.

Fintech

• Monzo, a UK-based digital bank, raised $190 million at a $5.2 billion valuation from CapitalG, GV, HongShan Capital, Passion Capital, and Tencent.

• Arbelos Markets, a crypto derivatives market maker, raised $28 million in a mix of seed equity and debt financing from Dragonfly Capital, Room40 Ventures, Selini Capital, and Breed VC.

• Provable Markets, a developer of front, middle, and back-office technology for securities finance, raised $8 million of Series A funding led by Dialectic Capital Management.

• Greenboard, an operating system for financial compliance, raised $4.5 million in seed funding from Base 10 Partners, Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Wayfinder Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, Twenty Two Ventures, and Transpose Platform.

Consumer & Media

• Voyage Foods, a maker of sustainable cocoa-free chocolate, raised $52 million in Series A+ funding co-led by Level One Fund and Horizons Ventures, with participation from SOSV, Collaborative Fund, and Nimble Partners.

Healthcare

• Bluejay Therapeutics, a biotech focused on viral and liver diseases, raised $182 million in Series C funding. Frazier Life Sciences led, with participation from existing backers RA Capital, T. Rowe Price, Wellington Management, Novo Holdings, RiverVest, Octagon, Arkin, HBM Healthcare, and Unicorn Capital.

• Attovia Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech developing immune-mediated disease therapies, raised $105 million in new funding led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with participation from Nextech Ventures, Cormorant Asset Management, Redmile Group, Marshall Wace, EcoR1 Capital, Frazier Life Sciences, venBio, and Illumina Ventures.

• Sift Healthcare, a healthcare payments analytics provider, raised $20 million in Series B funding led by B Capital, with participation from Allos Ventures, First Trust Capital Partners, and Rock River Capital.

• Triomics, a San Francisco-based startup building oncology-specific AI models, raised $15 million in new funding from Lightspeed, Nexus Venture Partners, General Catalyst, and Y Combinator.

• Blackwell Security, a healthcare-focused cybersecurity firm, raised $13 million in new funding co-led by General Catalyst and Rally Ventures, with participation from Echo Health Ventures.

• Nami Surgical, a developer of ultrasonic surgery systems, raised $4 million in seed funding led by EOS Advisory, with participation from Maven.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Hysata, a developer of green hydrogen electrolyzer tech, raised $111 million in Series B funding. Bp Ventures and Templewater led, with participation from IP Group, Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Hostplus, Einsung Asset Management, Shinhan Bank, IMM Investment Group, Oman Investment Authority, Twin Towers Ventures, and TelstraSuper.

• Li Industries, a developer of lithium-ion battery recycling technologies, raised $36 million in Series B funding. Bosch Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and LG Tech Ventures co-led, with participation from Formosa Smart Energy Tech Corp., Anglo American Decarbonization Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, and existing investors Shell Ventures and Myriad Ventures.

• ArkeaBio, an agtech developing methane reduction solutions, raised $26.5 million in Series A funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, with participation from The Grantham Foundation, AgriZeroNZ, Rabo Ventures, Overview Capital, and The51 Food & AgTech Fund.

• FleetPulse, a provider of trailer telematic solutions, raised $11 million in seed funding from Four More Capital.

• Lucid Bots, a developer of industrial cleaning robots, raised $9.1 million in Series A funding. Cubit Capital led, with participation from Idea Fund Partners, Danu Venture Group, YC's Growth Fund, and Gratus Capital.

• Rapid Liquid Print, a developer of 3D printing technology, raised $7 million in Series A funding. HZG Group led, with participation from BMW i Ventures and MassMutual.

• TPG raised $5.3 billion for its eighth Asia-focused buyout fund.

• Avenue Capital Group raised more than $1 billion for its fifth European special situations fund.

• Vance Street Capital raised $775 million for its fourth buyout fund.

• Investcorp raised $570 million for its fifth tech-focused fund.

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