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

• A look at the FTC’s non-compete loss

• Plus, a last-minute attempt to steal the deal for National Amusements and Paramount

Non-competes here to stay:

A federal judge in Texas struck down the Federal Trade Commission's ban on non-compete agreements on Tuesday, ruling that the FTC had overstepped its authority in attempting to prohibit such agreements nationwide.

The FTC's final rule, issued in April, sought to ban most non-compete agreements as an unfair method of competition under the FTC Act. Slated to take effect on September 4th, it would have invalidated most existing non-competes and prohibited new ones, with limited carve-outs for senior executives and M&A-related agreements.

“The rule is arbitrary and capricious because it is unreasonably overbroad without a reasonable explanation,” wrote US District Judge Ada Brown in her 27-page opinion. The decision also rejected the FTC's legal rationale, concluding that the agency lacks the statutory authority to enact such a broad directive. "The role of an administrative agency is to do as told by Congress, not to do what the agency thinks it should do," Brown added.

For investment professionals, the decision alleviates immediate concerns over the need to restructure the terms of existing agreements and compensation packages. Many firms had been preparing contingency plans to replace non-competes with other mechanisms to protect portfolio company competitive positioning and retain key talent.

Industry group The American Investment Council had strongly opposed the FTC's rule when it was under discussion. "Many of the non-compete or ‘de facto non-compete’ clauses it would bar are critical parts of carefully-negotiated agreements between sophisticated actors ... undoing these contractual terms would force our members to violate their existing obligations and create negative consequences the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking does not even contemplate,” said Rebekah Goshorn Jurata, the organization's general counsel, speaking at an FTC forum on the proposal.

Following yesterday’s ruling, the FTC has indicated it is "seriously considering a potential appeal," and the agency can still challenge non-competes on a case-by-case basis.

For now, the decision means a return to the previous patchwork regulatory landscape, as state-level restrictions on non-competes remain in effect. California, North Dakota, and Oklahoma have long prohibited non-competes entirely, while other states have imposed income thresholds or other limitations.

• Edgar Bronfman Jr. submitted a $6 billion bid for National Amusements and a minority stake in Paramount as part of an attempt to scuttle Shari Redstone’s existing deal with Skydance Media.

• Coal miners Arch Resources (NYSE: ARCH) and CONSOL Energy (NYSE: CEIX) are in talks to merge in an all-stock deal that would create a combined entity valued at more than $5 billion, per Bloomberg.

• Roper Technologies (NAS: ROP) agreed to buy Transact Campus, a provider of higher ed campus payments solutions, from Reverence Capital Partners for $1.5 billion.

• KKR is in advanced talks to acquire The Parking Spot, an owner and operator of parking properties near airports, from Green Courte Partners at a valuation of around $1.4 billion, per Bloomberg.

• Quantum Capital Group acquired Caerus Oil and Gas, an oil and gas operator with assets in the Piceance and Uinta basins, from Oaktree Capital Management, The Anschutz Corporation, and Old Ironsides Energy for around $1.8 billion.

• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) agreed to acquire V-Wave, an Israeli company developing a cardiac implant for heart failure patients, for $600 million upfront plus up to $1.1 billion in regulatory and commercial milestone payments.

• JT Group agreed to buy tobacco company Vector Group (NYSE: VGR) for around $2.4 billion.

• Sixth Street acquired Caliche Development Partners, a developer of natural gas and industrial gas storage assets.

• HSBC is weighing a sale of its South African businesses, which include commercial banking and markets operations activities, per Bloomberg.

• Stellex Capital Management acquired Fincentric, a library of financial apps and data solutions, from S&P Global.

• Carlyle invested in SEIDOR, a Barcelona-based technology services and solutions consultancy.

• Walmart (NYSE: WMT) sold its entire 9.4 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce company JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) for around $3.6 billion, ending an eight-year partnership to focus on its own China operations.

• TJX Cos. (NYSE: TJX) acquired a 35 percent stake in Brands for Less, a Dubai-based discount retailer with over 100 stores across the Middle East, for $360 million.

• Qatar Airways acquired a 25 percent stake in SA Airlink, a South African regional airline serving destinations across 15 African countries.

• Rise Growth Partners invested in Bleakley Financial Group, a New Jersey-based LPL-affiliated wealth advisory firm.

• Topspin Consumer Partners invested in Carpe, a sweat control brand offering antiperspirants and sweat management products.

• Vantedge Medical, a portfolio company of Aterian Investment Partners, acquired Hobson & Motzer, a manufacturer of precision medical devices.

• Lumin8 Transportation Technologies, a portfolio company of Crest Rock Partners, acquired Rommel Infrastructure, a traffic signal maintenance provider.

• RESA Power, a portfolio company of Investcorp, acquired High Voltage Electric Service, an Albany, NY-based electrical testing business.

• Deltech Holdings, a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners, agreed to acquire DuPont’s divinylbenzene production line.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• Story Protocol, a blockchain platform for intellectual property management, raised $80 million in Series B funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Polychain Capital.

• DEFCON AI, a defense tech startup developing modeling and simulation tools for military logistics, raised $44 million in seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Fifth Growth Fund and Red Cell Partners.

• Eppo, an experimentation platform for product, AI, and marketing teams, raised $28 million in Series B funding led by Innovation Endeavors, with participation from Icon VC, Menlo Ventures, and Amplify Partners.

• Redo, an e-commerce returns management platform, raised $24 million in Series A funding led by Pelion Venture Partners, with participation from EPIC Ventures, Kickstart Fund, Tandem Venture Partners, Cervin Ventures, and AGLAÉ VENTURES.

• Trunk Tools, an AI platform for construction documentation management, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures, with participation from Innovation Endeavors.

• Allstacks, a software engineering intelligence platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Quadri Ventures, with participation from M12, First Rays Venture Partners, Companyon Ventures, Clutch VC, S3 Ventures, Tweener Fund, CreativeCo, and Hyperplane.

• BeyondMath, a multiphysics simulation platform, raised $8.5 million in seed funding led by UP.Partners, with participation from Insight Partners and InMotion Ventures.

• VividQ, a developer of holographic display technology, raised $7.5 million in Series A funding led by Foresight Group, with participation from GameTech Ventures.

Fintech

• Finture, a Southeast Asian digital bank, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by MindWorks Capital, with participation from XVC, SWC Global, Richen Pioneer, and Antao Capital.

• Skyfire Systems, a payment network for AI agents, raised $8.5 million in seed funding from Neuberger Berman, Brevan Howard Digital, Intersection Growth Partners, DRW, Inception Capital, Arrington Capital, RedBeard Ventures, Sfermion, Circle, FBG, Gemini, Crossbeam Venture Partners, EveryRealm, Draper Associates, ARCA, and Ripple.

• PostEx, a Pakistan-based fintech and logistics startup for e-commerce, raised $7.3 million in pre-Series A funding led by Conjunction Capital, with participation from Dash Ventures, Sanabil500, VSQ, FJ Labs, and Zayn VC.

Consumer & Media

• The Rounds, a sustainable household essentials delivery startup, raised $24 million in Series B funding led by Moderne Ventures, with participation from Construct Capital, First Round Capital, FJ Labs, and Redpoint Ventures.

Healthcare

• PreciseDx, an AI-powered oncology diagnostics startup, raised $20.7 million in Series B funding led by Eventide Asset Management, with participation from Labcorp, Quest Diagnostics, GenHenn Capital Venture, and existing investors.

• Mindset Care, a platform to facilitate Social Security Disability benefits applications for individuals with mental illnesses, raised $13 million in funding led by Science, with participation from Wellington Management, Tubbs Ventures, Enable Ventures, XYZ, and LivEdge Capital.

• Talus Bioscience, a biotech focused on undruggable transcription factors, raised $11.2 million in Seed+ funding led by Two Bear Capital, with participation from WRF Capital, NFX, YC Continuity Fund, Funders Club VC, and BoxOne Ventures.

• Clarium, a startup focused on hospital supply chain operations, raised $10.5 million in strategic financing led by General Catalyst, with participation from Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Texas Medical Center Venture Fund, Yale New Haven Health, AlleyCorp, 1984 Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Fortera, a developer of low-carbon cement, raised $85 million in Series C funding led by Khosla Ventures and Temasek, with participation from Wollemi Capital, NOVA by Saint-Gobain, Presidio Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.

• AstroForge, an asteroid mining startup, raised $40 million in Series A funding led by Nova Threshold, with participation from 776, Initialized, Caladan, YC, and Uncorrelated Ventures.

• Starpath Robotics, a developer of lunar resource extraction infrastructure for rocket propellant production, raised $12 million in seed funding co-led by 8VC and Fusion Fund, with participation from Day One Ventures, Balerion Space, and Indicator Ventures.

• Root Global, a startup helping food and beverage companies reduce greenhouse gas emissions, raised €8 million in seed funding led by Point Nine, with participation from Project A, HelloWorld, and Arc Investors.

• De Novo Foodlabs, a precision fermentation company developing animal-free lactoferrin protein, raised $4 million in funding led by Joyful Ventures, with participation from Sustainable Food Ventures, Siddhi Capital, Pascual Innoventures, UM6P Ventures, CULT Food Science, and Prithvi Capital.

• THL is planning to raise up to $6.25 billion for its tenth buyout fund.

• Dermody Properties raised $1 billion for its fourth logistics-focused real estate fund.

• HighVista Strategies is raising $500 million for its third private credit fund.

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