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

• A look at Bain Capital’s offer to acquire Surgery Partners

• Plus, Estée Lauder hires Evercore to advise on strategic review

Operating profit:

Bain Capital offered to acquire the remaining shares it doesn't already own in surgical facilities operator Surgery Partners. The non-binding proposal is a 27 percent premium to Friday's closing price.

TPG and UnitedHealth Group's Optum unit were also interested in the asset, Bloomberg reported last year. And, according to a letter sent Monday to the Board, Bain Capital said it decided to engage only after Surgery Partners’ “thorough strategic review involving deep engagement from multiple financial and strategic parties” failed to result in a deal.

The company went public in 2015 and merged with National Surgical Healthcare in 2017, at which point Bain acquired H.I.G. Capital’s 39 percent stake in Surgery Partners.

Thematically, investments targeting the shift from inpatient to lower-cost outpatient settings have been popular for some time.

Ambulatory surgery centers—the bulk of Surgery Partners’ business—have been a key part of that trend and could see a second life as recent tailwinds drive renewed interest.

Most deals in the space focused on specialties that were early outpatient adopters, like GI, ophthalmology, and plastics. Now, there's potential opportunity in historically “core” hospital specialties like cardiovascular, orthopedics, and spine.

In an ASC market growing at 6 to 8 percent per year, these emerging specialties could unlock growth closer to the low double-digits.

Driving that growth is a solid combination of both procedure volume increases (new facilities, plus greater surgeon and patient comfort with the ASC setting) and mix-shift toward higher value procedures (both specialty-driven and with new ASC codes for higher complexity procedures).

Surgery Partners is leaning into the trend.

In Q3, MSK-related procedures posted 21 percent year-over-year growth. “More importantly, total joint cases in our ASCs are growing even faster, with just over 50 percent increase in case volume in the quarter,” said CEO Eric Evans on November’s earnings call.

“We do not see this growth slowing in the mid-to-long term as hip, knee, and shoulder surgeries continue to transition into the ASC setting. That shift in site of care is in the early innings.”

In part, Surgery Partners’ execution is a result of its physician recruitment strategy.

New hires are more likely to be in the target specialties, and the company’s 2024 class is its largest yet. That provides an immediate benefit, but also some degree of future compounding — surgeons typically double case volumes by their second year, according to CFO Wayne DeVeydt, who says “growth continues through year three and four.”

On top of the company’s 147 ASCs, Surgery Partners also has a roster of 19 surgical hospitals. Evans is quick to stress, however, that “these are not acute-care assets.”

Unlike traditional acute-care facilities, which can be plagued with reimbursement issues and challenging patient demographics, Surgery Partners’ hospitals have a median daily census of five patients and near-zero emergency room visits.

“They’re high-margin, elective-focused platforms for complex procedures like joint replacements and spine surgeries,” says Evans. The strategic rationale: the hospitals function as ASC extensions that let surgeons remain in the platform’s network for even their most intensive cases (“the basis of an ecosystem,” Evans adds).

As a next step, a Special Committee of independent directors of the Board will evaluate the Bain Capital Proposal. The relatively low premium could invite competing bids, though some of the more likely suitors may have already engaged and decided to pass.

• Brighthouse Financial (NYSE: BHF), a life insurance and annuity provider, is exploring strategic options which could include a sale of the business, now trading at a market value of $3.7 billion, per Reuters.

• Estée Lauder (NYSE: EL) has hired Evercore to advise on potential divestitures from its beauty brand portfolio, including Clinique, Smashbox, Tom Ford, and Aveda, per Bloomberg.

• KKR acquired a 12 percent stake in healthcare products distributor Henry Schein (Nasdaq: HSIC), with an option to increase ownership to 15 percent.

• Wynnchurch Capital acquired Astro Shapes, an Ohio-based manufacturer of custom aluminum extrusions, from Monomoy Capital Partners.

• RHI Magnesita acquired Resco Group, a U.S. refractory products manufacturer, from Balmoral Funds for $410 million.

• Bridgefield Capital agreed to acquire Philips Emergency Care Business, a provider of defibrillators and life support devices, from Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG).

• American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE: AXL) agreed to acquire Dowlais Group (LSE: DWL), a UK automotive engineering firm, for £1.16 billion in cash and stock.

• Tikehau Capital agreed to acquire a majority stake in TTSP HWP, a German data center technical advisory firm, from Adiuva Capital, and Athanor Capital Partners.

• Fenway Sports Group is exploring the sale of a minority stake in the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL franchise.

• Sir Leonard Blavatnik invested $827 million in sports streaming service DAZN.

• Blue Pool Capital acquired a 12 percent stake in Permira-owned Golden Goose, an Italian luxury sneaker brand, which is considering a possible IPO later this year after postponing an offering in 2024.

• Triton Pacific Healthcare Partners and Star Mountain Capital invested in Already Autism Health, a provider of ABA therapy services in the southeast.

• Fengate Private Equity invested in eMAX Health, a Delray Beach-based provider of real-world evidence and market access solutions for pharma.

• Wrike, a portfolio company of STG Partners, acquired French visual collaboration platform Klaxoon from Eurazeo, Bpifrance Digital Venture, and Sofiouest.

• Pete & Gerry's, a Butterfly Equity-backed premium egg producer, acquired Farmers Hen House.

• CORA Physical Therapy, a portfolio company of H.I.G. Capital, acquired One to One Physical Therapy, a four-clinic operator in Palm Beach County, Florida.

• RailCube, a portfolio company of Main Capital, acquired Spark TS, a Minnesota-based substance-use testing provider for railways.

• 360 ONE WAM, backed by Bain Capital, agreed to acquire Indian brokerage B&K Securities for $218 million.

• Sequoia Financial Group, a portfolio company of Kudu Investment Management, agreed to acquire Minnesota-based RIA Carlson Capital Management.

• Whitsons Culinary Group, a portfolio company of GenNx360 Capital Partners, acquired Glendale Senior Dining, a provider of dining services to senior living communities.

• Casepoint, a Thoma Bravo portfolio company, acquired Opexus, a government process management software provider, from Gemspring Capital, which retained a minority stake.

• Nuvei (TSX: NVEI), backed by Advent International, acquired Paywiser Japan, a Japanese payment services provider.

• Sunbelt Modular, a portfolio company of Littlejohn & Co., acquired BRITCO Structures USA, a Texas-based manufacturer of commercial modular structures.

• Arax Investment Partners, a portfolio company of RedBird Capital, acquired Cedrus Financial, a Colorado-based RIA.

• Unleashed Brands, a Seidler Equity Partners-backed youth development platform, acquired Water Wings Swim School, a provider of swimming instruction programs.

• Frontier Airlines (Nasdaq: ULCC) had its merger proposal rejected by Spirit Airlines, which says it plans to exit bankruptcy independently this quarter.

• Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, is exploring an acquisition of the Boston Celtics in a potential $6 billion deal structured as an initial purchase of a 51 percent stake and the remainder in 2028.

• PIMCO and Apollo Global Management are considering the purchase of a portion of $3 billion in X debt that includes claims on the social media platform's $6 billion stake in xAI Corp.

• PAX Health, a portfolio company of HCAP Partners and Hamilton Lane, acquired Harris Psychiatry Services, a Smithtown-based psychiatric practice.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• Skild AI, a developer of foundational AI models for robotics, raised $500 million in new funding led by SoftBank Group at a $4 billion post-money valuation.

• TravelPerk, a business travel management platform, raised $200 million in Series E funding co-led by Atomico and EQT Growth, with participation from Noteus Partners, Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Kinnevik, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Blackstone.

• UVeye, an AI-powered vehicle inspection startup, raised $191 million in new funding led by Woven Capital, with participation from UMC Capital, MyBerg, W.R. Berkley, Menora Mivtachim, and More Investment House.

• Alice & Bob, a quantum computing startup developing fault-tolerant cat qubit technology, raised €100 million in Series B funding co-led by Future French Champions, AXA Venture Partners, and Bpifrance, with participation from Elaia Partners, Breega, Supernova Invest, and the European Innovation Council.

• Oligo Security, an application detection and response platform, raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Greenfield Partners, with participation from Red Dot Capital Partners, Strait Capital, Ballistic Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and TLV Partners.

• Onebrief, a military operational planning platform, raised $50 million in Series C funding co-led by General Catalyst and Insight Partners, with participation from Caffeinated Capital, 9Yards Capital, and Human Capital.

• Stratus, an optimization platform for MEP contractors' fabrication workflows, raised $32 million in Series B funding led by Radian Capital.

• Atomicwork, an AI-powered IT service management platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding co-led by Khosla Ventures and Z47, with participation from Battery Ventures, Blume Ventures, and Peak XV Partners.

• iplicit, a UK cloud accounting software startup, raised £25 million in new funding from One Peak.

• Clutch Security, a non-human identity security platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by SignalFire, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Merlin Ventures.

• HockeyStack, a revenue attribution platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Y Combinator, QnBeyond Ventures, General Catalyst, Soma Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, and 645 Ventures.

• iPronics, a developer of software-defined photonic engines for AI data centers, raised €20 million in Series A funding led by Triatomic Capital, with participation from Fine Structure Ventures, Bosch Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners, and Criteria Venture Tech.

• Naboo, a corporate event booking platform, raised €20 million in Series A funding led by Notion Capital.

• Nue, a revenue lifecycle management platform for B2B SaaS, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Inovia Capital, with participation from Information Venture Partners, Bluefish Capital, NextWorld Capital, NJP Ventures, and Operator Stack Fund.

• Token Security, a non-human identity security provider, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Notable Capital, with participation from TLV Partners.

• Humanity Protocol, a Web3 identity verification platform, raised $20 million in new funding co-led by Pantera Capital and Jump Crypto at a $1.1 billion valuation.

• Hypori, a secure virtual access platform for enterprise mobile apps, raised $12 million in Series B extension funding from UBS AG, Carahsoft Technology Group, and AE Industrial Partners.

Fintech

• SignalPlus, a Singapore-based crypto derivatives infrastructure startup, raised $11 million in Series B funding co-led by AppWorks and OKX Ventures, with participation from Avenir Group and HashKey.

• Pod, developer of a "consensusless" Layer-1 blockchain network, raised $10 million in seed funding co-led by a16z CSX and 1kx, with participation from Flashbots, Blockchain Builders Fund, and Protagonist.

Consumer & Media

• Qsic, an AI-powered in-store audio advertising platform, raised $25 million in Series B funding led by Hedosophia.

Healthcare

• Helicore Biopharma, a developer of GIP-targeting antibody therapies for obesity, raised $65 million in Series A funding co-led by Versant Ventures and OrbiMed, with participation from Longitude Capital and Wellington Management.

• Quibim, a developer of AI-powered medical imaging biomarker solutions, raised $50 million in Series A funding co-led by Asabys Partners and Buenavista Equity Partners, with participation from UI Investissements, GoHub Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners, APEX Ventures, Partech, Adara Ventures, and Leadwind.

• VideaHealth, an AI dental platform, raised $40 million in Series B funding led by Threshold Ventures, with participation from Avenir Ventures, BAM Ventures, Spark Capital, Zetta Venture Partners, and Pillar VC.

• Amplitude Vascular Systems, a Boston-based startup developing intravascular lithotripsy technology for calcified arterial disease, raised $36 million in Series B funding from BioStar Capital and Cue Growth Partners.

• The Helper Bees, an aging-at-home platform offering non-medical care services, raised $35 million in Series C funding led by Centana Growth Partners, with participation from Silverton Partners, Impact Engine, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.

• Hone Health, a telehealth clinic for preventative longevity care, raised $33 million in Series A funding led by Tribe Capital, with participation from PIF, Republic Capital, Vibe VC, Humbition, Hanwha, Gaingels, Looking Glass Capital, FJ Labs, and Agent Capital.

• Delfina Care, an AI-powered maternal health platform, raised $17 million in Series A funding led by USVP, with participation from ARTIS Ventures, Mayo Clinic, Tokio Marine Future Fund, Story Ventures, SemperVirens, Bread and Butter Ventures, Boutique Ventures, and Metrodora Ventures.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Helion, a developer of fusion energy tech, raised $425 million in Series F funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Mithril Capital, Capricorn Investment Group, and Nucor.

• VEIR, a superconducting power delivery startup, raised $75 million in Series B funding led by Munich Re Ventures, with participation from Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, Tyche Partners, Piva Capital, National Grid Partners, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Engine Ventures, Fine Structure Ventures, and Galvanize Climate Solutions.

• Earth AI, an AI-powered mineral exploration startup, raised $20 million in Series B funding co-led by Tamarack Global and Cantos Ventures, with participation from Overmatch, Alpaca, Sparkwave Capital, Y Combinator, and Scrum Ventures.

• Keey Aerogel, a French developer of sustainable silica aerogels, raised €18 million in Series A funding co-led by Bpifrance's SPI 2 fund and WIND, with participation from Capital Grand Est and NCITY.

• Bonsai Robotics, a developer of AI-powered autonomous systems for agricultural equipment, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Bison Ventures, with participation from Cibus Capital, Acre Venture Partners, Congruent Ventures, Fall Line Capital, E14 Fund, SNR and Serra Ventures.

• Manulife Investment Management raised $480 million for its Forest Climate Fund focused on carbon sequestration in forestland assets.

• Colesco Capital raised €800 million, including cornerstone investments from APG and Rabobank, for its debut sustainability-focused European middle market direct lending fund.

• Pelion Venture Partners raised $500 million for its latest fund.

• Shift4Good raised €220 million for its debut sustainable transportation fund targeting Series A and B investments in Europe and Southeast Asia.

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