Top of the Morning

• Plane plans: President Trump hits the road this week to change the narrative promote his $1 trillion infrastructure plan. Four things to know:

1. Broad strokes: There is no $1 trillion infrastructure plan, at least not yet. One reason is that this was supposed to come after healthcare and tax reform, with each building on top of the other in a sequential game of pay-for dominoes. Instead we'll get a set of "principles," including plans to quasi-privatize America's air traffic control system.
2. Biz lobby: FedEx CEO Fred Smith gave a good overview of the user argument for spinning out ATC, during February congressional testimony on infrastructure (page 5).
3. What to watch: Will Trump take a position on raising the federal gas tax, which has not been touched in the past 24 years? He's previously said he'd be open to it, but that's a far cry from actual support.
4. Leverage caveat: The basic conceit behind the $1 trillion figure is $200 million of tax dollars to then be leveraged via private sector efforts like Blackstone Group's $40 billion-targeted infrastructure fund. But a lot of that money, including Blackstone's first $20 billion, comes from foreign governments. Expect there to be some major national security concerns if Saudi Arabia or China is bankrolling things like America's ATC revamp or port operations.

• From the mouths of LPs: While at the ILPA event last Friday, I heard some grumbling about how smaller LPs in private equity funds are effectively "subsidizing" due diligence for larger institutional investors who take co-invest positions on larger deals. It's a compelling gripe, even if those co-investments do enable GPs to hit above their capital weight.

• Buzz buzz: Palmer Luckey and Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley's only two notable Trump supporters (per Marc Andreessen) have teamed up for "a company that is developing surveillance technology that could be deployed on borders between countries and around military bases," per the NY Times. Luckey (ex-Oculus) is the founder, while Thiel's Founders Fund is expected to invest (although FF partner Trae Stephens may be more intimately involved).

A source familiar with the project tells me:

• New firm alert: Anheuser-Busch InBev has launched ZX Ventures, which it refers to as a "global incubator, operator, and venture capital team." The only team member listed on its website is Pedro Earp, who is the broader company's "chief disruptive growth operator," which has to be the only time I've ever seen that job title.

The BFD

Apple and Amazon are joining forces to support Foxconn's takeover bid for Toshiba Corp.'s semiconductors business, according to a Nikkei interview with Foxconn CEO Terry Gou.

• Why it's the BFD: First, the target business is is the world's second-largest maker of NAND-type flash memory chips, and could be valued at more than $18 billion. Second, Japan's Toshiba needs the sale proceeds to help cover the massive losses from its U.S. nuclear energy unit (Westinghouse). Third, this would just be an even deeper tie-up for Foxconn, which generates most of its revenue by providing components and manufacturing services for Apple and Amazon devices (e.g., iPhones, iPads, Kindles, Echos, etc.).
• Gou: "Of course Apple and Amazon are offering money together, but I cannot comment on how much funds each company is putting on the table."
• Uphill climb: Foxconn is viewed as an underdog in the auction, due to its Chinese government ties, so adding Apple and Amazon might lighten the geopolitical burden a bit. But it's still a long shot, as its rival bidder is led by a Japanese public-private investment partnership (INCJ), which is working with KKR and, possibly, Western Digital (which jointly operates Toshiba's main NAND chips factory). There also is at least one other formal bid, from the pairing of Broadcom and Silver Lake.

Venture Capital Deals

• Zopa, a UK-based P2P lender that is launching a challenger bank, has raised £32 million in new VC funding from backers like Wadhawan Global Capital and Northzone Ventures. http://cnb.cx/2sF9Zxp

• UNTUCKit, a Hoboken, N.J.-based designer and retailer of men's apparel, has raised $30 million in new VC funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. www.untuckit.com

• Lob, a San Francisco-based automated mail-delivery infrastructure platform, has raised $20 million in Series B funding. YC Continuity Fund led the round, and was joined by Polaris Partners, Floodgate, First Round Capital and Initialized Capital. http://bit.ly/2qGjb3p

• AI-Drive, a Chinese autonomous driving startup focused on aerial lift vehicles, has raised $14 million in Series A funding from backers that include Shunwei Capital. http://bit.ly/2rUhbcG

• Evolve Vacation Rental Network, a Denver-based provider of vacation rental property management solutions, has raised $11 million in new VC funding. T. Rowe Price led the round, and was joined by Annox Capital, Allen & Co. and PAR Capital Ventures. http://bit.ly/2rIBGJg

• Krypt.co, a Boston-based cybersecurity startup focused on safely storing SSH private keys, has raised $1.2 million in seed funding. Rough Draft Ventures and General Catalyst co-led the round, and were joined by Slow Ventures, SV Angel and Akamai Labs. www.krypt.io

• Owl's Brew, a New York-based developer of tea-based cocktail mixers, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Cambridge Companies SPG and Anheuser-Busch InBev's ZX Ventures. http://bit.ly/2qOxwvm

Private Equity Deals

🚑 Avista Capital Partners has acquired National Spine & Pain Centers, a Rockville, Md.-based service provider to interventional pain management physicians, from Sentinel Capital Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. www.treatingpain.com

• The Blackstone Group has offered to acquire listed Finnish real estate investment company Sponda for around €1.8 billion, or €5.19 per share (21% premium over Friday's closing price). http://reut.rs/2s8Gyaq

• Convergint Technologies, a Schaumberg, Ill.-based portfolio company of KRG Capital Partners, has completed its previously-announced purchase of Post Browning, a Cincinnati-based systems integrator of security and transaction solutions for financial institutions. No financial terms were disclosed. www.convergint.com

• GTCR has acquired Sage Payment Solutions, a Reston, Va.-based provider of payment processing and merchant acquiring solutions, for $260 million from The Sage Group (LSE: SGE). http://bit.ly/2qOsT4l

• Royal Adhesives & Sealants, a South Bend, Ind.-based portfolio company of American Securities, has acquired the Ball Ground aircraft sealant repackaging business from Graco Supply, a portfolio company of CM Equity Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. www.gracosupply.com

• Unison Capital of Japan has acquired local restaurant chain Dinamix for an undisclosed amount. http://bit.ly/2svRJYi

Public Offerings

• The U.S. IPO market is expecting two small listings this week: ShotSpotter and Plymouth Industrial REIT. http://bit.ly/2qTcxvp

🚑 Aileron Therapeutics Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of cancer drugs based on a stapled peptide platform, has filed for a $69 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol ALRN, with BofA Merrill Lynch and Jefferies serving as lead underwriters. Apple Tree Partners, Excel Venture Management, Lilly Ventures, Novartis Venture Funds, Roche Venture Fund and SR One. The pre-revenue company has raised over $140 million in VC funding, from firms like Apple Tree Partners (22.4% pre-IPO stake), Novartis BioVentures (20.8%), S.R. One (10.6%), Excel Venture Management (8.7%), Lilly Ventures (7.7%) and Roche (5.3%). http://bit.ly/2qTdsMr

⛽ Akon Lighting Africa, a developer and installer of small-scale solar energy projects that was founded by rapper Akon, is considering an IPO to support geographic expansion beyond Africa, according to Bloomberg. https://bloom.bg/2s8xRg9

🚑 Athenex, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based developer of cancer therapeutics, has set its IPO terms to 6 million shares being offered at between $11 and $13 per share. It would have a fully-diluted market value of around $720 million, were it to price in the middle of its range. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol ATNX, with Credit Suisse listed as left lead underwriter. www.athenex.com

🚑 Dova Pharmaceuticals, a Durham, N.C.-based drug developer focused on treatments for thrombocytopenia, has filed for a $74.75 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol DOVA, with J.P. Morgan listed as left lead underwriter. Shareholders include PBM Capital Investments (84.8% pre-IPO stake) and Perceptive Life Sciences (5.4%). http://bit.ly/2qTdsMr

• Societe Generale said that it will sell up to 23% of its car leasing business, ALD Automotive, in a Paris IPO later this month. The offering could generate upwards of €1.6 billion. http://reut.rs/2rJRpqM

More M&A

• D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) has offered to acquire a 75% stake in Forestar Group (NYSE: FOR), an Austin, Texas-based real estate development company, for $16.25 per share. The offer represents a 14% premium to the bid Forestar already had agreed to from Starwood Capital Group. http://on.mktw.net/2qPmaHA

🚑 Grail Inc., an Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN) spinout focused on early cancer detection, has agreed to merge with China's Cirina. No financial terms were disclosed. http://bit.ly/2qXfnKX

⛽ Shenhua Group, China's largest coal miner, is in merger talks with China Guodian, a Chinese operator of coal-fired power plants, according to Bloomberg. The companies have combined assets of nearly $267 billion. https://bloom.bg/2qT6Ptr

Fundraising

🚑 Lightstone Ventures, a Boston-based life sciences VC firm, is raising up to $200 million for its second fund, per an SEC filing. www.lightstonevc.com

• Rucker Park, a new VC firm led by Marissa Campise (ex-SoftBank, Greycroft, Venrock) is raising $50 million for a new early-stage VC fund under the Rucker Park brand, per Fortune.

• World Innovation Lab has secured $236 million for its $600 million-targeted second VC fund, per an SEC filing. www.wilab.com

It's Personnel

• Tom Amster has joined Macquarie Capital as head of U.S. financial sponsors. He previously led San Francisco investment banking and West Coast financial sponsors for Morgan Stanley. www.macquarie.com/us

• Benjamin Shriner has joined EdgeLine Capital Partners, a Los Angeles-based fund placement firm, as a partner. He previously was head of IR for Zelnick Media Capital. www.edgelinecapital.com

Final Numbers

More: How a T-Mobile/Sprint merger could jolt wireless

Top of the Morning

After President Trump yesterday announced that the U.S. will pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, both Elon Musk (Tesla) and Bob Iger (Disney) resigned from the President's Strategic and Policy Forum, which is chaired by The Blackstone Group's Steve Schwarzman. We haven't discussed this CEO advisory group in a while, so now seems like a good time. Per sources familiar:

• Legality: There have been concerns that the group is dodging the Federal Advisory Committee Act, a 45-year-old law that requires presidential advisory committee meetings to be open to the public (yes, the same rule that bedeviled Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force). I'm told that Trump's group believes it is immune to FACA because it is not providing any group-wide recommendations to Trump (i.e., taking votes, presenting consensus white papers, etc.). Instead, individual members state their opinions ― with an explicit focus on action-oriented suggestions rather than problem elucidation ― which theoretically turns group counsel into individual counsel.
• Members: Trump didn't actually pick the Forum members. Schwarzman did, subject to Trump's approval or disapproval (he only knocked out one person, who ended up on a different presidential advisory group).
• Distinct: There are no plans for the Forum members to hold meetings around the country, as we saw from a similar group in the Obama White House (chaired by Jeff Immelt). Another big difference is that the Obama effort was focused almost exclusively on job creation, whereas this one is about broader economic issues (taxes, regulation, etc.). There is also a lot of what was described to be as "CEO counseling" for cabinet members who have never run large organizations before.

• Dry powder mountain: Yesterday we noted that CVC Capital Partners had raised over €16 billion for what is the largest-ever such private equity vehicle ever raised by a Europe-based firm. Today, KKR announced that it has raised the largest-ever Asia-focused fund with $9.3 billion in capital commitments. All of this follows comes just weeks after the largest global private equity fund ever raised (SoftBank Vision Fund) and Silver Lake raising the largest tech-focused fund ever raised by a U.S.-based firm. And then there is Apollo Global Management, which is raising more than $23 billion for its next flagship buyout vehicle.

• Market timing: The last time we saw massive fundraising like this, the global economy had peaked.

• Have a great weekend!

The BFD

Blue Apron, a New York-based meal kit subscription service, has filed for a $100 million IPO (almost certainly a placeholder figure, with the ultimate offering to raise much more). It plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol APRN, with Goldman Sachs listed as left lead underwriter. The company reports a $55 million net loss on $795 million in revenue for 2016, compared to a $47 million net loss on $341 million in revenue for 2015.

• Why it's the BFD: There has been lots of talk lately about the failure of VC-backed meal delivery businesses, but almost all of that has focused on proprietary, prepared meals. Alternative strategies like GrubHub (basically restaurant delivery) seem to be doing fine, and Blue Apron's IPO will be used to validate (or invalidate) the meal kit model.
• Investors: The company has raised over $190 million in VC funding, most recently at a $2 billion post-money valuation. Shareholders include Bessemer Venture Partners (23.8% pre-IPO stake), First Round Capital (10.5%), Stripes Group (6.5%) and Fidelity Investments (6.2%).
• Notable number: Blue Apron says that first quarters are its busiest, as people slow their deliveries during summer and holiday seasons. But the company flipped from $3 million in net income in Q1 2016 ($172m in revenue) to a $52 million net loss in Q1 2017 ($245m rev). Part of this is explained by a $45 million boost in marketing spend, while the rest seem stuck inside of an amorphous "product, technology, general and administrative" line. A source declined to specify, except to say the difference wasn't caused by anything "nefarious."

Venture Capital Deals

🚑 Monteris Medical, a Plymouth, Minn.-based maker of laser ablation systems for treating brain lesions, has raised $26.6 million in Series C funding. Versant Ventures and SightLine Partners co-led the round, and were joined by Birchview Capital and BDC Capital. www.monteris.com

• Neigou.com, a Beijing-based online platform for employee benefits, has raised nearly $14 million in Series B funding from China's National Small and Medium-size Enterprises Development Fund, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and Focus Media Information Technology. http://bit.ly/2qNtYbN

• Greenlight Financial Technology, maker of a "smart debit card for kids," has raised $7.5 million in seed funding from Relay Ventures, NEA, Social Capital and TTV. http://tcrn.ch/2slNuOA

Private Equity Deals

• Apax Partners has agreed to buy the electronic monitoring business of 3M's (NYSE: MMM) traffic safety and security division for around $200 million. http://on.mktw.net/2ro2n34

• Eureka Growth Capital has sponsored a management recapitalization of McCue Corp., a Peabody, Mass.-based provider of damage prevention and asset protection solutions for the retail and material handling industries. No financial terms were disclosed.
www.mccue.com

• Fortune Fountain Capital of China has agreed to buy a control stake in French crystal maker Baccarat (Paris: CDBP) from Starwood Capital for around €164 million. https://bloom.bg/2qJhPJZ

• Kohlberg & Co. has acquired CIBT Global, a McLean, Va.-based provider of travel visas and immigration services, from ABRY Partners for an undisclosed amount.

• Pulse Secure, a San Jose, Calif.-based access solutions provider backed by Siris Capital Group, has agreed to acquire the Virtual Application Delivery Controller assets of Brocade Communications Systems (Nasdaq: BRCD). No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which includes a leased R&D facility in the UK. http://bit.ly/2qGJJ9A

Public Offerings

🚑 Mersana Therapeutics Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of antibody drug conjugates, has filed for a $75 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol MRSN, with J.P. Morgan serving as left lead underwriter. The company has raised around $130 million in VC funding, from firms like NEA (41% pre-IPO stake), Pfizer (11.6%), F-Prime Capital (9.9%), Rho Ventures (7.6%), Rock Springs Capital (7.6%), Wellington Management (5.6%), Millennium Pharma (5.6%) and ProQuest Investments (5.5%). www.mersana.com

• Tintri, a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of VM-aware storage for virtualization and cloud environments, has filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol TNTR, with Morgan Stanley listed as left lead underwriter. The company reports a $106 million net loss on $125 million in revenue for fiscal 2016 (ending 1/31/17), compared to a $101 million net loss on $86 million in revenue for fiscal 2015. It has raised around $260 million in equity funding, from backers like NEA (22.7% pre-IPO stake), Silver Lake Kraftwerk (20.4%), Insight Venture Partners (20.2%), Lightspeed Ventures (14.5%) and Menlo Ventures. www.tintri.com

Liquidity Events

⛽ H.I.G. Capital has completed its previously-announced $100 million sale of Comverge, a Norcross, Va.-based provider of energy demand response software, to Itron (Nasdaq: ITRI). http://bit.ly/2ryaQmj

More M&A

⛽ Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) has agreed to sell its Canadian light oil assets to Cardinal Energy (TSX: CJ) for C$330 million. http://reut.rs/2qHP8ZE

• Barclays (LSE: BARC) has agreed to sell its Zimbabwe bank to Malawi-listed First Merchant Bank for an undisclosed amount, although employees are asking Zimbabwe's High Court to block the transaction. http://on.ft.com/2rsaRpJ

• Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) has not yet offered an divestiture concessions in its $38 billion takeover bid for NXP Semiconductors (NYSE: NXP), according to EU antitrust regulators. http://reut.rs/2slRsH6

• Sandvik, a listed Swedish engineering group, has agreed to sell its process systems business for $576 million to FAM AB, which is owned by the three largest Wallenberg foundations. http://fxn.ws/2qJ9826

Fundraising

• Altimeter Capital Management of Boston is raising up to $200 million for its third growth equity fund, per an SEC filing. www.altimetercapital.com

• Castlelake has closed its third aviation-focused investment fund with $1 billion in capital commitments. www.castlelake.com

• CIC Capital Canada, a unit of France's Crédit Mutuel, has formed a US$500 million North American growth capital fund, which includes a $150 million allocation for investments in Quebec and Ontario companies. http://bit.ly/2rs8HXa

• Kaszek Ventures of Argentina has raised $200 million for its third fund, per an SEC filing. www.kaszek.com

• KKR has closed its third Asia-focused buyout fund with $9.3 billion in capital commitments (including around $800m from the firm's own balance sheet). https://bloom.bg/2suzSQr

• OpenView Venture Partners is raising up to $200 million for its fifth fund, per an SEC filing. www.openviewpartners.com

• Orkila Capital, a growth equity firm focused on the media, entertainment and consumer sectors, has secured $118 million for its second fund ($130m target), per an SEC filing. www.orkilacapital.com

• Talomon Capital has been formed as a long-only hedge fund by Jussi Nyrölä (ex-EQT Partners) and Andrew Lubin (ex-SAC Capital). http://bit.ly/2qNnKJg

• True Ventures has closed its second "select" fund, which supports later-stage rounds for existing portfolio companies, with $112 million in capital commitments. www.trueventures.com

It's Personnel

• Else Bos is stepping down as CEO of Dutch pension giant PGGM, effective in November. No word yet on her successor. http://bit.ly/2slBWLi

• Martin vom Hagen (ex-AllianceBernstein) has joined Adams Street Partners as a partner and head of the Chicago-based private equity firm's new Munich office. www.adamsstreetpartners.com

Final Numbers

Retail jobs fall again in May