Boeing early last year was at yet another low point, after it was revealed that part of an Alaska Airlines plane had blown off mid-flight because of missing bolts.

• That incident may have been the genesis of Boeing's decision to sell most of its digital aviation business to private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $10.55 billion, which was announced yesterday.

Behind the scenes: Axios has learned that Thoma Bravo soon after sent a letter to Boeing's CEO and CFO, with whom it had existing relationships, suggesting ways that the debt-laden company could raise capital.

• One idea was to sell off profitable tech assets that Boeing had acquired in 2000 (Jeppesen) and 2019 (ForeFlight).
• By Q4, Boeing had hired banks and launched an auction.

Zoom in: There were around three dozen bidders in the initial round, including both financial sponsors and strategics.

• That got whittled to fewer than 10 bidders in the second round, and then down to four — each of which either was a standalone PE firm or PE consortium.
• Final bids were due Monday. Boeing picked Thoma Bravo, which in turn chose private credit over syndicated loans.

The big picture: What's remarkable about the process is that the price is said to have climbed at each stage, despite tariff tumult that's impacted other large mergers and been particularly tough on airlines.

• Delta, for example, recently pulled its 2025 guidance, while United issued two different sets — depending on if the U.S. does or doesn't enter a recession.
• The buyside thesis seems to be that the number of "tails" will keep climbing, even if travel suffers a near-term decline, and that those new planes will require the sort of tech that Boeing is offloading. Particularly as flight automation accelerates.
• Part of this confidence is based on historical growth trends, and part on documented order backlogs.
• Plus, private equity has longstanding affinity for carveouts from legacy OEMs like Boeing.

State of play: Boeing shares rose more than 6% at today's open, on better-than-expected earnings.

The bottom line: Some big deals can keep flying through the turbulance.

OpenAI would be interested in buying Chrome, if Google is forced to sell the browser as a remedy to its antitrust violations, OpenAI's head of product said yesterday in court.

Why it's the BFD: This could solve one antitrust problem and begin building another.

State of play: The remedies phase of U.S. vs. Google kicked off this week, with DOJ proposing the Chrome spinoff. Another suggested remedy would be for Google to share its search index, which also could be a boon for OpenAI.

• Last year a court found that Google is a monopolist in online search, with Google still expected to appeal.

The bottom line: "Chrome would instantly give OpenAI a massive install base of users who have been incentivized to use Google services. If OpenAI were running the show, you can bet ChatGPT would be integrated throughout the experience." — Ryan Whitwam, Ars Technica

• Chainguard, a Kirkland, Wash.-based open source security startup, raised $356m in Series D funding at a $3.5b valuation, per Fortune. Kleiner Perkins and IVP co-led, joined by Salesforce Ventures, Datadog Ventures and insiders Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital, Amplify, Redpoint Ventures, Lightspeed, and Mantis VC. axios.link/4jPhhbI

• Altruist, a provider of custodian software for RIAs, raised $152m in Series F funding at a $1.9b valuation. GIC led, joined by Salesforce Ventures, Geodesic Capital, Baillie Gifford, Carson Family Office, and Iconiq Growth. axios.link/43YK4FY

• Noxtua (fka Xayn), a German legal AI platform, raised $92.2m in Series B funding led by German legal publisher C.H. Beck. axios.link/4jjxYMh

• Endor Labs, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based software supply chain security company, raised $93m in Series B funding. DFJ Growth led, joined by Salesforce Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, Dell Technologies Capital, Section 32, and Citi Ventures. axios.link/3RruOKi

⚡ Omnidian, a Seattle-based solar energy monitoring and maintenance startup, raised $87 million in Series C funding, per Axios Pro. B Capital led, joined by Marunouchi Innovation Partners, BNP Paribas, Citi Impact Fund, Alumni Ventures and insiders Activate Capital, Liberty Mutual Investments, National Grid Partners, and Wind Ventures. axios.link/3GkZ8nn

🚑 Nourish, a New York-based provider of nutrition counseling, raised $70m in Series B funding. JPMorgan Private Capital led, joined by Thrive Capital, Index Ventures, YC, Maverick Ventures, BoxGroup, Atomico, G Squared, and Pinegrove. usenourish.com

• Instrumental, an Oakland-based grant solution for nonprofits and universities, raised $55m from Summit Partners. instrumentl.com

• Alpaca, a San Mateo, Calif.-based developer of a stock-trading API, raised $52m in Series C from Derayah Financial, 850 Management, National Investments Company Kuwait, Unbound and Portage Ventures. axios.link/3YaHrx3

🚑 Healthee, a New York-based health benefits navigation startup, raised $50m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Key1 Capital led, joined by Fin Capital, Glilot Capital Partners, and Group11. axios.link/3Ezid4Q

• Sentra, a New York-based data security platform, raised $50m in Series B funding. Key1 Capital led, joined by Bessemer Venture Partners, Zeev Ventures, Standard Investments, and Munich Re Ventures. axios.link/44AnS55

• Cynomi, an Israeli vCISO platform provider for MSPs and MSSPs, raised $37m in Series B funding. Insight Partners and Entrée Capital co-led, joined by Canaan Partners, Flint Capital, and S16VC. cynomi.com

🚀 Northwood Space, a developer of shared infrastructure for satellite backhaul, raised $30m in Series A funding co-led by a16z and Alpine Space Ventures. axios.link/3YIUfLf

• Steadily, an Austin, Texas-based provider of landlord insurance, raised $30m in Series C funding at a $355m valuation. Two Sigma Ventures led, joined by Clocktower Technology Ventures, Belfer Investment Partners, Belfer Investment Partners, Nine Four Ventures, and Matrix Partners. steadily.com

• Froda, a Swedish direct and embedded lender, raised €20m med by Incore Invest. axios.link/3S09njx

• Salsa, a New York-based provider of embedded payroll infrastructure to SaaS, raised $20m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Altos Ventures led, joined by SemperVirens, Greycroft, Definition, and Better Tomorrow Ventures. axios.link/4lFASMT

• Uniqus Consultech, a consultancy for ESG, risk, and accounting, raised $20m in Series C funding. Nexus Venture Partners led, joined by Sorin Investments. uniqus.com

• Deep Infra, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based provider of AI model inference services, raised $18m in Series A funding co-led by insiders Felicis and Georges Harik. axios.link/4jJ0jvo

• Miggo Security, an Israeli application detection and response platform, raised $17m in Series A funding. SYN Ventures led, joined by YL Ventures. miggo.io

• Lace AI, a Mountain View, Calif.-based revenue generation software startup, raised $14m in seed funding. Bek Ventures led, joined by Horizon VC and Launchub. axios.link/445vTiy

• Arch Labs, a Bitcoin infrastructure startup, raised $13m in Series A funding led by Pantera Capital at a $200m valuation. axios.link/3Rr50Or

🍿 Khloud, a snackmaker formed by Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner, raised $12m from K5 Global, Serena Ventures, WME, and Shrug Capital. axios.link/4jQfeEh

🚑 Ascertain, a developer of AI agents for care team efficiency, raised $10m in Series A funding led by Deerfield Management, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3YIGwnD

• Bloom Credit, a cashflow reporting and credit data infrastructure platform, raised $10.5m led by Crosslink Capital. bloomcredit.io

• VanishID (fka Picnic), a Chevy Chase, Md.-based provider of digital executive protection for enterprises, raised $10m. Dell Technologies Capital led, joined by Crosslink Capital, Rally Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, Lockstep Ventures, and Bright Pixel. getpicnic.com

• MirSense, a Paris-based developer of a quantum cascade laser and mini gas sensors, raised €7m in Series A funding. Safran Corporate Ventures led, joined by Supernova Invest, Polytechnique Ventures, and C2AD. axios.link/3GnjwnY

• Cloud Capital, a fintech platform for cloud usage costs, raised $5.4m in seed funding. Backed Ventures and Middlegame Ventures co-led, joined by DFF Ventures. cloudcapital.co

• Respondology, a Boulder, Colo.-based social media comment management platform, raised $5m in Series A extension funding from Iron Gate Capital, SJF Ventures, Zelkova Ventures, Boulder Heavy Industries, and RLB Holdings. respondology.com

• Tella, a screen-recording startup, raised $2.1m in seed funding led by Gradient Ventures. axios.link/3RPchrD

• Chassy, a Seattle-based robotics platform for software testing, deployment and ops, raised $1.2m in preseed funding led by Schematic Ventures. chassy.io

🎵 Creator Partners and Servco agreed to buy Reverb, an online marketplace for musical instruments and equipment, from Etsy (Nasdaq: ETSY). axios.link/3YdDJ5L

• H.I.G. Capital completed its C$1.3b take-private buyout of buy Canadian IT and cloud computing firm Converge Technology Solutions, and merged it with Florida-based portfolio company Mainline Information Systems. axios.link/4htIwaI

🚑 IDS, an imaging platform sponsored by HCAP Partners, acquired First Choice Mobile Radiology, a provider of mobile imaging services in Southern California. fcmrs.com

🚑 Investindustrial agreed to buy DCC's (LSE: DCC) health-care unit for £1.05b. axios.link/4lIp4cV

• Marlin Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in Didomi, a French provider of data privacy and consent management software that had raised over $40m from backers like Elephant VC and Breega. Concurrently, Didomi acquired server-side tagging platform Addingwell. didomi.io

⚡ SitelogIQ, an AEA Investors portfolio company, acquired Path Co., a provider of energy services to municipal and higher education markets in the Southeastern U.S. sitelogiq.com

• Stone Point is in advanced talks to buy a $2b stake in Ultimus Fund Solutions from GTCR, per the WSJ. axios.link/3RwGPOz

• TZP Group and GCP Capital Partners acquired Carrollton, Texas-based lawn care company Superscapes from Crux Capital. superscapes.net

• Vector Capital completed its A$183m take-private buyout of Bigtincan, a Waltham, Mass., provider of enterprise sales enablement software that had previously agreed to merge with a SPAC. axios.link/3VsKgs1

⚡ Ather Energy, an Indian e-scooter maker, cut its proposed Mumbai IPO size by 18% to around $308m. It's raised around $125m from firms like Hero MotoCorp and GIC. axios.link/4cKcrKq

• LG Electronics of South Korea paused work on an IPO for its Indian unit, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4iz83iH

• Texas Ventures Acquisition III, an industrial tech SPAC, raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/3CNj0OL

🚑 Veraxa, a Swiss oncology biotech backed by Xlife Sciences, agreed to go public via Voyager Acquisition (Nasdaq: VACH), a SPAC led by Adeel Rouf (Cohen & Co.) and Warren Hosseinion (Nutex Health). axios.link/3GnCevH

• Intuit (Nasdaq: INTU) agreed to acquire GoCo, a provider of HR and benefits solutions for SMBs that had raised $27m from firms like ATX Venture Partners. axios.link/42qFXBq

• Wise Road Capital is weighing a sale of UTAC, a Singaporean semiconductor assembly and testing company that could fetch around $3b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4iuyENM

• Argentex Group (LSE: AGFX), a U.K. currency management firm, said it's considering a sale to IFX Payments, amidst liquidity troubles. axios.link/44zi8IT

• Clearwater Analytics (NYSE: CWAN) completed its $1.5b acquisition of Enfusion (NYSE: ENFN), a Chicago-based provider of investment management and hedge fund SaaS. axios.link/40tNOwN

• Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) said that it's called off a sale or spinoff of its $1.b U.S. cigar business. axios.link/42EcO4n

• Socket, a software supply chain security company that's raised over $60m, acquired Coana, a Danish static analysis and reachability engine. socket.dev

• THG (LSE: THG) rejected an unsolicited takeover bid for sports nutrition brand Myprotein from Selkirk. axios.link/42o1875

• Cantor, now led by Brandon Lutnick, is planning to launch a "multibillion-dollar bitcoin acquisition vehicle" in partnership with SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex, per the FT. axios.link/42oxsXu

• First Momentum Ventures of Germany raised €35m for its second fund, focused on first-time founders. axios.link/4lFkJHk

• Kompas VC, a Danish firm focused on early-stage industrial tech, raised €150m for its second fund. axios.link/44752T4

• Andy Bredar joined Radical Ventures as an investor. He previously was was Anthropic. axios.link/3GnnSvy

• Apollo Global Management named Gary Cohn as lead independent director. It also said that CEO Marc Rowan will add the title of board chair, replacing Jay Clayton. axios.link/42J4Rv2

• Permira is closing its Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, and moving some senior leaders to India, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4cG572a

• Siddharth Ramakrishnan joined Scale Venture Partners as a principal focused on AI investments. He previously worked on product for Attentive. axios.link/3RZ0Tcq

• Katherine Segura joined TPG as a principal. She previously was senior director of comms at Balyasny Asset Management. axios.link/43hBVZY

Gold futures briefly hit another intraday record yesterday, at one point topping $3,500 per ounce.

• They're up more than 30% for the year, benefiting from the trade war's negative effects on the dollar.

It also came on the same day that Australia's Barrick Gold agreed to sell its 50% stake in Alaska's Donlin Gold mining project for $1 billion to John Paulson and Novagold,

• Paulson, a billionaire gold bug, said that he expects central banks to keep buying gold — with greater geopolitical instability leading to greater appetites.