LIV Golf is dead. Long live LIV.

Driving the news: The PGA rival — and almost partner — yesterday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Zoom in: It also asked the court's permission to terminate its lucrative player contracts, including with stars like Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson. It also asked to keep the terms of those deals under seal, claiming they are "commercially sensitive" and could lead to harassment of the players.

• Those contracts were originally funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which launched LIV as a diversification/sports-washing play before shutting its spigot earlier this year.

Behind the scenes: LIV back in May went out in search of at least $250 million in new investment, with plans to then sell equity in its teams.

• But it was fruitless, and the league then turned to a bankruptcy process. It secured two non-binding term sheets, including a preferred $300 million offer from BC Partners that's contingent on LIV surviving bankruptcy.
• BC, which declined comment, proposes giving players over a 50% stake in post-bankruptcy LIV, plus 30% equity stakes in the teams. BC's contribution would be a $127.5 million term loan, $147.5 million in senior preferred equity and $25 million of convertible preferred equity. You can view its entire term sheet here (page 108).
• Saudi PIF offered a DIP financing package, but it had conditions that the league found to be too onerous. Its entire $5 billion investment would be wiped out under BC's proposal.

The intrigue: BC is essentially betting that there is long-term viability in LIV 2.0, but it needs buy-in from the very players whose contracts LIV is seeking to void.

• The carrot is that LIV would become majority-owned by the players themselves, and the stick might be that they have nowhere else to go.
• The PGA has been hesitant to reinstate those it views as traitors, although doing so now might be a way to kill off LIV for good.

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) received warrants to acquire around $4b of Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) shares, as part of a broader data center infrastructure deal.

Why it's the BFD: It's a hyperscaled vote of confidence in the ongoing importance of CPUs in the AI age.

• If GPUs are becoming an institutional asset class, might CPUs be next?

The bottom line: "While GPUs are ideal for training and running AI models because they have thousands of tiny cores narrowly focused on performing many operations simultaneously, CPUs have a smaller number of powerful cores running sequential general purpose tasks." — Ari Levy, CNBC

• Cognition, a New York-based AI coding startup, raised over $2b at a $48b valuation led by a16z, Accel, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, and Avenir. axios.link/4xiC11v

• Celero Communications, an Irvine, Calif.-based developer of DSP technology for AI infrastructure, raised $275m in Series C funding at a valuation north of $3b from Atreides Management, Valor Equity Partners, CapitalG and insiders Sutter Hill Ventures and Maverick Silicon. axios.link/46LL6Fm

• Covenant, a startup missile maker, came out of stealth and announced $250m over three funding rounds from a16z, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, 8VC, and Lightspeed. axios.link/4hhMC8f

• Cylake, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based "cybersecurity platform for operational sovereignty," raised $245m in convertible notes from Lightspeed, Picture Capital, and Redpoint Ventures. axios.link/3SCTRhL

🚑 Solstice Oncology, a Boston-based immunotherapy startup, raised $225m in Series A funding. RA Capital Management led, joined by Canaan Partners and Forbion. axios.link/3SPLgbB

🌎 Perry Weather, a Dallas-based provider of weather monitoring software, raised $110m. Silversmith Capital Partners led, joined by insider Arthur Ventures. axios.link/46dkLQw

• Clay, an NYC-based sales automation startup, raised $115m at a $7.1b post-money valuation. Wellington led, joined by a16z, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, and CapitalG. Axios Pro flashback

• Savvy Wealth, an NYC-based provider of back-office tech for RIAs, raised $100m in Series C funding, per Axios Pro. Halo Fund led, joined by Thrive Capital, Industry Ventures, Canvas Prime, Index Ventures, House Fund, Euclidean Capital, Alumni Ventures, and Vestigo Ventures. axios.link/46fRswB

• Wint, an NYC-based provider of water management intelligence, raised $36m in Series D funding led by LIP Ventures and Inven Capital. axios.link/4cA989K

• Antioch, a simulation platform for physical AI, raised $32m in Series A funding. Greylock led, joined by A*, Category Ventures, BoxGroup, and Icehouse Ventures. axios.link/4ynIl8Z

• Euno, an enterprise AI context platform, raised $23m in Series A led by N47, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4zXFUvr

• CloudMC, a London-based provider of precision machining software, raised $20m. Nimble Ventures led, joined by Calculus Venture Capital, Entrepreneur First, and Lockheed Martin. axios.link/4gJLZnU

• System, a DTC peptides provider, raised $12.6m, per Axios Pro. Vine led, joined by Patron Fund and Will Ventures. axios.link/4ymZEXO

• Fundcraft, a Luxembourg-based fund ops platform, raised €12m. Riverside Acceleration Capital and CCAP Investments led, joined by insiders 3VC, MiddleGame Ventures, and Aperture Capital. axios.link/4drGGHn

• Actionable, a French customer intelligence startup, raised $10m. Hi Inov led, joined by Axeleo Capital. axios.link/4qYQm1G

• Ground A, a German counter-drone tech startup, raised €9m. Vsquared Ventures led, joined by Quantum Systems, GRIF, Robin Capital, ABACON, Leblon Capital, and OVNI Capital. axios.link/4A36ymJ

🌎 SweetAg, a Boulder, Colo.-based developer of lending software for ag, raised $7.4m from Diagram Ventures, Builders VC, and Cooperative Ventures. axios.link/4gY2QlO

• HelmGuard, a London-based GRC and security startup, raised $7.3m in seed funding. Infinity Ventures and Frontline led, joined by FinTech Collective, Stage 2 Capital, and Entrepreneur First. axios.link/4yt9OpW

⚡ Rebata, a Swedish battery renewal startup, raised around $4.6m in seed funding led by Sistafund and EIT Urban Mobility. axios.link/4iZgcAy

• Lightsage, an SF-based developer of infrastructure for "agent-led growth," raised $4m led by Nexus Venture Partners. lightsage.com

⚡ Fusionality, a Swiss developer of tools for fusion companies, raised $3.7m in pre-seed funding from Founderful and Playfair. axios.link/4A2uuXd

⚡ Fryte Mobility, a German e-truck charging logistics platform, raised €3.5m in seed funding led by 4impact capital and Rethink Ventures. axios.link/4xGBZBL

• Adani Group of India agreed to sell a 5.54% stake in its airport arm for around $1b to Alpha Wave Global, Premji Invest, Temasek, and BlackRock. axios.link/4yxcraq

• Apax Partners acquired NextGen Security, an Exton, Pa.-based provider of security systems integration services, from Dunes Point Capital. nextgensecured.com

• Cerberus agreed to buy some defense assets from U.K. engineering group Goodwin (LSE: GDWN) for £1.1b. axios.link/4gJkZ7T

⚡ Copilot Capital acquired a majority stake in Green Eagle Solutions, a Spanish provider of renewable energy operations automation. axios.link/4d914wT

• HOF Capital completed its purchases of Porsche's equity interests in Rimac Group and Bugatti Rimac, valued at around €1b. axios.link/4zZWpax

• Homewerks, backed by H.I.G. Capital, acquired GTR Technologies, a Seattle-based maker of ventilation fans and other home improvement products. axios.link/46LANRH

• L Catterton and Wndr backed a founder buyout of fitness competition Hyrox from Infront Sports & Media. axios.link/4xK2cPH

• MKB, an Align Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Siltworm, a Merrillville, Ind.-based maker of erosion and sediment control products. axios.link/4hiiJVj

• Pavion, backed by Wind Point Partners, acquired Communication Company, axios.link/4czLoTe

• Point 41 Capital Partners acquired Warsaw, Ind.-based Safe-Way Garage Doors from CW Industrial Partners. axios.link/3UyjmkW

⚡ Sapphire Gas Solutions, backed by Antin Infrastructure Partners, acquired LNG assets in Arizona and Oklahoma from Spectrum LNG. axios.link/4cBfBkR

• The State Group, backed by Apollo, acquired Mel-Kay Electric, an Evansville, Ind.-based mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractor. axios.link/46hA8Hx

• Thoma Bravo invested in Tanda, an Australian workforce management, payroll and HR platform. axios.link/4r1c7hr

🚑 TPG acquired a stake in some Optum Health operations in Florida from UnitedHealth. axios.link/4xKGrzh

• American Savings Bank, a Honolulu-based lender owned by Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE: HE), set IPO terms to 7.5m shares at $15-$17. It would have a $1b market cap at the midpoint and plans to list on the NYSE (ASBH). axios.link/4iTzmrF

• Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) agreed to acquire Tazapay, a B2B cross-border payments infrastructure company, for $400m in stock. Tazapay had raised around $60m from firms like Peak XV Partners, Circle, Coinbase and Ripple. axios.link/4r5xKx9

• CBRE Investment Management agreed to buy net lease investment platform Tenet Equity from Cerberus for $1.6b. axios.link/4gJI0aU

• CVC Capital Partners is seeking to sell Arthea, the maker of Dr. Teal's and other personal care products, for around $2b, per Reuters. axios.link/4zXGeKF

• Investindustrial hired JPMorgan and Mediobanca to sell Italian bottle cap maker Guala Closures, per Reuters. axios.link/4yxcgMi

• KKR is weighing a sale process for Arnott's, the Australian maker of Tim Tams biscuits that could fetch A$3b, per The Australian. axios.link/4hgI6qu

🚑 Labcorp (NYSE: LH) acquired MLM Medical Labs, a German central and specialty lab provider, from Great Point Partners and Migration Capital. axios.link/4ypxYS4

• Runway, a New York-based AI video startup valued by VCs at over $5b, acqui-hired the team of Kinetix, a Paris-based startup that had raised around $12m from backers like Adam Ghobarah and Sparkle Venture. axios.link/4iiLlPg

• Chime (Nasdaq: CHYM) agreed to buy Tulsa-based Stride Bank for $590m. axios.link/4iZicZA

⚡️HGP Intelligent Energy, a Dallas-based nuclear services provider, agreed to merge with blank-check company Meshflow Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: MESH) at around a $1.2b implied valuation. axios.link/4xqgzYQ

• Independence Realty Trust (NYSE: IRT) agreed to merge with Centerspace (NYSE: CSR), forming a midmarket apartment REIT worth $8.1b (including debt). axios.link/4h1v9j7

• John Marshall Bancorp (Nasdaq: JMSB) is merging with fellow Virginia lender Eagle Financial Services (Nasdaq: EFSI) in a deal valued at $253m in stock. axios.link/4hjikRB

⚽ Lionel Messi reportedly signed a preliminary agreement to acquire Eldense, a Spanish soccer club. axios.link/4xWstKI

🚑 Gainline Capital Partners raised a single-asset CV for Core Health & Fitness, anchored by StepStone Group. axios.link/4h03sav

• Hudson Hill Capital raised a single-asset CV for InXpress, led by Barings and Ardlussa. axios.link/4iBn5Z1

• ICG raised €12b for its ninth structured capital fund. axios.link/3UFJSc5

• PennantPark Investment Advisers raised $745m for a private credit CV. axios.link/4xiUzz0

• Permira raised €9.4b in a first close for its ninth flagship fund, which is targeting €17b, per the WSJ. axios.link/46MdyH7

• Rohati Capital, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based direct VC and fund-of-funds manager, raised $50m for its debut fund. It's led by former Amazon Lending execs. axios.link/4gTtufh

• TrueBridge Capital Partners raised $508m for its second VC secondaries fund. axios.link/3SZPTzR

• Todd Sisitsky stepped down as president of TPG to join CVC Capital Partners as co-CEO. He'll be joined as co-CEO by existing exec Peter Rutland, with current CEO Rob Lucas to step down by Q1 2028. axios.link/4ie9xlU

• Michael Black joined Cooley as a Chicago-based partner of fund formation. He previously was with Kirkland & Ellis. axios.link/4dsRBAD

• Greg Guest joined Moelis & Co. as a managing director in the firm's private capital advisory group. He previously was with Capital One. axios.link/4ifsPaw

• Infinedi Partners hired Rohan Arora (ex-H.I.G. Capital) as a principal and Nitish Jindal (Charlesbank) as a VP. axios.link/4y3S44R

• Dev Ittycheria, former CEO of MongoDB, joined Sequoia Capital as a senior advisor. axios.link/4qZ42Kf

• Tim Meyer and Ted Speyer joined the capital advisory group of D.A. Davidson as managing directors. Meyer previously was with TD Cowen, while Speyer was at Stout Investment Banking. axios.link/4xNxqFT

🚑 Tom Rogers, former chief strategy officer at McKesson & Co., is joining Frazier Healthcare Partners as a senior partner. axios.link/4hedtSF

NFL kickoff is tonight, with the beloved Patriots seeking vengeance on the sinister Seahawks (sorry Vinod), so a quick look from S&P Kagan's inaugural look at club valuations.

• In short, valuations keep rising thanks to splintered media rights, an increasing number of billionaire buyers and the acceptance of private equity financing. Plus the foundational factor of limited supply.
• Consider the rankings to be more directional than anything else, since clubs are really worth whatever the next buyer is willing to pay.