The National Basketball Association last week received initial bids for teams in its upcoming European league, with final decisions expected sometime this summer.

• Between now and then, there is a lot to be worked out.

What we know: NBA Europe is expected to include between 14 and 16 teams in a dozen European cities, with play to begin in October 2027 at the earliest.

What we hear: Sources tell me that NBA Europe club owners and the NBA itself would split economics in the league — with each holding a 45% stake.

• Another 5% would go to FIBA, the international governing body for basketball, with the remaining 5% held a dry powder for future partners.
• Last week's bids were nonbinding — really they were replies to an RFP — and were all over the map in terms of value.
• Suitors included owners of existing EuroLeague basketball clubs and European soccer clubs. Majority owners of current NBA teams were excluded.

What we've read: There were multiple nonbinding bids in excess of $500 million, and even some at $1 billion.

What's undecided: How NBA Europe will interact with the EuroLeague, which NBA bigs in New York had just assumed would shrivel up and die in the face of its new competition.

• Some EuroLeague owners may just seek to move their teams into NBA Europe, and seem to be bidding for that purpose.
• But the broader EuroLeague has signaled resistance, and its continuation could depress valuations for new NBA Europe clubs competing in the same cities. Particularly given that most EuroLeague teams already lose money.

What's unknown: Viability of the NBA's ultimate goal.

• In the short-term, NBA Europe would be a feeder league — although the NBA's developmental G League also would continue to serve a similar purpose.
• A longer-term hope is that air travel advances (e.g., supersonic jets) could make it possible for European clubs to become part of the main league. The delta between low bids and high bids may be faith in that future.

The bottom line: NBA Europe clubs will cost much less than the $6 billion asking price for expansion franchises in Seattle and Las Vegas. The discount's depth, however, remains an open question.

Neurocrine Biosciences (Nasdaq: NBIX) has agreed to acquire Redwood City, California-based Soleno Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SLNO) for $2.9 billion in cash.

Why it's the BFD: This would give Neurocrine its first metabolic disease drug — something that's evolved from "nice to have" to "must have" in the GLP-1 era.

Deal details: Neurocrine will pay $53 per Soleno share, representing a 34% premium over Friday's closing price.

The bottom line: Soleno last year received approval for a drug that treats Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disease that causes patients to experience extreme and constant hunger. It impacts up to 20,000 people in the U.S., and usually first presents in early childhood.

🚑 Syneron Bio, a Chinese peptide drug discovery startup, raised $150m in Series B funding from backers like Decheng Capital, CDH VGC, ADIA, True Light Capital, Qiming Venture Partners. axios.link/4v8COm9

• Xoople, a Spanish developer of Earth-mapping satellites for AI, raised $130m in Series B funding from Nazca Capital, MCH, CDTI, Buenavista Equity Partners, and Endeavor Catalyst. axios.link/4v7DuYJ

🚑 SpectronRx, an Indianapolis-based developer of medical isotopes, raised $85m from OrbiMed. axios.link/4dwblo6

• Noon, an SF-based product design startup, raised $44m from Chemistry, First Round Capital, Scribble Ventures, Elevation Capital, and Afore Capital. axios.link/41OvUom

🚑 Yuzu Health, an NYC-based third-party admin, raised $35m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. General Catalyst and Chemistry led, joined by Anthropic's Anthology Fund, Bain Future Back Ventures, Lachy Groom, Neo, and Timeless Ventures. axios.link/3Q4V8wa

• Moonbounce, an Oakland, Calif.-based "AI control engine," raised $12m led by Amplify Partners and StepStone. axios.link/41c2rol

🚑 HexemBio, a stem cell rejuvenation startup, raised $10.4m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Draper Associates led, joined by SOSV and Seraphim. axios.link/4crCZS0

• Aeromax, a Chimney Rock Equity Partners portfolio company, acquired The Ely Co., a Torrence, Calif.-based aerospace machining company. axios.link/4dqeEgq

• Closed Loop Partners acquired a majority stake in Sutter Metals, a Tacoma, Wash.-based provider of metals management solutions. axios.link/4bVbWOY

🚑 Efex, an Australian tech consultancy backed by Advent Partners, acquired health care-focused Priority 1. axios.link/4dvWXMq

⚡ Energy Capital Partners agreed to acquire EnergySolutions, a Salt Lake City-based provider of services across the nuclear fuel lifecycle, from TriArtisan. axios.link/4e4Fqes

• Uplift Investors acquired IMS Legal Strategies, a Dallas-based litigation services firm, from Trinity Hunt Partners. axios.link/4sfsQfK

No company plans to price a U.S. IPO this week. While we wait, The Information reports that there's some tension between OpenAI's CEO and CFO over the company's IPO timing.

• Madison Air Solutions, a Chicago-based maker of HVAC products, set IPO terms to 82.7m shares at $25-$27. It would have a $12.7b market cap, were it to price in the middle, and reports $58m of net income on $3.5b in revenue for 2025. The company plans to list on the NYSE (MAIR). axios.link/4vkQt9N

⚡ FlexGen, a Durham, N.C.-based battery energy storage software provider, acquired Clean Energy Services, a Houston-based provider of battery energy storage system and utility-scale solar services. CES backers included 13Capital. FlexGen has raised around $275m from firms like Vitol, Altira Group, and BlackForest Ventures. axios.link/3O7GiVc

🚑 GHO Capital Partners sold VISUfarma, a Dutch ophthalmology biotech, to India's Lupin. axios.link/41Q03DQ

• Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund will provide around $10b of equity financing for Paramount's (Nasdaq: PSKY) takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD), per the WSJ.

• Two other Middle Eastern sovereigns — Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi's L'imad Holding — also are involved, while earlier backer Tencent is no longer in the deal. axios.link/4crRo0v

• Gridiron Capital is targeting $2.5b for its sixth flagship midmarket fund, per a public pension disclosure. axios.link/3PTdzUD

• Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (Tokyo: 8316) and Nippon Life Insurance are in talks to launch a $3.1b private credit fund, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4sfQGYO

U.S. venture capital exit volume continues to climb, hitting its highest quarterly mark in more than four years.

• It's a welcome trend for limited partners, even if the gap between now and then akin to the Grand Canyon.
• One wildcard in the PitchBook exit data is that it doesn't include SpaceX's $250 billion absorption of xAI, which could lead to a mega-exit this June via IPO.