• Con-con: A group of small conservative news outlets yesterday asked the FCC to block Sinclair Broadcasting's proposed $3.9 billion takeover of Tribune Media, saying that it would violate media ownership rules and decrease consumer choice. Or, put more simply, they're worried about a new 800 lb. gorilla in their niche.

• From Axios' David McCabe: "The truth is that things are still looking pretty good for Sinclair. The FCC has been friendly so far and the company's ties to the Trump administration are well-documented. But one thing to watch is how concerns about the deal are changing Sinclair from an under-the-radar player to more of a household name. To that point: MSNBC's Chris Hayes ran a segment on the company last night and it got the John Oliver treatment in July."

• On that Google memo: Silicon Valley's dirty secret is that it's part of America, and is therefore prone to many of the same cultural flaws inherent in other industries and communities. Would we have even batted a collective eye if the memo had been written by someone working on Wall Street, or at a Fortune 500 manufacturer?

• Tweetstorm #1: Benchmark Capital took to Twitter yesterday, in an apparent response to reports over its talks to sell its Uber shares to SoftBank.

• Key tweet: We are long Uber: Benchmark's comparative valuation analysis shows Uber could comfortably be worth over $100B in just two years.
• Thought bubble: Deal talks are at a sizable discount to Uber's most recent private valuation of $70 billion. If Benchmark does sell, it will need to explain this tweet to limited partners (although it can just do so on the memo line of those still-massive distribution checks).

• Tweetstorm #2: Pete Flint, founder and CEO of real estate platform Trulia (acquired by Zillow for $3.5 billion), breaks down the importance of RedFin's recent IPO.

• Key tweet: The Zillow & Trulia IPOs were the nail in the coffin for traditional RE media - newspapers, will Redfin do the same for brokers?

• In process: Reuters reports that Vantiv tomorrow will announce its formal takeover offer for British payments company WorldPay, after multiple delays borne of concerns about how the $10 billion deal will be viewed by UK regulators: "Vantiv has made some adjustments to the new governance structure but very little had changed in the composition of its cash and share offer."

• VC tie-up: Innovations Endeavors, a Silicon Valley venture firm co-founded and funded by Eric Schmidt, has merged with Israeli venture firm Marker LLC. The firms aren't talking beyond a short blog post, which sounds like fundraising is either underway or about to commence. We had reported earlier that Innovations Endeavors was planning to raise outside capital for the first time, and the blog post now refers to Schmidt as "anchor LP."

• Counter-culture: While M&A-related protectionism has been taking hold in places in China and the U.S., it is actually loosening in Saudi Arabia. The Middle Eastern nation yesterday said that foreign entities now will be allowed to own 100% of Saudi engineering companies, so long as the foreign entity has been in business for a decade and has operations in at least four countries. The prior policy required foreign entities to partner with Saudi engineering companies, without taking full ownership.

• United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) has approached rival aerospace supplies company Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL) about a merger, according to the WSJ. Rockwell Collins currently has a market cap north of $20 billion, and a merger would result in a UTC aerospace business that generates around $40 billion in annual revenue.

• Why it's the BFD: This deal could set up a major battle between plane manufacturers and parts suppliers, the former of which have been eating into the latter's business by trying to offer end-to-end maintenance. By merging, UTC and Rockwell Collins would have more leverage in such negotiations with carriers and other plane owners (including the U.S. military), particularly given that the two companies don't have much product overlap.
• Cold water: "UTC CEO Greg Hayes has shown a greater willingness to consider M&A as the company wraps up a commitment to return $22 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. But he's talked about targets in the $250 million to $1 billion range and signaled a bigger bet would be partly dependent on tax reform that gave the company access to its roughly $6 billion in overseas cash. Hayes has also been adamant about not overpaying. Going after Rockwell Collins would seem to go against this deal-making philosophy." Brooke Sutherland, Bloomberg

🚑 Karius, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based developer of infectious disease diagnostics, has raised $50 million in new VC funding from Khosla Ventures, Tencent, Innovation Endeavors, Data Collective and Lightspeed Venture Partners. http://cnb.cx/2wArjpa

• Oryx Vision, an Israeli developer of LiDAR technology, has raised $50 million in Series B funding co-led by Third Point Ventures and WRV. http://tcrn.ch/2wq5TMz

• RedAwning, an Emeryville, Calif.-based network for vacation property rentals, has raised $40 million in growth equity funding led by Silversmith Capital Partners.

• Signals Analytics, an Israel-based cloud analytics platform for product portfolio decisions, has raised $25 million in Series C funding. Pitango Growth led the round, and was joined by return backers Sequoia Captial and Qumra Capital. www.signalsanalytics.co

• TYT Network, an online news network for millennials that produces such programs as left-leaning The Young Turks, has raised $20 million in new VC funding. 3L Capital led the round, and was joined by Greycroft, e.Ventures and WndrCo. www.tytnetwork.com

• Jetty, a New York-based provider of home rental financing solutions, has raised $11.5 million in Series A funding. Valar Ventures led the round, and was joined by seed backers Ribbit Capital, SV Angel, BoxGroup and Red Swan. www.jetty.com

• Kyndi, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based developer of AI tools for organizations to "anticipate and act on opportunities and threats," has raised $8.5 million in Series B funding from PivotNorth Capital, Darling Ventures and Citrix Systems. www.kyndi.com

• MagicCube, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based startup that wants to enable large-scale deployment and management of IoT solutions to consumers, has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. Bold Capital Partners led the round, and was joined by Epic Ventures and Social Starts. www.magiccube.co

🌽 Crop Pro Insurance, a Grimes, Iowa-based insurance tech startup focused on helping farmers manage risk, has raised $8 million in Series A funding. Finistere Ventures and Seed 2Growth Ventures co-led the round, and were joined by GuideOne Insurance. www.croppro.com

• Tinkergarten, a Northampton, Mass.-based provider of outdoor early childhood education, has raised $5.4 million in Series A funding. Owl Ventures led the round, and was joined by return backers Omidyar Network and Reach Capital. www.tinkergarten.com

• CarDash, a San Francisco-based end-to-end concierge service for auto maintenance, has raised $5.3 million in Series A funding. Index Ventures and Felicis Ventures co-led the round, and were joined by Y Combinator, Afore Capital, NextView Ventures and NextGen Venture Partners. http://tcrn.ch/2wpT2tq

• Rothy's, a San Francisco-based maker of women's shoes that are partially made from recycled plastic water bottles, has raised $5 million in VC funding from firms like Lightspeed Venture Partners, per an SEC filing. www.rothys.com

• Fatherly, a New York-based content site focused on millennial dads, has raised $4 million in VC funding from Bertelsmann and talent agency UTA. http://for.tn/2uisGbE

• Tokyo Smoke, a Canadian medical cannabis brand, has raised C$4 million in Series B funding from Aphria and Green Acre Capital. http://bit.ly/2wDAc1i

• Darkstore, a San Francisco-based third-party logistics startup, has raised $1.4 million in seed funding from PivotNorth Capital. http://bit.ly/2wpeG1f

• Careem, a Dubai-based ride-hail startup, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Didi Chuxing. http://bit.ly/2ulA0Hh

🚑 Air Medical Group, a Lewisville, Texas-based portfolio company of KKR, has agreed to acquire medical transport company American Medical Response from Envision Healthcare (NYSE: EVHC), at an enterprise value of $2.4 billion. http://reut.rs/2uBYzey

• Arsenal Capital Partners has agreed to acquire Cyalume Technologies (OTC:CYLU), a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based maker of chemiluminescent products. The deal is valued at $45 million. www.cyalume.com

• GSR Capital, a Chinese private equity firm, has agreed to buy Nissan Motor Co.'s (Tokyo: 7201) electric battery business for an undisclosed amount. The deal would include manufacturing facilities in Japan, the UK and Tennessee. http://on.ft.com/2veOh7t

⛽ Nadel and Gussman, a Tulsa, Okla.-based oil and gas exploration and development company initially focused on the Haynesville Shale, has secured a $100 million equity commitment from Post Oak Energy Capital. http://bit.ly/2vKHKTC

• Sweeping Corp., a Nashville, Tenn.-based portfolio company of Soundcore Capital Partners, has acquired Reilly Sweeping, a Fairless Hills, Penn.-based provider of parking lot and street sweeping services in the Mid-Atlantic region. No financial terms were disclosed. www.sweepingcorp.com

⛽ Tri Con Works, a Houston-based landfill gas collection and monitoring company owned by Aperion Management, has acquired Diamondback Works, a La Porte, Texas-based provider of construction services to the petrochemical industry. No financial terms were disclosed. www.triconworks.com

🚑 Wellnext, a Sunrise, Fla.-based dietary and nutritional supplements maker owned by WM Partners, has acquired NeoCall, an Irvine, Calif.-based collagen supplement company. No financial terms were disclosed. www.wellnexthealth.com

• Global Blue, a Switzerland-based tax-free shopping network, has picked Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley to lead an IPO that is expected in the first half of 2018, per Sky News. Shareholders include Silver Lake Partners and Partners Group. http://bit.ly/2vJaXgN

🍧Eden Creamery (d.b.a. Halo Tops), a Los Angeles-based ice cream maker, is seeking upwards of $2 billion in a sale, according to Reuters. Barclays is managing the process. http://reut.rs/2wDGiPp

• Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) has acquired Millarworld, an independent comic book publisher whose titles include Kingsman, for an undisclosed amount. http://tcrn.ch/2hBmU2W

🚑 Scopia Capital is calling for neurological drugmaker Acorda Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ACOR) to explore a sale, per an SEC filing. New York-based hedge fund Scopa currently owns a 17% stake in Acorda, which has a market cap just north of $1 billion. http://reut.rs/2fpQMi6

• CapitalSpring, a New York-based private equity firm focused on the branded restaurant industry, has closed its fifth fund with $725 million in capital commitments. www.capitalspring.com

• Harbert Growth Partners, a growth equity affiliate of Virginia-based Harbert Management Corp., has closed its fourth fund with $120 million in capital commitments. www.harbert.net

Terra Firma Capital Partners, a UK-based buyout firm, is raising up to $3.42 billion for its sixth fund, per an SEC filing. www.terrafirma.com

• TowerBrook Capital Partners is pre-marketing its fifth private equity fund with a €5 billion target, per Bloomberg. www.towerbrook.com

• Vintage Investment Partners has closed its fourth VC secondaries fund with $215 million in capital commitments. www.vintage-ip.com

• JMI Equity has promoted Larry Contrella to principal and Paul Chang to vice president. www.jmi.com

• John Prasetio, Indonesia's former ambassador to Korea, has joined General Atlantic as a special advisor focused on Southeast Asia. www.generalatlatnic.com

• John Tough has joined Invenergy Future Fund as a partner. He previously was chief revenue officer for Choose Energy, which was sold to Red Ventures. www.invenergyfuturefund.com