Emptying out the notebook before putting it away...

Shrinkage: Texas Teachers, one of the country's largest investors in private equity funds, is cutting back.

• The $200 billion pension yesterday said it plans to reduce its long-term target allocation to 12% from 14%. That's billions of dollars on its own, and even more once one realizes that its current exposure is nearly 17%.
• No secondaries sales. Instead, Texas Teachers plans to gradually hit its more modest mark by eschewing big buyout funds in favor of midmarket ones.

Sickening: The Steward saga isn't going away, even if former owner Cerberus doesn't want to answer question about it.

• The Senate health committee next week will vote on whether to launch an official investigation of the bankrupt hospital chain and subpoena CEO Ralph de la Torre.
• Most importantly, the announcement was bipartisan.
• Meanwhile, Steward reportedly is under federal investigation for alleged fraud and bribery, related to work it was contracted to do in Malta (yes, while still under Cerberus' control).

Tough taco: There was some bank analyst pushback yesterday on Darden's proposed $605 million deal for Chuy's, which we highlighted as the BFD.

• Specifically, there were concerns that Chuy's is a full-service chain in a Tex-Mex restaurant market where most growth is being seen in fast-casual.

In memoriam: J. Michael Cline, the Fandango co-founder and venture capitalist, died earlier this week from suicide.

• In addition to helping change the world of online ticketing, Cline was a partner with General Atlantic, founded venture firm Accretive and served as exec chair of VC firm Juxtapose.
• Rest in peace Michael.

Saronic, an Austin, Texas-based maker of autonomous surface vehicles for the U.S. Navy, raised $175 million in Series B funding led by Andreessen Horowitz at around a $1b valuation.

Why it's the BFD: This is a big-money reminder that drone tech isn't just for the sky.

Other investors include 8VC, Caffeinated Capital, Elad Gil, and NightDragon.

The bottom line: "The U.S. Navy has made clear its wishes for a hybrid fleet — with unmanned vessels capable of shooting, jamming, communicating — and defense contractors large and small are rushing to fill the gap." — Colin Demarest, Axios

• Glance, an Indian provider of content to smartphone lock screens, is in talks to raise up to $250m led by insider Google, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4cNCqQ7

• Slope, an SF-based B2B payments platform, raised $65m in equity and debt from backers like JPMorgan, YC, Jack Altman and Max Altman. axios.link/4bQZiNF

⚡ EneCoat, a Japanese perovskite solar startup, raised $34.1m in Series C funding. Woven Capital led, and was joined by INPEX, Mitsubishi HC Capital, Mirai Creation Fund, and Kyoto University Innovation Capital. enecoat.com

🚑 Freshpaint, an SF-based health care privacy platform, raised $30m in Series B funding led by Threshold. axios.link/3xTjtN1

🚑 Q Bio, a Palo Alto, Calif., full-body scanning startup, raised $27m from Telus Global Ventures and insiders Khosla Ventures, a16z, Founders Fund and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. axios.link/3ShUFVJ

• Allium, a blockchain enterprise data platform, raised $16.5m in Series A funding, as first reported by Axios Pro. Theory Ventures led, and was joined by insiders Kleiner Perkins and Amplify Partners. axios.link/3W7rTIB

⚡ Lyten, a San Jose, Calif., graphene and battery maker, raised $15.7m from Luxembourg Future Fund 2, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3W8JDDw

• Notable Systems, a Denver-based automated document processing startup, raised $8.8m in Series A funding led by Grotech Ventures, as first reported by Axios Pro. axios.link/3y6uBGi

🚑 Juno, a child disability insurance benefit startup, raised $8.5m in Series A funding. Spero Ventures led, and was joined by Floating Point, Newark Ventures, and WVV Capital. junokids.com

• Zivoe, a real-world asset credit protocol, raised $8.35m from Andrew Keys, Iceberg Capital, and Concave. zivoe.com

🌎 Boon, an Indian water-tech startup, raised $5m in Series A funding led by Roca Group Ventures. axios.link/4cOpTvW

• Wamo, a London provider of SME cross-border payment and corporate card solutions, raised $5m in Series A funding from Logo Ventures, Finberg, and Re-Pie Asset Management. axios.link/3SfzFip

• GovPort, an Annandale, Va., federal contract management SaaS, raised $2.8m from PruVen Capital and Fin Capital. govport.com

• SAIZ, a German personalized clothing-sizing startup, raised €2.5m in seed funding co-led by EnjoyVenture and Salica Investments. axios.link/3Ya5j4H

• Asterion Industrial Partners agreed to buy a 49% stake in Italian airport business 2i Aeroporti from Ardian and Credit Agricole Assurance. axios.link/4bKnqBv

• BBB Industries, a Daphne, Ala., auto replacement parts provider owned by Clearlake Capital Group, agreed to buy Orlando-based All Star Auto Parts. bbbind.com

🚑 Clayton Dubilier & Rice and TowerBrook Capital Partners may team up on a bid for R1 RCM (NYSE: RCM), a Murray, Utah-based health care services provider that already received a $5.7b approach from New Mountain Capital. axios.link/3Sabv95

• Cinven is in advanced talks to buy a stake in Swedish healthy beverage maker Vitamin Well Group, a portfolio company of Bridgepoint, at a valuation north of €2b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3WrsSEU

🚑 Dechra Pharma, a British drugmaker owned by EQT and ADIA, acquired Invetx, a Boston provider of protein-based therapeutics for animal health, for up to $520m. Invetx had raised over $80m frim firms like Novo Holdings, GV, Eight Roads, F-Prime, and Casdin Capital. invetx.com

• Diversis Capital agreed to buy Infotech, a Gainesville, Fla., provider of infrastructure construction software, from Carebook (TSX:CRBK). infotechinc.com

• PartnerOne bought mobile-app testing firm HeadSpin for $28m, months after the startup's founder was sentenced to 18 months in prison for fraud. HeadSpin once was valued at more than $1b by venture capitalists.

• Smartsheet (NYSE: SMAR), a Bellevue, Wash., workplace collaboration software firm with a $6.6b market cap, hired Qatalyst Partners to review PE takeover approaches, per Reuters. axios.link/4bLhjgh

• Trivest Partners agreed to buy Province, a financial restructuring advisor whose work included the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy. axios.link/3xUagEb

🚑 LATAM Airlines Group, a South American airline group that trades publicly in Chile, filed for a $533m U.S. IPO. Backers include Sixth Street Partners, Strategic Value Partners, Delta Air Lines, and Qatar Airways. axios.link/3WrrbHA

• Vine Hill Capital Investment, led by SPAC vet Nicholas Petruska, filed for a $200m IPO. axios.link/4bNl58J

• Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is considering a sale of up to a 50% stake in Epicor, an Austin, Texas industry-specific business software firm that could be worth up to $9b, per Reuters. CD&R bought Epicor for $4.7b in 2020. axios.link/4fcE13C

🚑 Surgery Partners, a Brentwood, Tenn., surgical facilities operator backed by Bain Capital, is weighing a sale, per Bloomberg. Its market cap is $3.7b. axios.link/3zOdppz

• Clear Street, a capital markets infrastructure startup valued at $2.1b by VCs, agreed to acquire Fox River, the algorithmic trading business of Instinet. axios.link/3WdzipR

🚑 Florida Cancer Specialists, a value-based cancer care provider, is fielding $3b+ takeover interest from McKesson (NYSE: MCK), Cencora (NYSE: COR), and Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH), per Bloomberg. axios.link/467G1pP

• ION Group completed its €1.35b takeover of Italian asset manager Prelios. axios.link/4fciS9E

• Meta (Nasdaq: META) is in talks to buy around a 5% stake in eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica (Paris: ESLX). axios.link/3zMbnWR

• Lightyear Capital, a New York-based PE firm, is raising its sixth fund. per an SEC filing.

• Parable Partners, a new VC firm led by Anne Skates (ex-a16z) is raising its debut fund, per an SEC filing.

• Hugh Boyle joined Blue Owl Capital as a managing director. He previously was with Onex Corp. axios.link/3xZxOrd

• Goldman Sachs named Carsten Woehrn (ex-JPMorgan) and Nimesh Khiroya as co-heads of EMEA M&A, per Reuters. It also said Haidee Lee is leaving JPMorgan to return as global co-head of sponsor M&A. axios.link/4dbAcdr

• Obvious Ventures promoted Kahini Shah to partner. axios.link/3zQKrp1

Trump Media & Technology Group shares aren't tracking presidential race probabilities, even though some have argued that the stock is an avatar for its namesake's chances.

• Trump and Biden held their debate on June 27, after which the contest clearly shifted in Trump's favor. But TMTG stock actually began to sink, only rebounding after last weekend's assassination attempt.

Look ahead: Trump holds over 60% of the company, which is currently valued at $7.1 billion, and can begin selling shares in late September.