Emptying out the notebook with collected thoughts on this week's news:

🚴 Uber (NYSE: UBER) on Thursday announced plans to acquire Germany-based Delivery Hero at a $14.8 billion valuation. Uber already owns 24.8% of Delivery Hero's voting shares.

• The deal already proposes divestitures in 14 markets (particularly in overlapping ones), likely a preemptive effort to ward off regulatory scrutiny. But given the consumer base and recent string of consolidations in the space, you can expect scrutiny anyway.
• Uber is also committing to invest €2 billion in Germany over the next five years.
• Shares of Delivery Hero are notably trading at a 7.6% discount to Uber's offer in Germany today.
• Uber may become more of a food delivery company than a ride-hailing one if the deal closes. Ride-hailing was its largest segment last year, making $29.7 billion. But delivery was second at $17.3 billion, and was the only segment that didn't lose money on an EBITDA basis.
• Delivery Hero posted $16.5 billion last year in revenue.

🤔 There was some weirdness earlier this week regarding the 12 states' lawsuit against the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger earlier this week.

• Specifically, it was around the question of who was on the hook for the ticking fee that Paramount agreed to pay if the merger does not close by Sept. 30. That fee could total $650 million every quarter the deal does not close.
• The states are seeking a preliminary injunction to pause the deal. That usually comes with a bond, which would be paid by the states in this case, that eventually lands in the defendant's pockets if the injunction is found to have been wrongfully issued. In theory, that bond could be set to cover said fee — but in practice, it generally does not get set that high.
• But even if the states were to lose this case, that bond amount still wouldn't necessarily go to Paramount-WBD. "Wrongful" in this case would require some kind of misconduct on the state's side, says Herbert Hovenkamp, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Carey Law School.
• Of note: This lawsuit is composed entirely of currently blue states — a departure from recent state AG-led antitrust suits. The Live Nation-Ticketmaster coalition notably included Texas, which has historically been highly active in antitrust.
• "It's not too late, if Republican attorney generals want to join this case, reach out to us," Bonta said.

🤷 What is Stripe playing at? That was the question being asked repeatedly in the fintech universe yesterday, following news of its joint bid with Advent International for PayPal.

• The bid currently would allow PayPal to operate as a standalone business — which raises questions at what "synergies" are to be had between a separate Stripe and PayPal.
• The bottom line: Don't be surprised to see this bid change shape over time.

Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) has agreed to buy AtaiBeckley (Nasdaq: ATAI), a psychedelic treatment developer, for up to $3.8 billion.

Why it's the BFD: Pharmaceutical giants, previously hesitant to dabble with psychedelics, have started to sample.

• This deal would be the largest psychedelic deal yet, and it follows AbbVie's acquisition of Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals' lead candidate for up to $1.2 billion last August.

Zoom in: Eli Lilly will pay $2.8 billion in cash up front — a 26% premium to AtaiBeckley's Wednesday closing price — with another $1 billion contingent on certain milestones.

• Initial Phase 3 trial results of AtaiBeckley's lead drug, a nasal spray known as BPL-003, are expected to come in 2029.

The big picture: This all comes as the Trump administration is fast-tracking psychedelic or MDMA-like therapy research.

Editor's note: BFD has been corrected to reflect that AbbVie acquired Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals' lead drug candidate (not the entire company).

• Fireworks, a San Mateo, Calif.-based custom training company, raised $1.5b in Series D funding at a $17.5b valuation. Atreides Management, Index Ventures, and TCV led, joined by Evantic, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and NVIDIA. axios.link/4gBeyEi

• Walden Robotics, a Cambridge, Mass.-general-purpose robotics company, raised $300m, valuing it at $1.1b. Toyota and Deviation Capital led, joined by Nvidia, Boeing, AE Ventures, Samsung Ventures, CoreWeave Ventures, Calibrate Ventures, Colle Capital, Shine Capital, NextView Ventures, Squarepoint Capital, One Madison Group, KAS Venture Partners, and Menlo Ventures. waldenrobotics.com

• Astro Mechanica, a developer of turboelectric supersonic jet engines, plans to raise $250m in Series B funding. axios.link/4gBxq65

• Alpaca, an embedded trading startup, raised $135m in extended Series D funding. Peak XV led. Elefund, Opera Tech Ventures, and Unbound joined. axios.link/3TEWEa3

• Microagi, a Munich-founded robotics-deployment company, raised a $55m seed. Hummingbird led, joined by Northzone, LocalGlobe, Village Global and redalpine. microagi.ai

• Hemispheric, a Tel Aviv-based platform seeking to understand the human brain, raised $52m. Investors included Hanaco Ventures, OneMind/Awareness Capital, Protocol Labs, L Catterton, Arkin Capital, Howard Morgan, Naomi Azrieli, Yasmin Lukatz, and Scott Belsky. axios.link/4bLHlCG

🌍 Syntetica, a French textile waste recycling company, raised $30m in Series A funding. Ecotechnologies 2 fund led, joined by SWEN Capital Partners, lululemon, MAS Holdings,EQT Ventures, and the family offices of Peugeot. syntetica.co

• Rime, an SF-based enterprise voice AI startup, raised a $24m Series A. M13 led, joined by Twilio Ventures, Corazon Capital, and Unusual Ventures. axios.link/4w7W9nx

• Monumental, an Amsterdam-based construction automation company, raised $32m in Series B funding led by Khosla Ventures, joined by Hummingbird and Plural. monumental.co

• Cyclops, a Miami-based stablecoin infrastructure company, raised a $20m Series A led by Nava Ventures. Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Circle, Lasagna Ventures and Global PayTech Ventures joined. cyclops.io

• Beacon Security, an agentic security platform, raised a $13m seed led by Notable Capital. Holly Ventures, AlphaDrive Ventures, SVCI, and Jefferies Family Office joined. axios.link/455UHG6

• Aina, an SF and Bangalore-based maker of a context-aware smart keypad, raised $5.5m in funding. Redstart Labs and 360 ONE Asset led, joined by MIXI Global Investments, Antler, and Blume Founders Fund. aina.com

• Float, a Stockholm-based financing platform for tech SMEs, raised €4.5m in Series A funding led by CHAPTERS Group AG. floatfinance.com

• EverSettled, an estate settlement company, raised $5m in seed funding led by Emergence Capital, with participation from Seedcamp, Bridge Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Entrepreneurs First and Transpose Platform. axios.link/4vu6au9

⚡️Blue Energy, a nuclear power startup, received an investment from Constellation Energy's VC arm, per Axios Future of Energy. axios.link/4gHrrNc

• ADC Aerospace, backed by GreyLion, acquired Hyatt Die Cast & Engineering Corp., a manufacturer of aluminum and zinc die castings. axios.link/4fCzBFp

• Amplix, a Gemspring Capital portfolio company, acquired OneConnect, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based technology marketplace guide. axios.link/4w83CD2

⚡Ardian acquired a majority stake in Munich Electrification, a German battery management systems and electronics components company. axios.link/4fCtm4v

• Caltius Equity Partners invested in SaaS Consulting Group, an Austin, Texas-based provider of business transformation services for mid-market organizations. axios.link/3RDbwFl

• Cutting Edge Group acquired Brian Tyler's catalog of music rights. Tyler composed scores for "The Fast and the Furious" and "Yellowstone." axios.link/3T78tWo

• EQT raised its bid for Japanese classifieds marketplace company Kakaku.com to ¥3,440 and ¥3,460 per share from ¥3,000, above the ¥3,384 that LY and Bain proposed, valuing it around $4.1b. axios.link/4plDe5W

⚡KKR and Energy Capital Partners sweetened their takeover bid for DCC (LON: DCC), an Irish energy distributor, valuing it up to £5.81b. axios.link/4aW1Axe

• Kroll, backed by Stone Point Capital and Further Global, acquired ABC Economics, a Berlin-based economics and global competition advisory firm. axios.link/3QZBmTT

• Ode with Anthropic, backed by Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman, officially launched as a standalone AI services company. axios.link/4yrKfq1

🚑 Health Wave Partners acquired Alamar Senior Living, a Wellington, Fla.-based assisted living community. axios.link/4fqsmPU

• Podean, backed by Mountaingate Capital, acquired Social Commerce Club, a Vancouver-based TikTok Shop social commerce agency. axios.link/4f5E57w

• Raintree, backed by Serent Capital, acquired Spike Technologies, an NYC-based ambient scribe company. axios.link/4wOKeuQ

🚑 Ridgemont Equity Partners acquired Caring Transitions, a senior move management services and online estate and liquidation services company. axios.link/3T8F9yM

• Skybound Service Partners, backed by Garnett Station Partners, acquired three roofing companies: Lewiston, Pa.-based David M. Maines & Associates; Bradenton, Fla.-based Unicoat Industrial Roofing; and Helena, Ohio-based Technique Roofing Systems. skyboundservicepartners.com

• Veritas Capital agreed to acquire BGIS, an integrated facilities management services company, from CCMP Capital Advisors and Alberta Investment Management Corporation. axios.link/4f5RX1q

• ABB agreed to acquire Rotork (LON:ROR), a manufacturer of electric actuators, for $5.5b. axios.link/4bG1D0j

• Csquare, a Coppell, Texas-based data center operator backed by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, raised $1.1b in its IPO offering offering 50m shares at $21 apiece, below its $23 to $27 range. It plans to list on the NYSE (CSQR). axios.link/4p6ZxfI

⚡️ Standard Nuclear, an Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based maker of fuel for small modular reactors, raised $150m, half its original plan. It plans to list on the NYSE (STDN) and raised over $180m from firms like Decisive Point, Welara, Fundomo, Crucible Capital, and Washington Harbour. axios.link/44uy7Hd

• Churchill Capital XIII, a blank check company from former Citi executive Michael Klein, filed to raise $300m. axios.link/456gqhf

• Whatnot, backed by a16z and CapitalG, acquired Shaped, an AI real-time ranking system for recommendations and search backed by Madrona Ventures. axios.link/4aXPOlX

• LionLight Capital Fund I closed with $215m. axios.link/4f5Nr2Y

• Sagard Credit Partners held the first close of Sagard Credit Partners III with over $1b. It is targeting $2b. axios.link/4pxrUDV

• Founders Fund named Ryan Beiermeister as a partner. axios.link/4wGOYT2

• HighVista Strategies appointed Ramit Malhotra as principal on its New York-based GP-led secondaries team. highvistastrategies.com

• Moelis & Company appointed Justin Polselli as a managing director focused on debt capital markets. axios.link/3SXZFSN

• William Blair hired Michael Allwin as managing director and head of Biopharma investment banking. axios.link/4pos3JT

SpaceX briefly traded below its $135 IPO price late yesterday, and spent much of today's premarket trading below it, before opening at $135.01.