The Federal Communications Commission is threatening to block media mergers based on corporate DEI policies.

Why it matters: This creates new layers of complexity and uncertainty for dealmakers, and reflects how the Trump administration is willing to pull novel levers to stop what most CEOs viewed as sensible policies until two months ago.

Driving the news: FCC chair Brendan Carr tells Bloomberg that he only can "approve a transaction if we find that doing so serves the public interest ... If there's businesses out there that are still promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination, I really don't see a path forward where the FCC could reach the conclusion that approving the transaction is going to be in the public interest."

• He also mentioned several pending transactions, including Paramount's merger with Skydance, Verizon's $20 billion deal for Frontier Communications, and U.S. Cellular's $4.4 billion wireless unit sale to T-Mobile US.
• The Federal Trade Commission declined to comment when asked by Axios if it plans to take a similar tact, which itself feels significant.

Zoom in: The FCC doesn't have antitrust regulation powers like the FTC or DOJ, but does need to approve broadcast license transfers and the ability to launch investigations that can drown deals via delay.

• In an interesting twist, however, the FCC also is legally required to "prevent digital discrimination of access to broadband services based on income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin."

The bottom line: It's not clear that President Trump's executive order on DEI gives federal agencies the legal authority to block mergers on such grounds, but all sorts of institutions — from universities to law firms — have been choosing protection over principle. No reason to think that dealmakers will act any different.

23andMe (Nasdaq: ME) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and launched a sale process, just weeks after rejecting a takeover offer from co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki.

• Wojcicki stepped down as CEO, but remains on the board and still hopes to buy the business.

Why it's the BFD: The writing was on the wall when 23andMe's independent directors quit last fall, but it's still stunning to witness the dysfunctional destruction of the rare biotech unicorn to become a household name.

By the numbers: 23andMe, which went public via SPAC in 2021 at a $3.5 billion valuation, listed $277 million in assets and $215 million in liabilities. It also secured $35 million of DIP financing from JMB Capital Partners.

• Shares closed Friday at $1.79 per share, or over 4x what Wojcicki offered, although they're tanking this morning.

The bottom line: "There's no repeat incentive for consumers to keep testing their DNA, and the data 23andMe sold to drug developers wasn't proving valuable enough. It's a plan that made sense on paper but was hard to execute. Don't be surprised if we see similar outcomes for functional medicine companies that rely on DNA testing subscriptions for revenue." — Claire Rychlewski, Axios Pro

• The Bot Co., a robotics startup founded by former Cruise CEO, Kyle Vogt, raised $150m at a $2b valuation led by Greenoaks, per Reuters. axios.link/4iDkevM

🚑 Cardiac Dimensions, a Kirkland, Wash., developer of minimally invasive treatments for heart failure and functional mitral regurgitation, raised $53m in Series A funding. Ally Bridge Group led, and was joined by Claret Capital Partners, Cardiac Dimensions investors Hostplus, M.H. Carnegie, Horizon 3 Healthcare, and Lumira Ventures. cardiacdimensions.com

• Rain, a New York-based credit and debit card issuers that lets users settle in stablecoins, raised $24.5m. Norwest Venture Partners led, and was joined by Galaxy Ventures, Goldcrest, Thayer, Hard Yaka and insiders Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coinbase Ventures, Vinyl Capital, Canonical Crypto, and Latitude Capital. axios.link/4hAqgfj

• RockFi, a French wealth management fintech, raised €18m in Series A funding. Partech led, and was joined by insider Varsity. axios.link/4bZh1nE

• Browser Use, an SF-based startup helping AI agents navigate websites, raised $17m in seed funding. Felicis led, and was joined by A Capital, SV Angel, Nexus Venture Partners, and Paul Graham. axios.link/41TZsAS

• Enza, a provider of infrastructure solutions for African banks, raised $6m co-led by Algebra Ventures and Quona Capital. axios.link/4hzSUx7

🌎 AtmoCooling, a Seattle developer of seawater evaporative cooling tech, raised $2.6m in pre-seed funding co-led by Nucleus Capital and Revent Ventures. atmocooling.com

• ADIA agreed to buy outdoor accommodation operator European Camping Group from PAI Partners (which retains a minority stake). axios.link/41SiNSZ

🚑 AIM Equity Partners invested in AMOpportunities, a Chicago-based health-care training platform. amopportunities.org

• Clearlake Capital Group agreed to buy Wall Street data provider Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE: DNB) for $7.7b (including $3.6b in debt). axios.link/41UEzW5

• Interstate Waste Services, a portfolio company of Littlejohn & Co. and Ares Management, acquired Pinto, a New Jersey waste hauler. interstatewaste.com

• Regent agreed to buy media company TechCrunch from Yahoo, a portfolio company of Apollo. axios.link/4kS0BS4

• ResultsCX, a Norristown, Pa., portfolio company of ChrysCap, acquired Aucera, a Mahwah, N.J., customer experience management company. resultscx.com

• Silver Lake completed its $13b take-private of Endeavor Group.

⚡ Stonepeak agreed to invest in Longview Infrastructure, a new electric transmission development and investment platform. axios.link/422N6qe

• X Holdings plans to buy back the remaining $1.2b of bank debt tied to its 2023 buyout, possibly financed via a recent equity raise in which Elon Musk participated, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4cbzMo9

CoreWeave is expected to be the week's only large IPO on U.S. exchanges.

• StubHub, a ticket resale marketplace, filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (STUB) and reports a $2.8 million loss on $1.77 billion in revenue for 2024. Shareholders include Madrone Partners, WestCap, Bessemer Venture Partners, PointState Capital, and Declaration Partners. axios.link/4bWbKNN

• Xiaomi (HK: 1810) launched a share sale that could fetch up to $5.3b, to help fund its EV business expansion. axios.link/4iYMgl7

• Berto Acquisition, a SPAC led by blank-check vet Harry Yu, filed for a $250m IPO. axios.link/4hxErBK

• Apollo is seeking to sell its majority stake in TV and radio group Cox Media, which could fetch around $4b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/41SVisT

• Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) is in advanced talks to buy Derebit, a crypto derivatives exchange whose backers include QCP Group, 10T Holdings and Polybius Capital, per Bloomberg. Prior reports were that Kraken had interest in Derebit. axios.link/4hFero1

• Furiosa, a South Korean AI chipmaker, reportedly turned down an $800m takeover offer from Meta (Nasdaq: META). The startup instead will raise around $50m in new funding, having previously raised over $100m. axios.link/41VIhin

• Gold Road Resources (ASX: GOR), an Australian gold miner, turned down a A$3.3b all-cash takeover offer from South Africa's Gold Fields (JSE: GFI). axios.link/4l0g2rx

• Iveco Group (Milan: IVG) is seeking to sell its defense unit, which could fetch up to €1.5b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4iAekvg

• James Hardie Industries (ASX: JHX) offered to buy Chicago-based artificial decking maker AZEK for $8.75b in cash and stock. axios.link/41UWH2a

• Tele2, a listed Swedish telco, is seeking to raise around €500m by selling its Baltics wireless towers, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4lbrII7

• Haun Ventures is targeting $1b for its second set of crypto-focused funds, per Fortune. axios.link/4bVleZB

• Oakley Capital of London raised €4.5b for its sixth flagship PE fund. axios.link/4iEYSy8

• Qiming Venture Partners of China is targeting $800m for its ninth fund with a $1b hard cap, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4irnzxL

• Square Nine Capital, formed by Nicole Musicco (ex-CalPERS) and Peter Ma (Morgan Stanley), is raising more than $1b for its debut private credit fund, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4hEKGnl

• Capstone Partners promoted Crista Gilmore to managing director, focused on building products and construction services. axios.link/41RZNnx

• Jeff Roberts joined High Street Capital as an operating partner. He previously was a GM with Crafts Technology. axios.link/4kURXCs

PwC has published an analysis of how new tariffs could impact U.S. private equity, saying that firms should be talking with portfolio companies about "diversifying supply chains, reassessing sourcing locations, and exploring tariff engineering as well as dynamic pricing models to reduce costs and stay competitive."

• All of this comes as President Trump already seems to be narrowing the tariffs that are scheduled to hit on April 2, a development that sent stocks soaring at today's open.