President Trump's outgoing antitrust chief Makan Delrahim yesterday endorsed a proposal from House Democrats that would put new limits on acquisitions by large companies, during comments made at a Duke University event.

Why it matters: Momentum is building for major antitrust reform, updating rules that were written for railroads instead of routers.

• Democrats began agitating for it shortly after Trump took office. Some Republicans view it as a way to curb Big Tech's power. And Delrahim's words may help sway others GOP members who are on the fence.

The draft legislation cited by Delrahim would presume horizontal acquisitions by a company with more than a 50% market share in a defined market are anticompetitive, no matter the size of the acquired company.

• Delrahim said: "The goal here is to create a bright-line rule for merging parties and for courts, allowing for better business planning by private parties and better litigation planning by federal antitrust enforcers."
• He added that his endorsement was grounded in DOJ's experience with both the Visa/Plaid and Sabre/Farelogix situations.

Delrahim also proposed the creation of a public-private rulemaking body to focus on increasing competition among online platforms. Plus a pilot “specialized antitrust court,” to see if it could perform better than courts with generalist judges who lack deep antitrust and/or industry knowledge.

Primary source: Read Delrahim's full speech

The bottom line: Washington, D.C. changes today, with a new President and a new Senate majority. But the evolution of antitrust law continues to point in the same direction.

Trade groups representing private equity and venture capital firms have joined the trend of pausing political donations, in the wake of Jan. 6.

• The American Investment Council has suspended political contributions from its PAC to all political candidates for an undetermined length of time.
• The National Venture Capital Association has suspended contributions from its PAC to all members of Congress who voted to object to the certification of electoral votes. This would include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who received $10,000 from the group over the last cycle. NVCA says it's collecting feedback from members about future donations.
• Combined, the PACs gave over $1 million during 2019-2020.
• Be smart: It's easy to pause donations in January of an off-cycle year. So let's check back in 12 months.

🚨 Incoming: Joe Biden plans to sign 15 executive orders after taking office today, including reentering the Paris Climate Agreement. Read the full list.

⚖️ Beg your pardon: Trump's flurry of last-minute pardons included:

• Bob Zangrillo, a private equity investor charged in the college bribery scandal.
• William Walters, an inside trader who gave stock tips to Carl Icahn and golfer Phil Mickelson (neither of whom were charged).
• Anthony Levandowski, the self-driving vehicle entrepreneur at the center of Google's trade secrets theft lawsuit against Uber (support for the pardon came from Founders Fund's Peter Thiel and Trae Stephens, among others).

Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) rejected a $2.1 billion unsolicited takeover bid from rival Staples, instead proposing an alternative plan whereby only the companies' consumer retail operations would merge. Staples, owned by private equity firm Sycamore Partners, has not yet responded to the counteroffer.

• Why it's the BFD: This is Office Depot's effort to sidestep the antitrust scrutiny that scuttled two prior agreements to be bought by Staples, in 1996 and 2015. Staples this time around had said it would sell off ODP's commercial business as part of the purchase, but had not yet identified a buyer.

• Alt assets: Office Depot is in the midst of trying to sell its CompuCom IT services business, per its letter to Staples. It also continues to own the Office Max brand.
• Bottom line: "A tie-up, even a partial one, would bring together two of the biggest names in office supplies at a time when brick-and-mortar retailers are trying to adapt." — Anne Riley Moffat, Bloomberg

• Globality, a Menlo Park-based digital solution for sourcing strategic services, raised $138 million from Sienna Capital and SoftBank. www.globality.com

⚡ Volta, a San Francisco-based EV charging network, raised $125 million in Series D funding from firms like Energize Ventures. http://axios.link/p74z

🚑 Verve Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based gene-editing startup focused on heart disease, raised $94 million in Series B funding. Wellington Management and Casdin Capital co-led, and were joined by Redmile Group, Janus Henderson, Cormorant, Rock Springs Capital, Novo Holdings, Logos Capital, Surveyor Capital, RA Capital and return backers GV and Biomatics. http://axios.link/jnZH

🚑 Vera Therapeutics, a South SF-based developer of treatments for immunological and inflammatory diseases, raised $80 million in Series C funding. Abingworth led, and was joined by Sofinnova Investments, Longitude Capital, Fidelity, Surveyor Capital, Octagon Capital, Kleiner Perkins, GV and Alexandria Venture Investments. http://axios.link/FTg9

• Quali, an Israeli infrastructure automation platform, raised $54 million co-led by JVP and Greenfield Partners. http://axios.link/gfNZ

• Multiverse, a British tech apprenticeship platform, raised $44 million in Series B funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by GV, Audacious Ventures, Latitude, SemperVirens. Index Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners. http://axios.link/TyqK

• Shippeo, a Paris-based transportation visibility platform, raised $32 million. Battery Ventures was joined by insiders NGP Capital, ETF Partners, Partech and Bpifrance. www.shippeo.com

• StackPulse, an Israeli incident response automation platform, raised $28 million in Series A funding. GGV Capital led, and was joined by return backer Bessemer Venture Partners. http://axios.link/gFAs

🚑 Neurent Medical, an Irish developer of treatments for chronic inflammatory sinonasal diseases, raised $25 million in Series B funding. LSP and Atlantic Bridge co-led, and were joined by Fountain Healthcare Partners. www.neurentmedical.com

• Rewind, a Canadian cloud data security startup, raised US$15 million in Series A funding led by Inovia Capital. www.rewind.com

🚑 Conversa Health, a Portland, Ore.-based virtual care and communication platform, raised $13 million in new Series B funding from Builders VC, Northwell Health, P5 Health Ventures, Genesis Merchant Capital, J-Ventures and Nassau Street Ventures. www.conversahealth.com

• Landbot, a Barcelona-based no-code chatbot building platform, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Swanlaab led, and was joined by CDTI and return backers Nauta Capital, Encomenda and Bankinter. http://axios.link/6PGQ

• Arbol, a New York-based insuretech platform for parametric products, raised $7 million in Series A funding from return backers Finch Finance and Space Capital. www.arbolmarket.com

🎧 Podchaser, developer of an "IMDB for podcasts," raised $4 million led by Greycroft. http://axios.link/buO2

• TraceAir, a Redwood City, Calif.-based construction site monitoring platform, raised $3.5 million in Series A funding led by XTX Ventures led, and was joined by Liquid 2 Ventures, GEM Capital and GPS Ventures. http://axios.link/ywPo

• HiPeople, a Berlin-based reference check automation platform for HR, raised $3 million in seed funding. Moonfire led, and was joined by Capnamic Ventures and Cherry Ventures. http://axios.link/yWfy

🚑 Advent International sponsored a recap of RxBenefits, a Birmingham, Ala.-based pharmacy benefits optimizer, at around a $1.1 billion valuation. Advent now holds an equal equity stake with existing backer Great Hill Partners. www.rxbenefits.com

• American Construction Source, a Springfield, Mo.-based portfolio company of Angeles Equity Partners and Clearlake Capital Group, acquired Builder's Resource Group, a Woodville, Wis.-based residential construction firm. www.acs-lbm.com

• BV Investment Partners invested in PixelMedia, a Portsmouth, N.H.-based digital commerce services firm. www.pixelmedia.com

• Cohere Capital invested in CCS, a Portland, Ore.-based direct-to-consumer retailer of streetwear and skateboard equipment. www.ccs.com

• GS Foods, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based portfolio company of Highview Capital and A&M Capital Partners, acquired Fresno Produce, a Fresno, Calif.-based fresh produce purveyor. www.fresnoproduce.com

• Janus, a Temple, Ga.-based portfolio company of Clearlake Capital Group, acquired G&M Stor-More, an Australian provider of self-storage design and construction solutions. www.janusintl.com

• Marsello, a New Zealand-based marketing SaaS company, raised funding from Trestle Partners. www.marsello.com

• Milestone Partners agreed to buy a majority stake in property and casualty insurer Cypress Group.

🚑 Montagu Private Equity entered exclusive talks to buy IMV Technologies, a French developer of artificial insemination products, from Qualium Investissement. www.imv-technologies.com

• Montagu Private Equity agreed to acquire a majority stake in ITRS Group, a London-based provider of real-time monitoring and analytics software, from TA Associates (which will retain a stake). www.itrsgroup.com

• Odyssey Investment Partners acquired Applied Technical Services, a Marietta, Ga.-based provider of testing, inspection, and calibration services. www.atslab.com

• Removery, an Austin, Texas-based tattoo removal company, raised $50 million from Elliott Investment Management. www.removery.com

• Sixth Street agreed to buy Talcott Resolution, a Windsor, Conn.-based provider of life insurance and annuity services, from an investor group that includes Cornell Capital, Atlas Merchant Capital, TRB Advisors, Global Atlantic Financial Group, Pine Brook, J. Safra and The Hartford. www.talcottresolution.com

• Spins, a Chicago-based provider of data and analytics to the wellness products market, raised funding from Warburg Pincus, General Atlantic and Georgian Partners. www.spins.com

• Sycamore Partners agreed to buy Azamara, a boutique luxury cruise business with three ships, from Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) for $201 million. http://axios.link/2nXH

🚑 Decipher Biosciences, a San Diego-based provider of genomic tests for urologic oncology, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (DECI) and raised nearly $70 million from firms like Yonghua International (14.7% pre-IPO stake), CRG Partners (14.3%), Tekla Capital (11.4%) and UnitedHealth Group (11.4%). http://axios.link/TV0m

🚑 NexImmune, a Gaithersburg, Md.-based developer of immunotherapies for cancer, filed for an $87 million IPO. The pre-revenue company plans to list on the Nasdaq (NEXI) and raised $43 million from firms like ArrowMark (15% pre-IPO stake), Piedmont Capital (11.2%) and Allen & Co. (4%). http://axios.link/Z1AP

🚑 Signify Health, a Norwalk, Conn.-based healthcare enablement platform backed by New Mountain Capital, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (SGFY) and reports a $15 million net loss on $417 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2020. http://axios.link/5QWz

🚑 Compute Health Acquisition, a healthcare tech-focused SPAC chaired by Intel chairman Omar Ishrak and backed by Medtronic, filed for a $750 million IPO. http://axios.link/tIQR

🚑 FoxWayne Enterprises Acquisition, a biotech/telemedicine-focused SPAC, raised $50 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/x4oI

• FTAC Athena Acquisition, a financial services-focused SPAC led by Betsy Cohen and Amanda Abrams, filed for a $220 million IPO. http://axios.link/RUzI

• Gores Metropoulos II, a SPAC formed by Dean Metropoulos and The Gores Group, raised $400 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/57nx

• Itiquira Acquisition, a Brazil-focused SPAC, filed for a $200 million IPO. http://axios.link/YKKi

• JOFF Fintech Acquisition, a financial services-focused SPAC led by Joel Leonoff (ex-CEO of Paysafe), filed for a $300 million IPO. http://axios.link/3GxD

• Legato Merger, an industrials-focused SPAC formed by Eric Rosenfeld and David Sgro, raised $205 million in an upsized IPO. http://axios.link/l0NB

• Quantum FinTech Acquisition, a SPAC focused on tech services to the financial sector, filed for a $150 million IPO. http://axios.link/SFAq

• Queen's Gambit Growth Capital, a SPAC led by Ascend Communications co-founder Betsy Atkins, raised $300 million in an upsized IPO. http://axios.link/NjbA

• Oyster Enterprises Acquisition, a media/tech-focused SPAC formed by Alden Global, raised $200 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/rwBU

• TZP Strategies Acquisition, a SPAC formed by TZP Group, raised $250 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/9slu

🚑 Francisco Partners agreed to sell Capsule Technologies, a San Diego-based provider of medical device connectivity solutions, to Royal Philips for $635 million in cash. http://axios.link/J0xN

• Naver, a South Korean conglomerate, is paying $600 million in cash and stock to buy Wattpad, a Canadian storytelling and reading app that includes both professional and crowdsourced content. Wattpad raised over US$120 million from firms like USV, Khosla Ventures, August Capital, OMERS Ventures, Tencent, Kickstart Ventures and the Peterson Group. http://axios.link/BUbW

🚑 Webster Capital is seeking a buyer for Bristol Hospice, a Salt Lake City-based hospice operator, per PE Hub. http://axios.link/90E6

• Best (NYSE: BEST), a Chinese logistics firm valued just shy of $800 million, is considering a sale, per Reuters. Backers include Alibaba. http://axios.link/EWGH

• EBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) is considering a sale process for its online marketplace in South Korea, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/tVVQ

• G. K. Goh Holdings is seeking a buyer for Singapore-based corporate services provider Boardroom Ltd., which could fetch around $300 million, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/3uOG

• International Airlines Group (LSE: IAG), owner of British Airways and Iberia, agreed to buy Spain’s Air Europa for €500 million. http://axios.link/8hEn

• MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) said it will not make a formal takeover offer for Entain, owner of British gaming giant Ladbrokes, after its $11 billion approach was rebuffed. http://axios.link/HH7H

🚑 Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) agreed to buy Mesa Biotech, a handheld molecular diagnostics company, for upwards of $550 million in cash ($450m upfront). Mesa had raised over $25 million in VC funding from undisclosed investors, plus received a PPP loan. http://axios.link/u4QI

• Blue Horizon Ventures, a Zurich-based VC firm focused on sustainable food tech, raised €183 million for its debut fund. www.bluehorizonventures.com

• Growth Street Partners, a San Francisco-based growth equity firm, raised $130 million for its second fund. www.growthstreetpartners.com

🚑 Camille Farhat, ex-CEO of RTI Surgical, joined Water Street Healthcare Partners as an executive advisor. www.waterstreet.com

🚑 Mark King, former CEO of Tegra Medical, joined Vance Street Capital as an operating partner. www.vancestreetcapital.com

• Hiroshi Nishimuro joined fund placement firm Monument Group as its Japan representative in Tokyo. He previously was with Morgan Stanley. www.monumentgroup.com

• Northzone Ventures promoted Wendy Xiao Schadeck to partner. http://axios.link/Vudb

• Wes Pringle joined Onex Partners as a managing director and head of portfolio operations. He previously was with Fortive. www.onex.com

• John Schumacher joined Gryphon Investors as a partner. He previously co-founded and led GoldPoint Partners. www.gryphoninvestors.com

• Go deeper: Trump stock market underperformed Obama's