I didn't plan to lead with taxes for a second straight day, but...

President Biden wants to nearly double the capital gains tax paid by wealthy Americans, as first reported yesterday by Bloomberg and confirmed by Axios.

Counterintuitive: Biden's plan is better for private fund managers (hedge, PE, VC, etc.) than what he proposed during the campaign.

By the numbers: Biden wants a 39.6% top rate on long-term cap gains, up from the current 20% rate, for those earning at least $1 million of annual investment income. He's also expected to maintain an ACA-related investment tax, bringing the federal toll to 43.4%.

• Key here is that Biden wants a capital gains rate at all, maintaining it as separate from ordinary income.
• During the campaign he pledged to eliminate differential treatment of cap gains for high earners, instead categorizing such monies as ordinary income. Among other things, it was a backdoor way to close the carried interest loophole, since it's predicated on a lower tax rate for capital gains.

Wait, how is this better? The White House doesn't really expect to get that 39.6% rate for cap gains, just like it didn't really expect to get a 28% corporate tax rate. It's a starting point for negotiations, with Axios' Hans Nichols reporting that the Democratic sweet spot somewhere closer to 30%.

• Yes, 30% is still way higher than the current cap gains rate.
• But it's significantly lower than the 39.6% that Biden also wants for top earners on their ordinary income, and which he's more likely to get because it's just a small bump that returns us to pre-2018 levels.

Profit-taking. No word yet on if a cap gains increase would be retroactive to 2021 taxes, or go into effect next year (as the corporate tax proposal would do). If it's the latter, and this becomes law, expect a lot of Q4 asset sales.

Caveat: All of this is part of Biden's second infrastructure proposal, but there isn't even yet legislative language on his first one (let alone a scheduled vote).

• Plus, still no word on if Democrats will insist on some sort of SALT suspension, so as to lighten the tax load on wealthy voters in states like California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

The bottom line: Everyone knew Biden planned to raise taxes on the rich. They didn't know that he might let carried interest continue being taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income.

Source: GIPHY

Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) agreed to buy carpet brand StainMaster from Invista, a subsidiary of Koch Industries.

• Why it's the BFD: The country's second-largest home improvement retailer is seeking to bolster its private label offerings by buying the country's most recognizable carpet brand. But some of the synergistic upside could be diminished if the deal causes smaller flooring retailers drop StainMaster.

• Bottom line: "The Stainmaster brand rose to fame by Dupont, which created Stainmaster and promoted it with an unprecedented $85 million advertising campaign that made the treatment, in many instances, better known than the carpets that use Stainmaster." — Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times Free Press

• AfterShip, a Hong Kong-based e-commerce shipment tracking app, raised $66 million in Series B funding. Tiger Global led, and was joined by Hillhouse Capital. http://axios.link/eCdD

• Sift, a San Francisco-based provider of fraud prevention software, raised $50 million at a valuation north of $1 billion. Insight Partners led, and was joined by Union Square Ventures and Stripes Group. http://axios.link/7GqZ

• Halter, a New Zealand-based provider of dairy herd management software, raised $23 million in Series B funding. Blackbird Ventures led, and was joined by insiders DCVC, Promus Ventures, Ubiquity Ventures and Peter Beck. www.halterhq.com

⚡ Universal Hydrogen, a Los Angeles-based developer of hydrogen storage solutions for commercial aircraft, raised $20.5 million in Series A funding. Playground Global led, and was joined by Fortescue Future Industries, Coatue, Global Founders Capital, Plug Power, Airbus Ventures, Toyota AI Ventures, Sojitz Corporation and Future Shape. http://axios.link/hssm

🚑 Monopteros Therapeutics, a Boston-based biotech focused on solid tumors, raised $20 million in Series A funding from Medicxi. http://axios.link/FtH5

• Muncher, a Colombian dark kitchen startup, raised $22 million in Series A funding. TMT Investments and Copernion Capital co-led, and were joined by Femsa Ventures, MGM Innova and Amador Holdings. http://axios.link/6Z9C

• Riverside.fm, an Israeli podcast recording platform, raised $9.5 million in Series A funding. Seven Seven Six led, and was joined by Zeev Ventures. http://axios.link/uQKG

• Holoride, an Audi spinoff that’s developing an XR in-vehicle media platform, raised €10 million in Series A funding led by Terranet. http://axios.link/07mw

⚡ PowerX, a Brooklyn-based home energy saving startup, raised $4 million led by SpringTide Ventures. www.powerx.co

• GoalBased Investors, a New York-based financial planning startup, raised $2.75 million in seed funding. True Ventures led, and was joined by The Venture Collective. http://axios.link/5nSv

🚑 Oath Care, a San Francisco-based social health app for new and expectant parents, raised $2 million from XYZ VC, General Catalyst and Muse Capital. http://axios.link/larg

• Applied XL, a Brooklyn-based B2B information startup, raised $1.5 million in seed funding. Tuesday Capital led, and was joined by Frog Ventures, Correlation Ventures and Team Europe. http://axios.link/cmml

• EQT agreed to buy Cincinnati-based school bus operators First Student and First Transit from FirstGroup (LSE: FGP) for $4.6 billion. http://axios.link/l0ZT

• Alpine Investors acquired Aspira, a Dallas-based provider of software for the outdoor recreation industry, from Vista Equity Partners. www.aspiraconnect.com

🚑 Flexpoint Ford acquired Canadian Hospital Specialties, a provider of single-use and other medical products to Canadian healthcare facilities, from Cortec Group. www.chsltd.comm

• Novo Tellus Capital Partners of Singapore invested $40 million in Tessolve, an Indian provider of semiconductor engineering services. Hero Electronix continues to be Tessolve’s majority owner. www.tessolve.com

• PAG, a Hong Kong-based buyout firm, plans to merge two Chinese industrial gases portfolio companies — Yingde Gases Group and Shanghai Baosteel Gases Group — which could be worth more than $10 billion in an offshore listing, per Reuters. http://axios.link/BFQc

🚑 Agiliti, a Minneapolis-based medical equipment management company owned by Thomas H. Lee Partners, raised $368 million in its IPO. It priced at $14 (below $18-$20 range), for a $1.75 billion market cap, and will list on the NYSE (AGTI). Agiliti reports a $22.5 million net loss on $773 million in revenue for 2020. http://axios.link/lXIa

• GPS, a Brazilian facilities services provider backed by Warburg Pincus and Gavea Investimentos, raised at least $422 million in its Sao Paulo IPO. http://axios.link/c3Rw

🚑 Impel NeuroPharma, a Seattle-based developer of treatments for CNS disorders, raised $80 million in its IPO. The pre-revenue company priced at $15- (midpoint of range), for a fully diluted value of $315 million, and will list on the Nasdaq (IMPL). It had raised $140 million from 5AM Ventures, Vivo Capital, VenBio Partners, KKR and Norwest Venture Partners. http://axios.link/bA57

• Latham Group, a Latham, N.Y.-based maker of in-ground residential swimming pools, raised $380 million in its IPO. The company priced at $19 (low end of range), for a market value of $2.29 billion, and will list on the Nasdaq (SWIM). Latham reports $16 million of net income for 2020 on $403 million in revenue, and is backed by Pamplona Capital and Wynnchurch Capital. http://axios.link/ElIj

🚑 Molecular Partners, a Swiss developer of protein therapies for COVID-19 and cancers, filed for a $100 million IPO on the Nasdaq (MOLN). It’s already listed in Switzerland, with a market cap north of $700 million. http://axios.link/BwR0

🚑 Rain Therapeutics, a Newark, Calif.-based cancer drug developer, raised $125 million in its IPO. The pre-revenue company priced at $17 (midpoint of range), for a fully diluted value of $457 million, and will list on the Nasdaq (RAIN). It had raised $92 million from BVF Partners (21.4% pre-IPO stake), Boxer Capital (16.7%), Cormorant (12.5%), Perceptive Advisors (10.7%), Sansara BioCapital (6.3%), Janus Henderson and Logos Capital. http://axios.link/0Pq4

🚑 Treace Medical Concepts, a Ponte Vedra, Fla.-based maker of surgical orthopedic devices for treating bunions, raised $191 million in its IPO. The company priced 11.3 million shares at $17, versus plans to offer 9.4 million at $15-$17, for a fully diluted value of $995 million. It will list on the Nasdaq (TMCI) and reports a $3.7 million net loss on $57 million in revenue for 2020. http://axios.link/JDte

• The Carlyle Group is seeking a buyer for its 50% stake in Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/ilAN

• Partners Group is seeking a buyer for SPi Global, a Philippines-based publishing outsourcer that could be valued at between $800 million and $1 billion, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/FkKG

• TDR Capital is receiving interest in Dutch fleet management firm LeasePlan for ALD SA (owned by Societe Generale) and Banco Santander, per Bloomberg. A deal could fetch more than $10 billion. http://axios.link/rEJh

Canadian Pacific (TSC: CP) and Canadian National (TSX: CNR) are engaged in an escalating buyout battle for Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU).

• Background: CP agreed last month to buy Kansas City Southern for $25 billion, in a deal that would have created the first railroad network to connect the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Then, this week, CRN jumped into the fray with a $30 billion offer.

• Make your case: CP argues that a CRN merger would eliminate a competitor, because both CRN and KSU have rail lines connecting the Midwest with the Gulf Coast. Canadian National has said that it would address "reasonable remediation concerns" and that CP is making "deliberately misleading claims" in order to salvage its lower bid.
• CNBC's Jim Cramer says: "The market clearly had this one completely wrong — otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten not one, but two huge takeover bids... I think the other railroad operators have a better handle on what KSU is worth than Wall Street does."

In other rail news: Thales (Paris: HO) is seeking a buyer for its rail signaling business, which could fetch at least €1.5 billion, per Reuters.

• Panasonic (Tokyo: 6752) agreed to buy Blue Yonder, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based supply chain software company, at an $8.2 billion valuation (including debt) from New Mountain Capital and The Blackstone Group, per the Nikkei. Panasonic acquired a 20% stake in Blue Yonder last year. http://axios.link/mgNe

• Silicon Laboratories (Nasdaq: SLAB) agreed to sell its infrastructure and automotive unit to Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS) for $2.75 billion in cash. http://axios.link/j5Rv

• Archean Capital Partners raised $425 million for its second fund-of-funds. The firm provides anchor capital to new PE funds, and was formed by Veritable LP and Moelis Asset Management.

• Basis Set Ventures raised $165 million for its second fund. http://axios.link/X4gE

• BaseLayer Ventures, a Florida-based VC firm led by John Milciunas (advisor to Accelerator Ventures), is raising $30 million for its debut fund, per an SEC filing.

• Congruent Ventures, an early-stage VC firm focused on climate tech, raised $165 million for its third fund. http://axios.link/Wn1K

🚑 Endeavour Vision, a medtech VC firm with offices in Minneapolis and Geneva, raised $375 million for its second fund. http://axios.link/x8JQ