It's been 16 months since H.I.G. Capital and Audax Group sued each other, in a case that could pierce a "corporate veil" that private equity uses to shield itself from liability.

• The company at the heart of their dispute has since gone bankrupt and come out the other side, with neither H.I.G. nor Audax retaining an equity stake.
• But the two firms remain locked in litigation, each surviving motions to dismiss the other's case.

The big picture: Settlement talks remain possible, given that a trial wouldn't likely commence until 2026, although word is that each side is only getting more entrenched.

Catch up quick: H.I.G. bought a telecom software company called Mobileum in 2022 from Audax for $915 million, including a $100 million equity rollover from Audax.

• H.I.G. claims to have subsequently determined that Audax engaged in "systemic fraud" to inflate the company's revenue, thus tricking H.I.G into overpaying by around $250 million. Its suit names Audax, several Audax funds, and three Audax executives.
• Audax fired back in a countersuit, arguing that H.I.G. breached its contract by not consulting Audax on major business decisions after the transaction and by leaving it out of a special committee formed to investigate the alleged fraud. Its suit names H.I.G., two H.I.G. executives, and an affiliated executive.

Fast forward: H.I.G. was allowed by a court to move forward with its case, but not without some judicial wrist-slapping. Specifically, the firm and its CEO, Sami Mnaymneh, both were ordered to produce more documents to support their claims of fraud.

• Audax, meanwhile, on Feb. 14 was allowed to move forward with its case against the H.I.G. individuals, but not against the firm.
• Both firms publicly reacted positively to the recent ruling, even though it was both a win and a loss.

The bottom line: The private equity industry has much more to lose from this case, in terms of setting legal precedent, than do either H.I.G. or Audax in terms of damages. As this keeps moving toward trial, don't be surprised if peers begin to apply pressure to settle.

Prosus has agreed to buy food delivery company Just Eat Takeaway for €4.1 billion in cash.

Why it's the BFD: This would make Prosus the world's fourth-largest food delivery company, per ING analysts, even though no one has ever opened a "Prosus" app to get their burrito.

• It has operations in over 70 countries, including through minority stakes in Delivery Hero, Swiggy, and Meituan.

By the numbers: The €20.30 per share deal represents a 63% premium over Friday's closing price for Just Eat Takeaway shares on the Amsterdam exchange, and a 49% premium to the three-month trading average (including when it still traded in London).

• Just Eat Takeaway was formed in 2020 when Takeaway bought Just East for around $7.8 billion in stock, after having rejected a £5.1b takeover offer from Prosus.

The bottom line: Food delivery keeps consolidating.

• NinjaOne, an Austin, Texas-based IT platform for endpoint visibility, raised $500m in Series C extension funding at a $5b valuation co-led by Iconiq Growth and CapitalG. axios.link/4hUcwgq

• Just Salad, a New York-based restaurant chain, raised $200m at around a $1b valuation led by Wellington Management, per Reuters. Wellington Management led, and was joined by D1 Capital Partners, Neuberger Berman, and Stripes. axios.link/41uBmxu

• Patlytics, a New York-based patent analytics platform, raised $14m in Series A funding. Next47 led, and was joined by Gradient Ventures, 8VC, Alumni Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Myriad Venture Partners. axios.link/3XdXnOB

• RADSecurity, an SF-based provider of security for cloud-focused infrastructure, raised $14m in Series A funding. Cheyenne Ventures led, and was joined by Forgepoint Capital, Lytical Ventures, Akamai, .406 Ventures, Vertex Ventures, and Gula Tech Adventures. rad.security

🚑 Sonar, a Sacramento, Calif.-based mental health platform for young people, raised $2.4m in pre-seed funding led by Nina Capital, with GSR Ventures and J4 Ventures participating. sonarmentalhealth.com

• Lola, a cake ordering startup in the Middle East, raised $1.3m in pre-seed funding from Plus VC and Vision Ventures. lola.do

• Apollo agreed to buy real estate firm Bridge Investment Group (NYSE: BRDG) for around $1.5b in stock. axios.link/4gSWbXP

• Bain Capital offered to buy U.K. defense contractor Chemring Group (LSE: CHG) for £1.1b, per Sky News. axios.link/3Qyrw7G

🚑 Blackstone is in advanced talks to acquire VaxCare, an Orlando, Fla., vaccine management firm backed by Summit Partners, for around $1.7b (including debt), per Bloomberg. axios.link/3D5nRLq

⚡ Brookfield Asset Management agreed to buy the U.S. onshore renewables business from National Grid (LSE: NG) for $1.74b (including debt). axios.link/3QtQaGt

🚑 Carlyle and SK Capital Partners agreed to buy Bluebird Bio (Nasdaq: BLUE), a Somerville, Mass.-based gene therapy company, for around $29m in cash (plus $96m in potential earnouts). Bluebird once was valued north of $10b. axios.link/3XaIGM8

• CK Infrastructure (HK: 1038) offered around £7b for a majority stake in U.K. utility Thames Water, shortly after a reported £4b bid from KKR, per the FT. axios.link/3QvRwQQ

🎵 HarbourView Equity Partners agreed to buy T-Pain's publishing catalog and select masters. axios.link/438gc9K

• J.F. Lehman & Co. acquired Atomic Transport, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based provider bulk-waste transport and transfer station management services. atomictransport.com

🚑 KKR agreed to invest $400m for a control stake in Healthcare Global Enterprises, a listed Indian health-care group, from CVC Capital Partners. axios.link/3XfBoGO

• Perpetual (ASX: PPT) ended talks to sell its wealth management and corporate trust businesses to KKR for around $1.4b. axios.link/439jTvS

• RRAM, an affiliate of Apollo, agreed to buy Irradiant Partners, a Santa Monica, Calif., alt assets firm with around $11b of CLO assets and $2.2b of private credit and renewable assets. axios.link/41uRgbj

• RRJ Capital is in talks to lead a $600m convertible preferred investment in private jet operator VistaJet, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4kbOoaw

• Seven & i (Tokyo: 3382), the owner of 7-Eleven, picked Bain Capital as preferred buyer for a stake in a new group that would hold its noncore businesses, per Nikkei. axios.link/4i8yNGT

No companies plan to price IPOs on a U.S. exchange this week.

• AIRO Group, a Washington, D.C.-based air mobility company, filed for a $100m IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (AIRO), and reported nearly a $39m net loss for 2024 on around $86m in revenue. axios.link/3Ddq4nR

• Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) completed its $795m all-cash purchase of Simple Mills, a Chicago-based maker of better-for-you crackers and snacks, from Vestar Capital Partners. axios.link/4k6j7Wx

• KKR is seeking to fetch around $2b from the sale of BMC Helix, an IT business being split off of BMC Software, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4kaGEFK

• MongoDB (Nasdaq: MDB) agreed to acquire Voyage AI, a Palo Alto, Calif., developer of tools to reduce AI hallucinations, for $220m in cash and stock. Voyage AI had raised around $28m from CRV, Wing VC, Conviction, Snowflake, Databricks, Pear VC, Tectonic Ventures, and Fusion Fund. axios.link/4i3PCmw

• RedBird Capital Partners is seeking to sell its minority stake in Indian Premier League cricket team Rajasthan Royals, per Bloomberg. axios.link/41rE3zV

• Equinox Gold (TSX: EQX) offered to buy rival Canadian mold miner Calibre Mining (TSX: CXB) in an all-stock deal that would value the combined companies at C$7.7b. axios.link/435etSz

⚡ Tokyo Gas (T: 9531) agreed to sell its 25% stake in a South Texas shale gas project to Shizuoka Gas (T: 9543) for $130m. axios.link/4bkRm8z

🚑 Aphias Capital was launched by Rob Wolfson, former global head of health care at H.I.G. Capital, as a lower midmarket PE firm, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4hQFzkS

• HGGC is raising it fifth midmarket flagship buyout fund, per an SEC filing. It's currently investing out of a $2.5b fourth fund.

• Cambridge Innovation Capital raised £100m for a growth fund. axios.link/3ENsJ8u

• Gemcorp Capital of London is targeting $2b for a private credit fund focused on emerging markets, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4hW4gMY

• Khosla Ventures is seeking to raise a total of $3.5b for its next next seed, venture and growth funds, per the WSJ. axios.link/419mROl

• President Trump nominated Dan Caine to chair the Joint Chief of Staff, one month after Caine joined Shield Capital as a venture partner. He's a recently retired Air Force lieutenant general. axios.link/3D3JlrU

• Ed Collings (ex-Robeco) joined CVC Capital Partners to lead global insurance coverage. axios.link/41tSQtX

• Isobel van Daesdonk (ex-Guggenheim Securities) and Scott Willard (Nomura) both joined Barclays as managing directors in the bank's financial sponsors group. barclays.com

• Tyler Hartsock joined the The David and Lucile Packard Foundation as managing director of venture capital and growth investments. He previously was a partner with Peakview Capital. axios.link/3TzrHyp

• Vijay Joshi joined Turnspire Capital Partners as director of portfolio ops. He previously was with Hidden Harbor Capital Partners. axios.link/3EPChjn

• Jeff Surges, former CEO of RLDatix, joined Brighton Park Capital as a partner. axios.link/41ddzRh

• Adi Dangot Zukovsky joined Israeli venture firm Ibex Investors as a partner. She previously was with Goldman Sachs. axios.link/4hRGTnq

Private equity isn't immune to the early 2025 deal slump, with global activity down 34% year-to-date.

• U.S. deals are dragging down the totals with a 53% decline, versus a 41% decline in overall U.S. M&A. Recent inflation data is unlikely to help, given that it is expected to prevent the Fed from lowering rates anytime soon.
• European private equity volume is up 37% year-to-date, outpacing the region's 22% increase in overall M&A.