It's been less than two weeks since the Supreme Court overturned its "Chevron deference" doctrine, but the aftershocks are expected to be felt this morning in a trial that could determine the future of ESG investing.

Driving the news: An appeals court in New Orleans will hear opening arguments in a case brought by 26 Republican state attorneys general against the U.S. Labor Department.

• At issue is a 2022 rule that allows — but doesn't require — private pension funds to consider ESG factors in investment decisions, albeit only as a "tiebreaker" if other financial risk/reward considerations are determined to be equal.
• A district court in Texas dismissed the lawsuit last September but in its ruling cited Chevron deference, which for decades had enabled the executive branch to interpret laws it's charged with implementing.
• The plaintiffs signaled their intention to appeal before the Chevron decision but might have gotten a giant boost from SCOTUS.

Why it matters: The case could have major implications for ESG investing, although more directly on public equities than private equities (given that the rule in question relates to ERISA).

• Not surprisingly, the plaintiffs were joined on their appeal by some energy industry interests that, at least in theory, would benefit from increased investment were the ESG rule rescinded.

The bottom line: This could be the first test of whether courts are willing and able to interpret statutes, as opposed to ruling on those interpretations, or if they'll try to sidestep their newfound powers.

• If the former, then it may open a Pandora's box of uncertainty for all sorts of rules that institutional investors rely upon.

Source: Giphy

Capri-Sun, the juice pouch maker, is seeking to raise more than $500 million via a minority stake sale, per Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: It's an iconic brand, ubiquitous in elementary school cafeterias and playgrounds. (At one point, I assumed it and Kellogg's were the world's two largest companies.)

The bottom line: Capri-Sun is controlled by Swiss billionaire Hans-Peter Wild, whose German father launched the company in the late 1960s.

• It generates around $1.4 billion on annual sales of 6 billion pouches and reportedly would use deal proceeds to buy back its North America license and operations from Kraft Heinz.

🚑 HarmonyCares, a Nashville provider of value-based in-home care, raised $200m. General Catalyst and McKesson Ventures co-led, and were joined by K2 HealthVentures, Rubicon Founders, Valtruis, HLM Capital, and Oak HC/FT. axios.link/4cxezEf

🌎 ZwitterCo, a Woburn, Mass., developer of membranes for water treatment, raised $58.4m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Evok Innovations led, and was joined by DCVC, BHP, Munich Re Ventures, Siteground, HG Ventures, and Blue Horizon Advisors. axios.link/4bJzgfe

• Nala, a Kenyan remittance and B2B payments startup, raised $40m in Series A funding. Acrew Capital led, and was joined by DST Global, Norrsken22, HOF Capital, Amplo and Nyca Partners. axios.link/3zxlZsL

• Canoe Intelligence, a New York-based provider of reporting workflow automation for alternative investments, raised $36m in Series C funding. Goldman Sachs led, and was joined by insiders F-Prime Capital and Eight Roads. axios.link/3xRUfhU

• Dash Technology Group, an Australian provider of financial adviser software, has raised A$22m from Bailador Technology Investments. axios.link/4eT2xqj

• Command Zero, an Austin, Texas-based cyber investigation platform, raised $21m in seed funding. Andreessen Horowitz led, and was joined by Insight Partners. www.cmdzero.io

⚡ Eneida, a Portuguese provider of sensor and data analytics for grid operators, raised €10.5m in Series B funding. Junction Growth Investors led, and was joined by Santander Alternative Investments, Korys, and HCapital. axios.link/4eQzpQD

🌎 Natcap, a London consultancy focused on nature-based risks, raised $10m in Series A funding from André Hoffmann, Norinchukin Capital, Yeo Ventures, Pelican Ag, David Craig, Oxford Science Enterprises, MW&L Capital Partners, and Alea Iacta Est. natcapresearch.com

🌎 Scaler, a provider of ESG data analytics software for the real estate sector, raised $10m from Plural, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3XR5cef

• The Lasso (fka Revv), an online car-bidding platform, raised $9.8m. Crosslink Capital and Manresa Ventures co-led, and were joined by Contour Venture Partners, Liquid2 Ventures, Ritual Capital, and Correlation Ventures. thelasso.com

• Trustap, an Irish marketplace transaction platform, raised $5.5m in Series A funding. TX Ventures led, and was joined by SeedX, Partners Resolute, Aperture, MiddleGame Ventures, ACT VC, Atlantic Bridge, and FurthrVC. axios.link/4byrDId

• Byway, a curated package tour platform, raised £5m in Series A funding. Heartcore Capital led, and was joined by Eka Ventures. axios.link/3zACiou

• Tracebit, a British cloud threat detection and deception startup, raised $5m in seed funding. Accel led, and was joined by Tapestry VC. axios.link/3zIwNE9

•Unum, a British maker of lighter business class seats for aircraft, raised £3.5m led by ACF Investors. axios.link/3zxmrXZ

• NodaFi, an SF facilities operations platform, raised $3.5m in seed funding. Base10 Partners led, and was joined by Stage 2 Capital, MKT1, and FJ Labs. nodafi.com

• Accend, an onboarding and risk assessment startup for B2B fintechs, raised $3.2m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Adverb Ventures led, and was joined by YC, General Catalyst and 645 Ventures. axios.link/45ZhK5p

• FreeBnk, a Lithuanian hybrid crypto banking app, raised $3m in equity and token funding from Founderheads, ChaiTech Ventures, LVT Capital, and Lavender Capital. axios.link/3W9bzIB

🚑 Thrive AI Health, an AI-powered health coach, raised launch funding from OpenAI Startup Fund and Ariana Huffington's Thrive Global. axios.link/3Lffzkn

• American Industrial Partners acquired a 60% stake in the feed ingredients unit of Oslo-listed Aker BioMarine. akerbiomarine.com

• Bain Capital is in talks to buy Envestnet (NYSE: ENV), a Berwyn, Pa., financial software maker with around a $3.5b market cap, per Reuters. axios.link/45WiRT7

• Bapcor (ASX: BAP), an Australian auto parts retailer, rejected an A$1.83b buyout offer from Bain Capital. axios.link/4coMIpP

• Clayton Dubilier & Rice and Permira made a non-binding offer to buy French cybersecurity firm Exclusive Networks (Paris: EXN) for around €2.2b. axios.link/3XV7I3a

• Impel, a Syracuse, N.Y., provider of customer lifecycle management solutions for the auto industry, acquired Outsell, a Minneapolis-based auto marketing SaaS, for more than $100m in cash and equity. Impel backers include Silversmith Capital Partners and Wavecrest Growth Partners. impel.ai

• Nasuni, a Boston-based file data services firm, raised an undisclosed amount of new growth funding at a $1.2b valuation. Vista Equity Partners led, and was joined by KKR and TCV. nasuni.com

🚑 Parthenon Capital acquired Medical Review Institute of America, a Salt Lake City provider of utilization management and clinical review solutions for payers, from Summit Partners (which retains an ownership stake). mrioa.com

• Tyto Athene, a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners, acquired MindPoint Group, a provider of managed cybersecurity services to U.S. federal agencies and organizations. gotyto.com

🚑 UpSwell, a Marietta, Ga., portfolio company of Clearview Capital, acquired Dental Marketing, a Utah provider of direct mail services to dental practices. upswellmarketing.com

🚑 Vetnique Labs, a pet health and wellness company owned by Gryphon Investors, agreed to acquire Lintbells, a U.K. maker of pet supplements sold under the YuMOVE brand, from Inflexion. lintbells.com

🚑 Vivo Infusion, a Lakewood, Colo., portfolio company of InTandem Capital Partners, acquired Infusion Associates, a Grand Rapids, Mich., provider of ambulatory infusion centers. vivoinfusion.com

🚑 Ardent Health, a Nashville-based operator of acute care hospitals, set IPO terms to 14.3m shares at $20-$22. It would have a $3b market cap, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (ARDT). Backers include Ventas (NYSE: VTR) and Equity Group Investments. axios.link/45UizMJ

⚡ Dynamix Corp, an energy SPAC led by Andrea Bernatova (Goodnight Midstream), filed for a $150m IPO. axios.link/3XY65BE

• TWFG, a Texas-based personal and commercial P&C insurer, set IPO terms to 11m shares at $14-$16. It would have an $820m fully diluted market value, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the Nasdaq (TWFG). Backers include RenaissanceRE Ventures. axios.link/4bDisqb

⚡ Anglo American (LSE: AAL) hired Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanly, and Centerview Partners to sell up to $5b for steelmaking coal assets, per Reuters. axios.link/45UqJol

• Barclays (NYSE: BCS) agreed to sell its German consumer finance business to a subsidiary of Austrian bank Bawag Group. axios.link/3zvg6MB

• Duolingo (Nasdaq: DUOL) acquired Hobbes, a Detroit-based animation and motion design studio. duolingo.com

• Fintel (LSE: FNTL) acquired Threesixty, a British provider of compliance and biz support software for financial advisers and wealth managers, from Abrdn (LSE: ABDN) for £14.6m. axios.link/3W9Mehr

• Capital Constellation, an affiliate of Wafra, invested in Citation Capital, a Dallas-based midcap private equity firm formed last year by Tiffany Hagge (ex-BDT Capital Partners) and Lydie Hudson (Credit Suisse). axios.link/3XX6MLw

• HongShan, the former China unit of Sequoia Capital, raised around $2.5b for its latest fund. axios.link/4bBmvTP

• Monomoy Capital Partners raised $2.25b for its fifth midmarket PE fund. mcpfunds.com

• Steven Berger joined Raymond James as a managing director of financial services investment banking. He previously was with Rothschild & Co. axios.link/3LcV7AG

• Wendy Lu joined Emergence Capital as a principal. She was previously director of engineering at Airtable. axios.link/3S1MsVH

• Aaron Miller joined insurer Acrisure as CFO. He previously was head of financial services in ADIA's private equity group. acrisure.com

• David Rhee retired as a partner with Asia-focused investment firm Hillhouse, after a 14-year run, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3XU8AVy

• Silversmith Capital Partners promoted Graham Wagner to VP. axios.link/460gzme