Private equity has prevailed over its own investors. Again.

• At this point, general partners are the Harlem Globetrotters and limited partners are the Washington Generals.

Driving the news: The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday vacated the Private Fund Advisers Rule, approved last summer by the SEC to protect investors in private equity and venture capital funds by increasing transparency.

• The SEC already had watered down its initial proposal, but that wasn't enough to ward off a lawsuit by industry groups.
• In short, the plaintiffs argued that the SEC didn't have statutory authority to regulate private funds. And, even if it did, the specific rule was "capricious."
• The 5th Circuit in New Orleans never really got to the first part, ruling 3-0 that the SEC overstepped its bounds, improperly relying on rules meant to cover funds serving retail investors (e.g., mutual funds).
• All three judges were nominated by Republican presidents.

Look ahead: The SEC either can appeal this ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court or go back to a much narrower drawing board, just months ahead of an election that could change the agency's philosophy and priorities.

• "One thing everyone already realizes is that future changes will have to come more bottom-up from the industry than top-down from regulators," says Matt Schey, managing director of external affairs for the Institutional Limited Partner Association, which had supported the SEC rule.
• He adds that the plaintiff's ability to prove standing in the 5th Circuit, despite none of its parties being based in its geographic jurisdiction, means that the business-friendly court is where future such cases are likely to be heard.

The bottom line: Private equity's lawyers and lobbyists deserve a raise.

Preqin, a London-based provider of alternative asset data, is seeking a buyer for at least £1 billion, per multiple reports.

Why it's the BFD: Not too shabby of a price tag for a company whose founding strategy was to file Freedom of Information Act requests with U.S. public pensions, in order to obtain performance data on their private equity investments.

Details: Goldman Sachs is managing the process, with BlackRock and S&P Global among the supposed suitors.

The bottom line: "Companies that provide data on opaque but influential corners of the financial services industry have traded at a premium in recent years, seizing on demand among investors for information." — The Financial Times

🚑 ITM Isotope Tech, a German developer of radiopharmaceuticals, raised €188m. Temasek led, and was joined by BlackRock, Qatar Investment Authority, Athos, and Carbyne. itm-radiopharma.com

• Pika, a Palo Alto, Calif., text-to-video AI platform, raised $80m at a $470m post-money valuation from Spark Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Greycroft. axios.link/45b0Yzz

• Nium, a cross-border payments company, raised $50m in Series E funding at a $1.4b valuation (30% discount to last round). Backers included Bond, NewView Capital, and Tribe Capital. axios.link/4e7iFUV

• M^0, a decentralized stablecoin minting protocol, raised $35m in Series A funding. Bain Capital Crypto led, and was joined by Galaxy Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, GSR, Caladan, and SCB 10X. axios.link/3R98W6r

• HYPR, a New York-based identity assurance company, raised $30m from Silver Lake Waterman. axios.link/4c7F1DX

• Kanastra, a Brazilian provider of back-office tech for private credit funds and securitizations, raised $21m in Series A funding. Kaszek led, and was joined by Valor Capital, Quona Capital, QED Investors and Actyus. axios.link/458U2Db

• Spiideo, a Swedish provider of connected camera systems for sports, raised $20m led by Cipio Partners. axios.link/4ecySYP

• Sixfold, a New York insurance underwriting tech startup, raised $15m in Series A funding led by Salesforce Ventures, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4bCY0X7

• SiTration, a Boston materials recovery company serving the mining and metals industries, raised $11.8m in seed funding. 2150 led, and was joined by BHP Ventures, Extantia, and Orion Industrial Ventures. sitration.com

• Dive, a provider of fluid dynamics simulation software, raised $10m in Series A funding led by DE Shaw. axios.link/3yRm2iD

• Rising Team, a Menlo Park, Calif., team performance platform, raised $8m in seed funding. Zeal Capital Partners led, and was joined by Peterson Ventures, Roble Ventures, Female Founders Fund, Burst Capital, and Supernode Ventures. risingteam.com

🚑 Eyebot, a developer of eye exam kiosks, raised $6m. AlleyCorp and Uniquity Ventures co-led, and were joined by Susa Ventures, Village Global, Baukunst, Ravelin, and Spacecadet. axios.link/4aQt4RO

🚑 Sware, a Boston provider of software validation for life sciences companies, raised $6m in Series B funding. First Analysisled, and was joined by insiders LRVHealth, New Stack Ventures, and Insight Partners. sware.com

• Cartwheeel, a text-to-animation platform, raised $5.6m in seed finding. Accel led, and was joined by Khosla Ventures, Human Ventures, Heretic VC, MVP Ventures, Correlation Ventures, and Pelion VC. axios.link/4e8gQXQ

• iPiD, a Singaporean payments identify startup, raised $5.3m in pre-Series A funding. Monk's Hill Ventures led, and was joined by QED Investors and Quona Capital. axios.link/3yNVSNM

• Hoop, a productivity app, raised $5m in seed funding. Index Ventures led, and was joined by Origin Ventures, Divergent Capital, and Chingona Ventures. hoop.app

• Portal.ai, a startup that helps streamline operations for retailers, raised $5m in seed funding from backers like StratMinds VC and AGI House Ventures, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3Rh5Jlo

• OneScreen.ai, a Boston provider of out-of-home performance marketing solutions, raised $4.7m from Asymmetric Capital Partners, Techstars, and Impellent Ventures. axios.link/3V955aV

• SensusQ, an Estonian defense tech startup, raised €3.8m led by New North Ventures. axios.link/4e7GZ9b

• Bem, an SF-based AI data interface startup, raised $3.7m in seed funding led by Uncork Capital. bem.ai

• Stashh, a marketplace for encrypted NFTs, raised $3.3m from Animoca, 6th Man Ventures, Shima Capital, Hashkey Capital, and SFermion. axios.link/4c5NCH5

• Prósperos, a Los Altos, Calif., neobank for Spanish speakers, raised $3m from Febe Ventures, Bat VC, Tekton Ventures, and Courtyard Ventures. prosperos.ai

• Sloyd, a Norwegian provider of 3D gamer design software, raised €3m from a16z, Antler, and Skyfall. axios.link/4c8CI3r

• WealthOS, a London wealth management startup, raised £2m in seed funding led by Barclays. axios.link/3Ra5oB9

• Authentic Brands Group agreed to buy the Champion sportswear brand from HanesBrands (NYSE: HBI) for $1.2b (including a $300m working capital adjustment). ABG backers include BlackRock, General Atlantic, CVC Capital Partners, HPS Investment Partners, Lion Capital, and Leonard Green & Partners. axios.link/4c8dJgQ

• Alliant Insurance Services, Newport Beach, Calif., broker backed by Stone Point Capital and PSP Investments, acquired Florida ACA plan broker agency Assured Health Group. alliant.com

• Charlesbank Capital Partners invested in Edinburgh, Scotland-based cybersecurity company Quorum Cyber. quorumcyber.com

• JSI, a Greenbelt, Md., portfolio company of Stone Goff Partners, acquired Inteserra, a compliance and advisory firm for the telecom industry. jsitel.com

🚑 Permira invested in PharmaCord, a Louisville-based provider of patient services for the pharma market. pharmacord.com

🚑 Platinum Equity agreed to buy Sunrise Medical, a German wheelchair maker that had been prepping a Frankfurt IPO, from Nordic Capital. axios.link/3V9Zp0m

🚑 Premier Biotech, a Minneapolis toxicology testing firm owned by Align Capital Partners, acquired Desert Tox, a provider of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration lab testing services. premierbiotech.com

⚡ Strategic Value Partners is in talks to buy control of OQ Chemicals, an Omani state-owned company, after creditors rejected a majority stake sale to Advent International, per Bloomberg. axios.link/459RpRq

• Sylvan, a portfolio company of Blue Point Capital Partners, acquired Anchor Conveyor Products, an engineering and fabrication contractor focused on industrial conveyor systems. sylvan.inc

• ThreatModeler, a Jersey City, N.J., threat modeling platform, raised $60m from Invictus Growth Partners. threatmodeler.com

• Turnspire Capital Partners acquired Swanson Industries, a Morgantown, W.Va., maker of mining equipment and hydraulic cylinders. swansonindustries.com

• Yellow Wood Partners completed its purchase of Elida Beauty, a beauty and personal care products maker whose brands include Q-Tips, from Unilever (LSE: ULVR). axios.link/3tqd6yj

• Gauzy, an Israeli maker of smart glass films, raised $75m in its IPO. It priced 4.4m shares at $17, versus plans to offer 4.2m shares at $17-$19. It will list on the Nasdaq (GAUZ), and had raised around $117m in VC funding from firms like Ibex Partners (23.7% pre-IPO stake), Olive Tree (9.1%), Infinity Ventures (9.3%), Avery Dennison (6%), and BlueRed Partners (6.3%). axios.link/4aBmpLq

• Life360 (ASX: 360), an Australian provider of a location sharing app for families, raised $155m in a Nasdaq (LIF) float. axios.link/3wUKLlH

🚑 Mediktor, a Spanish triage chatbot maker that's raised over $17m in VC funding, acquired Sensely, an SF insurance chatbot maker that had raised around $35m from firms like Pegasus Tech Ventures, Aflac, SVB, Chengwei Capital, and Nippon Life. axios.link/3yPRJcd

• Palladium Equity Partners agreed to sell its majority stake in Trachte, an Oregon, Wis., provider of equipment protection and control buildings, to nVent Electric (NYSE: NVT) for $695m. trachteusa.com

• Robinhood (Nasdaq: HOOD) agreed to buy London-based crypto exchange Bitstamp for around $200m in cash (just half its 2018 valuation). Bitstamp backers include Ripple and Pantera Capital. axios.link/3yQ2Vp4

⚡ AleAnna Energy, an Italian natural gas provider, agreed to go public at an implied via Swiftmerge Acquisition (Nasdaq: IVCPW), a SPAC formed by IVEST Consumer Partners. Earlier this year, Swiftmergee terminated a merger with HDL Therapeutics. axios.link/4aS0orG

⚡ Avenir Energy of Dubai will pay around C$115m to buy the Canadian commercial propane unit of Parkland (TSX: PKI). axios.link/4aOMZRh

🚑 Cycle Pharmaceuticals made a $460m, or $8 peer share, unsolicited takeover approach for Vanda Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: VNDA), per Bloomberg. axios.link/3Vw5RQs

• CSG Systems International (Nasdaq: CSGC) acquired iCheckGateway, a Fort Myers, Fla.-based omnichannel payment processor, for $17m. axios.link/3Kvj2Li

• Dolby Labs (NYSE: DLB) agreed to buy GE Licensing, the owner of IP focused on the consumer digital media and electronics sectors, GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE) for $429m in cash. dolby.com

• Google acquired Cameyo, a Cary, N.C., developer of virtualization tools for running Windows apps on ChromeOS devices. axios.link/4e96wPk

• John Wood Group (LSE: WG), a Scottish engineering firm, said it would engage with family-owned Sidara, after having rejected a £1.47b takeover approach. axios.link/3wV82Uz

• MNC Capital, a Dallas-based family office, raised its takeover offer for Vista Outdoors (NYSE: VSTO) to over $3b, or $39.50 per share. The company has been favoring an agreement to sell only its firearms and ammo division to Prague-based Czechoslovak Group, although that deal presents national security approval challenges. axios.link/4cqWyr1

• Sean "Diddy" Combs sold his stake in Revolt, the music-focused media company he founded, amid sexual assault allegations against him. The company is now majority-owned by employees. axios.link/3VpbT5s

• Aquiline Capital Partners raised $2.3b for its fifth financial services-focused PE fund, and another $1.1b for a continuation fund. aquiline.com

🚑 Layout Ventures, a seed and pre-seed firm focused on health tech, is raising $10m for its debut fund, per an SEC filing.

• Brandon Vongsawad joined B Capital as a partner and chief legal officer. He previously was with TPG and Kirkland & Ellis. axios.link/4c5cX3T

Nvidia joined the $3 trillion club yesterday, but it might have been cold comfort as the Justice Department reportedly is moving forward with an antitrust investigation into the AI chipmaker.

• Meanwhile, the FTC reportedly will be looking at OpenAI and Microsoft, including a look at the latter's acqui-hire of Inflection AI.

Reality check: Just because the FTC and DOJ have split up their roles, that doesn't necessarily mean lawsuits are anything close to imminent. Or that lawsuits would succeed.

• It's been five years since the agencies divided up oversight of Big Tech companies, albeit forgetting about Microsoft. The subsequent record has been spotty at best.