German national railroad operator Deutsche Bahn today announced that it will sell its logistics business, DB Schenker, to Danish transport company DSV for €14.3 billion.

• The losing bidder was CVC Capital Partners.

Why it matters: This was a Bizarro World sort of process, leaving confusion in its wake.

• It's not unusual for a German company to pick a strategic acquirer over a financial sponsor. After all, this is the country where private equity firms were once derided as locusts.
• But, in this case, the German labor union actually preferred private equity, arguing that a DSV victory could cost 5,300 more jobs.

Zoom in: CVC and DSV offered comparable enterprise valuations via a straight-up acquisition.

• CVC also proposed an alt structure whereby Deutsche Bahn could have reinvested to maintain a significant ownership stake. That bid was at a higher valuation, around €16 billion, with Deutsche Bahn receiving a guaranteed return upon an IPO.
• Deutsche Bahn seems to believe the DSV deal is superior because there are no earnouts, as there would be in CVC's pure buyout, but CVC has argued that its proposals were "neither presented in detail nor discussed" during a special steering committee meeting last week.

Both Deutsche Bahn and CVC declined comment for this story.

Look ahead: The DSV agreement still requires approval of FB's supervisory board and the German government.

• Don't be surprised if both labor and CVC continue pressing their case.

Three VC-backed biotech companies priced IPOs last night, each raising more money than initially planned.

Why it's the BFD: It's a reminder that the IPO pool is open for those with the courage to dive in.

By the numbers: The three companies — Bicara Therapeutics, MBX Biosciences, and Zenas BioPharma — raised a total of $702 million and will begin trading today on the Nasdaq.

• Bicara and MBX both increased the number of shares offered, and priced at the top of their ranges. Zenas also upped its share count, and priced in the middle of its range.

The bottom line: There are a couple of large U.S. IPOs on the calendar for 2024, StandardAero and Kindercare, but time is running short for new issuers to flip their registration filings.

• Instead, most companies are singing the same song as they did in September 2023: Wait 'til next year.

🌎 ZeroAvia, a Hollister, Calif., developer of hydrogen-powered airplane engines, raised $150m in Series C funding from Scottish National Investment Bank, Airbus, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital and Saudi Arabia's NEOM Investment Fund. axios.link/3TqOkrK

🌎 Reverion, a German developer of carbon-negative power plants, raised $62m in Series A funding. Energy Impact Partners led, and was joined by Honda, EIC Fund and insiders Extantia Capital, UVC Partners, Green Generation Fund, Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, and Possible Ventures. axios.link/3MJ3Efv

• Strider Technologies, a South Jordan, Utah-based cyber intelligence company, raised $55m in Series C funding. Pelion Venture Partners led, and was joined by AXA Venture Partners and insiders Valor Equity Partners, DataTribe, and Cyfr Capital. axios.link/3MHqiVo

• Huma, an SF-based payments blockchain network, raised $38m. Distributed Global led, and was joined by Hashkey Capital, Folius Ventures, the Stellar Development Foundation, and Tibas Ventures. huma.finance

🌎 Abolis, a French developer of sustainable ingredients for beauty products, raised €35m from L'Oreal and Evonik. axios.link/3TsrWya

• FlexiLoans, an Indian SME lender, raised $34.5m in Series C funding. Maj Invest led, and was joined by Accion Digital Transformation, Nuveen and Fundamentum. axios.link/3ZgNfXc

🚑 XP Health, a San Carlos, Calif., vision care affordability startup, raised $33.2m in Series B funding led by QED Investors, with participation from Canvas Ventures, American Family Ventures, HC9 Ventures, Valor Capital Group, and Manchester Story. axios.link/3ztkAU9

• Centricity, an Indian wealth management platform, raised $20m in seed funding led by Lightspeed India Partners, with participation from Burman Family Office, Paramark VC, MS Dhoni Family Office, and NB Ventures Family Office. axios.link/4eiGbO0

• Novameat, a Spanish plant-based meat developer, raised €17.4m in Series A funding. Sofinnova Partners and Forbion co-led, and were joined by Unovis Asset Management, Praesidium, and Rubio Impact Ventures. axios.link/4eonGYD

• Bounti, a San Jose, Calif., developer of autonomous AI products for sales and marketing, raised $16m in seed funding. GV led, and was joined by Floodgate, Bloomberg Beta, Haystack, Octave Ventures, and MS&AD. bounti.ai

• Morphotonics, a Dutch nanoimprint startup, raised €10m in Series B funding from 3M, Brabant Development Agency and insider Innovation Industries. axios.link/3zkYfbt

⚡ Clean Electric, an Indian battery tech developer, raised $6m in Series A funding from Info Edge Ventures, Pi Ventures, and Kalaari Capital. axios.link/3MHeGBN

• Push Cash, an SF-based multi-network platform for instant bank transfers, raised $4m in seed funding led by Foundation Capital, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4dYF729

• Aleph Capital Partners and Crestview Partners invested in Saber Interactive, a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., video game developer. Proceeds will help Saber say off debt owned by Sweden's Embracer Group, in connection with the company's recent MBO. saber.games

🏈 Arctos Partners is in talks to buy a minority stake in the NFL's Miami Dolphins from Stephen Ross at around a $7b valuation, per a NY Times report published before Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered what appears to be his third concussion in the past two years.

• Altas Partners invested in Sedgwick, a Memphis, Tenn.-based claims management firm owned by Carlyle. The deal values Sedgwick at $13.2b, or nearly twice what Carlyle paid for it in 2018. axios.link/4eifU2e

🚑 Health Union, a Philadelphia portfolio company of Court Square Partners, acquired Adfire Health, a provider of digital engagement solutions for health care professionals. health-union.com

🚑 Impetus Wellness Group, a portfolio company of AEA Investors, acquired Edison, N.J.-based Reliance Vitamin from Swander Pace Capital. reliancevitamin.com

• MBK Partners launched a tender offer to buy a controlling stake in Korea Zinc, the world's largest refined zinc producer, in partnership with the company's largest shareholder. axios.link/4e0rOOF

🚑 mPulse, a patient engagement company owned by PSG, acquired Indianapolis-based health consumer experience tech company Zipari from Thoma Bravo. mpulse.com

• New Mountain Capital invested in Datassential, a Chicago-based food and beverage intelligence platform. datassential.com

🚑 New Mountain Capital is merging health payment accuracy-focused portfolio companies Rawlings Group, Varis, and Apixio's payment integrity business. axios.link/3zoDQCc

🚑 Sullivan Street Partners acquired UKAT, a British residential addiction treatment group, from Global Growth. axios.link/3z8L1yy

🚑 Triage, an Omaha, Neb.-based health-care staffing firm owned by McCarthy Capital, acquired Fremont, Neb.-based rival RTG Medical. axios.link/3ziuKXS

🚑 Bicara Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of dual-action biologics, raised $315m in an upsized IPO. It priced at the top of its $16-$18 range, valuing the company at $881m, and it will list on the Nasdaq (BCAX). Bicara raised over $300m in VC funding from firms like RA Capital (16.1% pre-IPO stake), Red Tree (9.8%, Omega Funds (6%), Invus (6%), TPG (5.7%), Aisling Capital, Fairmont, F-Prime Capital, Deerfield, and Braidwell. axios.link/3MJcqKE

🚑 MBX Biosciences, a Carmel, Ind.-based biotech focused on endocrine disorders, raised $163m in its IPO. The company priced at $16 per share (high end of range) and offered 1.7m more shares than expected. It will list on the Nasdaq (MBX) and had raised nearly $240m from Frazier Life Sciences (21.9% pre-IPO stake), NEA (14.4%), OrbiMed (14.2%), Deep Track (9.3%), Wellington (8.3%), Norwest Venture Partners (6.4%), and RA Capital (6.4%). axios.link/4eh4NXe

• SailPoint Technologies, an identity security company owned by Thoma Bravo, is interviewing IPO bankers, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3ZtqhfH

🚑 Zenas BioPharma, a Waltham, Mass., developer of therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, raised $224m in its IPO. The company sold more shares than planned and priced at $16 (middle of range), for a $651m initial market cap. The Phase 3 biotech will list on the Nasdaq (ZBIO), and had raised over $350m from firms like Delos Capital Partners, SR One, NEA, Longitude Capital, Tellus BioVentures, Fairmount Funds, and Norwest Venture Partners. axios.link/4gdIweW

• Blackstone is weighing exit options for VFS Global, a visa outsourcing and tech services firm that could be valued at around $7b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4gkPcrF

• EQT is exploring a sale of its majority stake in payments processor Banking Circle, which could fetch more than $2b, per Reuters. axios.link/47miTEL

• Avolon Aviation of Ireland agreed to buy the aircraft leasing business of Castlelake Aviation. axios.link/3ZjmlOr

• British antitrust regulators issued a provision ruling against Vodafone's proposed $19b merger of its British operations Three, a unit of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison. axios.link/4glWBHb

• DigitalBridge Group (NYSE: DBRG) is weighing a sale of its EdgePoint Infrastructure, a Southeast Asian telecoms tower business that could fetch up to $4b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4e71XEH

• Flutter (LSE: FLTRF) agreed to pay around $350m for a 56% stake in NSX Group, the parent company of Brazilian gaming group Betnacional. axios.link/3XEHfX1

• Havanna, a maker of Argentinian confections called alfajores, hired UBS to find a buyer for its Latin America business, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3ZnWWD7

• HSBC (NYSE: HSBC) is in talks to sell its South African corporate banking unit to FirstRand, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4dZsZhm

🏀 Junior Bridgeman, former NBA player and owner of Ebony and Jet Magazines, is buying a 10% stake in the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks at a $4b valuation, per CNBC. axios.link/3Xo7TSz

⚡ National Grid (LSE: NG) agreed to sell its electricity system operator to the U.K. government for £630m. axios.link/3Zmqy3I

• Sentry Insurance agreed to acquire Nashville, Tenn.-based auto insurer The General from American Family Insurance for $1.7b. axios.link/3zi17FW

🎵 Sony Music (Tokyo: 6758) is in advanced talks to buy Pink Floyd's recording rights for around $500m, per the FT. axios.link/3XnRYUf

• Amity Ventures of San Francisco is raising up to $150m for its third flaghship fund and up to $100m for its third opportunities fund, per SEC filngs. amity.vc

• Department of XYZ, a crypto VC firm led by ex-crypto regulator Matthew Homer, is raising its second fund, per PitchBook. axios.link/4e4tff4

• eGateway Capital, a Covington, Ky., growth equity firm focused on commerce and supply chain digitization, raised $94m for its second fund. egatewaycapital.com

• Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan hired Jefferies to explore a $1.5b sale of PE fund stakes on the secondary market, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4enJgwk

• ParaFi Capital, a crypto-focused VC firm, is tokenizing part of its $1b in AUM. axios.link/47slRHy

• Zita Saurel is stepping down as a London-based partner with Hellman & Friedman, which she joined in 2005, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3XJO3CU

• Prudence promoted Melissa Landry Koller to COO and said that Tony Rosenberg (ex-Blackstone) joined as a senior associate. prudence.vc