Major League Baseball may be heading toward a work stoppage in 2027, as owners and players remain far apart on their next labor contract.

• Owners last week proposed a salary cap and salary floor, which the players union is expected to reject out of hand.
• MLB doesn't currently have either, which is why the LA Dodgers' player payroll can be around $400 million while six other clubs spend less than $100 million.

Wait, is this now a sports newsletter? Sometimes it feels that way, but this impasse is being driven by the recent surge in pro sports dealmaking.

• Both majority stakes sales and minority stake sales — the latter of which increasingly involve private equity and can provide liquidity for majoity owners.

ESPN's Jeff Passan writes: "Stagnating franchise values are every bit as much the motivation for a number of owners as whatever competitive balance a salary cap would ostensibly bring ... Fixed costs make a business more attractive for prospective buyers. And for organizations that claim to be cash poor, the sale price is paramount to their investment."

Does this stand up to scrutiny? Not really. Instead, it feels more like owners trying to rationalize their profligacy.

• Yes, the NFL and NBA both have salary caps. And each league has seen soaring team valuations via both majority and minority sales.
• But their caps are kinda squishy. For example, the top NBA payroll spend this past season was around 37% higher than was the lowest. The costs may be somewhat contained, but certainly not fixed. Moreover, all pro sports teams now use dynamic pricing that can juice margins.
• A salary floor may actually help raise team values by making more teams competitive and more games meaningful, but apparently that's a secondary concern for many owners.

By the numbers: As for MLB team values, the San Diego Padres just sold for a record $3.9 billion (as Passan notes in his piece), after reportedly receiving multiple bids in excess of $3.5 billion. It's neither a marquee franchise nor one that's been keeping its player costs low.

• Before that, Sixth Street bought a 10% stake in the SF Giants for $3.8 billion. In between, the Tampa Bay Rays — always a low spender — fetched $1.7 billion.

The bottom line: MLB hasn't missed regular season games due to labor issues in over two decades. If owners do lock out the players next year, they may blame the deals they're unable to make.

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK) has agreed to buy Taylor Morrison Home (NYSE: TMHC), a Scottsdale, Arizona-based homebuilder and financial services provider, for $6.8 billion in cash.

Why it's the BFD: This is Berkshire's first major acquisition under CEO Greg Abel, who took over after Warren Buffett retired at the end of last year.

Zoom in: Berkshire is paying $72.50 per Taylor Morrison share, representing a 24% premium to Friday's closing price.

• Abel says he plans to "unify" Berkshire's home building operations — which already include Clayton Homes — into a "combined platform."

The bottom line: U.S. new home starts, home building and sales all are on the decline according to the most recent government data.

• XCENA, a "memory-centric" chipmaker, raised $135m in Series B funding at a $570m valuation. Atinum Investment and IMM Investment led, joined by SBI Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, STIC Ventures, Wonik Investment Partners, SV Investment, LB Investment, Corstone Asia, Kiwoom Investment, DSC Investment, Shinhan Venture Investment, Korea Development Bank, KDB Capital, Premier Partners, Kolon Investment, Company K Partners, K2 Investment Partners, Partners Investment, and Kyobo Securities. axios.link/4o7hdqX

• Vast, a Beijing-based 3D modeling startup raised nearly $200m. China Life Insurance led, joined by Genesis Capital and insiders Eminence Ventures and Primavera Venture Partners. axios.link/3Q9j5mx

• Fonoa, an Ireland-based business tax platform, raised $110m in Series C funding and acquired PwC's Indirect Tax Edge platform. Headline led the round, joined by Eurazeo, Forestay Capital and insiders Index Ventures, OMERS, Coatue, and Dawn Capital. axios.link/432yDeK

• Mecka, a robot training startup, raised $60m. Framework Ventures led, joined by Menlo Ventures, SV Angel, Kindred Ventures, and Ted Xiao. axios.link/4wWtlPL

• Endra, a Stockholm-based industrial design startup, raised $50m, per Axios Pro. A16z led, joined by Notion Capital and Norrsken VC. axios.link/4uLy45g

• Pax, a Brazilian public safety startup, raised $40m in seed funding led by Greenoaks and Benchmark. axios.link/49sIgHk

🚀 Unastella, a South Korean rocket developer, raised $24m in Series B funding. Altos Ventures led, joined by Korea Development Bank, Strong Ventures, and Hana Ventures. axios.link/4u5hrQQ

• Invisix, a Dutch developer of measurement tools for chip manufacturing, raised €20m in seed funding from Hitachi Ventures, Transition Ventures, imec.xpand, and Doosan Investment. axios.link/4uOxzrc

• Sekai, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based platform for creating mini-apps via text prompts, raised 420m in Series A funding. Khosla Ventures and Connect Ventures led, joined by a16z, Mayfield, A*, MVP Ventures, 359 Capital, Parable VC, and 645 Ventures. axios.link/4dZmQmw

• Gradient Labs, a London-based provider of agentic customer ops for financial services, raised $13m in Series A extension funding, per Axios Pro. Octopus Ventures led, joined by CommerzVentures and insiders Redpoint Ventures and Exceptional Capital. axios.link/4ejAgdl

• Return Helper, a provider of cross-border ecommerce returns solutions, raised $4m in Series A funding from Cathay Venture, MLC Ventures, Jun Yue Investment Colopl Next. and MLC Ventures. axios.link/3PUdP5Z

• Castlelake is weighing a $4b takeover offer for offer for British budget carrier easyJet (LSE: EZJ, which called the approach "highly opportunistic." axios.link/43aotZx

• Flashback: Jet fuel surge could spark airline deals

🚑 CordenPharma, an Astorg portfolio company, agreed to acquire AmbioPharm, a North Augusta, S.C.-based peptide API CDMO whose backers include Carlyle. axios.link/4dQzq7l

• GI Partners acquired a majority stake in HES Facilities Management, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based provider of facilities services to education institutions, from Nautic Partners. axios.link/432roDD

🍕 LongRange Capital is in exclusive talks to buy Pizza Hut from Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM), beating out suitors like Sycamore Partners, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4fRTGYX

• One Equity Partners acquired Leviat, a Dutch provider of engineered solutions for the construction and industrial sectors. axios.link/4o3usJg

• PSG Equity invested in CHR Group, a French provider of digital food safety, compliance and food service management software. CHR also announced the acquisitions of food service tech companies Rmoni and Andy. axios.link/4nZRaC1

• Ryan, a Dallas-based tax advisory backed by Onex and Neuberger Berman, acquired Dutch tax consultant Svalner Atlas | Advisors from backers like Consolid. axios.link/4u3CV0x

• Steliau, an Astorg portfolio company, agreed to buy Acal BFI, a U.K. distributor of electrical components, from H2 Equity Partners. axios.link/4fj1hQe

⚡ Stone Ridge offered to buy Devon Energy's (NYSE: DVN) Marcellus shale position for around $8b, per Reuters. axios.link/4o2pjBl

Seven companies plan to price IPOs this week on U.S. exchanges, headlined by $1b+ floats from Innio and Quantinuum. Meanwhile, SpaceX this morning filed an amended S-1 but without pricing info.

🚑 Apotex, a Canadian generic drugmaker, plans to raise up to C$1.2b in its Toronto IPO, which would be the largest Canadian float since 2021. axios.link/4uH5EJo

• Bridge III Acquisition, a SPAC led by Yongsheng Liu (ex-CEO of Royal China Holdings), filed for a $100m IPO. axios.link/4a25kg4

⚡ ERock, a Houston-based provider of natural gas power generation systems for enterprises, set IPO terms to 27.5m shares at $20-$23. It would have a $4.7b market cap, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (EROC). Backers include Energy Impact Partners. axios.link/4uStmCj

• Liftoff Mobile, a Redwood City, Calif.-based mobile ad software firm backed by Blackstone and General Atlantic, set IPO terms to 19m shares at $20-$22. It would have a $3.9b fully diluted value, were it to price in the middle, which is $1.6b below what Liftoff hoped to be worth in an IPO that it pulled earlier this year. axios.link/3REsQtm

• Quantinuum, a Broomfield, Colo.-based quantum computing group being carved out of Honeywell, increased IPO terms to 26.5m shares at $53-$55. It previously filed to sell 21m shares at $45-$50. Quantinuum now would have a $14.2b fully diluted value, were it to price in the middle. Shareholders include Quanta Computer, NVentures, JPMorgan, Mitsui, and Amgen. axios.link/4uDllkR

• Wilco 63, a SPAC led by Matthew Brown (HGM), filed for a $200m IPO. axios.link/4vhOwKd

🚑 Havencrest Capital Management hired Piper Sandler to run an auction for Apara Autism Centers, a Texas-based provider of applied behavioral analysis therapy, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3RvBWZv

🌮 Mas Restaurant Group, a Bessemer Investors portfolio company, sold 44 Taco Bell locations to Ghai Restaurant Group. axios.link/4dU65Jb

• Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI) agreed to acquire D-Fend Solutions, an Israeli developer of anti-drone tech, for $1.5b. D-Fend had raised around $73m from Israel Growth Partners, Vertex Ventures Israel, and Claridge Israel. axios.link/4efIZhx

🚑 Post Oak Energy Capital sold Switchgrass E&P, an oil and gas operator focused on Oklahoma's SCOOP play. axios.link/3POtJPy

• Salt & Straw, a Portland, Ore.-based small-batch ice cream maker, is seeking a buyer and could fetch over $200m, per Reuters. Investors include KarpReilly, Enlightened Hospitality Investments, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. axios.link/4e0BJF9

🎲 Barry Diller will seek to buy MGM Resorts (NYSE MGM) for more than $18b, or $48.30 per share in cash, per the NY Times. Diller is on the MGM board. axios.link/4dJeBfy

• Dragos, a Hanover, Md.-based cybersecurity company that's raised over $450m in VC funding, acquired Phosphorus, a connected device security company. axios.link/3PRk3nm

⚡ Drax (LSE: DRX) agreed to buy renewables operator Bluefield Solar ‌Income Fund (LSE: BSIF) for around £561m. axios.link/4dWxhae

• Fibra MTY, a listed Mexican REIT, agreed to buy rival Fibra Macquarie for around $1.7b. axios.link/3PLjtaJ

• Hiab (Hels: HIAB) agreed to buy Canadian garbage truckmaker Labrie Environmental Group for US$1.04b. axios.link/3QfyDoK

• Radionor Communications, a Norwegian maker of military broadband radios is exploring a sale that could fetch more than $3b, per the FT. axios.link/4vk4cww

🚑 Servier of France agreed to acquire the muscular dystrophy business of Edgewise Therapeutics (Nasdaq: EWTX) for up to $2.65b ($1.55b upfront payment). axios.link/4uEI4Nt

🎵 Universal Music Group (AMS: UMG) rejected a $65b takeover offer from Pershing Square Capital. axios.link/4o9NjSX

• Vincent Tan is weighing the sale of his 30% stake in Prudential Assurance Malaysia, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4367S9m

🚑 Ampersand Capital Partners raised $1.5b for its latest health care-focused PE fund. axios.link/4e0BiL1

👻 Ghost Angels, a group of 20 Snap alumni, launched to invest in social media startups. axios.link/4x1MsaO

🌎 Gigascale Capital, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based VC firm founded in 2023 by ex-Meta Mike Schroepfer, raised $250m for its first institutional fund focused on "rebuilding the physical economy for climate impact." axios.link/4dW9Kq3

• David Descoteaux joined BMO as head of a U.S. M&A team for capital markets and commercial banking, per Bloomberg. He previously co-lead Americas M&A for UBS. axios.link/4dF12xz

• May River Capital promoted Phil Ramsbottom to managing director, Clayton Weirather and Alex Brown to VPs, and Danny Nemirovskiy to senior associate. axios.link/3RF3Ulu

• Jerod Mayo, former head coach of the New England Patriots, joined Fifth Down Capital as a managing director. axios.link/3RVqnL3

• Eiji Shibata joined Aurelius as head of a new Tokyo office. He previously was with Japan Post Investment Corp. axios.link/43reWxv