Emptying out the notebook while clinging to the last days of summer...

⚽ Red card: Josh Kushner may be done with international soccer, but international soccer may not be done with him.

• UEFA, Europe's top soccer authority, yesterday asked a federal judge in Manhattan to approve subpoenas for testimony and documents tied to FIFA's proposed creation of a commercial subsidiary that would have been backed by Kushner's Thrive Eternal.
• In short, it wants to build a criminal case in Switzerland against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and thinks some smoking guns might be found via discovery.
• UEFA isn't alleging any wrongdoing against the venture capitalist or his firm, writing that "neither Thrive nor Kushner is an anticipated defendant." But it does want the court to compel cooperation.
• Among the documents UEFA wants from Thrive are communications with FIFA officials, valuation models, financial projections, term sheets, side letters, and the identification of any prospective limited partners or co-investors.
• A Thrive spokesperson declined comment. Read the filing

💰 ROI: Victory Capital on Wednesday announced an agreement to acquire asset manager First Eagle Investments from Genstar Capital for around $7 billion in stock.

• It's an impressive IRR for Genstar Capital, which a source says paid $4 billion to buy First Eagle last August.

🆕 New firm alert: Will Robbins has quietly stepped down as a general partner with venture firm Contrary, after an eight-year run, and will go the solo GP route with what he's calling Robbins Capital.

• Robbins has already held a first close on his debut fund, and backed such startups as Poetic (natural language automation), Carda Health (digital health care delivery), and Slash (business finance).
• His basic thesis is said to be that software engineering is basically a solved problem for company-building, whereas the future challenges are around things like trust, permissioning and real-world politics.
• Robbins' time with Contrary was highlighted by seed checks for Zepto and Corgi, plus the Series B for Ramp.

⚾ Thinking aloud: The Red Sox and Yankees tonight begin a series that might determine wild card seeding, and it occurs to me that this year's PE-backed Red Sox are the sports equivalent of a J-curve.

💊 They promised us flying cars: The FDA this week approved a new drug for the most common form of pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers.

• It's being developed by Revolution Medicines, a Silicon Valley biotech that was essentially created by Third Rock Ventures, based on chemistry research at the University of Illinois.
• If that biotech creation model sounds familiar, it's because Flagship Pioneering did something similar with Moderna — which recently made its own blockbuster cancer announcement.
• Both highlight not just the deep value of venture capital, but also of university R&D that's being increasingly threatened by puerile politics.

Source: Giphy

Stripe and Advent International have dropped their $53 billion pursuit of PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL), as first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by Axios.

Why it's the BFD: This would have been the largest fintech acquisition ever. Now ... not.

By the numbers: PayPal had been trading just above the $60.50 per share offered by Stripe and Advent, but today opened down more than 12% to $53.74 per share.

• The WSJ previously reported that the two sides were haggling over price.

Catch up quick: Stripe last week agreed to pay $8 billion for AI model marketplace OpenRouter, but a source says that the OpenRouter and PayPal deals were moving on independent tracks.

The bottom line: Enrique Lores took over as PayPal's CEO this past March, promising an aggressive turnaround plan that's still more framework than roadmap. It looks like he'll get his chance to flesh it out.

• Ajaib, an Indonesian online stock trading platform, raised $270m in Series C funding from Japan's SBI Holdings. axios.link/4gphuDA

• Owner, an AI platform for restaurants and small businesses, raised $240m at a $2.3b valuation. Goldman Sachs led, joined by Meritech Capital Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and Jack Altman. axios.link/3SVB7dn

🌎 Cyclic Materials, a Canadian rare-earths recycler, raised US$75m. T. Rowe Price led, joined by ERI. axios.link/3SWS0o0

🚑 Metriport, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based patient data retrieval startup, raised $26m in Series A funding. Matrix led, joined by Artis and YC. axios.link/3UqwnwG

• Transfyr, a Cambridge, Mass.-based "physical AI platform for real-world science," raised $25m in seed funding. General Catalyst led, joined by Lux Capital, Breakout Ventures, Factory, Neo, SV Angel, MVP Ventures, Underscore VC, and Lyda Hill. axios.link/4hZz6Ho

🌎 Vitalfluid, a Dutch developer of plasma fungicide for crops, raised €17.2m. Invest-NL and Alder Tree Investments led, joined by insiders Horticoop, BOM, Future Food Fund, Graduate Ventures, Innovation Industries, VDL Groep, and Goeie Grutten Impact Fonds. axios.link/4iyKLgk

• Atorie, an LA-based fashion commerce startup, raised $9.5m in seed funding from a16z, Night Capital, and Jeremy Liew. axios.link/4y4Fq4U

🌎 Maash, a Belgian alt proteins developer, raised €5.9m from Ambra Capital, InvestPro, Bpifrance, Amorçage Industriel, Nordzucker, and Tereos. axios.link/45NPi7d

🌎 Neocrete, a New Zealand-based developer of sustainable cement alternatives, raised US$3.5m. Wavemaker Ventures led, joined by Icehouse Ventures and Temasek Trust. axios.link/4cKiGPs

🚀 ArcSpace, a French developer of in-orbit satellite repair tech, raised €2m. DEPO Ventures led, joined by SCE Freiraum Ventures and IRDI Capital Investissement. axios.link/4zGUOpT

• Apollo agreed to acquire Atlantic Aviation, a Plano, Texas-based private jet fixed-base operator, at nearly a $10b valuation from KKR (which retains a stake). axios.link/4wWYFN0

• Authentic Brands Group acquired the IP of October's Very Own, a Canadian streetwear and lifestyle brand co-founded by Drake, while Vince Holding (Nasdaq: VNCE) acquired the operating business. Authentic Brands shareholders include CVC Capital Partners, General Atlantic, HPS Investment Partners, and Leonard Green & Partners. axios.link/4wUbJmb

• FTV Capital invested in wealth manager Kingsview Partners. axios.link/4gmtaH5

🚑 Imagenet, backed by BV Investment Partners, bought Analytica Consulting, an SF-based data consultancy. axios.link/4qQjOH9

• Mubadala Capital agreed to buy a majority stake in Arrive Logistics, a truckload brokerage whose backers include ATL Partners and Lead Edge Capital. axios.link/45Sq9rX

• TRG, a Gemspring Capital portfolio company, acquired Reverse IT, a Dutch provider of mobile device management. axios.link/4xnHF3f

• Warburg Pincus is among the bidders for Pickles, an Australian auction house that could fetch more than A$1b, per The Australian. axios.link/46d3KWF

• WSB, a GHK Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Austin-based Foresight Planning & Engineering Services. axios.link/4zFAoO3

• Inflection Point Acquisition VIII, a SPAC led by Michael Blitzer (Kingston Capital Management), raised $250m in its IPO. axios.link/4whmvTa

• Timber Road Acquisition, a property and consumer SPAC led by Patrick Fisher (Timber Road Capital), withdrew registration for a $200m IPO. axios.link/42HYid4

• Vista Global Holding, a UAE-based private aviation group backed by RRJ Capital, is considering a $1b+ European IPO at more than a $10b valuation, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4gzuEfN

• Linear, an SF-based product management tool, completed a $99m tender for current and former employees at a $2.5b valuation. Salesforce Ventures and S32 participated, joined by insiders Accel and 01A. axios.link/3SV68y2

• BitGo (NYSE: BTGO) acquired the institutional trading business and related assets of NYDIG. axios.link/4wURuVC

⚡ DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG), which is being acquired by SoftBank, agreed to buy Australian smart meter provider Plus Es from Ausgrid. axios.link/4y615tu

• Itochu (Tokyo: 8001) offered to buy Japanese IT services and consulting firm Dentsu Soken (T: 4812). axios.link/4y5wQ5U

• Solstice Advanced Materials (Nasdaq: SOLS), a recent Honeywell spinout, and fellow chemicals firm Element Solutions (NYSE: ESI) canceled their proposed merger after negative shareholder feedback. axios.link/45SkdiQ

• Unilever (NYSE: UL) is selling its Colman's mustard brand to satisfy antitrust regulators, amid the merger of its food business with McCormick & Co. (NYSE: MKC). axios.link/4wMrJqd

• Andreessen Horowitz raised $1.1b for its first hardware infrastructure fund. axios.link/4qEOWZY

• Javelin Venture Partners is raising up to $200m for its sixth fund, per an SEC filing.

• LGT Capital Partners raised €850m for a fund-of-funds focused on small European buyout managers. lgtcp.com

• Julia White joined law firm Cooley as an SF-based capital markets partner. She was previously at Goodwin Procter. axios.link/4xplY37

First-half 2026 deals in the health care sector were down year-over-year, but remained strong by historical standards, per a new Bain & Co. note.

• Provider-related transaction value jumped, across a range of subspecialties.
• Health care IT deal activity was hampered by the SaaSpocalypse.
• Sponsor sales were most likely "in areas with clear transformation theses, such as tech-enabled services."