Two teachers unions this morning sent a letter to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, requesting that it investigate what they believe were "misleading" statements made by Apollo Global Management to its investors, regarding the firm's relationship to Jeffrey Epstein.

Why it matters: Apollo hasn't put this to bed, five years after severing ties with firm founder and former Epstein pal Leon Black.

Driving the news: The Justice Department's most recent Epstein document dump shows that current Apollo CEO Marc Rowan had at least five scheduled meetings with Epstein, including once at Apollo's offices, and also that Epstein was at least informally advising on a potential tax inversion whereby Apollo would have redomiciled outside the U.S.

• The Financial Times first detailed the connections earlier this month, many of which are included in the unions' letter.
• Axios also discovered a 2013 request from Apollo's then-president for Epstein to meet with Apollo's executive committee, although Epstein declined.

Zoom in: It's not surprising that one of New York's largest alternative asset firms had dealings with Epstein, except that Apollo insisted in 2021 that the relationship began and ended with Black and his personal interests.

• It even hired law firm Dechert to conduct an investigation that reviewed over 60,000 documents.
• Dechert concluded that Black "did try to introduce Epstein to his co-founders [Rowan and Josh Harris] .... [N]o Apollo employee other than Black ever seriously considered hiring Epstein."
• The new documents, however, show that Black didn't just try to introduce Epstein. He introduced them, and Rowan agreed to take meetings without Black present. Including at least one that included a potential counterparty for Apollo.

Zoom out: No public documents accuse Apollo or its executives of having any awareness of, or involvement in, Epstein's sex trafficking activities.

• Instead, they raise questions about Apollo and Dechert's candor, or the quality of the investigation.

An Apollo spokesman tells Axios: "Neither Marc Rowan nor anyone else at Apollo (excluding Leon Black) had either a business or personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, as was confirmed by an independent, transparent and thorough investigation in 2021. There is nothing new here ... In select instances, Mr. Rowan provided information to Mr. Epstein in connection with his tax work for Mr. Black. While Mr. Epstein sought to do work with the Apollo co-founders other than Mr. Black, it was declined at every turn."

• Dechert did not return a request for comment.

Behind the scenes: The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) have some financial interests in Apollo, via underlying pension fund investments and members working at Apollo-owned portfolio companies.

• The unions' greater interest might be in drawing scrutiny to Rowan, who helped design President Trump's controversial "compact" with research universities, in exchange for continued federal funding. The unions argue in their letter to the SEC that the compact was "an oath of loyalty to the current administration."

The bottom line: Apollo's stock has more than doubled since Black left, and the firm has added hundreds of billions of dollars in AUM.

• A subsidiary of one of its portfolio companies has lost some business this month due to the scandal, but it's barely a blip on Apollo's balance sheet.

Warner Bros. Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD) this morning announced that it will reopen takeover talks with Paramount Skydance (Nasdaq: PSKY).

• This comes after a "senior representative" for Paramount told a WBD director that reengagement would result in Paramount increasing its offer to $31 per share from $30 per share.

Why it's the BFD: Because we recently wrote this would happen? Because it comes just hours after Paramount-owned CBS prevented Stephen Colbert from airing an interview with a Democratic lawmaker?

• Nah, because it could set up a bidding war with Netflix, which previously agreed to buy WBD's studio and streaming units.
• WBD says that it wants Paramount's "best and final offer" within the next week, and that Netflix then has the right to match — but those parameters could loosen up pretty quick. Particularly given that Paramount and Netflix thus far have been bidding for different things.

Date to watch: March 20, which is when WBD plans to hold a special shareholder meeting.

The bottom line: "Paramount has made numerous revisions in an attempt to get WBD's board to take its offer seriously. By holding out ... it looks like WBD may be able to get Paramount to lift its price." — Sara Fischer, Axios

• Temporal, a Seattle-based microservices orchestration startup, raised $300m at a $5b valuation. A16z led, joined by Lightspeed, Sapphire Ventures, and insiders like Sequoia Capital. axios.link/3OMi6aH

• Braintrust, an SF-based developer of AI observability and evaluation tools, raised $80m in Series B funding at an $800m post-money valuation, per Axios Pro. Iconiq led, joined by a16z, basecase, and Greylock. axios.link/4rerm5U

• Mesh Optical, an LA-based developer of optical tech for data centers, raised $50m. Thrive Capital led, joined by Also Capital and Banner VC. axios.link/4sfWRNh

⚡ FYLD, a Houston-based frontline intelligence platform for infrastructure, raised $41m. Energy Impact Partners led, joined by Partech. axios.link/4tH67v0

• Onshore, an NYC-based corporate tax incentives startup, raised $31m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. FPV Ventures led, joined by Vertex Ventures, ADP Ventures, YC, and Restive Ventures. axios.link/4avEigA

• SurrealDB, a database consolidation startup, raised $23m in Series A extension funding from Chalfen Ventures, Begin Capital and insiders FirstMark and Georgian. axios.link/4rSEhdw

• Terra Industries, a Nigerian defense-tech startup, raised $22m. Lux Capital led, joined by 8VC, Nova Global, and Resilience17 Capital. axios.link/4rnhR4x

• Zero Homes, a home upgrade marketplace, raised a $16.8m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Prelude Ventures led, joined by SJF Ventures, Watsco Ventures, VoLo Earth Ventures, Overture VC, and FJ Labs. axios.link/4kGXxIS

• C2i Semiconductors, an Indian AI infrastructure startup, raised $15m in Series A funding. Peak XV Partners led, joined by Yali Deeptech and TDK Ventures. axios.link/3MIkkY6

• Toyo, a London-based developer of AI agents for work, raised $4.3m in seed funding. Frontline Ventures led, joined by iNovia Capital and Tiny Supercomputer. toyo.ai

• Certivo, a Seattle-based supply chain compliance management platform, raised $4m in seed funding. Suffolk Technologies led, joined by Pioneer Square Ventures. axios.link/4kJHUjR

• Sitegeist, a German construction robotics startup, raised €4m in pre-seed funding led by b2venture and OpenOcean. axios.link/3ZJzAa6

• Autosana, an SF-based QA platform for mobile and web apps, raised $3.2m from YC, Pioneer Fund, Phosphor Capital, DeVC, and 468 Capital. axios.link/4twMgPc

• Apax Partners pulled its buyout offer for U.K. auto services firm Pinewood Technologies (LSE: PINE), citing market conditions. axios.link/4akKol5

• Blackstone agreed to acquire a majority stake in Indian cloud infrastructure firm Neysa, as part of a $600m deal that also included Teachers' Venture Growth, TVS Capital, 360 ONE Asset, and Nexus Venture Partners. Neysa now plans to seek another $600m in debt financing. axios.link/4rXzMic

• Blackstone also is in talks to buy residential services provider Champions Group for around $2.5b from Odyssey Investment Partners, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4rwDj79

• Doctrine, a French legaltech company owned by Summit Partners, acquired Spanish legaltech Maite.ai. axios.link/3My3b3a

• ECI acquired Paragin Group, a Dutch provider of exam and assessment software, from Main Capital Partners. axios.link/3Minsdb

⚡ Guidant Power, a Shore Capital portfolio company, acquired Morrow Engineering, a Canadian electrical engineering firm. axios.link/4kGq9lu

• Macquarie Asset Management agreed to buy Australian logistics operator Qube (ASX: QUB) for US$6.51b. axios.link/3MsX54k

• Macquarie also agreed to acquire the South American operations of IHS Towers from IHS Holding (NYSE: IHS) for $685m. axios.link/4cinbBF

🎵 MusicBird, a music-rights investment firm, acquired the publishing catalogue of R&B duo Majid Jordan. musicbird.com

• MidEuropa acquired a "significant minority stake" in Polish functional beverage brand OSHEE from Inova Capital. axios.link/4rLKHuY

• Tencarva, a Bessemer Investors portfolio company, acquired Hoffman-Kane Distributors, a Pittsburgh-based provider of industrial fluid handling and sealing solutions. axios.link/4ap1ZIQ

No U.S. IPOs are expected this week.

• Liftoff Mobile, a Redwood City, Calif.-based mobile ad software firm backed by Blackstone and General Atlantic, withdrew IPO registration — two weeks after postponing an offering that could have raised over $750m, amidst the software stock selloff. axios.link/4rYSTII

• RF Acquisition III, an Asia-Pacific SPAC, raised $100m in its IPO. axios.link/3WIi4l0

• The Restaurant Group, a U.K. portfolio company of Apollo, is weighing a sale of its airport and rail station restaurant unit, per Sky News. axios.link/4rNdKhY

• Rosebank Industries (LSE: ROSE) agreed to buy Blaine, Minn.-based processing equipment firm CPM and precision components maker MW Industries from American Securities for around $3.05b, per Sky News. axios.link/4qBdzFz

• Casey Wasserman will seek to sell his Hollywood talent agency amid controversy over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Firm backers include Providence Equity Partners. axios.link/4s1a0JX

• Chesnara (LSE: CSN) agreed to buy insurer Scottish Widows Europe from Lloyds Banking Group for €110m. axios.link/4bZoTHU

🚑 Danaher (NYSE: DHR) has agreed to buy Irvine, Calif.-based medical device maker Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI) for $9.9b in cash. axios.link/4aRW138

• Elliott Investment Management has built more than a 10% stake in Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH) and "plans to push for changes," per the WSJ. axios.link/4aCSpAK

• Genuine Parts (NYSE: GPC) plans to split its auto parts unit from its industrial parts unit, per the WSJ. axios.link/4rPCHJr

• Hapag-Lloyd, a listed German container line, agreed to acquire Israeli carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (NYSE: ZIM) for $4.2b in cash, or $35 per share (58% premium to Friday's close). axios.link/4rfFID7

⚡ Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) and Manulife Investment Management agreed to buy certain generation and electric utility operations in Washington state from PacifiCorp for $1.9b. axios.link/3OLwUGx

• Sumitomo Forestry Co. (Tokyo: 1911) agreed to buy Irvine, Calif.-based homebuilder Tri Pointe Homes (NYSE: TPH) for $4.5b in cash. axios.link/4rTWRlI

• Capza raised nearly €1.4b for a new private credit fund, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4rlHrqo

• Dragonfly, a crypto-focused VC firm, raised $650m for its fourth fund. axios.link/4rNn3yq

• HarbourVest raised $1.1b for its first fund focused on single-asset continuation transactions. harbourvest.com

• Thrive Capital raised $1b for its latest early-stage strategy and $9b for growth-stage deals. This is significantly more than what the firm originally targeted.

• Tikehau Capital raised over $1b for its second private debt secondaries fund. axios.link/4cv7pTN

• Union Capital raised $450m for its fourth fund. The Greenwich, Conn.-based PE firm focuses on food manufacturing, niche manufacturing, and business services. axios.link/4rnlzet

• Veritas Capital raised $15.3b for its ninth PE fund and related vehicles. axios.link/4aAGoMh

• Arif Janmohamed is stepping down as a partner with Lightspeed after 18 years, in order to launch a new early-stage firm. He'll remain a venture partner with Lightspeed. axios.link/4bTADLZ

• Edouard Tavernier (ex-S&P Global) was named CEO of data and media firm PEI Group, succeeding Tim McLoughlin. axios.link/4cy3Ufn