The notebook is getting kinda crammed. Let's empty is out...

🚑 Doc divestiture: A group of Congressional Democrats last week introduced a bill that would prevent health insurers from buying Medicare Part B or C providers.

• It also would require divestiture of any such existing providers, which could include physician practices, clinics, and surgical centers.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) tells me: "Insurance companies make money by insuring healthy people," suggesting that such purchases can result in clinics "dumping" unhealthy patients who are more expensive.

• He's specifically concerned with acquisitions in his home state by UnitedHealth Group's Optum subsidiary, but believes it's a broader issue.

This bill won't become law anytime soon, as it doesn't yet have any Republican co-sponsors. But it does highlight how Democrats continue to target health-care consolidation, including efforts aimed at private equity — something that could get more teeth were Congressional control to flip in November.

🎵 Not over 'til it's over: There still are some big holes in the TikTok deal framework.

• A final valuation for TikTok U.S. hasn't yet been determined, according to a senior White House official. Same goes for the final cap table, except for current owner ByteDance holding just under a 20% stake.
• No one seems worried, but these aren't insignificant issues. Nor is the fact that Beijing still could walk away if trade negotiations deteriorate or there's other geopolitical turmoil.

🚨 New fund alert: Vijay Pande, who helped launch a16z's bio investing practice before leaving this past summer, is launching a new venture firm with Zach Werner (Snapdragon Capital Partners).

• It's called VZVC. No word yet on fund target or strategy.

🪙 Double-sided stocks: The U.S. IPO market is finishing up its best quarter since 2021, but the vibe isn't entirely positive.

• Those massive pops for Figma and Circle? They've been cut in half. Recent issuers StubHub and Gemini are both trading well below their IPO prices. LB Pharma, the first biotech issue in months, is flat.
• To be sure, there are plenty of big winners. Bullish, for example, is up 88%. And even Figma is still 76% above its IPO price. And companies go public for the long-term, and to create shareholder liquidity, not the first-week headlines.
• Just doesn't quite feel as shiny and happy as it did heading into Labor Day.

Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, is in early talks to raise between $15 billion and $20 billion in new funding at a possible $500 billion valuation, per Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: Tether would join OpenAI as the world's most valuable, VC-backed companies.

What they're saying: Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino tweeted an acknowledgment of the fundraising effort, without commenting on price.

• He previously told Axios Pro that the company "would entertain" outside funding.

For context: Circle, a rival stablecoin issuer which can't love Tether's expected return to the U.S. market, has around a $33 billion market cap.

The bottom line: "Tether has made a fortune by parking the reserves that back its token in cash-like assets including U.S. Treasuries, and earning interest. It booked $4.9 billion in profit during the second quarter, according to a company blog post in July. Ardoino recently claimed Tether has a 99% profit margin. The figures Tether cites are not subject to the same reporting standards as those disclosed by publicly traded companies." — Ryan Weeks & Todd Gillespie, Bloomberg

• Signal AI, a London-based risk and reputation intelligence platform, raised $165m led by Battery Ventures. axios.link/46iAQoO

• Zero Hash, a Chicago-based digital assets infrastructure provider, raised $104m in Series D extension funding at a $1b valuation. Interactive Brokers led, joined by Morgan Stanley, Apollo, SoFi, Jump Crypto, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and Liberty City Ventures. axios.link/4gJjYeA

• WeTravel, an SF-based provider of travel payments software, raised $92m in Series C funding, per Axios Pro. Sapphire Ventures led, joined by Left Lane Capital, Base10, and Cross Creek Capital. axios.link/4mvjVny

🚑 Leo Cancer Care, a maker of radiation therapy devices for cancer patients, raised $40m led by Catalio Capital Management, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3Kh3Kgs

• Obot AI, an open-source enterprise AI gateway, raised $35m in seed funding led by Mayfield and Nexus Venture Partners. axios.link/4805QeA

• Mimica, a New York-based process intelligence startup, raised $26.2m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Paladin Capital Group led, joined by Khosla Ventures, LGVP, and Entrepreneur First. axios.link/47Z7dKu

🚑 Manas AI, a New York-based drug discovery and development startup, raised $26m in seed extension funding from The General Partnership, Wisdom Ventures, Blitzscaling Ventures, Westbound Equity Partners, and Mosaic Ventures. axios.link/47Ssup4

🚑 Caregility, a Wall, N.J.-based bedside virtual caree company, raised $25m led by Star Mountain Capital. axios.link/4muxbsI

• Greptile, an SF-based code review platform, raised $25m in Series A funding led by Benchmark. axios.link/3Ka5F6z

🌎 Revyve, a Dutch yeast-based proteins developer, raised €24m. ABN Amro Sustainable Impact Fund and Invest-NL led, joined by BOM, Lallemand Bio-Ingredients, Grey Silo Ventures, Oost, and Royal Cosun. axios.link/4mxDOuq

⚡️ Telo Trucks, a San Carlos, Calif.-based tiny electric truckmaker, raised $20m in Series A funding. Yves Behar and Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning led, joined by To VC, E12 Ventures, Neo, Marc Benioff, Uncorrelated Ventures, Nova Threshold, and MCJ. axios.link/3IGvdrn

• Raiku, a Solana payments platform, raised $13.5m. Pantera Capital led, joined by Jump, Lightspeed, and Big Brain. axios.link/428uRjW

• Goodvest, a Paris-based responsible investing platform, raised €12m in Series B funding. Serena led, joined by Ring Capital, Polytechnique Ventures, ALM Innovation, and Globivest. axios.link/4njIuVO

• Epic Padel, a padel club operator, raised $10 million. NowaisWorld and Stryde Ventures led, joined by 305 Ventures, High Water Venture Partners, Lane Holdings, Off Court Ventures, and Silverback Capital Group. axios.link/46kAVrZ

• InCountry, a Singaporean data protection startup, raised $10m. Arbor Ventures led, joined by Caffeinated Ventures and Accelerator Ventures. axios.link/4nnc1y6

• Phia, a New York-based shopping agent, raised $8m in seed funding led by Kleiner Perkins. axios.link/4gCIuOp

🌎 ArkeaBio, a Boston-based developer of vaccines for reducing livestock methane emissions, raised $7m in Series A+ funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and AgriZeroNZ. axios.link/46A7GjT

⚡ Sun.store, a Warsaw-based B2B digital marketplace for solar components, raised €6m in seed funding from Contrarian Ventures, Market One Capital, Movens Capital, FJ Labs, Push Ventures, and Aidiom. axios.link/42LNfiC

• Scindo, a British enzyme-discovery and design startup, raised $5.4m in seed funding led by Kadmos Capital and Clay Capital, joined by Pinc, Synbioven, AgFunder, SOSV, Farvatn Venture and Savantus Ventures. axios.link/4mAWJ7N

• Superpanel, a legal intake automation startup, raised $5.3m. Outlander VC and Field Ventures led, joined by LOI Venture, Zenda Capital, 8-Bit Capital, and Behind Genius Ventures. axios.link/4moy6Lb

• Holy Technologies, a German developer of an autonomous factory for lightweight components, raised €4.3m from Rockstart, Vanagon, SANDS, Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg, and EIT Manufacturing. axios.link/4nPJHUN

🚑 DaltonTx, a British drug discovery tech startup, raised £4m in seed funding from Redalpine, IQ Capital Partners, and Seedcamp. axios.link/3W2fLZB

• Worlfully, a Spanish recruitment startup, raised €4m. Shilling VC led, joined by Indico, Pitchdrive, and Secways. axios.link/4nGWLM3

🌎 Actis agreed to acquire 800 Super, a Singaporean environmental management firm, from Keppel Asia Infrastructure Fund and Keppel. axios.link/3IGvrid

⚽ BellTower Partners, led by former Carlyle CEO Kewsong Lee, invested in the United Soccer League. axios.link/46AGQrK

⚡ E Source, an Align Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired CF Power, a power systems engineering firm focused on grid modernization and interconnection studies. axios.link/4nJCXYq

• Novacap agreed to acquire media measurement firm Integral Ad Science (Nasdaq: IAS) for $1.9b. Sellers will include Vista Equity Partners. axios.link/4gAJv9w

🚑 PAX Health, backed by HCAP Partners and Hamilton Lane, acquired New Jersey-based outpatient mental health services provider Neuropsychology and Counseling Associates. axios.link/4gF2JuO

• Pivotal Growth acquired U.K. mortgage broker Believe Money Group. axios.link/3Vy2VSM

• R.L. James, a Hidden Harbor Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Bradenton, Fla.-based building services provider Commercial Plastering USA. rljames.com

• TeamSystem, an Italian business software firm owned by Hellman & Friedman, acquired Sellsy, a French provider of CRM and financial management software for SMEs, from PSG Equity. axios.link/46T1rZG

• Dhoot Transmission, an Indian auto parts maker backed by Bain Capital, is talking to banks about a Mumbai IPO that could raise around $250m, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4gzysxe

• Lafayette Digital Acquisition I, a tech and finance SPAC led by Samuel Jernigan, filed for a $250m IPO. axios.link/4myV6az

• Axcel is seeking to sell Danish IT consultant Emagine at a €700m valuation, per Bloomberg. axios.link/47Xas4Z

• Quadrant Private Equity is seeking to sell My Muscle Chef, an Australian D2C meals company that could fetch up to A$500m, per The Australian. mymusclechef.com

• Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO) is seeking to sell a group of U.S. branches that have around $6b of deposits, per the WSJ. axios.link/47Y0ErA

• BasePoint Capital, a New York-based direct lender, sweetened its takeover bid for International Personal Finance (LSE: IPF) to £514.9m. axios.link/48xg9Xz

• DallasNews (Nasdaq: DALN) shareholders approved a $16.50 per share takeover offer from Hearst, rejecting a $20 per share bid from Alden Global. axios.link/3IzfOcf

🚑 Glooko,a Palo Alto, Calif.-based provider of remote patient monitoring and chronic care management for diabetes, acquired Monarch Medical Technologies, developer of glucose management solutions. Glooko has raised over $500m from firms like Georgian, Health Catalyst Capital, and Canaan Partners. glooko.com

• Lego agreed to buy 29 entertainment centers from theme park operator Merlin Entertainments for £200m. axios.link/42bY79w

⚡ TenneT, Germany's electricity transmission system operator, agreed to sell a 46% equity stake for €9.5b to sovereign wealth funds in The Netherlands, Norway, and Singapore. axios.link/4nKFx0n

🚑 Sanofi Ventures secured $625m in new commitments from its parent company. axios.link/3KgKOOW

🚑 Yvonne Hao is joining Flagship Pioneering as a general partner and COO. She previously led economic development for Massachusetts, and before that co-founded Cove Hill Partners. axios.link/3W0TL1k

• Rotunda Capital Partners promoted Rohit Dhake and Ryan Aprill to partners. axios.link/4mvgbmc

• Stifel poached a group of venture bankers from SVB, each of whom will be managing directors: Jackie Spencer, Anthony Flores, Milo Bissin, Julie Ebert, Timothy Lew, and Sam Subilia. axios.link/3KiCle3

Lithium Americas shares surged this morning on a Reuters report that the Trump administration is seeking up to a 10% equity stake in the company.

Catch up quick: Lithium Americas is developing the Thacker Pass project in partnership with General Motors.

• It would be the country's largest lithium mine, and was approved by Trump 1.0 with a $2.26 billion DOE loan closing late last year.

Fast forward: Trump 2.0 reportedly is seeking to renegotiate terms of that loan, including the possible equity stake.