Private equity keeps pushing deeper into pro sports, with all major North American leagues now allowing at least some form of institutional ownership. So I chatted with Ian Charles, co-founder and managing partner of Arctos Partners, which has deals with such clubs as the Buffalo Bills, the Golden State Warriors, and the beloved/maddening Boston Red Sox.

What follows is an edited transcript of our conversation, which touches on everything from the NFL to college sports to PE competition:

Q. Are we going to see lots of NFL private equity deals in 2025?

Charles: "I don't expect a significant wave of activity. The ecosystem is relational, not transactional. And you're often dealing with generational family assets. So these things take a lot of patience and time to make sure you're the right partner for that control ownership group — however they define it."

Also, remember the NFL's rules are different than the other leagues. You have to partner with the controlling owner, and then can only get a deal approved four times a year. Institutional capital cannot solve individual LP liquidity in the NFL today."

Are you worried about exits, given the inability to sell to other sponsors?"

"We've never assumed we would be selling to another sponsor. We might someday, and the rules allow for it in the other four big North American sports leagues, but you need a tremendous amount of market maturity and institutionalization to take place before that's robust."

What role do you expect private equity to play in college sports?

"I hope the answer is zero.

The collegiate landscape is very unstable and unpredictable, which is stating the obvious. And anyone who tells you they know how it's going to play out is not being authentic or they're delusional.

The idea that putting a piece of structured paper or pref paper or loan structure on top of nonprofit institution that doesn't have institutional-grade business leadership … the idea that's a stabilizing thing or a healthy thing I find very hard to believe."

Have you gotten inbound interest for college deals?

"Of course we have. What we've said to everyone is unless we can figure out a way together to bring stability to the situation we're not comfortable.

There will be a couple of deals that get cut in college athletics, and it may break an institution that matters to a community in this country, which isn't a good look for private equity.

Their pitch is we will help you grow your revenue, but that's a very low-credibility pitch. Most of the revenue streams at these universities are locked for long horizons. The media contracts are done at the league level. No sponsor is going to help you on ticketing. No sponsor is going to materially help you on sponsorship. Those are the big levers of value creation."

Do you expect to see more Arctos-type firms emerge?

"Competition is more likely to come from big global institutional platforms, because of the rules of the big five North American sports leagues and scale of capital required. It's going to be very hard for a de novo fund to be created.

That's why emergent players are focused on the broader sports ecosystem, like youth sports and sports data and emerging leagues. Because there are no institutional barriers and they can actually deploy capital."

What should sports fans think about private equity buying into their favorite team?

"In the big five North American leagues, the only thing institutional capital is allowed to really have a voice in is everything away from the field, the court, or the ice. It's just around the business and in collaboration with the controlling owner.

If they want our help to reimagine the fan experience, the venue, or sponsorship strategy, we'll help. But our job is to serve the owners that we partner with, not tell them what to do."

Anthropic, an AI hyperscaler, is in advanced talks to raise $2 billion led by Lightspeed Venture Partners at a $60 billion post-money valuation, as first reported by the WSJ.

Why it's the BFD: This would make Anthropic the world's seventh most valuable startup, despite ongoing losses and less than $1 billion of annualized revenue.

For context: DataBricks is #6 on the list with a $62 billion valuation on a $3 billion ARR. OpenAI, which is a more direct comp, several months ago was valued at around $150 billion on a reported $3.7 billion in ARR.

The bottom line: Compute doesn't come cheap.

• Whatnot, an SF-based live-shopping platform for collectibles, raised $265m in Series E funding at nearly a $5b valuation. Avra, DST Global, and Greycroft co-led, and were joined by a16z, CapitalG, Bond, Durable Capital Partners, and YC. axios.link/3BVMd9P

• Addepar, a Mountain View, Calif., provider of wealth management software for RIAs, is in talks to raise $250m at a $3.25b valuation, per Bloomberg. Insiders would include 8VC, Valor Equity Partners and WestCap. It previously raised around $500m, most recently in late 2021 at a $2.2b post-money valuation. axios.link/3PqHa4b

🚑 Aviceda Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass., biotech focused on chronic inflammation, raised $207.5m in Series C funding. Omega Funds and TCGX co-led, and were joined by Enavate Sciences, Jeito Capital, Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities, Longitude Capital, OrbiMed, Logos Capital, Marshall Wace, Catalio Capital Management, abrdn, and Digitalis Ventures. axios.link/4a9TTSs

• Inari, a Cambridge, Mass.-based seed-breeding company, raised $144m from ADIA, Hanwha Impact, NGS Super, State of Michigan Retirement System, and Flagship Pioneering. axios.link/3WbSvJk

🚑 Evergreen Nephrology, a Nashville-based provider of value-based kidney care, raised $130m. Rubicon Founders led, and was joined by Oak HC/FT and K2 HealthVentures. axios.link/4j4PjZL

• Druid Software, an Irish provider of cellular network software, raised $20m co-led by J2 Ventures and Hico. axios.link/4gMorw1

• Jones, a New York-based insurance verification startup, raised $15m in Series B funding. NewSpring Capital led, and was joined by Hetz Ventures, Camber Creek, Khosla Ventures, JLL Spark, DivcoWest Ventures, Rudin Ventures, and Ground Up Ventures. getjones.com

• Nomupay, an Irish unified payments firm formed via the 2021 purchase of WireCard assets, raised $12m co-led by Endeit Capital, with Uneti Ventures. axios.link/3C2wQMO

🚑 TwentyEight Health, an online birth control and abortion pill retailer, raised $10m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Seae Ventures led, and was joined by Impact America Fund, The Social Entrepreneurs' Fund, RH Capital, Impact Engine, Gratitude Railroad, and Townhall Ventures. axios.link/4h6miv2

🚑 Siren, an SF-based maker of smart socks that detect foot ulcers, raised $8.5m led by Mölnlycke Health Care. axios.link/4j94Gk4

⚡ Karman Industries, a Long Beach, Calif.-based manufacturing electrification startup, raised $7.5m from Wonder Ventures, 8090 Industries and insiders Riot Ventures and Space VC. karmanindustries.com

• JeelPay, a Saudi BNPL company, raised $6.6m from Joa Capital and AlJazira Capital. axios.link/3WaS95w

🌎 Alta Resource, a Neenah, Wis., startup harvesting rare earths from e-waste, raised $5.1m in seed funding. DCVC and Voyager Ventures co-led, and were joined by Orion Industrial Ventures, Overture, and WovenEarth Ventures. axios.link/3W5VZgk

• Moonrider, an Indian developer of electric tractors, raised $2.2m in seed funding co-led by AdvantEdge Founders and Micelio Technology Fund. axios.link/4gJFsHg

• Acon Investments acquired jeans brand True Religion, in partnership with an investment fund led by American Eagle CEO Jay Schottenstein. axios.link/4j42dHv

🚑 Actigraph, an ArchiMed-owned provider of wearables for clinical trials, bought the life sciences business of Biofourmis, which has raised $445m from such firms as General Atlantic and CVS Health. axios.link/403KvLz

• ATG Entertainment, a London portfolio company of Providence Equity Partners, acquired SOM Produce, a Spanish theater producer, operator and distributor. axios.link/4h6iuJY

• Auréa Group, whose portfolio includes The Body Shop, invested in NRI, a maker of plant-based hair care brands Zenagen and ACT/IV. axios.link/3DPffsf

• Bregal Sagemount and Primus Capital invested in MDaudit, a Waltham, Mass., provider of back-office software for health systems, raised capital from Bregal Sagemount and insider Primus Capital. mdaudit.com

• Genstar Capital acquired Aperture, an Arlington, Texas-based provider of forensic expert witness services, from Trinity Hunt Partners. aperturellc.com

• Graycliff Partners acquired Boss Industries, a LaPorte, Ind., provider of power takeoff and engine-driven air tech, from Wynnchurch Capital. bossair.com

• Muck Rack, the PR software company backed by Susquehanna Growth Equity, acquired Ruepoint, an Irish media intelligence company. axios.link/3PxhSBn

• Northwestern Mutual is acquiring a minority equity stake in Sixth Street, as part of a deal whereby Sixth Street will manage the insurer's $13b in assets (primarily to be invested in asset-based finance). axios.link/40mLg3z

🚑 Onrad, a Phoenix radiology services company backed by Housatonic Partners, acquired Bothell, Wash., teleradiology practice Direct Radiology from Royal Philips. axios.link/4a5PWy0

🚑 Renovus Capital Partners acquired Superior Health, a Louisiana provider of home health and hospice services. superiorhealthholdings.com

• Bloks Group, a toymaker responsible for Transformers figurines, raised around $215m in its Hong Kong IPO. axios.link/4fOvMtF

• HBX Group, a Spanish travel tech company whose brands include Hotelbeds, is preparing to launch a €1b Madrid IPO in the upcoming weeks, per Reuters. Backers include Cinven and CPP Investments. axios.link/3PqLDUw

🚑 Maze Therapeutics, a South SF-based human genetics biotech, filed for a $100m IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (MAZE) and reports $168m in license revenue for the year ending Sept. 30, 2024. The company raised nearly $600m from Third Rock Ventures (20.1% pre-IPO stake), Arch Venture Partners (11.8%), Matrix Capital Management (7.1%), GV (6.9%), Foresite Capital (6.7%), Frazier Life Sciences, Deep Track Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, and Logos Capital. axios.link/3WbbovV

• Nice One, a Saudi online cosmetics retailer, raised $320m in its Riyadh IPO. axios.link/4gOb3Yu

⚡ EnCap Flatrock Midstream agreed to sell Ironwood Midstream Energy Partners II and all of its outstanding Plains Series A Preferred Units to Plains All American (NYSE: PAA) for over $800m in cash. axios.link/3DKgLfc

• Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) agreed to buy Simple Mills, a Chicago-based maker of better-for-you crackers and snacks, for $795m in cash from backers like Vestar Capital Partners. axios.link/3DFhgaf

• Banca Ifis (Milan: IF) launched a $309m takeover effort for Italian specialty lender Illimity Bank (Milan: ILTY). axios.link/4gKqOQ6

• Goodyear (Nasdaq: GT) agreed to sell its Dunlop tire brand to Sumitomo Rubber Industries (Tokyo: 5110). axios.link/4fNX6bB

• Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX) agreed to buy Paycor HCM (Nasdaq: PYCR), a Cincinnati-based payroll processor for around $4.1b, or $22.50 per share. axios.link/40nQlc5

🚑 Roche Holdings completed its $1.5b purchase of Poseida Therapeutics, a San Diego-based developer of allogeneic cell therapies and genetic medicines. axios.link/3BXst5G

• Sociedad Textil Lonia of Spain agreed to buy French fashion house Christian Lacroix. axios.link/4fLgSEx

• Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX: TD) is weighing options for its 10.1% stake in Charles Schwab. axios.link/40mZl0S

• Bonaccord Capital Partners raised $1.6b for its second GP stakes fund. axios.link/40mBm23

• Trinity Ventures raised $285m for its 14th fund, per an SEC filing.

• William Blair named Stewart Licudi as head of European investment banking. axios.link/4j8HzGg

• Alexander Horstmann-Caines joined KKR as a London-based director in the firm's credit and markets business. He previously was with law firm Paul Hastings. axios.link/4a7KTNC

• Merit Capital Partners promoted John Darguzas to managing director and Sean Stanley to principal. meritcapital.com

• Moelis & Co. promoted Hasan Sheerazi to managing director of tech investment banking. axios.link/40oWEfl

• Next Gear Ventures promoted Raz Mayshar to principal. axios.link/3BUrRhb

• Odyssey Investment Partners promoted Jonathan Hall and Vivian Hadis to managing principals. It also promoted Paul Ampofo, Zack Coleman, Jake Gillman, and Kelly Rafkin to principals and Kyle Dedrick, Lacey Goodman, Katie Kupersmith, and Christian Pinto to VPs. odysseyinvestment.com

⚡ Luke Philippou joined Ukrainian energy company DTEK as a London-based investment manager for its cleantech solutions and ventures team. He previously was with Conrad Energy. axios.link/4j67H4s

• SCS Financial promoted Patrick Lucier to managing director of private investments. axios.link/3PsBVB9

Investors aren't betting big that Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel will prevail in their lawsuit against the U.S. government, with U.S. Steel continuing to trade at a steep discount to the $55 per share deal price.