Warren Buffett is renowned for his investment advice. If only he'd listened to it when it came to private equity.

Why it matters: Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday took a $3.8 billion writedown on its 27.5% stake in Kraft Heinz, which now is weighing various breakup plans to salvage value.

• It's a bad deal that just keeps getting worse for Berkshire, more than a decade after it partnered with 3G Capital Partners to buy H.J. Heinz for $28 billion.
• Two years later, Heinz merged with publicly traded Kraft Foods, with Berkshire and 3G initially owning a majority stake in the combined company — which since has seen both its revenue and market cap sag.

Catch up quick: Both before and after the Kraft Heinz deal, Buffett was a vocal critic of private equity.

• He argued that fees and leverage were excessive and that the reporting to limited partners was dishonest.
• Perhaps more importantly, he believed that private equity investors "don't love" the companies they buy, viewing them more as cash cows than family pets.

Zoom in: For some reason, though, Buffett felt that 3G Capital was an exception to his rule.

• Maybe it was because the firm was founded in Brazil rather than Manhattan. Or because he felt it had a long-term investment philosophy, even though much of its timing record looked indistinguishable from vanilla private equity firms. Perhaps he was pleased by early returns from a Berkshire loan that helped 3G-backed Burger King buy Tim Hortons.
• Whatever the cause, Buffett looked the other way and partnered with 3G on the mega-deal for Kraft Heinz, deflecting when asked if 3G's early and brutal cost cuts contributed to the company's later troubles.
• 3G even installed one of its partners as CEO in 2019, but by the end of 2023, he was out. So were the "long-term" investors at 3G, which quietly exited its entire 16% stake — leaving Buffett holding the bottle.

The bottom line: It's reductive, and downright false, to argue that private equity usually destroys value at the businesses it buys. Even at Kraft Heinz, there are plenty of secular challenges, including changing consumer nutrition trends.

• But if you proclaim that private equity is malevolent, asking it to the prom could become a self-fulfilling critique.

KKR increased its offer for British testing equipment maker Spectris (LSE: SXS) to £41.75 per share, or a total of £4.8 billion (including debt), one day after the company agreed to a sweetened £41 per share bid from Advent International.

Why it matters: There doesn't seem to be a ceiling in the bidding war between KKR and Advent, even though the original investment thesis for Spectris seemed to be that it was undervalued.

• Its shares are at a four-year high and nearing an all-time record.

The bottom line: "Spectris, a member of the mid-cap FTSE 250, provides instruments to companies in industries including pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. It reported sales of £299mn in the first quarter, down on the same period last year amid weakness in markets including automotive, chips and materials." — Financial Times

• Uzum, an Uzbekistani food delivery and fintech startup, raised $65.5m at a $1.5b valuation. Tencent and VR Capital led, joined by FarSight Ventures. axios.link/45padwM

• Alaan, a Dubai-based spend management platform, raised $48 min Series A funding led by Peak XV Partners. axios.link/3HjxzMc

• Lyric, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based supply chain intelligence platform, raised $43.5m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Insight Partners led, joined by Primary Venture Partners, Permanent Capital Ventures, VMG Partners, PSP Growth, and NewBuild Venture Capital. axios.link/3HjboFW

• GeoWealth, a Chicago-based asset management platform, raised $38m in Series C funding. Apollo led, joined by BlackRock, JPMorgan Asset Management, and Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors. axios.link/4fpZqHd

• NG.Cash, a Brazilian consumer fintech, raised $26.5m in Series B funding. NEA led, joined by Quantum Light, Monashees, a16z, Endeavor Catalyst, 17Sigma, and Daphni. ng.cash

• Jeh Aerospace, an Atlanta-based aerospace manufacturing startup, raised $11m in Series A funding. Elevation Capital led, joined by General Catalyst. axios.link/47lRowO

• OLarry, a San Jose, Calif.-based tax advisory startup, raised $10m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. TTV Capital led, joined by Walkabout Ventures and Marin Sonoma Impact Ventures. axios.link/3IZYtt0

• Vendict, an Israeli compliance startup, raised $10m in Series A funding led by Moneta Ventures and JAL Ventures, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3Ufl5rY

• Streamline AI, a Burlingame, Calif.-based customer success solutions provider, raised $8.6m in Series A funding. Blumberg Capital led, joined by Tribeca Venture Partners, Acronym Venture Capital, Great Oaks Venture Capital, and Scribble Ventures. axios.link/41rjzXo

• Journey, a loyalty platform for luxury hotels and private rentals, raised $7.7m in seed funding co-led by Lerer Hippeau and Slow Ventures. journey.com

• Approov, a Scottish mobile app and API security startup, raised £5m in Series A funding. Maven Capital Partners led, joined by Souter Investments, Lanza TechVentures and Scottish Enterprise. approov.io

🌎 EVeez, an Indian electric two-wheeler subscription service, raised $5.4m in Series A funding. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation led, joined by Caret Capital, ThinKuvate, Ev2 Ventures, Barbershop With Shantanu, SailThru Ventures, and Ah Ventures. axios.link/4ofQbNH

• Cafeteria, a consumer insights platform focused on Gen Z and Alpha, raised $3m at a $22m valuation from Marquee Ventures, Listen Ventures, and Thayer Investment Partners. teamcafeteria.com

• Resolvd AI, a startup for reconciliation workflows, raised $1.6m in pre-seed funding from Spice Capital, Betaworks and Factorial Capital. resolvd.ai

🚑 Archimed acquired Arkstone Medical Solutions, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based provider of infectious disease diagnostics. arkstone.ai

🚑 Audax and Parthenon Capital invested in Elevate Patient Financial Solutions, a Spring, Texas-based revenue cycle management company. elevatepfs.com

• BDT & MSD Partners invested in Summit Cos., a provider of fire and life safety services, from BlackRock LTPC. summitcompanies.com

• It also took a minority stake in Australian pharma company DBG Health.

• Cloud Software Group, a Vista Equity portfolio company that owns Citrix and Tibco, agreed to buy Pleasanton, Calif.-based data management firm Arctera from Carlyle. axios.link/4mw2YtS

• Graham Partners acquired Smithstown Light Engineering, an Irish medical device contract manufacturer. sle.ie

• GRC Solutions, a Bloom Equity Partners portfolio company, agreed to acquire the Digital Trust Consulting unit of BSI. bsigroup.com

• LGT Capital Partners invested in communications firm Teneo at a $2.3b valuation, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4lUr55v

• Providence Equity Partners acquired GCL, a New York-based provider of live events and luxury goods logistics, from ATL Partners. gcl.global

• Valence Surface Technologies, an ATL Partners portfolio company, acquired C.I.L., a provider of surface treatment for products in the North American aerospace and defense market. axios.link/4lhwtyt

🚀 Firefly Aerospace, a commercial space flight business backed by AE Industrial Partners, increased its IPO price range to $41-$43 from $35-$39. It still plans to offer 16.2m shares and list on the Nasdaq (FLY). axios.link/3HlzJLb

• Iris Acquisition II, an SMB SPAC formed by Arrow Capital, filed for a $150m IPO. axios.link/3HhK8rk

• M3-Brigade Acquisition VI, a crypto and blockchain SPAC led by Mohsin Meghji, filed for a $300m IPO. axios.link/4os6GGO

• MIAX, an options exchange backed by Warburg Pincus and Susquehanna Securities, set IPO terms to 15m shares at $19-$21. It would have a $1.9b fully diluted valuation, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (MIAX). axios.link/4omzosu

• New America Acquisition I, a U.S. manufacturing SPAC whose advisers include Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., filed for a $300m IPO. axios.link/4lbW8IP

🚑 CVC Capital Partners is weighing the sale of its 22.5% stake in listed Indonesian pharma company PT Soho Global Health, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4ma1lSY

• Destinus, a Dutch drone maker that's raised nearly $100m in VC funding, agreed to buy Daedalean, a Swiss provider of autopilot solutions, for around $223m in cash and stock. Dadalean had raised funding from firms like Melnichek Investments, Honeywell Ventures, Carthona Capital, Redalpine Venture Partners, and Amino Capital. axios.link/3Hjz251

• Genstar Capital is seeking to sell OEConnection, an auto software provider that could fetch up to $5b, per Reuters. axios.link/45yPKXw

• Global‑e Online (Nasdaq: GLBE) acquired ReturnGo, an Israeli return and exchange solutions provider that had raised around $13m from firms like Trestle Partners and TPY Capital. axios.link/45i6eBT

⚡ Presidio Investment Holdings, an oil and gas well efficiency company backed by Morgan Stanley Energy Partners, agreed to go public at an implied $660m valuation via a merger with EQV Ventures Acquisition (NYSE: EQV), an energy-focused SPAC formed by EQV Group. axios.link/3HjW4bZ

• Zebra Technologies (Nasdaq: ZBRA) agreed to acquire Elo Touch Solutions, a Milpitas, Calif.-based touchscreens maker, from Crestview Partners for $1.3b in cash. axios.link/3IYDuqt

🚑 Alcon (Swiss: ALC) agreed to buy vision treatment firm Staar Surgical (Nasdaq: STAA) for around $1.5b in cash, or $28 per share (51% premium to yesterday's closing price). axios.link/4lYbsdd

• Core Scientific (Nasdaq: CORZ) shareholders may oppose a proposed $9b all-stock takeover by CoreWeave (Nasdaq: CRWV), per the FT. axios.link/3J1RbF5

• Northeast Grocery, the parent company of Price Chopper and Tops Friendly Markets, is weighing a sale, per Reuters. It could fetch over $1b. axios.link/4omJnhh

🚑 XOMA Royalty (Nasdaq: XOMA) agreed to acquire troubled biotechs Lava Therapeutics (Nasdaq: LVTX) and HilleVax (Nasdaq: HLVX). axios.link/4fn9m4i

• Post Road Group raised $525m for its third flagship fund and $500m for its second digital infrastructure fund. postroadgroup.com

• Smart Infrastructure Ventures of Germany raised €30m for its second fund. axios.link/45fs0Gt

• HGGC promoted both Anna Ike Pope and William Dean to principal. hggc.com

• Goldman Sachs named Marko Ratesic as vice chair of consumer investment banking, per Reuters. axios.link/41rxtJ7

• Sorenson Capital promoted Eric Hilton to partner. axios.link/450Lccf

Figma shares fell a bit back to earth yesterday, after their post-IPO surge, shedding around $11 billion in market cap. Shares are slightly up in today's pre-market trading.