The inevitable merger of SpaceX and Tesla took an orbital leap forward yesterday, with Elon Musk calling it "a good idea" and both companies forming special committees to discuss a deal.

Why it matters: This would be the largest corporate tie-up in history.

• SpaceX ended trading yesterday with a $1.95 trillion market cap, making it the country's seventh most valuable company, while Tesla landed in 11th place with a $1.48 trillion market cap. Shares of both companies are up sharply this morning.
• The record-holder is Vodafone paying $183 billion for Mannesmann in 2000, which works out to around $350 billion when adjusting for inflation.

Flashback: When SpaceX absorbed xAI earlier this year, we noted that Tesla was a likely next step. And not just because it would simplify the Elon Inc. org chart.

• "Musk is ... betting his empire on the idea of orbital data centers that are powered by the sun ... Tesla would make the chips, SpaceX would be responsible for launch and satellites, and xAI would build the models and agentic networks."

Zoom in: Musk essentially controls the vote at SpaceX, and has the ability to put down board dissent.

• Tesla is more complicated, as Musk owns a much smaller stake and other shareholders would get a say. Perhaps that's why the company just introduced a new "voluntary retail voting program," whereby retail shareholders can authorize their shares be voted in accordance with Tesla's board recommendations.
• Texas also has some special anti-takeover provisions that would apply, given that Tesla relocated its incorporation from Delaware in 2024.

Zoom out: Politics also could play a role here, particularly if Democrats take control of Congress (something Musk is spending huge to prevent).

• There's a controversy brewing over what Musk and SpaceX did or didn't do vis-à-vis Ukraine's access to Starshield — a vital tool in its war with Russia.
• If investigations determine that Musk did indeed throttle access, or encouraged it to be throttled, there could be pushback against a merger that only would increase SpaceX's size and power.

The bottom line: Musk cautioned that saying a merger definitely would happen is "overstating it," but he tends to move very fast once he gets the transactional truck rolling.

General Atlantic and 32 Equity, an investment vehicle of the National Football League, plan to raise a fund that will invest in sports-related companies.

Why it's the BFD: For the NFL owners, this advances global expansion goals while also creating a new revenue stream (i.e., carried interest) that needn't be shared with players.

• For General Atlantic, this is a high-profile endorsement to include in its imminent IPO prospectus.

Zoom in: The partnership was formally approved yesterday by NFL owners at their annual fall meeting in New York, with formal marketing likely to kick off early next year.

• No word yet on fund size target or investment team leads. GA and 32 Equity each will serve as general partners.
• Talks between the two sides have been ongoing for about a year.

The bottom line: Expect the fund mandate to be fairly broad, focused on growth-stage companies that derive at least part of their revenue from sports.

• Legora, a Stockholm-based legal-tech, raised $550m in Series E funding at an $8.8b valuation. Atreides led, joined by Baron Capital, Capital Group, Glade Brook, Fidelity, JPMorgan and insiders Accel, Benchmark, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Iconiq, Insight Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Sands Capital. axios.link/4elSj38

• ASI, a Boston-based AI startup "orchestrating critical infrastructure and national security," raised $325m at a $3b valuation. Spark Capital led, joined by Citadel Securities, Meritech Capital, and Craft Ventures. axios.link/47wVIZf

• Pigment, a French enterprise business planning platform, raised $250m at a $2.3b valuation. Scaleup Europe Fund led, joined by World Innovation Labs, Greenoaks, Iconiq, IVP, Nvidia, and Meritech. axios.link/4yx7VrK

⚡ Peak Energy, a Denver-based sodium-ion battery maker, raised $108m in Series B funding. GM Ventures led, joined by Maverick Silicon, Infinite Capital, Eclipse, Xora Innovation, and LG Technology Ventures. axios.link/47yMED6

• Reliable Robotics, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of an autonomous flight system, raised $90m in Series D extension funding. Nimble Partners led, joined by Gideon Strategic Partners, RockCreek, Geek Ventures, Gold Hill Capital, and Sparkwave Capital. It also secured $25m in debt from SVB. axios.link/4Bj0xmz

• Daytona, an NYC-based developer of cloud infrastructure for AI agents, raised $60m in Series B funding at a $1b valuation led by FirstMark. axios.link/4eobglL

• Different, an SF-based AI marketing startup, raised $48m in seed funding. General Catalyst led, joined by Lightspeed. axios.link/484uI3k

🚑 Coherence, a developer of devices that use AI to monitor and treat cancer, raised $45m in Series A funding led by Founders Fund and the OpenAI Startup Fund. axios.link/4yxTaF4

Erebor, a stablecoin banking startup co-founded by Palmer Luckey, raised $30m from Robinhood's public VC fund. axios.link/4sfSUsZ

• Qualitate, an intelligence system for primary research, raised $25m in Series A funding. Insight Partners led, joined by insiders IA Ventures and Crew Capital. axios.link/4sibm43

• CapitalOS, a Belmont, Calif.-based provider of spend management tools for SMBs, raised $21.9m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. LGVP led, joined by WEX Ventures, Group 11, Great North Ventures, Night Capital, and Mintaka Capital. axios.link/4BnxKgP

• AuxoAI, a forward-deployed AI engineering company, raised $20.7m in Series A funding led by NTTVC. axios.link/4iwzxsj

• iVerify, a mobile endpoint detection and response startup, raised $17m, per Axios Pro. Sands Capital and Entropy Ventures led, joined by National Bank of Canada's NAventures, Morgan Stanley, and United Airlines Ventures. axios.link/4iwf1YJ

• International Dance League raised $15m in Series A funding. Elysian Park Ventures led, joined by KB Partners, APEX, Sony, Yamaha, and October Ventures. axios.link/4seogjE

• Mural, an NYC-based system-of-record platform for fintechs, raised $15m in Series A funding. Tether led, joined by North Island Ventures. axios.link/4hZ0WD1

🌎 Electric Plant Co., a plant-sensor startup, raised $11.2m. Onto Ventures and Climactic led, joined by Ponderosa, Endeavor Catalyst, Ludlow, Michigan Rise, The Fund, Schox VC, and Dug Song. axios.link/4k4W6FF

⚡️ Veckta, a San Diego-based onsite solar and battery software startup, raised $11m. Origin Ventures led, joined by Tech Square Ventures, VoLo Earth Ventures, Cove Fund, Catalyst by Wellstar, Engage, Emerald Bay Ventures, She's Independent Investments, and Mobilize AI x Energy Ventures. axios.link/4ei9jY4

• Photon Bridge, a Dutch photonics startup, raised €10m. Amadeus Apex Technology Fund and 360 Capital led, joined by insiders Innovation Industries, Faber, and Brabant Development Agency. axios.link/3VZLNZF

• YGO, a German travel-booking infrastructure platform, raised €8m in Series A funding. Ventech led, joined by Sake Bosch and Caesar Capital. axios.link/3UDMdVa

• Asymptote Labs, an NYC-based agentic infrastructure developer, raised $5.5m in seed funding. Tower Research Ventures led, joined by Lytical Ventures, 1984 Ventures, and South Park Commons. axios.link/47Bq2BZ

• Pennant, an NYC-based corporate governance startup, raised $5m in seed funding. Urban Innovation Fund led, joined by YC. axios.link/4iafkXZ

🚑 Vinyl Health, a Marlton, N.J.-based AI personal health assistant, raised a $2m seed round led by HealthX Ventures. axios.link/4yvdC9G

🚑 Apogem Capital acquired a minority stake in Family Care Center, a Denver-based provider of outpatient mental health services that's backed by Revelstoke Capital Partners. axios.link/3UxAoQm

🚑 Archimed acquired a majority stake in Organika, a Canadian nutraceutical business. axios.link/4icuBYm

• Argentum Capital Partners invested in Truck Parking Club, a Ringgold, Ga.-based platform for finding tractor-trailer parking. axios.link/4A5ejYL

• Audax Private Equity acquired Rensa Filtration, an Aurora, Ill.-based maker of air filtration solutions, from AEA Investors and British Columbia Investment Management. axios.link/4dO1FV8

• Brightstar Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in Material Handling Group USA, a Canton, Mich.-based provider of material handling equipment and aftermarket parts and services. axios.link/4jtWGg5

• Canaccord Genuity (TSX: CF) is in talks to sell its U.K. wealth management business to a consortium led by Centerbridge Partners and Mubadala for around $1.3b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4Bim4vy

• Dan-O's Seasoning, a Louisville-based maker of seasoning blends, raised $25m from The Newcastle Network. axios.link/4z0tlyu

🚑 Hologic, backed by Blackstone, agreed to acquire Reveal Genomics, a Barcelona-based oncology diagnostics company. axios.link/4eoMiCN

🚑 Kohlberg agreed to acquire Lake Mary, Fla.-based Alcanza Clinical Research from Martis Capital for between $800 million and $850 million, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4ibvb8y

🎬 Legendary Entertainment, backed by Apollo, submitted a takeover offer for Lionsgate Studios (NYSE: LION), per Bloomberg. axios.link/4smej3W

• Morgan Stanley Capital Partners acquired The Rapid Group, a Paterson, N.J.-based provider of inspection, repair, and maintenance services for rotating equipment. axios.link/4z6JGSE

• NRG Controls, backed by Fort Point Capital Partners, acquired ISI, an Atlanta-based building automation integrator. axios.link/3U8bK8E

• Ranger Fire and Security, an Inflexion portfolio company, acquired Netherlands-based D&G Security Systems. axios.link/4i1sQNm

• WaveDivision Capital, TPO, and Stephens Capital Partners acquired Atlanta-based ISP EarthLink from Trive Capital. axios.link/47w3ORS

🚑 Lycia Therapeutics, an SF-based biotech targeting disease-causing extracellular proteins, set IPO terms to 14.7m shares at $16-$18. It would have a $950m valuation at the midpoint and plans to list on the Nasdaq (LYCA). The Phase 1 company has raised over $330m from firms like Versant Ventures, Venrock, Redmile, RTW Investments, Janus Henderson, Blue Owl, Balyasny Asset Management, Adage Capital Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, OrbiMed, Eli Lilly, Franklin Templeton, and Invus. axios.link/3U34VW8

🚑 Azra AI, a VC-backed care management platform, acquired Blackford Analysis, a Scottish medical imaging software provider, from Sopris Capital. axios.link/4iedCF6

• Blackstone and Warburg Pincus hired Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim to sell IntraFi, a fintech that could fetch $10b, per Reuters. axios.link/4k6pmvM

🚑 OpenAI acquired Orchestra Bio, an SF-based maker of AI agents for drug development, as first reported by Axios. Orchestra had been seeded by Definition, Insight Partners, 8VC, Haystack, and a16z. axios.link/4BnsNog

• Stord, a logistics startup valued by VCs at $3b, acquired AMS Fulfillment Holdings from Fort Point Capital for about $200m, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4eJGB2m

• Thoma Bravo is reviving efforts to sell consumer intelligence firm J.D. Power, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4k8W0gc

• Warburg Pincus is weighing a sale of Chinese car park operator Sunsea, which could fetch around $300m, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4i7Stwa

🚑 Abbott (NYSE: ABT) plans to spin off its nutrition business into an independent, publicly traded company. It has around $8.5b in annual sales. axios.link/4eId09y

• CBRE (NYSE: CBRE) agreed to buy Onnec Group, a London-based data center infrastructure firm, for upwards of $1.1b (including $610m upfront cash). axios.link/4k4oEz5

🚑 Experian (LSE: EXPN) acquired eInsights, a Westport, Conn.-based insurance discovery technology company. axios.link/4ysFXNT

• Fura, a Frisco, Texas-based freight broker, acquired Road Dog Logistics, a Cincinnati-based truckload brokerage. axios.link/4dNP3NP

🚑 Labcorp (NYSE: LH) agreed to buy the prenatal health testing business of Myriad Genetics (Nasdaq: MYGN) for $210m in cash. axios.link/3TKkhyI

• FFL Partners raised $1.35b for its sixth flagship PE fund. axios.link/4sjfEby

• Pantheon raised $6b for its eighth PE secondaries fund. pantheon.com

• Vintage Investment Partners of Israel raised $920m for its new fund-of-funds and secondaries vehicle. axios.link/4yCmc6C

• Evercore named Nigel Dawn and Naveen Nataraj as co-presidents, effective in 2027. Dawn has led the firm's private capital advisory business — and is known as the king of CVs — while Nataraj was co-head of investment banking. axios.link/47xCnqM

• Mehdi Iraqi will lead a new Abu Dhabi office for Advent International, which he joined in January. axios.link/4sh0fZ7

• Michael Pantilione joined Weatherford Capital as a partner. He previously was with LLR Partners. axios.link/4seUQSx

• Ufenau Capital Partners promoted Marius Buxkaemper to partner. axios.link/4slhNDM

• Nicole Vipperman joined GenNx360 Capital Partners as chief compliance officer. She previously was with TGM. axios.link/4i7zUIB