Staple Street Capital bought Dominion Voting Systems in 2018, with a $38 million equity check and an $80 million enterprise value. It might have been the best private equity deal ever.

Driving the news: Dominion yesterday agreed to drop its defamation lawsuit against Fox News, in exchange for $787.5 million.

• The settlement came just as opening arguments were set to begin, with high-profile witnesses like Rupert Murdoch waiting in the wings.
• Fox News acknowledged in a statement that the court found that it aired false claims about Dominion, but it did not apologize. The settlement does not require Fox News or anchors like Maria Bartiromo to tell on-air viewers about the falsehoods.

By the numbers: Denver-based Dominion will be required to pay taxes on its windfall, plus give a hearty portion to attorneys. But this is still a massive amount of cash for a company of its size.

• Dominion currently generates around $45 million in annual EBITDA, up from $10 million in 2018, according to comments this morning from Staple Street co-founder Hootan Yaghoobzadeh on CNBC.
• In terms of revenue, Forbes once reported that Dominion generated $118.3 million for the three-year period between 2017 and 2019.
• Fox Corp. has just over $4 billion of cash on hand, and may have an insurance policy that helps it defray some of the settlement costs.

Look ahead: Yaghoobzadeh told CNBC that settlement proceeds will be distributed to shareholders, adding that Dominion management and employees "own a very significant stake in the business."

• Dominion also has pending defamation lawsuits against right-wing cable news networks Newsmax and One America News (OAN), plus against Overstock.com founder Patrick Byrne, pillow magnate Mike Lindell, Rudy Giuliani and attorney Sidney Powell.
• Fox News, meanwhile, remains subject to a $2.7 billion defamation complaint brought by election tech company Smartmatic. It also was recently sued by a former producer for allegedly trying to manipulate her pre-trial testimony in the Dominion case, and some shareholders reportedly are agitating for more records related to the Dominion situation.

The bottom line: Staple Street had a growth plan for Dominion, which the EBITDA increase indicates was successfully executed. But what moved this from a decent private equity deal into an all-timer were Fox's lies and Dominion's insistence on getting payback.

M42, a new health care joint venture between Mubadala Investment Co. and Abu Dhabi-based tech firm G42, agreed to buy Sweden-based dialysis clinic chain Diaverum from Bridgepoint.

Why it's the BFD: M42 says the deal makes it the Middle East's largest health care company. Other assets include hospitals, labs, rehab centers and medical educational institutions.

Details: No financial terms were disclosed, but reports put the price tag at between $2 billion and $2.5 billion.

• G42 was founded in 2018, and has raised outside funding from both Mubadala and Silver Lake.
• Bridgepoint bought Diaverum in 2007 for around $900 million, and has since nearly tripled its number of facilities. Diaverum filed for an IPO late 2020, but soon withdrew the offering.

The bottom line: "Dialysis is a procedure to remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys stop working properly. It often involves diverting blood to a machine to be cleaned. The size of the dialysis market globally is expected to grow in coming years because of aging populations and the increased incidence of kidney disease related to diabetes and other conditions." — Ben Dummett, WSJ

• EquipmentShare, a Columbia, Mo.-based equipment and digital solutions provider to the construction market, raised $290m. BDT Capital Partners led, and was joined by Brown Advisors and insiders RedBird Capital Partners, Tru Arrow Partners and Sound Ventures. www.equipmentshare.com

• Tonal, an SF-based connected weight training startup, raised $130m in from L Catterton, Cobalt, Dragoneer, Kindred Ventures and THVC. https://axios.link/43CY3P6

• Coro, an Israeli all-in-one cybersecurity platform, raised $75m from Energy Impact Partners. https://axios.link/3N0PRT3

🚑 Cortica, a San Diego-based autism care provider, raised $75m in Series D funding. Deerfield Management and Optum Ventures co-led, and were joined by RA Capital, Echo Health Ventures, Longitude Capital, .406 Ventures, Questa Capital, Ajax Health, Aperture Venture Partners and the Autism Impact Fund. https://axios.link/41gXitf

• Huntress, an Ellicott City, Md.-based managed security platforms for SMBs, raised $60m in Series C funding. Sapphire Ventures led, and was joined by insiders JMI Equity and Forgepoint Capital. www.huntress.com

• Unchained, a provider of financial services for bitcoin holders, raised $60m in Series B funding. Valor Equity Partners led, and was joined by NYDIG, Trammell Venture Partners, Ecliptic Capital and Highland Capital Partners. https://axios.link/41l1tnV

• Semgrep (fka r2c), an SF-based code security startup, raised $53m in Series C funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led, and was joined by Felicis Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Sequoia Capital. https://axios.link/3UMVqWK

• Ditto, an SF-based distributed database startup, raised $45m in Series A funding. Acrew Capital led, and was joined by U.S. Innovative Technology Fund, True Ventures and Amity Ventures. https://axios.link/41F9rbr

• SpecterOps, a Seattle-based provider of "adversary-focused cybersecurity solutions," raised $25m in Series A funding led by Decibel. www.specterops.io

• Optable, a Montreal-based data collaboration and clean room platform for publishers and advertisers, raised US$20m in Series A funding from Hearst Ventures, Brightspark Ventures, Desjardins Capital, Deloitte Ventures and asterX. https://axios.link/3L9pHvN

• TaxCloud, a Norwalk, Conn.-based e-commerce sales tax compliance platform, raised $20m led by Camber Partners. www.taxcloud.com

• Karate Combat, a martial arts sports league, raised $18m. Bitkraft Ventures led, and was joined by Delphi Digital, The Operating Group, Alpha Wave Global, Hashkey, Lattice, M13, Santiago Santos and RooxieXBT. www.karate.com

• Trullion, a New York-based provider of corporate accounting software, raised $15m in new Series A funding. Stepstone Group led, and was joined by insiders Aleph, Third Point Ventures and Greycroft. www.trullion.com

• Quantum Source, an Israeli photonic quantum computing startup, raised $12m in seed extension funding. Dell Technologies Capital led, and was joined by Eclipse VC, Grove Ventures and Pitango First. www.qs-labs.com

⚡ ChargeLab, a Toronto-based provider of EV charging management software, raised $10m in Series A equity and $5m in venture debt from backers like Silver Comet and Eaton. https://axios.link/41k6xco

⚡ Fervo Energy, a Houston-based geothermal energy startup, raised $10m from Devon Energy. https://axios.link/3UKGtEE

• Mediwhale, a South Korean retina scanning startup, raised $9m in Series a funding. SBI Investment led, and was joined by Woori Venture Partners, BNK Venture Capital, Innopolis Partners and IPS Ventures. https://axios.link/43KoqCU

🚑 SentiAR, a St. Louis -based medical AR startup focused on cardiac disease, raised $8.5m in Series A funding. Cultivate(MD) Ventures led, and was joined by MedVenture Partners and insiders TechWald Holding, VCapital, QRM Capital and Harmonix Fund. https://axios.link/3L8SaSI

• Mansa, a free streaming service aimed at global Black culture, raised $8m in seed funding. MaC Venture Capital led, and was joined by Robert Smith, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Galaxy Digital. https://axios.link/40ixRpV

• Fractal, a New York-based digital asset clearing and settlement startup, raised $6m from QCP Capital, 6th Man Ventures, Archetype, Blizzard and CMT Digital. https://axios.link/3L8frnK

• Motion, an analytics platform for creatives, raised $6m in seed funding. Headline led, and was joined by Sugar Capital, Abstract Ventures and Habitat Partners. www.motionapp.com

• Tiicker, a Detroit-based shareholder loyalty and engagement platform, raised $5m in seed funding from Baysore Advisory Group, Red Cedar Ventures and Flipturn Ventures. www.tiicker.com

• Wayland Additive, a British electron beam 3D printing startup, raised £4.6m from Metrea Discovery and insiders Longwall Ventures, Parkwalk Advisors and ACF Investors. www.waylandadditive.com

⚡ Plexigrid, a Spanish energy consumption management startup, raised €4.5m in seed funding from Swedish Polar Structure, Vargas Holding and TheVentureCity. https://axios.link/3Lmt1UJ

🐟 eFishery, an Indonesian agribusiness that last year raised $90m at a $400m valuation from firms like SoftBank and Temasek, is in talks to raise new funding at a $1.2b valuation, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3A96jZC

• 7Ridge acquired American Financial Exchange, an electronic exchange for direct lending and borrowing. www.ameribor.net

• Development Partners International acquired Solevo, a Madagascar-based distribution platform for specialty chemicals, from Helios Investment Partners. www.solevogroup.com

• EverSmith Brands, a portfolio company of The Riverside Company, acquired Green Guard, an Escondido, Calif.-based provider of commercial kitchen exhaust cleaning services. www.eversmithbrands.com

• Mediawan acquired a majority stake in Submarine, an Amsterdam-based producer of international scripted series and films. Mediawan backers are KKR, Atwater Capital, Bpifrance, MACSF and Société Générale. https://axios.link/3mGpyXh

⚡ Sunergy, a New Port Richie, Fla.-based provider of residential solar and energy efficiency solutions, agreed to go public at an implied $475m valuation via ESGEN Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: ESAC). https://axios.link/41y27OY

• Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM) agreed to buy Neosec, a Milpitas, Calif.-based API detection and response platform that raised over $15m in VC funding from backers like True Ventures, SixThirty Ventures, TLV Partners and New Era Capital Partners. www.neosec.com

🦊 ZeroFox (Nasdaq: ZFOX) agreed to buy LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, a Reston, Va.-based external attack surface management company that had raised over $85m from firms like NewSpring Capital, Goldman Sachs, Alsop Louie Partners, Neuberger Berman and The Strand Partners. https://axios.link/3mOeLdC

• Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is in talks to buy a minority stake in Indian food ordering platform Thrive, per the Economic Times. https://axios.link/3A9YjHI

• Crédit Mutuel is in talks to buy the Hungarian consumer finance unit of BNP Paribas (Paris: BNP), per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3L84Vgb

🚑 Danaher (NYSE: DHR) has ended its takeover pursuit of Catalent (NYSE: CTLT), a Somerset, N.J.-based biotech contract manufacturer, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3UQbDKT

• Religion of Sports, the Tom Brady co-founded sports media company that’s raised over $60m in VC funding, is acquiring British production company Jiva Maya. https://axios.link/3mH5qEB

• Veolia Environnement (Paris: VIE) is seeking to sell Sade, a French water pipe installation business that could fetch €300m, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3AbRxBf

🌎 Congruent Ventures, an SF-based climate and sustainability VC firm, raised more than $300m for its latest fund. https://axios.link/41FZJpi

🚑 Define Ventures, an SF-based firm focused on digital health startups, raised a total of $460m for its third flagship fund and first opportunities fund. www.definevc.com

• Diameter Capital Partners, a New York-based alt asset manager focused on credit, raised $2.2b for its second dislocation fund. www.diametercap.com

• Activant Capital promoted Adam Geisler to CFO and chief compliance officer. www.activantcapital.com

• David Bluff, former head of Australia and New Zealand for Carlyle Group, joined Future Fund as head of private equity. https://axios.link/3mIMTYx

• Steve Bringardner joined Hayfin as head of consultant relations within the firm’s partner solutions team. He previously spent 12 years with BlackRock. www.hayfin.com

• Pete Cooper joined C5 Capital as a managing partner and global head of partnerships. He previously was deputy director for cyber defense in the U.K. Cabinet Office. www.c5capital.com

• Kushal Saha is leaving Deutsche Bank to lead internet investment banking at Mizuho Americas, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3UQPZ9C

• SKKY Partners, the consumer-focused PE firm co-founded by ex-Carlyle pro Jay Sammons and Kim Kardashian, hired Kaitlin May (ex-Putnam Investments) as COO, Brittany Serafino (L Catterton) as a VP and Zachary Litner (Bain Capital) as a VP. https://axios.link/41GTOAo

Glencore said it could further sweeten its $22.5 billion stock-and-cash takeover bid for listed Canadian miner Teck Resources, which so far has called the unsolicited offer a "nonstarter."

• This comes ahead of next Wednesday's shareholder vote on Teck's own plan to split itself into a coal company and metals company. Were Teck to lose, it would strengthen Glencore's hand.