Today's column collapsed at the last minute, so just some quick items to kick us off...

Dyal Capital Partners has dodged one of two legal challenges to its proposed merger with Owl Rock Capital and subsequent SPAC deal, as a New York judge on Friday denied a temporary restraining order request from Golub Capital.

• Golub argued that the Owl Rock merger would put it in direct competition with Dyal — something it believes is prohibited by a Dyal fund's earlier purchase of a minority stake in Golub.
• To be exact, the judge called Golub's claim "wildly implausible."
• A similar case remains pending in Delaware, brought against Dyal by Sixth Street Partners, although Dyal lawyers have already shared the New York ruling with the Delaware vice chancellor.

Speaking of SPACs: We've seen a pretty significant slowdown in new issuance over the past two weeks. Remember, there were mornings where the "SPAC Stuff" section had a dozen formations.

• One factor seems to be that front-end investors are just tapped out, or at least feel over-exposed, given the hundreds of SPACs that have priced. Another may be that bankers want to work through their SPAC paperwork backlogs before moving onto new business.
• There's also growing concern about increased regulatory scrutiny. Just yesterday, the SEC's acting director of corporate finance told a legal conference that there “some significant and yet undiscovered issues” with SPACs.

Tax talk: The White House yesterday released details of its new corporate tax plan proposal, including a new 28% rate that almost everyone believes will be negotiated down to 25%. Axios breaks it down.

Look ahead: Coinbase is set to go public next Wednesday via direct listing, and don't be surprised if it becomes a very polarizing name among investors. And not just because crypto-related anything is de facto polarizing.

• The bull case, which may well be reflected in an initial valuation north of $100 billion, is that crypto investing continues to grow in popularity among both retail and institutional investors. Coinbase, the argument goes, is best positioned to capture the lion's share of that growth.
• The bear case is that also that crypto investing continues to grow in popularity, except that this commoditizes the trading process. Coinbase becomes just another place to buy and sell Bitcoin, and many investors would rather do so on the same platforms where they can buy and sell other, non-crypto assets.

KKR agreed to invest $500 million in Box (NYSE: BOX), a Silicon Valley cloud content management company that plans to use most of the proceeds for a stock buyback.

• Why it's the BFD: This feels like protection money, as Box has been under reported pressure from activist investor Starboard Value, which is Box's largest outside shareholder. Not only does Box now have a new deep-pocketed investor in its corner, but Starboard has a path to exit at a profit.

• Details: KKR will receive convertible preferred stock and a new seat on Box's board of directors. The buyback will be done via a Dutch auction-style self-tender worth up to $500 million, with specific details and launch to come after Box's fiscal Q1 earnings report next month.
• Investor reax: Box stock fell on the news, because this almost certainly means a sale process isn't in the cards.
• Bottom line: "Demand for secure file-sharing services online has skyrocketed since the onset of COVID-19, driven by the information technology needs of companies whose employees are working from home. While Box has benefited from this trend, it has struggled to fully capitalize on it, as some of its services and products are offered by competitors either for free or at a lower cost." — Greg Roumeliotis, Reuters

• ShareChat, an Indian social media company whose products include short-video app Moj, raised $502 million at a $2.1 billion valuation from an investor group that includes Tiger Global, Snap and Twitter. http://axios.link/Bofs

• Kavak a Mexico-based used car marketplace, raised $485 million in Series D funding at a $4 billion valuation from D1 Capital Partners, Founders Fund, Ribbit and Bond. http://axios.link/uEB0

• MasterClass, which sells subscriptions to online courses taught by experts, is raising new funding led by Fidelity at a $2.5 billion valuation, per Axios. http://axios.link/mcxm

• Oda (fka Kolonial), a Norwegian online grocer, raised €223 million co-led by Prosus and Softbank Vision Fund 2. http://axios.link/2R8n

🚑 Komodo Health, a San Francisco-based maker of digital healthcare maps, raised $220 million in Series E funding. Tiger Global led, and was joined by Casdin Capital and insiders Iconiq, Andreessen Horowitz and SVB Capital. http://axios.link/YWdG

• Ramp, a New York-based provider of digital corporate cards and spend management software, raised $115 million over two new funding rounds. The first was led by D1 Capital Partners, while the second was led by Stripe at a $1.6 billion valuation. http://axios.link/4H1X

• Gupshup, a San Francisco-based conversational messaging platform, raised $100 million in Series F funding led by Tiger Global at a $1.5 billion valuation. http://axios.link/tIpI

🚑 Ventus Therapeutics, a developer of structural immunology based therapeutics, raised $100 million in Series B funding. RA Capital Management led, and was joined by BVF Partners, Casdin Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Alexandria Venture Investments and insiders Versant Ventures and GV. www.ventustx.com

• TipRanks, an Israeli stock research platform, raised $77 million in Series B funding co-led by Prytek and More Investment House. http://axios.link/vNWw

• TrueLayer, a London-based open banking platform, raised $70 million in Series D funding. Addition led, and was joined by Visionaries Club and insiders Anthemis Group, Connect Ventures, Mouro Capital, Northzone and Temasek. http://axios.link/mUgK

• Spinny, an Indian used car marketplace, raised $65 million in Series C funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by Arena Holdings, Think Investments, Fundamentum Partnership and Elevation Capital. http://axios.link/YXR9

• CaptivateIQ, a San Francisco-based no-code sales commission platform, raised $46 million in Series B funding. Accel led, and was joined by insiders Amity, S28 Capital, Sequoia Capital and YC. http://axios.link/CB6U

• Snorkel AI, a Palo Alto-based provider of data labeling solutions for machine learning, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led, and was joined by Walden International, BlackRock and insiders Greylock, GV, In-Q-Tel and Nepenthe Capital. http://axios.link/YyPX

• Streamlit, a San Francisco-based provider of developer tools for building ML applications, raised $35 million in Series B funding from insiders Gradient Ventures and GGV Capital. http://axios.link/4sfm

• Alyce, a Boston-based personal experience platform, raised $30 million in Series B funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by insiders Boston Seed Capital, Golden Ventures, Manifest, Morningside and Victress Capital. www.alyce.com

• Attensi, a Norwegian corporate training startup, raised $26 million from Lugard Road Capital, DX Ventures and insider Viking Venture. http://axios.link/mYNt

• Tines, an Ireland-based no-code automation platform, raised $26 million. Addition led, and was joined by CrowdStrike, Silicon Valley CISCO Investments and insiders Accel and Blossom Capital. http://axios.link/dejy

• AxleHire, an Emeryville, Calif.-based provider of last-mile logistics, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Ajax Strategies led, and was joined by Eclipse Ventures, Quiet Logistics, Bee Partners and Acorn Pacific Ventures. www.axlehire.com

• Swyft, a San Francisco-based provider of same-day retail delivery services, raised $17.5 million in Series A funding. Inovia Capital and Forerunner Ventures co-led, and were joined by Shopify and existing backers Golden Ventures and Trucks VC. http://axios.link/BBgb

🚑 Canvas Medical, a San Francisco-based electronic health records company, raised $17 million co-led by Inspired Capital and IA Ventures. http://axios.link/bwxs

• Nuvocargo, a New York-based digital logistics platform for cross-border trade, raised $12 million in Series A funding. QED Investors led, and was joined by FJ Labs, Clocktower and individuals. http://axios.link/LdJR

• AmazeVR, a VR entertainment platform, raised $9.5 million. Murex Partners led, and was joined by We Ventures, Bass Investment, Dunamu & Partners, Mirae Asset Capital, Partners Investment and Timewise Investment. www.amazevr.com

• Abacum, a provider of real-time data and collaboration tools for finance teams, raised $7 million in seed funding. Creandum led, and was joined by YC, PROFounders and K-Fund. http://axios.link/cBQU

🚑 Comvest Partners invested in Leixir Dental Group, an Indian provider of outsourced dental services and producers. www.leixir.com

• Diligent completed its $1 billion acquisition of Galvanize, a Canadian provider of governance, risk and compliance SaaS that had raised $50 million from Norwest Venture Partners. Diligent backers include Insight Partners, Clearlake Capital Group and The Blackstone Group. www.diligent.com

• EQT and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners are working on a $15 billion-plus takeover bid for Dutch telecom company Royal KPN, per the WSJ. http://axios.link/a9CL

• Hitachi (Tokyo: 6501) picked a Bain Capital-led group to buy a 53% stake in its metals unit, in a deal that could top $7.3 billion, per Reuters. Co-investors would include Japan Industrial Partners and Japan Industrial Solutions. http://axios.link/cVlM

🚑 KKR agreed to pay $1.5 billion for Therapy Brands, a Birmingham, Ala.-based provider of mental and behavioral health practice management software, from Lightyear Capital, Oak HC/FT and Greater Sun Ventures. http://axios.link/zwT4

• Hemnet, a Swedish online real estate portal owned by General Atlantic and Sprints Capital, said it's planning an IPO on the Nasdaq Stockholm. http://axios.link/0Iaq

• Onion Global, a cross-border e-commerce platform for Chinese lifestyle brands, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (OG) and reports $32 million of net income on $584 million in revenue for 2020. http://axios.link/X9EU

🚑 Privia Health Group, an Arlington, Va.-based provider of physician practice management software, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (PRVA), reports $31 million of net income on $817 million in revenue for 2020 and is controlled by Brighton Health Group. http://axios.link/Yrmr

• Cellebrite, an Israeli provider of digital intelligence solutions, agreed to go public at an implied $2.4 billion valuation via TWC Tech Holdings II (Nasdaq: TWCT), a SPAC led by private equity vet Adam Clammer. Cellebrite backers include Israel Growth Partners. www.cellebrite.com

• Sonder, a San Francisco-based hotel and short-term apartment rental platform, is in talks to go public at a valuation north of $2.5 billion via Gores Metropoulos II (Nasdaq: GMII), per Bloomberg. Sonder has raised over $500 million in VC funding, most recently at a $1.3 billion valuation, from firms like Fidelity, Westcap, Inovia Capital, Greenoaks, Spark Capital, Greylock, Valor Equity, Tao Capital, Atreides Capital and Lennar. http://axios.link/VejM

• Clover Leaf Capital, a cannabis SPAC formed by Yntegra Group, filed for a $125 million IPO. http://axios.link/A7VJ

• International Media Acquisition, a media and entertainment SPAC, filed for a $200 million IPO. http://axios.link/Uw4H

• Perception Capital II, an industrial tech SPAC formed by Perception Capital, filed for a $250 million IPO. http://axios.link/vIdP

• RiverView Acquisition, a SPAC led by ex-Saks CEO R. Brad Martin, filed for a $250 million IPO. http://axios.link/wEas

• Tetragon Acquisition I, an asset management SPAC formed by TFG Asset Management, filed for a $500 million IPO. http://axios.link/RfV7

• AppHarvest (Nasdaq: APPH) acquired Root AI, a Woburn, Mass.-based provider of robots to manage indoor farms. Root AI had raised nearly $10 million from firms like PJC and First Round Capital. www.root-ai.com

• CVC Capital Partners and The Carlyle Group are seeking a buyer for Syncreon, an Auburn Hill, Mich.-based supply chain services company that could fetch up to $1.5 billion, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/k0gv

• OTG, a New York-based airport restaurant and concessions operator backed by Harvest Partners, is considering an IPO or SPAC deal, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/GseW

• Ridgemont Equity Partners is seeking a buyer for Worldwide Express, a Dallas-based provider of parcel and freight logistics services that could fetch at least $1.5 billion, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/6R4Z

• Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) held talks to buy audio app Clubhouse for around $4 billion, but discussions are no longer active, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/uv72

• Canopy Growth (TSE: WEED) agreed to buy rival Canadian cannabis company Supreme Cannabis (TSE: FIRE) for C$323.3 million. http://axios.link/zDEV

• PCCW (HK: 00008) is considering a sale process for its IT and data centers unit, which could fetch more than $1 billion, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/Fob2

• Prosus sold around a 2% stake in Chinese tech giant Tencent for $14.7 billion, lowering its ownership position to 28.9%. http://axios.link/lKPf

⚡ BlackRock raised $4.8 billion for its third global renewable power fund. www.blackrock.com

• Index Ventures raised $200 million for its first dedicated seed fund. www.indexventures.com

• Serena Ventures is raising outside capital for a new fund, Axios has learned. The firm, formed in 2019, to date had been capitalized exclusively by tennis star Serena Williams.

• Shilling of Portugal raised €30 million for an early-stage VC fund. http://axios.link/nuyL

• SkyKnight Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, raised $600 million for its third fund. http://axios.link/3N84

• Ritej Bachhawat joined TA Associates as a Mumbai-based vice president. He previously was with McKinsey & Co. www.ta.com

• Thomas Donovan joined Greenhill & Co. as head of private capital advisory, per his LinkedIn. He previously led North America private equity for Mercury Capital Advisors.

• Juan Pedro Pérez Cózar joined Evercore as a senior managing director and heads of its Iberian advisory business. He previously was with Rothschild. www.evercore.com

• Silverfleet Capital, a London-based private equity firm, promoted Robert Knight and Ricardo Sommer to partners. www.silverfleetcapital.com

• Go deeper: The world is watching the FDA's AstraZeneca decision