Josh Kushner isn't letting his FIFA folly keep him on the sports sidelines.

• Yesterday he stunned the NBA by announcing an agreement to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for $12.5 billion from Mark Walter, who only gained club control last October.
• There's a lot more to this situation than just rich boys and their toys, so let's dig in:

Catch up quick: Walter first bought a minority stake in the Lakers five years ago from the controlling Buss family, before last summer agreeing to up his stake to 85% at a $10 billion valuation — a record price for a professional sports franchise.

• Kushner, meanwhile, had his eyes on an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas. He was working on the deal with former Disney CEO Bob Iger, who had recently rejoined Kushner's Thrive as a senior advisor.
• A lot of Iger's work at Thrive was with a new unit called Thrive Eternal, which focuses on assets with "qualities that cannot be replicated by technology." Its first deal was for a minority stake in the San Francisco Giants.

Fast forward: Kushner and Iger within the past few weeks appear to have pivoted from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

• The obvious question, though, is why? New pro sports owners never do quick flips — these are trophy assets — and Walter hadn't hired bankers to solicit interest.
• Neither side wants to talk about this part, but the Occam's razor explanation may be that Walter is under federal investigation into his sprawling sports, business, and insurance empire.
• This doesn't necessarily mean Walter needed liquidity, or less distraction. But it would explain why Kushner and Iger made the call.

Zoom in: "But wait," says rhetorical reader. "If Walter was doing a fire sale, why offer a $2.5 billion premium to the price he just paid? Couldn't Kushner and Iger have gotten a better bargain?"

• In theory, yes. But this is the sort of premium that preempts an auction and Kushner has a history of paying up for assets he really wants. This is the modern VC pricing philosophy, where the ends justify the means.
• Also worth remembering that the Lakers don't own their own arena. Much like the beloved Boston Celtics, which remain in the midst of a two-part sale for up to $7.3 billion. Two pro sports investors I spoke with yesterday just shook their heads at paying these prices without the real estate and related revenue (parking, concessions, etc).

Behind the scenes: Thrive Eternal is limited to owning up to 20% of the Lakers, per NBA rules.

• Word is that Kushner and Iger both will invest personally, with Kushner as control owner. Other investors are expected to join. Kushner is required to have at least a 15% personal stake and have a higher ownership percentage than does Thrive Eternal.
• Jeanie Buss is still governor of the Lakers, despite Walter's ownership, and it's unclear if and when that may change. Iger is likely to be the courtside face of ownership, given that Kushner lives in New York.

Look ahead: Walter still owns a lot of sports assets, headlined by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

• A source familiar with the situation insists that the Dodgers aren't on the block. Then again, neither were the Lakers.

Anthropic is in talks to buy Decart, a developer of world models and chip optimization software, for around $6 billion, per Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: This could help Anthropic better control compute costs, or even design its own chips, as it moves toward an autumn IPO.

By the numbers: Decart has raised over $450 million in VC funding, most recently in May at a $4 billion valuation from Radical Ventures, Benchmark, Sequoia Capital, Aleph VC, and Zeev Ventures.

The bottom line: "Anthropic is inching closer to looking like an Nvidia competitor and not just a customer. Moreover, it's using Nvidia's funding to do so." — Madison Mills, Axios

• Cognition, a New York-based AI coding startup, is in talks to raise new funding at a $40b valuation, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4hsjpYQ

🚑 Aureka Biotechnologies, a Laguna Hills, Calif.-based developer of biological foundation models for drug discovery, raised $100m in Series B funding. Granite Asia led, joined by HighLight Capital, MPCi and NRL Capital. axios.link/4hy6pkr

🚑 Khartis Therapeutics, a San Diego-based developer of oral medicines for immunological and chronic diseases, raised $50m in Series B financing. Forge Life Science Partners led, joined by Longwood Fund, Alexandria Venture Investments and insiders Foresite Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, and Nextech Invest. bit.ly/4g8sunb

• Trajectory, an SF-based AI lab focused on continual learning, raised $40m at a $300m valuation led by Sequoia Capital, per The Information. axios.link/4wX3FBX

🚑 Beyang Therapeutics, a Chinese AI drug R&D company, raised $30m in Series A funding led by Legend Capital and Shanghai Healthcare Capital. axios.link/4cCIzR4

• Mindgard, an enterprise AI security startup, raised $30m in Series A funding. Album VC led, joined by Karma Ventures, .406 Ventures, Atlantic Bridge, IQ Capital, and Lakestar. axios.link/4qc3hge

🚑 Amplifica, a San Diego-based developer of hair growth treatments, raised $26m in Series B funding. Tasso Partners led, joined by Eli Lilly and Scopia Capital. axios.link/3SwCyyD

⚡ AGent Energy, a startup that integrates backup generators into the grid during emergencies, raised $11m in seed funding led by Spero Ventures and MassMutual Ventures, per Axios. axios.link/460tiG4

• Riven Systems, an NYC-based minerals processing startup, raised $7.9m in pre-seed funding, per Axios Pro. Cerberus Ventures led, joined by Scout Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Lightscape Partners, CLAI, and New System Ventures. axios.link/4xEE7JP

• Wippi, an Indian developer of voice-only AI products for children, raised $1.2m in seed funding. 12 Flags led, joined by Warmup Ventures, Ventana Ventures, and Ruvento Ventures. axios.link/4wnDq6s

• AEVEX (NYSE: AVEX), a Solana Beach, Calif.-based drone maker owned by Madison Dearborn Partners, agreed to buy BlackSea Technologies, a Baltimore-based developer of autonomous maritime and subsea systems, for up to $650m. BlackSea backers included Razor's Edge Ventures. axios.link/4wBlfuw

🚑 Astorg completed its $1.1b purchase of Thermo Fisher Scientific's (NYSE: TMO) microbiology unit. axios.link/4gbAzrx

• Atlas Merchant Capital bought a minority stake in Edge Focus, a provider of underwriting and portfolio management software for consumer credit. axios.link/4wwKspL

⚡ Bernhard Capital Partners acquired New Mexico Gas Co., the state's largest regulated natural gas company, from Canadian energy group Emera. axios.link/45lrxTM

• Blue Point Capital Partners recapitalized Dumpsters.com, a Westlake, Ohio-based waste management and site services company. axios.link/45ptoqK

• Braemont Capital invested in Thought Logic Consulting, an Atlanta-based enterprise consultancy. axios.link/4xCGDAc

• Firmus, an Australian AI infrastructure company, agreed to buy Benmax's fabrication, design and projects businesses for A$300m. Firmus recently raised US$2b at more than a $10.5b post-money valuation from Blackstone, Jane Street, Coatue, and Nvidia. axios.link/4xyGaip

• Foods Connected, an Apax Partners portfolio company, agreed to buy the quality insights business of iFoodDS, backed by Insight Partners. axios.link/4fWW0h8

• Goldman Sachs Alternatives agreed to buy Tosca, an Atlanta-based provider of reusable food packaging, from Apax Partners. axios.link/4xEIHaZ

🚑 Marlin Equity Partners acquired Cemplicity, a New Zealand-based patient experience platform that it will merge with existing portfolio company Radar Healthcare. axios.link/45Xz4Iu

• Merit Financial Advisors, a Constellation Wealth Capital portfolio company, acquired The Bridgeway Group, a Pasadena, Calif.-based wealth manager with around $900m in client assets. axios.link/4chUAva

• Resurgens Technology Partners invested in Qarma, a Denmark-based provider of quality and compliance software for brands, retailers and manufacturers. axios.link/4zvMcCu

• Quad-C Management invested in Paradigm HSE, a Pasadena, Texas-based provider of health and safety solutions to industrial customers. axios.link/4wYRx3y

• Thoma Bravo agreed to buy Accelerant (NYSE: ARX), a risk exchange platform for specialty insurance, for more than $4b, or $20.25 per share (49% premium to yesterday's close). axios.link/4cEQHR8

• Vendavo, a fintech backed by Francisco Partners and Accel-KKR, acquired the high-tech business unit of Model N, a Vista Equity Partners portfolio company. axios.link/4wQN2rA

• WestBridge agreed to buy U.K. wealth manager Beckett from Foresight Group. axios.link/4wvig6K

• Western Botanicals, a Riverside Co. portfolio company, acquired Yellow Emperor, a maker of liquid dietary supplements. axios.link/4hxdyS8

• Navi, an Indian fintech founded by Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal, is launching a domestic IPO that could raise around $314m, per Bloomberg. Backers include Prosus. axios.link/3TXDcph

• Vantage Data Centers is weighing an IPO or sale for next year that could value the Denver-based company at around $100b, per Reuters. Vantage backers include DigitalBridge, Silver Lake, ADIA, and GIC. axios.link/4gxT6hZ

• Athora, an Apollo-backed insurer, agreed to sell its German business to Frankfurter Leben. axios.link/4geOnBD

• Dynatrace (NYSE: DT) agreed to acquire AI observability company Arize for $915m in cash and stock. Arize had raised over $220m from firms like Battery Ventures, Foundation Capital, Evolution Equity Partners, and TCV. axios.link/4zcsfjO

🚑 Mountaingate Capital says it exited Relevate Health, a Cincinnati-based health-care commercialization platform. Axios Pro flashback

🌎 One Rock Capital Partners is selling EnviroServe, an environmental services provider, to Clean Harbors (NYSE: CLH) for $470m. axios.link/4c6XYt1

• Candle Lake, an investment firm led by Kenneth Dart, ‌offered to buy Swedish online casino provider Evolution (STO: EVOG) for around $13.8b, although it's a mandatory offer that doesn't necessarily mean Candle Lake wants to acquire all the shares. axios.link/4gvzfRm

• Duolingo (Nasdaq: DUOL) acquired Animade, a London-based animation and motion design studio. axios.link/4cCKbu6

• Principal Mineral, a VC-backed critical minerals supplier, acquired Conductive Group, a nickel composite electromagnetic shielding producer, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4xDBR5F

• Samsonite (HK: 1910) agreed to buy an 85% stake in El Segundo, Calif.-based lifestyle brand Béis for $178.5m in cash. axios.link/4g43xta

• Team8 Capital, an Israeli VC firm, raised more than $365m in new funds, including $265m for its third flagship and more than $100m for a follow-on fund. axios.link/4fWWjIO

🌍 WovenEarth Ventures, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based cleantech VC firm, raised $155m for its second fund. axios.link/4xyCT2B

• Justin Wang (ex-OpenAI) and Calvin Zeng (Dandelion Capital) joined VC firm Paradigm as a research partner and investing partner, respectively. paradigm.xyz

Nelson Peltz once again is interested in taking Wendy's private.

• Peltz's Trian Fund Management reportedly is prepping a takeover bid in partnership with BlueFive Capital and Wendy's franchisee Flynn Group.
• Trian has been involved with Wendy's for over two decades, and most recently floated a takeover in 2022 before abandoning the idea months later.

Wendy's shares rose 14.7% yesterday on the news, but remain down over the past year on slumping same-store sales.