The U.S. doesn't have a sovereign wealth fund, at least not yet, but there are several sovereign wealth funds within the country.

• These are funds established by Native American tribes, totaling billions of dollars.
• The third-largest is for the Chickasaw Nation, an Oklahoma-based tribe that claims more than 80,000 citizens. It also may be the only one with a wholly owned private equity effort, called Pennington Creek Capital.

Driving the news: PCC was formed last year, and yesterday announced its first deal — acquiring Rite in the Rain, a 99-year-old maker of water-resistant writing and field organization products, from Capitol Peak Partners.

• No financial terms were disclosed, but PCC says it plans to invest in companies with between $10 million and $25 million in EBITDA.

Behind the scenes: Alan Marcum, a PCC managing director and deputy secretary of the Chickasaw Nation's commerce department, tells me that the group's investment model is based somewhat on Berkshire Hathaway, in terms of buying majority stakes in cash-generating businesses with an eye toward long-term ownership.

• "We're not looking at a lot of tech or high-risk types of companies, or those that need transformation," Marcum explains. "Instead we want established entities where we can partner with management to help them execute on their plan, without hovering over them. The Chickasaw Nation also has a lot of different relationships and abilities to help companies expand."
• Marcum also was involved in the creation of Good Springs Capital, in which the Chickasaw Nation is an anchor LP. He says the tribe's broader goal is asset diversification.

The intrigue: Native American tribes typically aren't subject to capital gains or other federal taxes on investment income, given that they are recognized as sovereign government entities.

• That means that PCC may be able to pay a premium for certain companies, while maintaining the same internal return profile as a traditional private equity fund paying less.

Sinclair (Nasdaq: SBGI) launched a strategic review of its broadcast business, which includes 178 television stations in 81 markets.

Why it's the BFD: The U.S. broadcasting industry appears to be starting a new game of musical chairs, as Sinclair's announcement comes just days after a WSJ report that Nexstar is in talks to acquire Tegna.

Zoom in: Sinclair also said it will weigh a spinoff or other transaction for its $726 million Ventures unit, which includes private equity investments, real estate, and assets like the Tennis Channel.

The bottom line: "Any of these deals could run into FCC ownership cap issues, but there's a sense that FCC chair Brendan Carr would issue temporary waivers on the assumption that they plan to raise the ownership cap threshold." — Sara Fischer, Axios

🌎 Aira, a Swedish home heat-pump producer, raised €150m from Altor, Kallskär, Kinnevik, Lingotto, and Temasek. axios.link/46UKcYE

🚑 SetPoint Medical, a Valencia, Calif.-based chronic autoimmune disease therapies developer, raised a $115m Series D and a $25m Series C extension led by Elevage Medical Technologies and Ally Bridge Group.

• Other investors include Northwell Health, SPRIG Equity, Norwest, NEA, Viking Global Investors, Action Potential Venture Capital, Abbott, Boston Scientific, Euclidean Capital, Richard King Mellon Foundation, Morgenthaler Ventures, ShangBay Capital, Ascendum Capital, Catalio Capital Management, Gilmartin Capital, and Midas Capital. axios.link/4lpLtu6

• Squint, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of manufacturing workflows, raised $40m in Series B funding at a $265m valuation, per Fortune. The Westly Group and TCV led, joined by insiders Sequoia Capital and Menlo Ventures. axios.link/3J9R2zv

🚑 Jocasta Neuroscience, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based developer of neurodegenerative disease therapies, raised $35 million in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. True Ventures led, joined by Explore Investments, Moore Strategic Ventures, SC8 Investments, Glentura, and the Yagan Family Foundation. axios.link/4mEbpmS

• Profound, a startup that helps businesses control how they appear in AI responses, raised $35m in Series B funding. Sequoia Capital led, joined by insiders Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, Saga VC, and South Park Commons. axios.link/41EFcDL

• GoodShip, a Bellevue, Wash.-based supply chain management startup, raised $25m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Greenfield Partners led, joined by insiders Bessemer Venture Partners, Ironspring Ventures, Chicago Ventures and FUSE VC. axios.link/4lrMNgd

🚑 Arintra, a provider of autonomous medical coding tools, raised $21m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Peak XV led, joined by Endeavor Health Ventures, Y Combinator, Counterpart Ventures, Spider Capital, and Ten13. axios.link/4mzONDT

• Ultraviolette, an Indian electric motorcycle startup, raised $21m led by TDK Ventures. axios.link/3Uq8Okn

• Softwear Automation, an Atlanta-based autonomous sewing tech company, raised $20m in Series B1 funding. Bestseller led, joined by CTW Venture Partners, SRI Capital, and MacDonald Ventures. axios.link/4mfMh6f

• Datumo, a South Korean AI data labeling startup, raised $15.5m from Salesforce Ventures, KB Investment, ACVC Partners, and SBI Investment. axios.link/3JamFZP

• Certivity, a German technical compliance regtech, raised €13.3m in Series A funding. Almaz Capital and UVC Partners led, joined by Earlybird X, HTGF, and Plug and Play. axios.link/3Jc5HdB

• Dealops, a provider of AI pricing infrastructure for enterprise sales teams, raised $7 million in seed and pre-seed funding, per Axios Pro. Pear VC and General Catalyst led, joined by Depth VC, Elsa Ventures, Weekend Fund, Flex Capital, Allison Pickens, and 20Sales. axios.link/4mbHZMX

🌎 Green Steel Environmental, a Boulder, Colo.-based developer of wastewater and biogas treatment tech, raised $1.7m. The Central Texas Angel Network led, joined by Cowtown Angels. axios.link/4mbGsXd

• Laurel, an SF-based time intelligence startup, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Workday Ventures. laurel.ai

• Apollo is in advanced talks to acquire German cooling equipment maker Kelvion from Triton, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4mbvvFh

• Cook & Boardman Group, backed by Platinum Equity, acquired the assets of A.J. Labourdette, a New Orleans-based telecom and integration security contractor. cookandboardman.com

• DigitalBridge Investments and Credstview Partners agreed to acquire broadband provider WideOpenWest (NYSE: WOW) for $1.5b, per $5.20 per share. axios.link/3JdrhOY

⚡ EIG agreed to buy nearly a 50% stake in TgP, operator of Peru's main natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines, from CPP Investments. axios.link/4otvz4C

• FMS Solutions, a New Heritage Capital portfolio company, acquired both Merchants Accounting Services and AMP Services, providers of accounting and consulting services to multi-site restaurants and other hospitality clients. fmssolutions.com

• Inflexion committed £100m to launch Absolute Financial Group, a U.K. financial advice consolidator. axios.link/4lnc2A4

🔥 Life Safety Inspection Vault, an Idaho-based fire safety compliance company, raised $28.7m from Mainsail Partners. livsafe.com

• Mantucket Capital acquired Turbo Terminal Tractors, a Gainesville, Ga.-based renter and leasor of warehouse terminal tractors. turboterminaltractors.com

⚡ Verdane acquired a majority stake in Konvekta, a Swiss provider of energy recovery technology for ventilation systems. axios.link/4lp0lZW

• Apex Treasury, a crypto SPAC led by Ajmal Rahman (ex-CEO of Antev) and Hugh Cochrane (cofounder of Cryptogen), filed for a $250m IPO. axios.link/4fujSGK

• Bob's Discount Furniture, a retailer owned by Bain Capital, is considering a late 2025 IPO, per the WSJ. axios.link/45wJSwL

• GigCapital8, a SPAC led by Avi Katz, filed for a $220m IPO. axios.link/4fxlCPH

• Highview Merger, a midmarket SPAC led by David Boris (ex-Pali Capital), raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/4mHUkbH

• McKinley Acquisition, a SPAC focused on "progressive industries," raised $150m in its IPO. axios.link/3GroaSj

🚑 Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) agreed to but urology drugmaker Solaris Health for $1.9b in cash from Lee Equity Partners. axios.link/4mIkuv6

⚡ Golden Gate Capital agreed to sell DMC Power, a Carson, Calif.-based provider of connectors and tooling for utility substation and transmission markets, to Hubbell (NYSE: HUBB) for $825m. dmcpower.com

🚑 Health Holding, a Chinese maker of nutritional supplements, is seeking a buyer for more than $1.5b, per Reuters. Backers include Affinity Equity Partners, Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, and Henderson Investment. axios.link/412QQYX

• MARA Holdings (Nasdaq: MARA) agreed to buy a 64% stake in Exaion, a developer of high-performance computing data centers, from France's EDF Ventures for $168m. axios.link/3Jb9uYy

🚀 Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB) completed its $275m cash-and-stock acquisition of Geost, a Tucson, Ariz.-based satellite payload manufacturer, from Lightridge Solutions, a portfolio company of ATL Partners. axios.link/4fvwZHL

• Gildan Activewear (TSX: GIL) is in advanced talks to buy underwear maker Hanesbrands (NYSE: HBI) for nearly $5b (including debt), per the FT. axios.link/45lFrVi

• H.I.G. Capital raised $5.9b for its fourth direct lending fund. whitehorse.com

• JMI Equity raised $3.1b for its 12th software-focused growth equity fund. It also promoted Preston Horner and Andy Knox to principals, and Will Priestley to VP. axios.link/3UnOEaI

• Pacific Avenue Capital Partners, a midmarket PE firm focused on carveouts and complex situations, raised $1.65b for its second fund. pacificavenuecapital.com

• Periscope Equity, a Chicago-based PE firm, raised $370m for its third fund. periscopeequity.com

🚑 Portal Innovations, a Chicago-based life sciences investor and incubator, is raising $100m for its third fund, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4ow6FRZ

• Maggie Anderson joined JLL Partners as an operating partner. She previously was with DaVita. axios.link/3J41x7A

• Liz Campbell joined Cliffwater as head of private equity. She previously was CIO at Portfolio Advisors. axios.link/4lrkEWH

U.S. inflation was a mixed bag in July, with CPI rising 2.7% on an annualized basis and core CPI climbing 3.1%.

• The former was a bit cooler than expected, while the latter was a bit hotter.

This data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the same agency President Trump recently accused — without evidence — of "rigging" jobs numbers, before firing its commissioner.

• Trump yesterday said he will nominate Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to lead BLS. The job requires Senate confirmation.