The NBA ownership carousel kept spinning yesterday, with private equity billionaire Tom Dundon agreeing to buy the Portland Trail Blazers for just over $4 billion from Paul Allen's estate.

• The league also approved Bill Chisholm's purchase of the Boston Celtics, which was announced back in March.

Here are four things to know about the Blazers deal, based on conversations with sources familiar:

1. Dundon doesn't yet have all the money.

• He does have several partners officially in the door, including Blue Owl co-president Mark Zahr and Portland-based venture capitalist Sheel Tyle.
• But he's also trying to fill out the syndicate, which could include private equity participation. This isn't unusual — Chisholm needed to do the same after agreeing to buy the Celtics — and is unlikely to become an obstacle, particularly given that it was said to be a "highly competitive" bidding process.
• One thing to watch will be if there's any involvement by Blue Owl, whose Dyal unit has minority stakes in several other clubs, or if its role will be limited to Zahr as an individual. Also unclear if Zahr's day job would impact his potential ability to serve as an alternate governor for the Blazers.

2. There's no real estate involved, just as there wasn't for the Celtics or Lakers deals. So when calculating future team sales, these might be viewed as discounted comps.

• The Trail Blazers last year sold their arena and underlying property to the city of Portland for just $7 million, and extended their lease through 2030.
• The goal was to enable renovation, particularly with a new WNBA club to begin play in Portland next year.
• But NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said that "Portland likely needs a new arena," which obviously has some locals worried about losing their team to Las Vegas or some other city. There are other available locations, such as an old shopping mall site called Lloyd Center — although the availability of public financing is much more questionable.

3. Dallas-based Dundon is saying the right things about keeping the team in Portland.

• When Dundon bought the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes in 2018, he kept the club in Raleigh (where he's also been trying to lure a Major League Baseball team). He also spent big to renovate the team's arena and surrounding area.
• That said, Dundon could come under relocation pressures in Portland if the city doesn't cough up cash — and the relatively short-term lease will give him leverage.

4. Game over.

• No other NBA teams are actively seeking to sell control stakes, after a two-year flurry that's included Portland, Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Minnesota, Phoenix, and Charlotte.
• That said, the Lakers sale was on a proprietary basis between the Buss family and Mark Walter, so it's possible that sort of deal could be quietly in the works. Or that the high price Portland just fetched will induce a reticent owner to solicit bids.

Centrica (LSE: CNA) and Energy Capital Partners have agreed to jointly buy the Grain LNG terminal near London from National Grid (NYSE: NGC) for around $2.04 billion.

Why it's the BFD: Grain LNG is Europe's largest liquefied natural gas import terminal, at a time when demand is soaring due to Russia's war in Ukraine.

The bottom line: "National Grid said in March 2024 it planned to sell the site, as well as its U.S. onshore renewables arm, to focus on its electricity networks business. It started the formal divestment process in April." — The Financial Times

• Rivos, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip startup, is seeking to raise between $400m to $500m at a $2b valuation, per the Information. axios.link/3Upzemv

🚑 Reprieve Cardiovascular, a Milford, Mass.-based maker of fluid management tech for congestive heart failure, raised $61m in Series B funding. Deerfield Management led, joined by Arboretum Ventures, Lightstone Ventures, Santé Ventures, Genesis Capital, Rex Health Ventures, and Cadence Capital. axios.link/47vbu7X

🚑 Citizen Health, a rare disease data advocacy startup, raised $30m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. 8VC led, joined by Headline and Transformation Capital Partners. axios.link/416tu4H

• Plancraft, a German construction staffing SaaS, raised €38m in Series B funding. Headline led, joined by insiders Creandum, HTGF, and xdeck. axios.link/4fC5nkf

🚑 Conformal Medical, a Nashua, N.H.-based heart implant developer, raised $32m in Series D extension funding to a round originally led by Sprig Equity. axios.link/47f7okz

• Topline Pro, a startup using AI to automate operations for home services companies, raised $27m in Series B funding led by Northzone, per Axios Pro. axios.link/45uOcfW

• Protege, an AI training data platform, raised $25m in Series A funding. Footwork led, joined by CRV, Bloomberg Beta, Flex Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Shaper Capital. axios.link/3V1co4E

🚑 Fountain Life, a longevity startup, raised $18m in Series B funding led by EOS Ventures. axios.link/3Ht5GBs

• Evertune, an AI marketing startup, raised $15m in Series A funding led by Felicis. axios.link/3HABC6O

• Cache, a wealth management tech startup, raised $12.5m in Series A funding led by First Round Capital. axios.link/4mMS7ff

• Bumper, a British BNPL for car repairs, raised $11m in Series B extension funding. Autotech Ventures led, joined by InMotion Ventures, Suzuki Global Ventures, Porsche Ventures, and Shell Ventures. axios.link/46WUEib

🚑 Isaac Health, a provider of virtual dementia care, raised $10.5m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Flare Capital led, joined by Industry Ventures, Black Opal Ventures, Meridian Street Capital, and B Capital. axios.link/4mJ6fWN

• Onerway, a U.K.-founded payments infrastructure startup, raised $10m in Series A extension funding. Yunqi led, joined by Lanchi Ventures, Eminence Ventures, and Enlight Growth Partners. axios.link/4mfCOf9

• Drivepoint, a Boston-based finance platform for consumer brands, raised $7m in Series A finding. Vocap Partners led, joined by Bling Capital, Vinyl VC, and Las Olas Venture Capital, and Jefferies' Family Office. axios.link/45tbrXH

• Create, maker of an AI coding app agent Anything, raised $8.5m in seed and Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners.

• Coverd, a New York City-based platform to gamify financial wellness, raised $7.8m in seed funding. Yolo Investments led, joined by a16z, Volt Capital, WndrC, Arbitrum Gaming Catalyst, and Tusk Ventures. coverd.us

• Qloud Games, the gaming studio behind Loftia, raised $5m in seed funding. Bitkraft and GFR Fund led, joined by a16z, 1UP Fund and Gaingels. axios.link/45P3L3m

• Infinity Loop, a contract intelligence platform, raised $5m in seed funding. Glasswing Ventures and TIAA Ventures led, joined by Plug and Play and Restive Ventures. infinityloop.ai

• Archestra, a U.K. startup focused on securely connecting AI agents to internal data, raised $3.3m in pre-seed funding led by Concept Ventures. archestra.ai

• 26North completed its acquisition of AVI-SPL, a Tampa-based provider of audio visual and communications systems, from Marlin Equity Partners at more than a $1b enterprise value. axios.link/441kaB8

• Agility Retail Group, a portfolio company of San Francisco Equity Partners, acquired Infinity Retail Services, a Turtle Lake, Wis.-based maker of telecom retail fixtures and displays. agilityretail.com

⚡ Bain Capital is prepping a $340m tender offer for Japanese electricity wholesaler Rezil (Tokyo: 176A), per Nikkei. axios.link/4oB2wMw

• LawnPRO, an HCI Equity Partners portfolio company, acquired New Hampshire's Concord Custom Lawn Care. lawnpropartners.com

• Surge Private Equity invested in White Plains Linen, a Peekskill, N.Y.-based commercial laundry. whiteplainslinen.com

🚑 THL Partners agreed to buy Headlands Research, a Lake Worth, Fla.-based network of clinical trial sites, from KKR. axios.link/4miKM7i

• MIAX, operator of U.S. options exchanges, raised $345m in its IPO. It priced shares at $23 (above $19-$21 range), for a $2.3b fully diluted value, and will trade on the NYSE (MIAX). axios.link/4mmcQ9Y

• Merlin Labs, a Boston-based developer of autonomous flight tech for fixed-wing aircraft, agreed to go public at an $800m pre-money valuation via a reverse merger with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. I (Nasdaq: BACQ), a SPAC formed by Inflection Point Asset Management. Merlins had raised around $145m from firms like Snowpoint, Baille Gifford, and GV. axios.link/3UwC1u2

• AI Infrastructure Acquisition, an AI/ML SPAC, filed for a $100m IPO. axios.link/47t35lq

• Viking Acquisition I, a SPAC led by execs from financial advisory firm KingsRock, filed for a $200m IPO. axios.link/4mkZ33i

⚡ EG Group, a U.K. gas station operator backed by TDR Capital, agreed to sell its Australian unit to Ampol (ASX: ALD) for A$1.1b. axios.link/4fxhRcU

• Francisco Partners is weighing a "multibillion dollar" sale of Georgia-based cybersecurity firm BeyondTrust Software, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3UrZ9K8

• Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO) is weighing a sale of its transportation finance arm, which could fetch around $1b and has $11b in assets, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4fL99rJ

• Bending Spoons, owner of Evernote, Meetup and Brightcove, secured more than €500m in debt to buy more tech companies. axios.link/418BOkp

• Hillenbrand (NYSE: HI), a Batesville, Ind.-based plastic parts maker with nearly a $2b market cap, is exploring a possible sale, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4lxhxMN

⚡ Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) sold renewable fuels unit Saffire to Conestoga Energy. axios.link/47w0pn7

• Unite Group (LSE: UTG), a U.K. student housing developer, agreed to buy smaller peer Empiric Student Property (LSE: ESP) for £634m. axios.link/4oyOMly

• XLIV Capital, an LA-based VC firm led by Taylor Griffin (COO of Blake Griffin Enterprises) and Nathan Johnson (Truconnect), is raising $40m for its debut fund, per an SEC filing.

• DTCP of Germany is raising €500m for a European defense-tech fund, with Porsche and Deutsche Telekom in talks to serve as cornerstone LPs, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4fM0cOT

🚑 Hatteras Venture Partners, a Durham, N.C.-based life sciences firm, raised $200m for its seventh fund. axios.link/4mfD6Th

• Touch Capital, a Miami-based VC firm focused on CPG startups, is raising $100m for its second fund, per an SEC filing.

• Transformation Capital Partners, a Boston-based firm focused on digital health care, is raising its fourth fund, per an SEC filing.

• Tribe Capital is raising its third crypto-focused VC fund, per an SEC filing.

• Harrison Davis joined H.I.G. Capital as a Miami-based managing director. He previously was with TZP Group. axios.link/4mCWgSH

• Arpito Mukerji joined Alvarez & Marsal as head of its new India private credit advisory unit. He previously was with Apollo. axios.link/418hXlv

Wholesale inflation hit a three-year high in July, with the Producer Price Index rising a much hotter-than-expected 0.9%.

Why it matters: This could give the Fed second thoughts about cutting rates next month.

• Stocks fell and bond yields rose on the news.

Zoom in: PPI is calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is the same agency responsible for monthly jobs and Consumer Price Index readings.

• Thus far, no accusations from President Trump that the PPI data was rigged.