South Korean securities regulators are planning to sanction MBK Partners, the country's largest private equity firm, over its ownership of retailer Homeplus.

Why it matters: South Korea is at a crossroads when it comes to private equity investment, as first evidenced by the Coupang situation.

• The sanctions, even if limited, are unprecedented and could have a chilling effect on PE firms seeking to do business in South Korea. Particularly as neighboring Japan becomes more friendly to the asset class.

Catch up quick: MBK paid around $6 billion to buy Homeplus from U.K. retailer Tesco in 2015, but the deal ultimately failed.

• The biggest burden was COVID, which converted a lot of Koreans into online shoppers — ironically boosting Coupang at Homeplus' expense.
• Homeplus early last year filed for the Korean equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and last week moved closer to liquidation after a court denied another extension to secure adequate financing.

Behind the scenes: MBK's original buyout included redeemable convertible preferred shares bought by a co-investment vehicle, in which South Korea's National Pension Service was a limited partner.

• The firm later restructured some of the RCPS, ostensibly to support the larger investment. This is fairly standard for private equity in such situations — particularly given that the co-investors also are LPs in MBK's third fund, which did the deal — but it's raised political ire.
• The basic allegation is that the co-investment LPs needed to approve the restructuring, although such a governance term would be highly unusual.
• Separately, South Korean prosecutors have gone after MBK and founder Michael Kim over a different Homeplus-related issue — reflecting a "whole of government" approach that again is reminiscent of Coupang. That case remains outstanding, although a court rejected arrest warrants.

State of play: Securities regulators say they're planning to impose "suspension of duty" on MBK over the RCPS situation, although haven't yet provided any specific information. MBK has denied any wrongdoing.

• The sanctions theoretically could prevent MBK from fundraising or doing new deals, although could be much narrower — perhaps somehow specific to MBK's work on Homeplus. We're still awaiting official word.

The bottom line: The bark may be worse than the bite, but still could scare off investors.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has agreed to acquire Ultra Maritime, a Braintree, Massachusetts-based naval tech firm, for $3.45 billion from Advent International.

Why it's the BFD: The Strait of Hormuz situation has escalated demand for underseas autonomous weapons, both offensive and defensive.

Elsewhere: Thales today agreed to buy Exail Technologies, a French maker of submarine drones, for €3.9 billion.

The bottom line: "Aerial drones had — and are still having — a moment. Surface and subsurface seem to be next, after years of U.S. Navy leadership banging the hybrid-fleet drum. Defense companies big and small are jockeying for position." — Colin Demarest, Axios Future of Defense

• Kling, a Chinese AI video platform being spun out of Kuaishou (HK: 1024), raised $2.8b from firms like Alibaba, BlueFive Capital, Baidu, and Tencent. axios.link/3QDjqhL

• Skello, a French HR management software firm, raised €200m led by Bridgepoint, per Reuters. axios.link/4ghgEsN

• Even Realities, a Chinese smart glasses maker, raised $150m at a $1b valuation. Meituan led, joined by insider Tencent. axios.link/4p4zxS1

• Bespoke Labs, an AI agent training platform, raised $40m in seed and Series A funding from Wing VC, 8VC, Mayfield, and The House Fund, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4y594I1

🚑 CurifyLabs, a Finnish startup focused on personalized medicine manufacturing, raised €12m in Series A funding. Sandwater and HealthCap led, joined by Tesi and Lifeline Ventures. axios.link/449GZln

🚑 Katalyze AI, an SF-based agentic operating system for pharma companies, raised $10.5m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Bonfire Ventures led, joined by iNovia Capital, Ripple Ventures and Alumni Ventures. axios.link/4bpdsI6

• Worldmodeldata, a U.K. developer of game-based training data for AI models, raised £7m in seed funding led by Iona Star Capital. axios.link/4aC1KK7

• Stoa, a U.K. cash rewards platform, raised $2.4m in pre-seed funding. Bespokeist Partners and Ingenii Capital led, joined by Force Over Mass Capital and Fuel Ventures. axios.link/3SH3QCk

✈️ Castlelake agreed to buy EasyJet (LSE: EZJ) for £5.2b, after the U.K. budget carrier rejected four prior proposals. axios.link/4eUQ9sd

• EQT agreed to buy Orikan, an Australian smart parking tech company, for around A$475m from Five V Capital. axios.link/3SG4gsF

• GFL Environmental (NYSE: GFL) is weighing a take-private deal, after receiving inbound PE interest, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3RmD2Xz

• H.I.G. Capital agreed to acquire a majority stake in Terras Group, a German provider of infrastructure engineering and construction services. axios.link/4y6K57k

• Icon Infrastructure is in talks to buy Northern Fiber, a German fiber network operator on the brink of bankruptcy, per Bloomberg. axios.link/44KwncN

• Lone Star Funds agreed to acquire ContiTech, the industrial unit of Continental AG, for around €4b. axios.link/3SIjRbe

• MoMo, a Vietnamese fintech, has received partial stake bids from Blackstone, CVC Capital Partners, and MUFG, per Reuters. MoMo has raised over $400m in VC funding. axios.link/4p0vpl

• Wrist Group, owned by J.F. Lehman & Co., acquired MSA, an Australian provider of husbanding and maritime logistics for defense and naval operations. axios.link/4fhsJNE

SK Hynix is expected to cross list on the Nasdaq this Friday, with plans to raise $28.1 billion.

• B&R Technology Merger, a SPAC led by David York (Top Tier Capital Partners), filed for a $325m IPO. axios.link/44weheJ

• Csquare, a Coppell, Texas-based data center operator backed by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, set IPO terms to 50m shares at $23-$27. It would have a $3.7b market cap, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (CSQR). axios.link/4p6ZxfI

• Cumberland Farms, a Charlotte, N.C.-based convenience store chain owned by TDR Capital, filed for an IPO that Renaissance Capital estimates could raise $1b. It reports a $145m net loss on $16.3b in revenue for 2025, and plans to list on the Nasdaq (CMBY). axios.link/44ewZqZ

• Jersey Mike's, the sub chain bought last year by Blackstone for $8b, filed for an IPO that Renaissance Capital estimates could raise $1b. It reports $59m of income on $696m in revenue for most of 2025, and mentions Danny DeVito four times in its S-1. axios.link/4eL0TsV

• Laris Growth Acquisition, a SPAC targeting quantum computing and autonomous systems, filed for a $200m IPO. axios.link/4vcw4SU

🚑 Scribe Therapeutics, an Alameda, Calif.-based molecular engineering startup co-founded by Jennifer Doudna, filed for an IPO. It reports a $22m net loss on $51m of collaboration revenue in 2025, and plans to list on the Nasdaq (SCTX). It's raised $121m from a16z, Avoro Ventures, Eli Lilly, OrbiMed, T. Rowe Price, Perceptive Advisors,Wellington Management, RA Capital Management, and Menlo Ventures. axios.link/3QRDYDe

• Garnett Station Partners is seeking to sell auto services consolidation platform Goodturn, per PE Hub. axios.link/4f0zX7y

• General Atlantic is in talks to sell part of its stake in fitness brand Gymshark to founder Ben Francis, per the FT.axios.link/3QQugRx

• ING agreed to buy a 40% stake in Spanish wealth manager Singular Bank from Warburg Pincus. axios.link/4p2ea3H

🚑 Novartis (NYSE: NVS) will pay up to $1.5b ($1.1b upfront) to acquire Myricx Bio, a London developer of antibody-drug conjugates that had raised $114m in Series A funding from Abingworth, Novo Holdings, Brandon Capital, and Sofinnova Partners. axios.link/4eNgQPr

• Ondas (Nasdaq: ONDS) agreed to buy autonomous aircraft maker DZYNE for $875.8m in cash and stock from Highlander Partners. axios.link/4wrbRtu

🚑 United Therapeutics (Nasdaq: UTHR) acquired Thymmune, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of regenerative thymic cell therapies, for up to $300m ($140m upfront). Thymmune raised $7m in 2023 from backers like Pillar VC and George Church. axios.link/4eLaUq8

• Versant Media Group (Nasdaq: VSNT) is paying $530m in cash to acquire golf simulator maker Full Swing from Bruin Capital. axios.link/4p6ZUa6

• Genesis Minerals (ASX: GMD) launched an A$5.6b cash-and-stock bid for Australian gold miner Vault Minerals (ASX: VAU), which already had agreed to be acquired by Regis Resources (ASX: RRL). axios.link/4wmqcaE

• O'Reilly Automotive (Nasdaq: ORLY) offered to buy the auto parts arm of Genuine Parts (NYSE: GPC) for at least $10b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4fi0OwW

• Renk Group (FRA: R3NK) of Germany acquired David Brown Defence, a U.K. maker of naval transmission systems and gearboxes, for up to £190m. axios.link/4gX9qdG

• Rogers Communications (TSC: RCLB) will pay C$4.35b to buy the remaining 25% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, parent of the NBA's Toronto Raptors and the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, from Kimler Group. axios.link/3RoDFjn

• Sky Media, a unit of Comcast (Nasdaq: CMSCA) agreed to buy the broadcast channels and streaming service of ITV (LSE: ITV) for £1.6b. axios.link/4y5lMGV

• Solstice Advanced Materials (Nasdaq: SOLS), a recent Honeywell spinout, agreed to acquire fellow chemicals firm Element Solutions (NYSE: ESI) for around $14.5b in cash and stock. axios.link/4eVo3vr

🌎 Climentum Capital of Denmark held a €60m first close for its second climate hardware fund. axios.link/4y65tcL

• CVC Capital Partners raised around €3b for its third midmarket buyout fund. axios.link/4y2Tc92

• Drumbeat Capital, a deeptech seed firm led by Steven Jacobs, is raising up to $50m for a new fund, per an SEC filing.

• Isogen Ventures, founded by Dan Abelson (ex-Two Sigma Ventures) and Paco Riberas (Orilla), is raising up to $150m for its debut fund, per an SEC filing.

• Seifdune, a VC firm led by Armaan Syed Ali, is raising up to $150m for its debut fund, per an SEC filing.

• Grace Ellis has left a16z, after 15 years in its marketing group. No word yet on future plans. axios.link/3SGgjWU

• Arif Janmohamed is transitioning to venture partner from partner at Lightspeed, as he plans to launch a new early-stage firm. axios.link/44K6GsL

• Kazushige Kobayashi joined LGT Capital Partners as head of Japan. He previously was with MCP Asset Management, where he'll remain a senior advisor. axios.link/4p9tAmX

• Joy Royal joined Disruptive as CFO. She previously was with Oaktree Capital Management. axios.link/4gowouc