British antitrust regulators are preparing to loosen their grip on merger approvals, after years of post-Brexit tightening.

Why it matters: This would mirror what's expected in both the United States and European Union.

Driving the news: Sarah Cardell, who's led the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority since 2022, yesterday said in a speech that CMA will launch a review of its merger review process.

• Specifically, CMA wants to determine if it can more often favor behavioral remedies (i.e., pricing promises) over structural remedies (i.e., divestitures).
• This comes weeks after new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer argued that CMA was restricting the country's economic growth and innovation, although Cardell says the review was planned previously.

Zoom in: CMA was criticized in some quarters for its efforts to block Microsoft's takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard, which it eventually approved.

• More recently it approved Google's investment in Anthropic without an in-depth review, and is expected to insist on behavioral remedies in an approval of Vodafone's tie-up with Three UK.

By the numbers: U.K. M&A activity is up 57% year-over-year, hitting nearly $160 billion, according to LSEG. Just over half of that activity is cross-border.

• The $160 billion is inclusive of $61.4 billion in private equity-backed deals, which is up 88% year-over-year.

The bottom line: The global wave of increased antitrust enforcement is waning.

Vista Outdoor (NYSE: VSTO) shareholders approved a sale of the company's ammunitions business to Czech arms company Czechoslovak Group for $2.2 billion.

Why it's the BFD: This puts one of America's largest ammunition makers in foreign hands, and ends a bidding war that began last year.

• VP-elect JD Vance had publicly expressed concerns about the deal, prior to it receiving CFIUS approval in June.

Details: Once the sale closes in the next few weeks, Vista will spin off its Revelyst outdoor gear unit into a listed company (briefly) that then will be acquired by Strategic Value Partners for $1.1 billion.

• Revelyst brands include CamelBak water bottles and Foresight golf simulators.
• Ammunition brands being sold to CSG include Remington and Federal, all under the umbrella of Kinetic Group.

The bottom line: "CSG, which primarily produces heavy ammunition and combat vehicles in Europe, is expanding in the U.S. after the war in Ukraine helped more than triple its revenue over the past two years ... The Czech company said the Kinetic acquisition would turn it into the biggest producer of small ammunition in 'the Western world.'" — Krystof Chamonikolas, Bloomberg

🚑 Cradle, a Dutch provider of AI software for making proteins, raised $73m in Series B funding. IVP led, and was joined by Index Ventures and Kindred Capital. axios.link/4g4QCFA

• Cardless, an SF-based co-branded credit card startup, raised $30m. Activant Capital led, and was joined by Mischief, Industry Ventures, Thayer Ventures, Assurant, and Amex Ventures. axios.link/4eQpU2u

• Range, a McLean, Va., wealth management tech startup, raised $28 million in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Cathay Innovation led, and was joined by Gradient Ventures. axios.link/4f47jAt

⚡ Ampeco, a Bulgarian EV charging company, raised $26m in Series B funding. Revaia led, and was joined by Cavalry Ventures, BMW iVentures, and Launchhub. axios.link/413gKfQ

• Appcharge, an Israeli "Shopify for gaming," raised $26m. Creandum led, and was joined by Supercell, Bitkraft Ventures, Moneta Ventures and insiders Play Ventures and Glilot Capital. axios.link/4hXdSXY

• Wherobots, an SF-based data platform for geospatial analytics, raised $21.5m in Series A funding. Felicis led, and was joined by JetBlue Ventures, P7 Ventures and insiders Clear Ventures and Wing VC. axios.link/3CM40QL

• PlayAI, a Palo Alto-based voice AI platform, raised $21m in seed and Series A funding. Kindred Ventures and 500 Global co-led, and were joined by Race Capital, YC, Soma Capital, Pioneer Fund, and TRAC. axios.link/3Zlbqn0

• Capitolis, an Israeli fintech for banks, raised $20m. Citi led, and was joined by State Street, Morgan Stanley, UBS and insiders a16z, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, S Capital, Spark Capital, SVB Capital, Canapi Ventures, 9Yards Capital, Standard Chartered, and JPMorgan. capitolis.com

• Fresho, an order management platform for fresh food wholesalers, raised $17m in Series B funding led by Payapps co-founder Geoff Tarrant. fresho.com

• Boosted.ai, a financial analysis and workflow platform for investment managers, raised $15m from Fidelity Investments Canada, Ten Coves Capital, Spark Capital, Portage Ventures, RBC, and HarbourVest Partners. boosted.ai

🚑 Kyan Health, a Swiss workplace wellness startup, raised $12.7m in Series A funding. Swisscom Ventures led, and was joined by Amplo VC, GreyMatter Capital, naturalX Health Ventures, Founderful, and Joyance Partners. kayanhealth.com

🚑 Biolevate, a French AI platform for medical writing, raised €6m in seed funding led by EQT Ventures. axios.link/496wwJ2

• Talus Network, a platform for decentralized AI agents, raised $6m at a $150m valuation. Polychain Capital led, and was joined by Foresight Ventures, Animoca, Geek Cartel, and Echo. axios.link/4fIJYFl

• Volta, an Italian "Shopify for B2B sales," raised €6m in pre-seed funding. Emblem led, and was joined by Robin Capital, Founders Future, Sequoia, and a16z. axios.link/4eIQ4V7

⚡ Molyon, a U.K. battery startup, raised $4.6m co-led by IQ Capital and Plural. axios.link/3Vdm9NJ

⚡ Hyperheat, a German renewable heating energy startup, raised €3.5m. Amadeus APEX Technology Fund led, and was joined by Finindus, Possible Ventures, E44 Ventures, and Breakthrough Energy Fellows. hyperheat.de

• Affinity Equity Partners acquired Indonesian gummies maker Yupi for $1.2b, and also bought Malaysian seafood processor Golden Fresh for $450m, per Reuters. axios.link/49alYs8

• Bain Capital completed its $4.5b take-private buyout of Envestnet, a Berwyn, Pa., financial software maker. Also participating on the buyside were Reverence Capital, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and State Street. axios.link/463hkek

• Berry Global (NYSE: BERY) agreed to sell its specialty tapes business to Nautic Partners for around $540m. berryglobal.com

• Bishop Street Underwriters, a Chicago-based portfolio company of RedBird Capital Partners, agreed to acquire Landmark Underwriting, a London-based managing general agent. bishopstreetuw.com

• Fortress Investment Group acquired Infra Pipe Solutions, a Canadian maker of branded polyethylene pipes and structures, from Wynnchurch Capital Partners. infrapipes.com

• GTCR agreed to buy a minority stake in Tricentis, an Austin, Texas-based software testing firm owned by Insight Partners at a $4.5b enterprise value. axios.link/3Z9Mmhz

• Kelvin Group, a Wilmington, Mass., portfolio company of Southfield Capital, acquired JS Compliance, a Magnolia, Texas-based process safety and risk management consultancy. jscompliance.com

• Kingswood Capital Management acquired IDX, a provider of post-breach forensics, incident response, and regulatory compliance support, from ZeroFox, a portfolio company of Haveli Investments. zerofox.com

• Mastercard Foundation paid $550.6m to buy certain private equity positions and other illiquid assets from the Kodak Retirement Income Plan Trust, which says that it plans secondary sales to four other investors for an aggregate purchase price of $61.7m. axios.link/3V7PPfi

🚑 Apotea, a Swedish online pharmacy, is seeking to raise around $149m in a Stockholm IPO. axios.link/3Oszjmq

🚑 Indira IVF, an Indian IVF clinic operator owned by EQT, is weighing a Mumbai IPO that could raise around $400m at a $2.5b valuation, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3Bb604x

• Advent International is reviving its sale efforts for Mediq, a Dutch medical supplier that could fetch around €1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4eSBxpD

• Moody's (NYSE: MCO) acquired Numerated, a Boston-based loan origination platform for financial institutions that had raised over $30m from backers like Fidelity National Information Services, Fintop Capital, Patriot Financial Partners, and Venrock. axios.link/4hYKl02

🚑 Wendel hired JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for Stahl, a Dutch maker of coatings chemicals that could fetch up to €2b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4999jWx

• Banco BPM (Milan: BAMI) rejected the €10b takeover offer from rival Italian lender UniCredit (Milan: UCG), saying that it undervalues the business.

• Canaccord Genuity (TSX: CF) is weighing a sale process for its U.K. wealth management business. axios.link/3AMixeQ

⚡ Ørsted of Denmark is seeking to sell around a 50% stake in Hornsea 3, a giant wind farm planned for off the U.K. coast, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4g2x7xD

🚑 Roche Holdings agreed to buy Poseida Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PSTX), a San Diego-based developer of allogeneic cell therapies and genetic medicines, for $1.5b in cash, or $9 per share. axios.link/4fHqjWw

• CalSTRS released performance data on its private equity portfolio through June 30, 2024. It hadn't previously updated the file in over a year.

• LeapFrog Investments, a London-based impact PE firm, raised $1.02b for its fourth fund (including $210m of co-investment commitments). LPs include Temasek, EIB, U.S. DFC, AIA, Prudential Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Eli Lilly, Ford Foundation, IMAS Foundation, and Van Lanschot Kempen. axios.link/4fL7fqa

• RCG Ventures of Atlanta is raising up to $650m for its eighth fund, per an SEC filing.

• Helen Min joined True Ventures as a venture partner. She's the former marketing head at AngelList, Plaid, and Quora. axios.link/494dbZ3

Scott Bessent's economic agenda is centered around what he calls a "3/3/3" approach, Axios' Neil Irwin writes.

• This includes achieving annual 3% GDP growth, something Trump achieved only once during his first term (Biden did it twice in his first three years).

The bull case: Trump's deregulatory agenda, plus AI-driven productivity gains, will help the U.S. economy hit Bessent's target.

The bear case: Trump's immigration and tariff agendas, coupled with broader economic trends, will cause GDP growth to fall short.

The rest: Bessent also wants to cut the federal budget deficit to 3% of GDP and increase domestic oil production by 3 million barrels per day.