Axios Pro Rata: Grocery grievance
Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
Cleaning out the notebook on what soon might become known as Crypto Halloween.
🛒 Supermarket sweep: Albertsons and Kroger today are scheduled to wrap witness testimony in a Delaware Chancery Court trial over their failed mega-merger, and deal lawyers are paying close attention to the outcome.
- Albertsons has alleged that Kroger didn't take the necessary steps to secure antitrust approval for the $25 billion deal, and is asking the court for a whopping $9.3 billion in damages (including the $600 million termination fee).
- Kroger calls that hogwash, arguing that the merger was "doomed from the beginning" because of state and federal regulatory blowback. Moreover, it did make a major divestiture proposal.
- If Albertsons wins, particularly with a large judgment, it could change how future merger agreements are structured. For example, they might need to include detailed divestiture plans. Or language stating that termination fees are the only financial remedies available if a deal is blocked by regulators.
🛍️ Delivery fee: DoorDash's $17 billion deal for Instacart almost happened years ago at a much higher price.
- A source confirms reports from 2021 that the companies got close to merging back then — when Instacart was still privately held — but didn't tie the knot because of antitrust concerns.
- Instacart at the time was valued at $39 billion by VCs, who would have gotten a premium.
- The regulatory difference five years later, the source argues, is that Amazon and Walmart have become major players in grocery delivery.
- Also worth noting that two of Instacart's largest pre-IPO investors still own stakes: D1 Capital Partners (9.7%) and Sequoia Capital (8.1%).
💰 BFD lineup adds: I'm pleased to announce that tennis champ Maria Sharapova and Lia Dean, Capital One's president of banking and premium products, will join us at Axios BFD on Nov. 17 in New York City.
- In-person attendance is closed, but you can sign up to join the waitlist by going here.
🚂 Union dues: The proposed $85 billion merger between railroads Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern has become a major issue in the Nebraska Senate race.
- Independent candidate Dan Osborn, whom polls show has a puncher's chance at unseating Sen. Pete Ricketts, has argued that the deal could lead to decreased worker safety at Omaha-based Union Pacific.
- Osborn is a former organized labor leader — albeit not for railroads — and most workers at the two companies are represented by unions opposing the merger.
- Ricketts supports the deal, arguing that it will lead to job gains and higher wages. He's also received campaign contributions from both companies, via PACs.
- Osborn, who has rejected PAC contributions, spoke with Axios Pro's Colin Campbell. Check out the conversation this afternoon in Pro Rata Premium.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
Salesforce (Nasdaq: CRM) agreed to acquire Rune Technologies, an Arlington, Virginia-based developer of predictive software for the battlefield.
Why it's the BFD: It's not just Silicon Valley startups that want a piece of the Pentagon's bulging budget.
By the numbers: DOD officials reportedly are preparing to ask Congress for $1.1 trillion in new spending, whereas President Trump has requested $1.5 trillion.
- Rune had raised $30m from Human Capital, Pax VC, Washington Harbour Partners, a16z, Point72 Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital, and Forward Deployed VC.
The bottom line: "Salesforce said its defense business is growing 80% year to year, and earlier this year entered a 10-year U.S. Army contract worth as much as $5.6 billion to modernize operations." — Chris Metinko, Axios Pro
The Canadian government will invest up to C$1.6b into Cohere, a Toronto-based enterprise AI company that's raising a C$7b Series E round at a C$35.7b valuation. Other backers would include Schwarz Group, Bell Ventures, Bullhound Capital, Inovia Capital, Nvidia, and Prosperity7 Ventures. axios.link/4eaA4xz
Kalshi, the largest U.S. prediction market, raised $1b at a $40b post-money valuation. Wellington and Sequoia Capital led, joined by Baillie Gifford, Stripes, a16z, Coatue, Layer Global, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Sequoia Global Equities, CapitalG, Hudson River Trading, and Balyasny Asset Management. axios.link/4e9cQI9
- Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour will join us at Axios BFD.
Dulo, an SF-based engineering AI model developer led by Sebastian Thrun, raised $130m in seed funding from DST Global, Construct Capital, and Lowercarbon Capital, per The Information. axios.link/4yThVvQ
🚑 Setara Biosciences, a rare disease biotech formed by Actio Biosciences alums, raised $90m, per Axios Pro. Backers include Deerfield Management, Canaan, Droia Ventures, EcoR1, Euclidean Capital, Regeneron Ventures, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. axios.link/4kqi5XP
Wabi, an SF-based AI assistant maker, raised $55m at a $1.25b valuation. IVP led, joined by a16z, Forerunner Ventures, Amazon Alexa Fund, Tobi Lütke, Marc Benioff, Marissa Mayer, Dick Costolo, and Alex Pall. axios.link/4kna45Z
SuperMe, an SF-based expert network, raised $20m. Forerunner Ventures led, joined by Greylock. axios.link/4f20hia
Dream, a developer of AI models for construction, raised $17m in seed funding. A16z led, joined by SV Angel, XYZ, and Zigg Capital. axios.link/47OIN4Z
Mintive, a Mountain View, Calif.-based agent identity startup, raised $11m from Cowboy Ventures, Coatue, Operator Collective, and Hustle Fund. axios.link/4imUlmh
🚑 Allox, a Spanish AI-powered drug discovery platform, raised $10.5m in seed funding led by Asabys. axios.link/4sA1Md9
🚑 CareLumi, a Chicago-based provider verification startup, raised $2.5m in pre-seed funding. Izou Partners led, joined by Fifth Star Funds and Longjump Ventures. axios.link/4iu8RaA
🚑 Wrapped Health, a Washington, D.C.-based digital healthcare infrastructure startup,raised $2.1m in pre-seed funding led by Lightbank and Arteria Capital. axios.link/4zj40jH
A MESSAGE FROM J.P. MORGAN
Jake Loosararian, co-founder and CEO of Gecko, chose J.P. Morgan early on as his startup's banking team. With the help of his dedicated J.P. Morgan team, Gecko successfully broke into new markets and navigated change with confidence.
🚑 Atlas Health, a Las Vegas-based patient affordability platform, secured funding from InTandem Capital Partners. axios.link/47KS0LN
HappyCo, backed by Lone View Capital, acquired Banner Technologies, an SF-based provider of CapEx management software for real estate. Banner had raised $13m from Amino Capital, Basis Set Ventures, Blackstone Innovations, Fifth Wall, Proven Capital, Sidekick Partners, and YC. axios.link/4iMwo7N
ID Plans, a Tampa, Fla.-based provider of commercial property intelligence solutions, secured funding from Polaris Growth Fund. axios.link/4zXCFmR
Numerix, backed by Genstar Capital, acquired Suite, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based provider of financial analytics software for derivatives and fixed income pricing and risk management. axios.link/4ssRprm
Oak Hill Capital agreed to acquire a majority stake in Wyyerd, a fiber-to-the-premises broadband provider in Arizona and Southern California, from Carlyle. axios.link/4ioJQ0p
PAG agreed to buy a 51% stake in Evergrande Property Services (HK: 6666), the real estate arm of failed China Evergrande Group, for around US$514m. axios.link/3UmczLp
Relation Insurance Services, backed by BayPine, acquired Wright Insurance Planning, a St. Louis-based independent private insurance firm. axios.link/4yNwAII
Scan Global Logistics, backed by CVC Capital Partners, acquired Portland, Ore.-based freight forwarder OIA Global. axios.link/4idGQVN
Speyside Equity acquired Tapco Tube, a Meadville, Pa.-based maker of steel tubing and building products. axios.link/3Wh3ion
Third Space Partners acquired Quest Events, a Frisco, Texas-based provider of drape and modular scenic solutions for live events. axios.link/4jJCTJF
🚑 Aspen Neuroscience, a San Diego-based developer of stem cell therapies for Parkinson's disease, raised $141m in its IPO. It priced at the low end of its $15-$17 range, for a $462m fully diluted value, and will list on the Nasdaq (ASPE). The Phase 1 biotech had raised $380m from OrbiMed (13.1% pre-IPO stake), Arch Venture Partners (12.3%), Gilead Sciences (8.4%), Frazier Life Sciences (6.8%), QIA (6.8%), ADIA (6.6%), Medical Excellence Capital (5.5%), Revelation Partners, S32, Axon Ventures, Lyfe Capital, and LifeForce Capital. axios.link/3UQ8bV0
🚑 Bambusa Therapeutics, a Boston-based developer of bispecific antibodies for inflammatory diseases, raised $169m in its IPO. It priced 10.56m shares at $16, versus plans to offer 9.4m shares at $15-$17, for an $837m fully diluted value. The Phase 2 biotech will list on the Nasdaq (BBTX) and had raised $142m from firms like Salvia (24.3% pre-IPO stake), RA Capital (11.3%), BVF (8.1%), Dawn Biopharma (6.2%), Redmile Group, and Invus Group. axios.link/48fJwfA
BHAV Acquisition II, a SPAC led by reAlpha Tech founder Giri Devanur, raised $100m in a downsized IPO. axios.link/3VnuaTg
OPay, an Africa-focused payments company founded by Norway's Opera, raised $304m in its IPO. It priced at the bottom of its $19-$21 range, giving it an initial $4b market cap, and will list on the NYSE (OPAY). The Lagos-based company reports $91m of net income on $467m in revenue for the first half of 2026, and has raised over $270m from firms like SoftBank, IDG Capital, HSG, GSR Ventures, and Source Code Capital. axios.link/4igkfH0
10Beauty, a beauty robotics company that's raised more than $70 million from VCs, acquired Nimble, a nail care robotics company that had raised $221m — most recently at a $1b valuation — from FedEx, Cedar Pine, The Pritzker Organization, Breyer Capital, Informed Ventures, Ascolta Ventures, and DNS Capital.
- A buyside source tells me it was a fire sale: "We took it off their hands."
Deepgram, an SF-based speech-to-text platform valued by VCs at $1.3b, agreed to buy the maker of open-source voice AI framework Pipecat, whose backers include NorseVC and Renegade Partners. axios.link/4imV5b3
Mondelēz International (Nasdaq: MDLZ) agreed to acquire a majority stake in Undercover Snacks, a Hanover, N.J.-based maker of better-for-you snacks that had raised over $14m from firms like Octagon Capital Group. axios.link/4A5WuZy
Ahold Delhaize (AMS: AD) agreed to pay €1.7b for the Czech and Slovak arms of U.K. supermarket chain Tesco (LSE: TSCO). axios.link/4BH8t1h
Byron Allen sold off the 10% stake in Starz (Nasdaq: STRZ) that he acquired seven months ago. axios.link/4e1BTwU
Evonik (ETR: EVK) rejected an €11.2b takeover offer from rival German specialty chemicals company BASF (ETR: BAS). axios.link/4jP4SYw
Rocco Basilico, a Ray-Ban heir, rejected a €3.5b offer from his stepbrother Leonardo Maria del Vecchio for a 12.5% stake in the family investment group behind EssilorLuxottica, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4ziANW8
Perrigo (NYSE: PRGO) agreed to sell its infant formula business to MeridianMade for up to $175m. axios.link/3W8u6Y0
⚡ Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) agreed to buy a Houston refinery site owned by LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB) for $320.5m. axios.link/3W3PMoa
RedBird Capital Partners formed a $1b investment partnership with Guy Oseary's Sound Ventures, focused on tech, media, and culture deals. axios.link/4zfhFrM
Lewis Blakey is stepping down as a PE-focused partner at Weil Gotshal to join the London office of Simpson Thacher, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4ia9yXC
Cantos VC promoted Grant Gregory to general partner. axios.link/4iomFDw
🚑 General Catalyst named Reva Nohria as CEO of its HATCo unit, following the resignation of Daryl Tol. She's been with GC since 2018. axios.link/4BEka8Y
Rochelle Probst joined Atlanta-based o15 Capital Partners as a managing director. She previously was a managing director of sponsor finance at Capital One. axios.link/4yMDjCZ
The share of leveraged loans trading at distressed levels has more than doubled since last year, suggesting that the SaaSpocalypse isn't really in the rearview mirror, Axios' Emily Peck reports.
By the numbers: $131 billion of loans in Morningstar's Leveraged Loan Index were priced below 80 cents on the dollar. That's the most since May 2020, when the market was recovering from a pandemic sell-off.
- That represents 8.3% of all outstanding loans, by dollar value — up from 4.3% at the end of 2025 and 3.4% a year ago.
A MESSAGE FROM J.P. MORGAN
Dylan Taylor, founder and CEO of Voyager Technologies, said that J.P. Morgan was the “perfect fit” for his ambitious company and its banking needs. Dylan trusted J.P. Morgan to provide critical support and guidance as Voyager scaled from startup to IPO.
📬 Thanks for reading Axios Pro Rata, and to copy editor Bryan McBournie! Please ask your ghouls, goblins, and ghosts to sign up.
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