Axios Pro Rata: IP-Uh-Oh
🚨 Anthropic this morning updated its IPO filing to include Q3 financials. Meanwhile, rival frontier lab OpenAI reportedly slashed its private fundraising target to $20 billion from $30 billion.
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Lots of companies successfully price IPOs. Lots of other companies try to price IPOs, but cancel the process when it goes wobbly.
- Only one company has successfully priced its IPO, and then thrown in the towel. Just hours before its shares were set to begin trading.
Catch up quick: OPay, an Africa-focused payments company founded by Norway's Opera, last Friday announced that it had raised $304 million in its IPO.
- It hit the bottom of its projected $19 to $21 per share range, which would have given it around a $4 billion market cap.
- I received a PR email saying that OPay would become "the first Nigerian fintech company to be listed in the U.S. ... Backed by prominent global investors including SoftBank, OPay is the #1 finance app in Africa & Middle East and serves over 50 million users across Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, and Indonesia."
Driving the news: OPay shares never made it to the Big Board. And it doesn't appear that they are going to anytime soon.
- The company said that it decided not to complete the IPO, blaming a "recent regulatory inquiry relating to a jurisdiction immaterial to the company's business operations."
- No additional information was disclosed, except that OPay expressed confidence that the inquiry would be wrapped up soon and that it has no impact on operations.
Zoom in: There are way more questions right now than answers.
- For example, when was the company made aware of the inquiry? What about its underwriters, led by Citi?
- If the jurisdiction is immaterial, why kill the entire offering? Couldn't a temporary delay have sufficed?
- There were indications that OPay stock was set to open trading at below $17 per share. Could it have gotten cold feet and used this regulatory issue as a smokescreen?
Shhhh: Neither the company's outside PR firm nor Citi are responding to requests for additional information.
By the numbers: The Lagos-based company reports $91 million of net income on $467 million in revenue for the first half of 2026, and had raised over $270 million from firms like SoftBank, IDG Capital, HSG, GSR Ventures, and Source Code Capital.
The bottom line: Perhaps this is a momentary tempest in a teapot, stirred by skittish lawyers who expect OPay to revive the offering in short order. But for an IPO market that could really use some wins, this is an unprecedented loss.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
Marvell Technology (Nasdaq: MRVL) today announced that it will buy optical components maker Lumentum (Nasdaq: LITE) for $115 billion in stock.
Why it matters: This is the largest merger ever between public tech companies.
By the numbers: Lumentum stockholders would receive the equivalent of $1,132 per share, representing a 23.9% premium to where shares traded before news of a possible deal leaked last week.
The bottom line: It's a major vote of confidence in the AI data center boom, amidst a broader market pullback.
🚀 Northwood Space, a Torrance, Calif.-based satellite antenna builder and ground station provider, raised $375m in Series C funding at a $2b valuation. A16z and DFJ Growth led, joined by Alpine Space Ventures, Washington Harbour Partners, StepStone, and In-Q-Tel. axios.link/4iTabFd
🚀 Hypersonica, a British-German developer of hypersonic long-range missiles, raised €100m in Series B funding. Lightspeed and General Catalyst led, joined by insiders Plural and 201 Ventures. axios.link/3WJXWlL
Solink, a Canadian security video intelligence company, raised more than US$100m. Vertu Capital led, joined by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Comcast Ventures, and Golub Growth. axios.link/4BVQYdN
PowerLattice, a Vancouver, Wash.-based low-power chiplet developer, raised $86m, per an SEC filing. Backers include Playground Global, Celesta Capital, and Matter Venture Partners. axios.link/4AbvyHT
🚑 nPhase, an Atlantic Beach, Fla.-based clinical data platform, raised $30m in Series D funding led by Viking Global Investors. axios.link/4kn8DVa
⚡ Emvolon, a Woburn, Mass.-based biogas-to-methanol refiner, raised $22m in Series A funding from MassVentures, VX Ventures, and Wagner Carbon. axios.link/4eb0lfl
Neuron Industries, a Gardena, Calif.-based maker of an "AI-native industrial controller," raised $10m in seed funding. FCVC and Obvious Ventures led, joined by YC, Thin Line Capital, Zee Prime Capital, and Founder Factor. axios.link/4BTZc66
Marble Cognition, a business process automation startup, raised $3.75m in pre-seed funding led by Heartcore and Seedcamp. axios.link/4BCR9u7
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.
Advent agreed to acquire Vermeg, a Dutch provider of tech for capital markets and life insurance, from Charterhouse Capital Partners. axios.link/3UVKavQ
Avolon, I Squared Capital, and ADIA formed Constellation Aviation as an aircraft leasing infrastructure investment platform. It begins with a $1.4b seed portfolio of aircraft assets, with a source saying it eventually plans to scale to $6b. axios.link/4jTgNV4
⚡ Blackstone is leading a $3.1b investment for a 49.9% stake in Mitsubishi's (Tokyo: 8058) stake in a Canadian natural gas liquefaction project. axios.link/4yZSE39
CD&R and GTCR are working on a $40b take-private bid for Global Payments (NYSE: GPN), a payments processor in which GTCR holds a 16.35% stake, per the FT. axios.link/4syi0U0
Fund 1 Investments is prepping a take-private bid for Xponential Fitness (NYSE: XPOF), owner of Club Pilates and Pure Barre, in which it's the third-largest shareholder. axios.link/4yYJCU2
Golden Gate Capital acquired Bonita Springs, Fla.-based All U Need Pest Control. axios.link/4kuUDbX
Rainier Partners acquired Apex Insurance Services, a Richardson, Texas-based non-standard auto MGA platform. axios.link/4iv8lcj
Static Media, a Novacap portfolio company, acquired CarScoops.com, a digital platform for auto fanatics. axios.link/48si2DA
⚡ Stonepeak completed its acquisition of a 65% stake in lubricants maker Castrol from BP (LSE: BP) at a $10.1b enterprise value. axios.link/49ltNM7
TDR Capital agreed to buy Lovehoney Group, a German maker of sexual wellness products, for around €400m, per Sky News. axios.link/4sxvi33
No companies plan to price U.S. IPOs this week.
Bláa Lónið, owner of Iceland's Blue Lagoon tourist attraction, revived domestic IPO plans. axios.link/4sxu7k9
Kaz Resources, a tungsten miner, plans to seek $2b next year via a direct public listing, per the WSJ. Current shareholders include Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. axios.link/4sAvChw
- Donald Trump Jr. will join us at Axios BFD.
Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) filed to sell $10b of new common shares and another $10b of investment-grade bonds, to help finance its AI buildout. axios.link/3WjycfY
⚡ Quantum Capital Group completed its $4.7b sale of 90% of the natural gas generation assets owned by Cogentrix Energy to Vistra (NYSE: VST). axios.link/4smTN2F
⚡ Willdan Group (Nasdaq: WLDN) acquired Mantis Intermediate Holdings, a Houston-based energy marketing exchange platform, from Germspring Capital for $285m in cash. axios.link/47YoemK
Affle of India agreed to buy listed Israeli adtech company Perion for around $420m. axios.link/4jOSHuE
Public Policy Holdings (LSE: PPHC) agreed to buy NYC-based strategic communications firm Reevemark for up to $80m, per Reuters. axios.link/4zgvxCe
Creandum, a Swedish VC firm, raised $750m for its eighth fund. axios.link/4e7PVx4
Nic DiLoretta joined Warwick Investment Group as director of capital formation and IR. He previously was with Global Infrastructure Partners. axios.link/4A4CciO
Melissa Imperiale joined ATL Partners as head of IR and marketing. She previously was with Lindsay Goldberg. axios.link/4imtEMY
Douglas Peterson, former president and CEO of S&P Global, joined Permira as a senior adviser on its services team. axios.link/3W8ywOC
Matt Ross joined TowerBrook Capital Partners as a managing director and head of U.S. structured opportunities. He previously was with One Investment Management. axios.link/4iuGOYl
Jake Storm joined Headline as a general partner. He previously was with Felicis. axios.link/4Ac2sYW
🚑 Sofinnova Partners promoted Javier Nunez-Vicandi to partner. He'll continue to focus on digital medicine deals. axios.link/4zYi9CA
SpaceX has held talks with EchoStar about either acquiring Boost Mobile or accessing its wireless network, according to The Washington Post.
- This reportedly comes after Elon Musk's company was rebuffed for network access by AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. That would make Boost — which relies on AT&T and T-Mobile — a workaround solution that may come with litigation risk.
SpaceX last year agreed to pay around $17 billion to buy wireless spectrum from EchoStar, although the deal has not yet closed.
A MESSAGE FROM J.P. MORGAN
Unpredictability is part of a startup founder’s journey, as Grant Lee knows. With the stability and support J.P. Morgan provides, Grant and his team at Gamma have had the confidence to dream, build, and grow as they reimagine how people present and share their ideas.
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