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Private equity now spends nearly as much time inside courtrooms as it does boardrooms, so quick updates on some notable cases:

London calling: Arif Naqvi, once in charge of the Middle East's largest private equity firm, has lost his bid to block extradition from the U.K. to the U.S. on fraud and money laundering charges.

• Attorneys for Naqvi, accused of stealing money from both Abraaj Group and its limited partners, had argued that the New Jersey prison to which he'd be sent was unsafe because he'd be sharing space with violent criminals. They added that he suffers from depression and that extradition would create a suicide risk.
• A London judge rejected those arguments, although Naqvi still has an avenue for appeal.

Elsewhere in losing: Leon Black was denied by a U.S. appeals court from reviving a racketeering and defamation lawsuit against Josh Harris, his co-founder at Apollo Global Management, and Guzel Ganieva, his former mistress.

• You might recall that Black left Apollo after a firm investigation into his personal dealings with the late Jeffrey Epstein.
• Yesterday, another Wall Street titan got sued for his own Epstein ties. This time it's Jes Staley, the former Barclays CEO and BlueMountain Capital partner who is accused by former employer JPMorgan of hiding what he knew about Epstein, who received banking services from JPM.

Payday: Understandably lost in the coverage of Dominion Voting System' blockbuster lawsuit against Fox News is that the indirect financial winners could be investors in Dominion owner Staple Street Capital.

• According to PitchBook, LPs in the relevant Staple Street fund include the University of Arizona's endowment, Travelers Insurance and Ohio-based fund-of-funds manager Hauser Private Equity.
• Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion, plus punative damages.

Court TV: Yesterday we dug into the appeals court case that could determine the future of leveraged loans. Oral arguments begin this morning at 11am ET, and you can watch here.

Silicon Valley Bank (Nasdaq: SIVB) is launching a $2.25 billion common stock sale, plus another $500 million of depository shares, and said General Atlantic is buying $500 million of common stock in a separate transaction.

Why it's the BFD: SVB is something of an avatar for the health of U.S. tech and life sciences startups, and right now it's calling for a doctor.

Investor reax: SVB stock plummeted around 38% at today's open, wiping out over $6 billion in market cap (calculated using a flat share count that doesn't include the new issues).

The bottom line: "During the recent tech boom years, SVB’s deposits swelled as it took on cash from start-ups flush with VC funding. SVB ploughed much of these deposits into long-dated securities like US Treasuries, which are deemed safe but are now worth less than when the bank purchased them because the Federal Reserve has increased rates." — Joshua Franklin & Antoine Gara, FT

• Shein, a Chinese online fast-fashion retailer, is set to raise around $2b later this month, with plans for a U.S. IPO later in 2023, per the Straits Times. Participants would include Mubadala and insiders General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital China. https://axios.link/41WfUj9

• Humane, an "integrated device and cloud services platform" for AI, raised $100m in Series C funding. Kindred Ventures led, and was joined by SK Networks, LG Technology Ventures, Microsoft, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Tiger Global, Qualcomm Ventures and Sam Altman. https://axios.link/3L4Gn8f

🚑 QurAlis, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of precision medicines for neurodegenerative diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, raised $88m in Series B funding. EQT Life Sciences led, and was joined by LSP Dementia Fund, Sanofi Ventures, Droia Ventures, ALS Investment Fund and insiders LS Polaris Innovation Fund, Mission BioCapital, INKEF Capital, Dementia Discovery Fund, Amgen Ventures, MP Healthcare Venture Management, Mitsui Global Investment, Dolby Family Ventures, Mission Bay Capital and Sanford Biosciences. https://axios.link/3l0RowI

• Till Payments, an Australian payments tech startup, raised A$70m in Series D funding led by Silva Fortune. https://axios.link/3ZvrOim

• Envisics, a British developer of in-car holographic tech, raised over $50m in Series C funding at a $500m valuation from Hyundai Mobis, InMotion Ventures and Stellantis. https://axios.link/41VZ18i

• Masttro, a New York-based provider of wealth management tech for ultra-high-net-worth families, raised $43m. FTV Capital led, and was joined by Citi Ventures. www.masttro.com

⚡ ClearFlame Engine Technologies, a Chicago-based developer of heavy-duty engines that run on renewable fuel, raised $30m in Series B funding. Mercuria Energy Group led, and was joined by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Rio Tinto and Copec. www.clearflame.com

• Kresus, developer of a crypto "super app," raised $25m in Series A funding. Liberty City Ventures led, and was joined by JetBlue Ventures, Craft Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Marc Benioff and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. https://axios.link/41SvHiX

• Matchday, an Ireland-based developer of mobile fantasy sports games, raised $21m in seed funding led by Lionel Messi's Play Time. https://axios.link/3ZNiia3

• Vantage, a New York-based cloud infrastructure spend management startup, raised $21m in Series A funding. Scale Venture Partners led, and was joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Harpoon Ventures, Matthew Prince and Glenn Solomon. https://axios.link/3ykHc5h

• Cado Security, a London-based cloud forensics and incident response platform, raised $20m. Eurazeo led, and was joined by Ten Eleven Ventures. www.cadosecurity.com

• Proven, a developer of developer of zero-knowledge proofs of solvency, raised $15.8m in seed funding led by Framework Ventures. www.proven.tools

• Synctera, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based banking-as-a-service startup, raised $15m. NAventures led, and was joined by The Banc Funds, Veritex Community Bank, Midland States Bank and Emigrant Bank. https://axios.link/3yqqkdl

• Violet, a DeFi compliance infrastructure provider, raised $15m from BlueYard Capital, Balderton Capital, Ethereal Ventures, FinTech Collective, Brevan Howard and Coinbase Ventures. www.violet.co

• Starfish Space, a Kent, Wash.-based developer of satellite services vehicles, raised $14m. Munich Re Ventures and Toyota Ventures co-led, and were joined by PSL Ventures, NFX and MaC VC. www.starfishspace.com

• Fly by Jing, a Chinese food brand known for chili crisps, raised $12m in Series B funding. Prelude Growth Partners led, and was joined by Pendulum. www.flybyjing.com

• Zenhub, a Canadian provider of project management solutions for software teams, raised C$10m in Series A funding. Yaletown Partners led, and was joined by BMO Capital Partners and BDC Capital. www.zenhub.com

• Fount Global, a Washington, D.C.-based provider of work productivity SaaS, raised $8m in Series A funding. Lavrock Ventures led, and was joined by Osage Venture Partners and Grotech Ventures. www.fount-ex.com

• Monnai, a Wilmington, Del.-based provider of consumer data insights for fintechs, raised $6.5m in Series A funding led by Tiger Global, as first reported by Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3l0y7vo

• QuantWare, a Dutch maker of quantum processors, raised €6m in seed funding. Forward One led, and was joined by QDNL Participations and Graduate Entrepreneur. https://axios.link/3ZQgDk2

• Wheel the World, a Berkeley, Calif.-based provider of travel accommodations and experienced for people with disabilities, raised $6m in seed funding. Kayak Ventures led, and was joined by Detroit Venture Partners and REI Co-op Path Ahead Ventures. https://axios.link/3T4m8cx

🚑 Wave Life, a Los Altos, Calif.-based mental health platform focused on Gen Z, raised $6m in seed funding. Santé Ventures led, and was joined by Hannah Grey, Joyance Capital, Gaingels, and Telocity Ventures. www.wavelife.io

🚑 Iron Health, a provider of virtual health solutions to OB-GYN practices, raised $4.5m from Redesign Health and March of Dimes' innovation fund, as first reported by Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3l0yfem

• Tweed, a white-label wallet and web3 payment solution, raised $4m in seed funding. Accel led, and was joined by Communitas Capital Partners and Zero Knowledge Ventures. www.paytweed.com

🍿 Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn of Asheville, N.C., raised $3m in Series A funding led by JACS Capital, the family office of former GE CEO Jeff Immelt.

⚡ Itselectric, a Brooklyn-based EV curbside charging startup, raised $2.2m in pre-seed funding. Brooklyn Bridge Ventures led, and was joined by The Helm, XFactor, Graham & Walker, Clean Energy Venture Group and Pericles. www.itselectric.us

• Houseware, an SF-based SaaS revenue acceleration startup, raised $2.1m in seed funding. Tanglin Venture Partners led, and was joined by GTMfund and Better Capital. www.houseware.io

⚡ Adaptis, a Toronto-based provider of building energy efficiency software, raised US$1.5m in pre-seed funding. 2048 Ventures led, and was joined by Blue Vision Capital and Powerhouse Ventures. https://axios.link/3JmwHok

Apollo, a high-growth alternative asset manager, aims to create positive social and environmental impact by investing in a more sustainable future.

Over the past 5 years, the firm has deployed significant capital towards decarbonization and the energy transition.

Learn more.

• Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is in talks to invest around $500m into Lenskart, an Indian omnichannel eyewear retailer, per Bloomberg. The deal would value Lenskart north of $4b, and would be a mix of primary and secondary capital. https://axios.link/3F9Y7Lu

🚑 Cypress Ridge Capital invested in Canadian lab informatics software company Semaphore Solutions, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3ZTo4H1

• Epiris acquired LoneStar Group, a British maker of fasteners, sealing products, and other products for the industrial and energy markets. www.lonestargroup.com

• ETC Group, a French portfolio company of Cinven and Carlyle, acquired Amadys, a Belgian network connectivity solutions provider. www.etc.group

🎵 Metro Boomin sold a portion of its music publishing catalog to Shamrock Capital for about $70m, per Billboard. https://axios.link/3YwOdKE

• Raptor Scientific, a Berlin, Conn.-based portfolio company of L Squared Capital Partners, acquired King Neutronics, a Woodland Hills, Calif.-based provider of test and measurement instruments and equipment. www.raptor-scientific.com

• Sun Capital Partners acquired K3 Capital Group, a British provider of advisory services to SMEs. www.k3capitalgroupplc.com

• Unibloc Hygienic Technologies, a Kennesaw, Ga.-based portfolio company of May River Capital, acquired Metaltech, a British CNC machining services provider. www.unibloctech.com

⚡ Atlas Energy Solutions, an Austin, Texas-based provider of frac sand for the oil and gas industry, raised $324m in its IPO. It priced shares at $18 (below $20-$23 range), and will list on the NYSE (AESI). https://axios.link/3kzdGFu

• PishPosh, a Lakewood, N.J.-based high-end baby products retailer, postponed its IPO just hours after announcing that it had priced $9.1m of shares. https://axios.link/3LiATXk

🚑 Ro, the digital pharmacy valued north of $6b by VCs, tells Axios that it has no plans to go public in 2023. In 2021, it explored a SPAC merger.

• Uber (NYSE: UBER) is considering a spinoff of its freight logistics arm, via a public listing or sale, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3J0UKYp

• Informa (LSE: INF) agreed to buy London-based B2B events organizer Tarsus for $940m from Charterhouse Capital Partners. https://axios.link/3J4MBlH

• DigitalBridge (NHSE: DBRG) hired UBS to find a buyer for a minority stake in Vantage Data Centers, which could garner more than $1.5b, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3ZzO7Do

• Endeavor Group Holdings invested in nonscripted production company Asylum Entertainment Group. https://axios.link/3JkEnY3

⚡ Enel (Milan ENEI) agreed to sell its Romanian operations to Greece's Public Power Corp. for €1.26b. https://axios.link/3ypLxnH

• EY has paused plans to spin off its consulting arm, over a "fierce dispute over how much of its tax business should stay with the audit side of the firm," per the FT. https://axios.link/3F8HYG4

• Jio Platforms, a unit of India's Reliance Industries, is paying $60m to buy Mimosa Networks, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based communications equipment maker, from Airspan Networks. https://axios.link/3T5W2pU

• A U.S. bankruptcy court judge dismissed the SEC's objections to Binance.US’ takeover of customer accounts from bankrupt crypto firm Voyager Digital. https://axios.link/3YxJMiP

• K1 Investment Management is targeting $6.25b for its sixth flagship buyout fund, per public pension documents. https://axios.link/3mJ0lLm

• KJ Sidberry joined GV as a New York-based principal. He previously was with Forerunner Ventures. www.gv.com

• JPMorgan named Keith Canton as head of Americas capital markets, succeeding the retired Jeff Zajkowski. https://axios.link/3Fa0xd0

• Ray McGuire, former vice chair of Citigroup, is joining Lazard as president. www.lazard.com

• Kevin Moore, who spent the past five years as a partner with Spur Capital Partners, has launched a new seed and early-stage firm called Serac Ventures. https://axios.link/3FecBKn

America still has a surplus of jobs openings, outpacing the number of available workers, although the January numbers released yesterday did dip a bit.

• What to watch: President Biden today will release details of his budget proposal, including major tax hikes on corporations and the wealthy that are unlikely to become law. Tomorrow we get the February jobs report.

Apollo, a high-growth alternative asset manager, is committed to driving a more sustainable future.

An example: In 2022, the firm launched a comprehensive sustainable investing platform with the goal of deploying $50 billion in clean energy and climate capital over five years.

Learn more.

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