Q: What do a truck stop electrification company and a defunct pro basketball league have in common?

A: Nothing. Except that they just merged.

Driving the news: Shorepower, an Oregon-based firm founded in 2004, has gone public via a reverse merger with the United States Basketball League, which operated between 1985 and 2008.

Background: Other than having a few recognizable NBA names like Manute Bol and Hot Rod Williams — and, of course, the three-time champion Atlantic City Seagulls — the USBL was best known for offering public stock in 1996.

• When the league went under, its shares kept trading on the pink sheets. Their all-time closing high was $1.00, on Oct. 20, 2021.
• It announced the Shorepower merger plans to zero fanfare last November, at which point the USBL reported $271,000 in total assets (about half of which was cash).
• This is basically like a SPAC merger, but without the SPAC.

What they're saying: "We got our start in truck stop electrification," Shorepower president and CEO Jeff Kim tells Axios Pro's Alan Neuhauser. "Generally at an RV park, no one's running their engines. You go to a truck stop, the majority of them are running the engine simply to keep comfortable [and] they consume about a gallon of diesel fuel per hour."

• Also worth noting that truck idling creates fume clouds and particulate matters that drivers can inhale.

Look ahead: Shorepower, which previously raised around $16 million (mostly via grants), plans to use the merger proceeds to upgrade stations at its 60 or so locations, plus expand its network of conventional EV chargers.

The bottom line: This is hardly the first reverse merger with the shell of a dead company, but such deals became less popular than their SPAC cousins. Perhaps a revival is at hand, given SPAC market struggles, but this pairing may remain the strangest.

Fidelity today disclosed that it marked down the value of its Twitter shares by 7.9% during the month of February, or a total of 63.46% since Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition closed last October.

Why it's the BFD: One of the largest tech buyouts of all time continues to depreciate, according to a firm that helped to finance it.

By the numbers: Fidelity slashed the carrying value of its Twitter shares by 56% at the end of November 2022, and then by another 9.6% one month later. It kept the shares steady during January, before again reaching for its red pen.

• Musk's takeover included $33.5 billion in equity plus $13 billion in debt, with the extra to cover closing and associated costs.
• Applying the Fidelity markdown to the applicable equity, and keeping the debt/liability value stable, Twitter's enterprise value would have been around $24.3 billion at the end of February.
• That's more generous than Musk's own view, or perhaps just reflecting the monthly lag, as he reportedly told Twitter employees that the company is now worth $20 billion.

The bottom line: Fidelity isn't necessarily privy to nonpublic information in making its determinations. Instead, it may be incorporating public market comps like Snap, which lost 66.1% of its market cap since April 25, 2022 (the day Musk signed his Twitter deal). Worth noting, however, that Snap's share price fell only 2.1% during February.

• Ledger, a Paris-based crypto hardware wallet maker, raised €100m from True Global Ventures, Digital Finance Group, VaynerFund, 10T, Cité Gestion Private Bank, Cap Horn, Morgan Creek, Cathay Innovation, Korelya Capital and Molten Ventures. https://axios.link/40Q0o7d

🌎 Agreena, a Denmark-based regenerative farming fintech, raised €46m in Series B funding led by HV Capital. https://axios.link/40rKCzD

• P97 Networks, a Houston-based mobile commerce and payments provider, raised $40m led by Portage. www.p97.com

• Glopal, a Paris-based e-commerce international expansion tool, raised €20m in Series A funding from Hi Inov, Dentressangle, and Crédit Mutuel Innovation, with existing investors Seventure and Axeleo Capital. https://axios.link/3nvDnrQ

• Horizon Quantum Computing of Singapore raised $18.1m in Series A funding from Tencent, Sequoia Capital India, SGInnovate, Pappas Capital and Expeditions Fund. www.horizonquantum.com

🚑 Zorro, a health benefits platform, raised $11.5m in seed funding co-led by Pitango and 10D. www.myzorro.com

🚑 BioCorteX, a London-based biotech focused on bacteria-medication interactions, raised $5m in seed funding co-led by Sofinnova Partners and Hoxton Ventures. www.biocortex.com

• Anvil, an SF-based webform and e-signature software startup, raised $5m in new Series A funding led by Craft Ventures, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3nxhh8n

🚑 Nodal, a surrogacy startup, raised $4.7m in seed funding from such backers as Reshma Saujani (Girls Who Code), Kate Ryder (Maven Clinic) and Chelsea Hirschhorn (Frida). https://axios.link/3JZrNwq

• Dunzo, an Indian hyperlocal delivery service, is raising around $50m from insiders Reliance Retail and Google, per TechCrunch. https://axios.link/3lSNxlI

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• Apollo Global Management may bid up to $2.78b, or $28 per share, for Pittsburgh-based aluminum parts maker Arconic (NYSE: ARNC), per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/42PFCq9

• GIC agreed to invest in Works Human Intelligence, a Japanese HR software provider bought in 2019 by Bain Capital. https://axios.link/40QuWFL

• H.I.G. Capital acquired Synecore, a British provider of specialist mechanical and electrical servicing and maintenance, from Meesons Futures Ltd. www.synecore.co.uk

🚑 Kohlberg & Co. invested in United Digestive, an Atlanta provider of gastrointestinal in the Southeastern U.S. www.uniteddigestive.com

🚑 Mubadala is weighing a takeover offer from Diaverum, a Sweden-based dialysis clinic chain owned by Bridgepoint that could fetch around $2.5b, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3KkhULl

• The Riverside Company agreed to buy Dastex, a German cleanroom garment and consumables distributor. www.dastex.de

• Nestlé is among the final bidders for Capitol Foods, an Indian spicy noodle and fusion chutney maker that could fetch around $1b, per Bloomberg. Capitol Foods backers include General Atlantic. https://axios.link/3zDaGvX

🚑 Sartorius, a listed German lab equipment maker, agreed to buy French lab tech company Polyplus for €2.4b from Warburg Pincus, ArchiMed and Peugeot Invest. https://axios.link/3lUFK6S

🚑 British antitrust regulators are launching an in-depth investigation of UnitedHealth Group's (NYSE: UNH) £1.24b takeover of British health care software firm EMIS Group (LSE EMIS). https://axios.link/3Zqf2Rv

• China Mobile (Shanghai: 600941) agreed to buy a $6.5b stake in Postal Savings Bank of China (HK: 1685). https://axios.link/3nC3cX9

⚾ The Lerner family reportedly has paused the sale process for MLB's Washington Nationals until after the 2023 season is over. https://axios.link/3zd2QJb

• Mott, a Farmington, Conn.-based filtration company, acquired Digested Organics, a Plymouth, Mich.-based maker of water and wastewater filtration products. www.mottcorp.com

• Rugby Australia is seeking investors for up to a 20% stake in the league, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3KwPP3H

🚀 Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB), which recently suspended operations, said it will lay off around 85% of its employees after failing to secure new investment. Reuters previously suggested a $200m infusion from coming from Texas-based investor Matthew Brown, but those discussions fizzled. https://axios.link/3K25CG7

• Prysm Capital, a growth equity firm founded by three former members of BlackRock Private Equity Partners, raised $305m for its debut fund. https://axios.link/3lWsiPX

• Sean Monaghan joined Ducera Partners as a managing director. He previously was on Citi's distressed desk. www.ducerapartners.com

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