Reminder that you can share job listings with Axios Pro Rata readers. Go here to start.

Courtrooms are the new boardrooms, so a quick update on several cases:

⚖️ FTX's debtors on Sunday released a 39-page report on control failures prior to the crypto platform's collapse. It might have been shorter had the debtors focused on what Sam Bankman-Fried & Co. did right.

• The report tells of a multibillion-dollar empire held together via QuickBooks and Slack, without even a complete list of current employees. Private keys to its crypto wallets were kept in AWS, the company had no dedicated cybersecurity personnel and invoices were sometimes approved via emojis.
• Per an internal communication from SBF: "We sometimes find $50m of assets lying around that we lost track of; such is life."
• The debtors note that more information might be found in devices belonging to SBF and other key insiders, but that those remain in the possession of Bahamian liquidators.
• As we've written before, it appears that SBF and others at FTX intentionally misled venture capital investors. At the same time, those VCs overlooked red flags the size of skyscrapers.

⚖️ Leon Black, founder and former CEO of Apollo Global Management, may get a boost to his defense against sexual assault allegations made by former mistress Guzel Ganieva.

• Ganieva recently fired law firm Wigdor LLP, preferring to represent herself, with Wigdor telling the court that there “has been an irrevocable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship.”
• Ganieva reportedly graduated from law school but doesn't hold a license to practice. A hearing on the requested change is scheduled for May 2.
• Wigdor continues to represent a different rape accuser against Black.

⚖️ Twitter is being sued by three former executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, for more than $1 million in legal expenses incurred via shareholder lawsuits and government investigations.

• The three were fired the day Elon Musk acquired the social media company, and say they informed Twitter of the situation more than two months ago. As we've previously reported, Musk's Twitter has a strategic habit of not paying its bills.

Newmont (NYSE: NEM), a Denver-based gold miner, increased its takeover offer for Australian rival Newcrest (ASX: NCM) to US$19.5 billion in stock.

Why it's the BFD: Newmont already is the world's largest gold miner, and buying Newcrest would give it nearly double the annual output of its closest rival (Barrick Gold).

By the numbers: Newmont in February offered to buy Newcrest for around US$17 billion, which represented a 46% stock price premium, and says it won't go higher. In response, Newcrest has allowed Newmont to see its books.

The bottom line: Gold prices have climbed nearly 20% over the past six months, topping $2,000 and closing in on the all-time high from August 2020.

• Kite, a digital commerce brand acquisition and investment platform led by Rob Solomon (ex-CEO of GoFundMe), secured a $200m equity commitment from Blackstone and Juxtapose. https://axios.link/3Mx43CT

🚑 VintaBio, a Philadelphia-based viral vector contract manufacturing organization, raised $64m led by Decheng Capital. www.vintabio.com

• Gigstream, a Tysons Corner, Va.-based broadband provider, raised $59m from insiders Crestline Investors, RET Ventures, Essex Property Trust and UDR. www.gigstream.com

• AutoLeap, a Toronto-based auto repair software startup, raised US$30m in Series B funding. Advance Venture Partners led, and was joined by insiders Bain Capital Ventures and Threshold Ventures. https://axios.link/43r1TuH

🚑 Oshi Health, a New York-based virtual gastrointestinal care, raised $30m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Koch Disruptive Technologies led, and was joined by insiders Bessemer Venture Partners, Flare Capital Partners, Frist Cressey Ventures, CVS Health Ventures and Takeda Digital Ventures. https://axios.link/3KhQjZO

• Fivecast, an Australian developer of open-source intelligence software, raised nearly US$20m. Ten Eleven led, and was joined by Main Sequence and Artesian’s South Australian VC Fund. www.fivecast.com

⚡ Emrgy, an Atlanta-based distributed hydropower startup, raised $18.4m in Series A funding, as first reported by Axios Pro. Oval Park Capital led, and was joined by Fifth Wall, Blitzscaling Ventures, Overlay Capital and Veriten. https://axios.link/3Urf1M8

• Legit Group, a Jakarta-based cloud kitchen operator, raised $13.7m in Series A funding. MDI Ventures led, and was joined by Sinar Mas Digital Ventures and insiders East Ventures and Winter Capital. https://axios.link/3UuYnLx

🚑 CTRL Therapeutics, a Chicago-based cell therapy platform for solid tumors, raised $10m in seed funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by Intermountain Health and FACIT. www.ctrl-therapeutics.com

• Prophet Exchange, a Hoboken, N.J.-based P2P high-frequency sports betting exchange, raised $10m from MIXI, Ninjabet.com and Chicago Trading Co. www.prophetbettingexchange.com

• VERO, a New York-based property leasing and screening platform, raised $9m in Series B funding led by Fifth Wall. www.sayvero.com

• Brassica Technologies, a Houston-based banking and investment infrastructure platform, raised $8m in seed funding, as first reported by Axios Pro. Mercury Fund led, and was joined by Valor Equity Partners, Long Journey Ventures, NGC Fund, Neowiz, Broadhaven Ventures, Armyn Capital, VC3DAO and Alpha Asset Management. https://axios.link/43qQWcz

• Graneet, a French provider of small construction company SaaS, raised €8m in Series A funding co-led by Point Nine and Foundamental. https://axios.link/3mu9SGr

• Renew, a New York-based resident renewal process automation startup, raised $8m in seed funding from Upfront Ventures, Goldcrest Capital, Allen & Co. and Walkabout Ventures. www.heyrenew.com

• Frayt, a Cincinnati-based last-mile delivery and logistics platform, raised $7m in Series A funding. Refinery Ventures led, and was joined by Capital Midwest, Venture 53 and the JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund. www.frayt.com

• OfficeBanao, an Indian workspace interiors platform, raised $6m in seed funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. https://axios.link/3MzI2Dt

• Assis, a Brazilian virtual assistant for freelancers, raised $5m led by Costanoa Ventures. https://axios.link/3zP2CIr

• Tandem, a Columbus, Ohio-based child care credentialing and job-matching service, raised $5m from Drive Capital. https://axios.link/3KozvRb

• Axle, an API for insurance data, raised $4m in seed funding. Gradient Ventures led, and was joined by YC, Soma Capital, Contrary Capital, Rebel Fund and BLH Ventures. https://axios.link/3o1R8Pj

• Portrait Analytics, a Boston-based generative AI research platform for investment analysts, raised $3m in pre-seed funding led by .406 Ventures. www.portait-analytics.com

Private equity firms can leverage data and cross-sell opportunities to help their portfolio companies make decisions based on quantifiable revenue while still preparing for a downturn.

An example: Machine learning can help identify customers most primed for cross-sells.

Get more details.

• Bain Capital Tech Opportunities invested in iManage, a Chicago-based knowledge work platform. www.imanage.com

• Brookfield Infrastructure agreed to buy French data center operator Data4 from AXA IM at nearly a €3.5b enterprise value, per Reuters. https://axios.link/3UqJN7M

• Clayens, a French portfolio company of One Equity Partners, acquired Parkway Products, a Greenville, S.C.-based precision plastics manufacturer. www.clayens-np.com

• EQT agreed to buy a majority stake in GotPhoto, a German software platform for photographers. https://axios.link/3zMS0tC

• Investcorp acquired a majority stake in Shearer Supply, a Farmers Branch, Texas-based HVAC equipment distributor. Sellers include PNC Riverarch Capital (which retains a minority stake). www.shearersupply.com

• KKR agreed to invest in FGS Global, a WPP-controlled PR and financial communications firm. No terms were disclosed, except that Golden Gate Capital will exit, but prior reports were that KKR would acquire more than a 30% stake at around a $1.4b enterprise value. https://axios.link/41n5Yy9

• Playtika (Nasdaq: PLTK), which recently ended its €689m takeover pursuit of Angry Birds maker Rovio, is the recipient of renewed private equity takeover interest, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3Mwof7J

• Snapdragon Capital Partners invested over $30m into Spartan Fitness, an owner and operator of over 60 pilates clubs. www.spartanfitnessholdings.com

• Transom Capital Group acquired the commercial installation and conferencing business of Bose Corp. www.bose.com

🚑 Pear Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PEAR), a Boston-based developer of prescription apps for treating addiction and insomnia, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company went public via SPAC in 2021 at a $1.6b equity value, after having raised $270m in VC funding.

• Pegasus Europe (Amsterdam: PACE), Europe's largest SPAC, said it will wind down and return investor monies after failing to find a merger partner. Launched in 2021, the SPAC raised €484m and was backed by Bernard Arnault and ex-UniCredit CEO Jean Pierre Mustier. https://axios.link/3GyHGsX

• Bank Dhofar of Oman plans to make a nonbinding takeover offer for smaller rival Ahli Bank. https://axios.link/3GwBQIz

🚑 Carl Icahn this morning submitted a presentation in his proxy fight against Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN), focused heavily on the controversial Grail acquisition.

• Farallon Capital Management is in talks to invest at least $1b into listed Indian commodities firm Vedanta, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3KoyWqx

• MJ Hudson (LSE: MJH) agreed to sell its data, analytics and business outsourcing units to Apex Group for £40m. https://axios.link/3KP483z

• UTP Group of the U.K. agreed to buy the Spanish customer base of the German card payment app Wellet. www.utpgroup.co.uk

• Vivendi (Paris: VIV) is willing to sell celebrity magazine Gala in order to win EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of Lagarde (Paris: LAGA), per Reuters. https://axios.link/3KPMVHa

🌎 Watershed, an SF-based carbon emissions analytics startup valued by VCs at $1b, agreed to buy Santa Barbara, Calif.-based emissions accounting and data firm VitalMetrics. https://axios.link/41gVIar

• Blackstone raised $30.4b for its 10th real estate private equity fund. www.blackstone.com

• Core Industrial Partners is raising its third fund, per an SEC filing. It raised $465m for its second fund in 2021.

• Eclipse Ventures, a VC firm focused on industrial tech, raised $720m for its fifth flagship fund and $480m for its second growth fund. https://axios.link/3ZUyxBF

• Melitas Ventures, a New York-based firm focused on food and beverage startups, is raising up to $120m for its third fund, per an SEC filing.

• Reach Capital, a VC firm focused on ed-tech, raised $215m for its fourth fund. www.reachcapital.com

🚑 Tom Hertzberg, a health care banker who spent the past 15+ years with SVB, has joined Hercules Capital, per his LinkedIn.

🌎 Timothy Krysiek joined MassMutual Ventures as managing partner of the firm’s new $100m climate tech fund. He previously was with Equinor Ventures. www.massmutualventures.com

• The National Venture Capital Association promoted Justin Field to chief strategy officer. www.nvca.org

• Monica Yavin joined One Rock Capital Partners as chief people officer. She previously was with First Eagle Investments. www.onerockcapital.com

Median inflation expectations have climbed for the first time since last October, per the New York Fed's latest survey. Go deeper.

In today’s volatile M&A market, private equity firms must navigate the sell-side process while avoiding surprises and driving value in a downturn.

How it’s done:

1. Develop a value creation story.
2. Build a realistic roadmap.
3. Prepare for exit.

Lastly, plan for strategic buyers.

Thanks for reading Axios Pro Rata, and to copy editor Mickey Meece! Please ask your friends, colleagues and gold miners to sign up.