Deal Dispatch: Musk-Altman Drama, Ashton Kutcher SoHo House Play And We Pose Questions To Private Equity Pros

New On The Block

OpenAI isn’t for sale. However, a $97.4 billion offer is hard to ignore. That’s the number Elon Musk asked fellow billionaire Mark Zuckerberg to help him reach to buy the parent company of ChatGPT. Neither Zuckerberg nor Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) ultimately signed a letter of intent. Instead, Musk’s bitter rivalry with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over artificial intelligence continues. This week, OpenAI has asked a court to get Meta to produce documents tied to Musk’s unsolicited takeover bid. This raises new questions about the extent of Zuckerberg's involvement in a high-stakes… and ugly, legal battle.

Vyome (NASDAQ:HIND) is reviewing strategic alternatives for Livechain Inc., a company most of its shareholders probably forgot exists. Options on the table include launching a new business, creating a crypto treasury, merging, or just selling it outright. Vyome bought Livechain in 2021.

Taiwan's Mercuries Life Insurance is exploring a potential sale. The Taipei-listed company is also considering a stake sale rather than selling the entire company, Bloomberg reports.

Updates From The Block

Peraso Inc. (NASDAQ:PRSO), maker of mmWave wireless tech, is exploring strategic options—but potential acquirer Mobix Labs is playing hard to get. Instead of signing a standard confidentiality agreement, Mobix wants direct access to the board.

GTCR's $627 million buyout of Surmodics Inc., a provider of in vitro diagnostic technologies, is under antitrust scrutiny. The firm already owns the #2 player in the market. The FTC isn’t taking the laissez-faire attitude Trump allies expected. Even if the White House changes its mind, private equity isn't getting a free pass if its deals harm competition.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) agreed to purchase Canadian oil sands company MEG Energy (TSX: