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| The Daily Pitch |
| PE, VC and M&A |
| Your edge on global private capital markets |
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| Good morning. In today's Daily Pitch, we break down which areas of defense tech are skyrocketing, the former New York City pension chief's new gig and Tiger Global's strategy for its latest fund. |
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| Sovereign funds join Kushner in bid for Warner Bros. Discovery |
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By Jacob Robbins and Jessica Hamlin, PitchBook News
Paramount Skydance is counting on Jared Kushner's PE firm and a group of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds to support its $108.4 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Kushner's Affinity Partners, along with sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, are listed as financing partners in Paramount Skydance's regulatory filing with the SEC.
None of these partners were cited in Monday's announcement of the offer, which said the Ellison Family and RedBird Capital would provide $40.7 billion in equity, with $54 billion in debt fully committed by Bank of America, Citi and Apollo Global Management.
This year, sovereign wealth funds helped drive a resurgence in dealmaking after a slow 2024 for M&A. State-backed funds have participated in a record $144.9 billion in private market deals in the US, across 99 pacts so far this year, according to PitchBook data.
The Paramount saga is the second major deal this year that pairs Kushner's Affinity Partners and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Both are involved in the $55 billion agreement to buy Electronic Arts, the gaming company behind FIFA and The Sims. |
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All of the previously mentioned financing partners are forgoing governance rights like board seats, per the offer, to avoid any review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, a Treasury interagency tasked with reviewing transactions by foreign entities into the US. Paramount's latest offer excluded Tencent as a financing partner for the same reason.
Paramount's bid is an attempt to thwart Netflix's proposed acquisition of Warner's studio and streaming assets for $82.9 billion. Netflix's offer did not include Warner's television assets like CNN—Paramount's does.
As part of the takeover bid, Paramount argues its pathway to regulatory clearance would be smoother than Netflix's. Kushner—the son-in-law of President Donald Trump—has not publicly commented on Affinity's participation in the deal and has not disclosed if it intends to help with the clearance process. |
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| A message from Oracle NetSuite |
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| Build a high-performing team that thrives every day of the week |
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You didn’t become a CFO just for the numbers. You’re in a position to shape careers, drive impact, and start the workweek energized—even on the most Monday of Mondays.
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• Tiger Global roars back into VC with a new fund, but warns of "elevated" AI valuations. Find out more
• The former CIO for New York City's pension system is joining Neuberger Berman as an adviser to pension funds and other asset allocators. Read more
• VC dealmaking in the DACH region has softened in 2025 as PE has surged. Read the report |
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| Defense tech surges as VC funding focuses on AI |
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By Ali Javaheri, Emerging Spaces Research Analyst
Year-to-date VC funding for the defense tech market reached nearly $40 billion—with capital consolidating around AI and autonomy stacks, and skyrocketing in hardware segments such as hypersonic munitions, according to our latest report on the industry.
Overall investment has more than doubled from the same period in 2024, signaling the sector is firmly in an expansion.
With rising defense budgets, rapid rearmament and clearer procurement pathways, the sector's growth appears supported heading into 2026. Capital is concentrating around the companies most capable of delivering at scale.
The defining trend of 2025 is a shift toward fewer, bigger and later-stage investments.
Deal counts held steady in Q3, but dollars are overwhelmingly flowing to scaled companies. Venture growth rounds captured $20.4 billion YTD, and late-stage deals totaled $14.7 billion, reflecting investor preference for platforms with solid performance and government backlogs. |
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Defense-specific categories—missiles, munitions and directed energy—posted some of the fastest year-over-year growth, with deal value up 234% and deal count rising 58%. This reflects increased demand tied to replenishment cycles, global conflict and modernization initiatives across NATO and Indo-Pacific allies.
At the same time, AI and autonomy remain the gravitational center of private capital. Funding for advanced computing and software grew by 457%, while quantum sciences surged 780%.
The early-stage median valuation climbed from $72 million in 2024 to $103 million this year, while seed valuations held steady at a median of $17 million.
The median for late-stage valuations jumped to $169.2 million, nearly doubling year-over-year—a strong signal of confidence in companies scaling production and demonstrating mission-relevant performance. |
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Smart reads that caught our eye.
• Trump's latest executive order focus: federal regulation of AI. The president says he'll take action this week to prevent states from governing AI, with the administration saying fragmentation could cost the US in the AI race. [Financial Times]
• As states across the US start to diversify energy resources, some communities are moving on from coal. Meet one Colorado family making the shift from working in mines to a geothermal energy family business. [Associated Press]
• Investors in one city manage over $2 trillion in assets. Three sovereign wealth funds, AI investment vehicles and other initiatives have catapulted Abu Dhabi into a global spotlight. [Bloomberg< | | | | | | | |
