Saks Fifth Avenue is spinning off its e-commerce business. Is it a good idea?

Happy Friday!

The sands of the retail world continue to shift, with the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue spinning off its e-commerce business into a company worth $2 billion in its own right.

Funded by about $500 million from Insight Partners, Saks.com will continue to operate in tandem with the physical stores, allowing for services including online shopping and in-store pickup and returns.

In interviews, executives at Saks’ parent company HBC and Saks Fifth Avenue positioned the capital raised from the spinoff as a way to invest further in e-commerce. It would allow the business to “make the appropriate investments to drive exponential growth,” said Marc Metrick, the previous President and CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue who will serve as Saks.com’s CEO.

It’s not a bad time to be raising funding for luxury e-commerce players. In fact, it’s a fantastic time. Some stocks in the space have soared in recent quarters: Mytheresa, now valued at about $2 billion following its IPO in January, and Farfetch, now valued at $19 billion. While early in the pandemic, investors worried whether a softer economy would tank sales in discretionary goods, many stores including Saks Fifth Avenue held up surprisingly well and consumers sought comfort from retail therapy.  

So from an investing perspective, a standalone e-commerce business is an attractive one that will get droves of funding at current market prices—which means a war chest for Saks.com. But is it necessarily a smart bet for the long-term health of the company, when the ability to seamlessly do both in-store and online seems to be the future?

As my retail-focused colleague, Phil Wahba, noted in a Tweet early this morning, history has not been on the side of the spinoffs: “Running e-commerce [separately] from stores rarely goes well. Ask JCP and Neiman.”

VENTURE DEALS

- Caribou Biosciences, Inc., a Berkeley, Calif.-based clinical-stage CRISPR genome editing biotechnology company, raised $115 million in Series C funding. Farallon Capital Management, PFM Health Sciences, and Ridgeback Capital Investment.

- CorVista Health, a Toronto-based digital health company focused on cardiovascular disease diagnosis, raised $65 million Series C funding. Ambix Life Science led the round and was joined by investors including MedVenture Partners.

- TytoCare, a New York-based maker of a device and telehealth platform for on-demand remote medical examinations, raised $50 million in extended Series D funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Tiger Global Management, Qumra Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Olive Tree Ventures, and Shenzhen Capital Group Company.

- Stream, a Boulder-based creator of enterprise-grade activity feed and chat APIs, raised $38 million in Series B funding. Felicis Ventures’ Aydin Senkut led the round and was joined by investors including GGV Capital and 01 Advisors.

- Halo Diagnostics, a California-based company focused on diagnosing serious illnesses, raised $19 million in Series A funding. Zola Global Investors led the round. Read more.

- Webscale, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based cloud hosting company for e-commerce businesses, raised $17 million in funding. BGV, STCAP Ventures, and Mohr Davidow Ventures led the round and were joined by investors including Grotech Ventures. 

- Theorycraft Games, a Los Angeles-based  games studio, raised $37.5 million in Series A funding.NetEase led the round and was joined by investors including NEA, BITKRAFT Ventures, Griffin Gaming Partners, and SISU Game Ventures.

- PocketPills, a Canada-based online pharmacy, raised $30 million in Series B funding. TELUS Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including WaterBridge Ventures.

- ChurnZero, a Washington D.C.-based maker of a customer analysis platform for subscription businesses, raised $25 million in Series B funding. JMI Equity led the round.

- Whatnot, a live-stream-based shopping startup focused on collectibles, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Connie Chan led the round, and was joined by investors including Y Combinator, Wonder Ventures, Operator Partners, Scribble Ventures, Steve Aoki, and Chris Zarou.

- Bolt, an Estonia-based competitor to Uber focused on Europe and Africac, raised €20 million ($24 million) from The International Finance Corporation, a division of the World Bank. Read more.

- Aero, a San Francisco-based semi-private jet startup, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Keyframe Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Cyrus Capital Partners and Expa. Read mor.

- Countingup, a U.K.-based accounting software fintech, raised £9.1 million ($12.7 million) in Series A funding. Framework Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Gresham House Ventures and Sage. Read more.

- Hepster, a Germany-based insurtech, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Element Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including  Seventure Partners, MBMV, and GPS Ventures. Read more.

- Elenas, a Colombia-based startup focused online commerce by women, raised $6 million in Series A funding. Investors include Leo Capital, FJ Labs, Alpha4 Ventures, and Meesho. Read more.

- Ecomedes, a San Francisco-based developer of product optimization in the cloud, raised $3.3 million in seed financing. M12 led the round and was joined by investors including NOVA by Saint-Gobain, PivotNorth, Mission Innovations Network, and AM Ventures.

- ClearGlass Analytics, a U.K.-based platform for understanding fees on asset managers, raised £2.6 million ($3.6 million) in funding. Investors included Lakestar and Outward VC. Read more.

- Unslashed Finance, a U.K.-based provider of insurance products for crypto assets, raised $2 million in funding. Investors included Lemniscap, P2P Capital, Bitscale Capital, and Chainlayer.

- Monite, a Berlin-based maker of a finance management platform for automating admin and accounting processes, raised €1.1 million in pre-seed funding. Investors include Tomahawk VC, signals Venture Capital, InVentures, and Runa Capital. 

PRIVATE EQUITY

- GTCR,  Michael Mulhern, and Phil Macnabb formed Epselon Global, a Chicago-based company that will acquire companies and assets in the healthcare space. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

- IDnow, backed by Corsair Capital, acquired Identity Trust Management AG, a Germany-based provider of digital and offline identification solutions. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

- Infostretch, backed by Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking and Everstone Group, agreed to acquire Saggezza, a Chicago-based technology solutions provider and consulting firm. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

- Interpath Advisory, backed by H.I.G. Europe, agreed to acquire KPMG’s U.K. restructuring practice. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

- KPS Capital Partners agreed to acquire the global aluminum rolling business of Norsk Hydro ASA (OL: NHY.OL) for €1.34 billion (approximately $1.7 billion). Financial terms weren't disclosed.

- Liquid Environmental Solutions, a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, acquired Advance, a Birmingham, Ala.-based grease trap, septic, and plumbing services company. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

- Playfly Sports, backed by Access Holdings, acquired three of FOX Sports' businesses focused on sales: Home Team Sports, Impression Sports, and FOX Sports College Properties. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

- Wynnchurch Capital acquired Northern Wholesale Supply, a Hugo, Minn.-based distributor of marine and RV accessories. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

EXITS

- Clearlake Capital Group and TA Associates are weighing a potential sale of DigiCert, a Lehi, Ut.-based security authentication business, per Bloomberg. Read more.

- An investor group led by BayPine(and including TSG Consumer Partners and West First Management), agered to acquire Mavis Tire Express Services, an automotive service platform. Golden Gate Capital will retain a minority stake. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

OTHER

- CoStar Group withdrew its bid to buy CoreLogic, a U.S.-based property analytics company, for $7 billion. Read more.

- Nordax Bank offered to acquire Norwegian Finans Holding (OL:NOFI), the owner of Bank Norwegian, for about 17.8 billion Norwegian crowns ($2.1 billion).

- Amgen is acquiring Five Prime Therapeutics, a South San Francisco-based biotech, for about $1.9 billion.

- Wipro agreed to acquire Capco, a British consultancy, for $1.5 billion. 

- CNP Assurances and Allianz acquired Aviva’s Italian businesses in a pair of deals worth €873 million ($1.1 billion).

- Next Insurance, backed by Capital G, Munich RE, and Redpoint Ventures, agreed to acquire AP Intego, a Boston-based Insurtech company. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

- Vista Global acquired Apollo Jets, a New York-based private jet company. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

IPO

- Deliveroo, a British food delivery company, is planning a London IPO that could value it at $7 billion, per Reuters. Read more.

- Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company backed Walmart, is weighing plans to go public, per Reuters. Read more.

- Monde Nissin, a Philippines-based instant noodles maker, filed to raise up to 63 billion peso ($1.3 billion) in an IPO. Read more.

- JOANN, the  crafts retailer headquartered in Ohio, now plans to raise $175 million (50% insider) in a sale of 10.9 million shares priced between $15 to $17.

SPAC

- Hippo, Palo Alto, Calif.-based home insurance group, plans to go public via merger with Reinvent Technology Partners Z, a SPAC backed by those including Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus, valuing it at $5 billion. 

- DeepGreen Metals, a Canada-based EV battery metals maker, plans to go public via merger with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition, a SPAC, in a $2.9 billion deal.

- Vista Equity Partners is in talks to add DealerSocket and Omnitracs to a deal to merge Solera Holdings with Apollo Strategic Growth Capital, per Bloomberg. A deal would value the company at $15 billion. Read more.

- NextGen Acquisition II, a SPAC led by a former Goldman Sachs executive and the founder of Gen Capital Partners, filed to raise $400 million.

- 10X Capital Venture Acquisition III, the third SPAC formed by 10X Capital, filed to raise $350 million.

- Khosla Ventures Acquisition, a SPAC  formed by Khosla Ventures, raised $300 million.

- Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition, a SPAC formed by Live Oak Merchant Partners and Crestview, filed to raise up to $250 million.

- 10X Capital Venture Acquisition II, the second blank check company formed by 10X Capital targeting a tech-enabled business, filed on Thursday with the SEC to raise up to $200 million in an initial public offering.

F+FS

- Bond, the fund co-founded by Mary Meeker, raised $2 billion for its second fund. Read more.

PEOPLE

- Sapphire Ventures, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based firm, named Demi Obayomi and Abhishek Lahoti as vice presidents.