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Wall Street's rumor mill never really sleeps, but this week it felt like it kicked into overdrive. Private equity heavyweight KKR floated a $9 billion offer for natural gas distributor UGI Corp., fast-fashion juggernaut Shein trimmed its valuation ambitions ahead of a Hong Kong listing, and Alibaba quietly offloaded a gaming unit in a deal north of $2 billion. Here's Law360's roundup of the biggest deal chatter making the rounds.

PE Giant KKR Launches $9B Takeover Bid for UGI

Private equity giant KKR has floated an offer to acquire natural gas and electricity distributor UGI Corp. for roughly $9 billion, according to a Tuesday report from The Wall Street Journal. The offer reportedly values UGI shares at $42.50 apiece.

What UGI Brings to the Table

Pennsylvania-based UGI isn't a niche player — it operates natural gas and electric utilities, a sprawling network of natural gas pipelines and storage facilities, and a propane retail business, while also distributing liquefied petroleum products across Europe, according to the report. It remains unclear whether UGI is actually weighing the offer seriously, and there's no guarantee the company ends up selling to KKR — or to any other suitor, for that matter.

Shein Drops Valuation to $25B Ahead of Hong Kong IPO

Fast-fashion retailer Shein appears to be scaling back its ambitions as it prepares for its long-awaited public debut in Hong Kong, now eyeing a valuation of $25 billion — a notable step down from figures floated just weeks earlier, according to a Monday report from Reuters.

A Moving Target

The report indicated Shein was actually considering a range between $25 billion and $28 billion based on the marketing price tied to the offering, with the listing itself expected to launch the week of Sept. 1, according to a separate Thursday Reuters report. That updated figure represents a significant retreat from the $30 billion to $40 billion range Shein was rumored to be targeting at the start of the month. The company's valuation has been on a rollercoaster in recent years: private funding rounds pegged it at $98.2 billion back in 2022, before that figure tumbled to $64 billion in 2023 — a decline that shows just how much the market's appetite for fast fashion has cooled.

Alibaba Sells Game Developer in Over $2B Deal

Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba is reported to have pocketed more than $2 billion by selling its game developer business, Lingxi Games, to private equity firm Trustar Capital, according to a Sunday report from Reuters.

The Terms of the Handoff

Under the agreement, Alibaba is expected to transfer its entire stake in Lingxi over to Trustar, according to the report, which cited an internal memo circulated to Lingxi staff. That memo stopped short of disclosing the deal's exact value or an expected closing date. Still, Trustar reportedly confirmed Monday that it had reached an agreement to acquire Alibaba's full stake after multiple rounds of negotiations — a deal that's been simmering for a while before finally coming to a boil.

Investing Giant General Atlantic Again Considers IPO

Investment firm General Atlantic appears to be dusting off old plans, once again weighing a public listing nearly three years after it first confidentially filed IPO paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a Monday report from The Wall Street Journal.

A Second Attempt at Going Public

General Atlantic originally filed for an offering back in December 2023 but ultimately pulled back before completing the process. Now, the firm has reportedly refreshed its SEC paperwork — a procedural but essential step that typically precedes any real move toward a public offering. The renewed filing raises the possibility that General Atlantic could finally go public this year, though as with any pre-IPO chatter, there's no guarantee the deal actually crosses the finish line.