An Exit for Brex Investors; Rising Zombie Funds

Brex’s $5.15 billion agreement to sell to Capital One isn’t the kind of exit employees or investors would have dreamed of four years ago, when it was valued privately at $12.3 billion. But it appears to be a good enough ending to the corporate credit card startup’s run as a private company. 

For one, the half-cash, half-stock deal gives Brex shareholders the kind of instant payday another private round or initial public offering wouldn’t. The company had raised $1.3 billion in venture capital, corporate filings show, from investors such as Greenoaks and Tiger Global Management. That means early investors will do well and later investors will at least get their money back, due to liquidation preferences.