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Good Morning,

JPMorgan named potential successors to Jamie Dimon, stock markets are seeing historic levels of crunch and concentration, Dimon released his annual letter to shareholders, and an ex-JPMorgan banker left banking to become Pakistan’s finance minister without pay.

We’re excited to introduce Bond Life Club, the newest private members club opening in East Hampton this summer, co-founded by Litquidity. Memberships are now open. Learn more here and below!

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed flat yesterday ahead of crucial inflation data and major earnings this week 

• Markets are now pricing in two 25 bps rate cuts this year and a 49% chance of a third in sharp reversal of expectations

• US yields hit their highest levels since November

• Gold held at its record high 

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Wednesday: Delta Air Lines

  • Thursday: Constellation Brands

  • Friday: JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, BlackRock, Citigroup, Progressive

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• JPMorgan named potential successors to CEO Jamie Dimon (RT)

• Jamie Dimon compared AI to electricity and computers in annual letter (CNBC)

• Dimon warned rates could soar to 8% (WSJ)

• Morgan Stanley sees investors pricing in a 'no landing' (RT)

• Global supply of public equities shrinks at fastest pace in 25 years (FT)

• Global stock market concentration is at its highest level in 30 years (FT)

• Food inflation across rich nations dropped to pre-Ukraine war levels (FT)

• UK inflation fell to lowest level since September 2021 (WSJ)

• Doubts creep in about a Fed Rate cut this year (WSJ)

• RBC begins integration of HSBC’s Canadian unit without a permanent CFO (WSJ)

• Japan’s bond market liquidity improves as BOJ loosens grip (BBG)

• Citadel sees global oil market to be ‘extremely tight’ in H2 (FT)

• Vitol posted a $13B profit in second consecutive year of bumper results (FT)

• Musk predicts AI will overtake human intelligence next year (FT)

• Wirecard shareholders sue EY over alleged asset stripping in Germany (FT)

• Global PC market grew in Q1 after two years of decline (RT)

• Spirit Airlines will defer Airbus orders and cut 260 pilots to shore up liquidity (CNBC)

• Solar eclipse estimated to deliver a $6B economic boom (CBS)

• UConn men’s and South Carolina women’s win NCAA Championships in historic runs for both teams (NBC)

• Pakistan’s finance minister leaves banker life to fix economy, despite no pay (BBG)

A Message From Bond Life Club

What’s up everyone, it’s Hank from Litquidity here.

I am excited to introduce Bond Life Club today, the newest private members club I co-founded that will open in the Hamptons this summer.

Situated in the heart of East Hampton, Bond will cater to those looking for a break from stuffy country clubs and are seeking a modern, vibrant "third place" to gather, work, exercise, dine and socialize.

Our inaugural club will include a diverse mix of amenities including tennis, padel, pickleball, saunas, cold plunges, gym, wellness / recovery, full service restaurant, weekly programming / events, and more.

Memberships are now live and we are curating an exclusive cohort of founding members (early members include notable celebrities, athletes, investors, and entrepreneurs).

As members of the Exec Sum community, we are offering you all the opportunity for priority review when you mention "Litquidity" in the application. Click the button below to apply and learn more.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Blackstone agreed to acquire Apartment Income REIT, an owner of upscale apartments, in a ~$10B deal (WSJ) 

• Investment firm Motive Partners is considering a bid for $4.6B UK-based mutual funds distributor Allfunds Group, which is gauging takeover interest (BBG) 

• EQT agreed to acquire a majority stake in Spain's Universidad Europea from PE firm Permira in an over $2.2B deal, including debt (RT) 

• French media group Vivendi's Canal+ made an all-cash mandatory offer to buy all the shares of South African broadcaster MultiChoice it doesn’t already own for $1.9B (RT) 

• PE firm Vista Equity Partners will take revenue optimization platform Model N private in a deal $1.3B all-cash deal (TC) 

• Rates and credit trading platform Tradeweb Markets will purchase investment technology firm Institutional Cash Distributors for ~$785M (RT)

• UBS is in talks to gain full ownership of its China securities unit by swapping its local Credit Suisse securities venture with a China-owned investment fund (BBG)

• Road King Infrastructure and CVC Capital Partners are considering options for their holdings in Indonesian toll roads (BBG) 

• Abu Dhabi investment firm Lunate and a Saudi conglomerate Olayan Financing Company bought a 49% stake in ICD Brookfield Place in one of the largest CRE deals since 2020 (BBG)  

VC

• Mental health tech startup Grow Therapy raised an $88M Series C led by Sequoia Capital (FN)

• Luminance, a developer of a proprietary legal LLM, raised $40M in funding led by March Capital (FN)

• Methane-to-value startup Windfall Bio raised a $28M Series A led by Prelude Ventures (BW)

• iKala, an AI-driven cloud services and marketing tech company, raised a $20M+ Series B+ led by Chunghwa Telecom (FN)

• Prem Labs, an applied research lab focused on enhancing open-source AI technologies, raised a $14M seed round from Sequoia Capital China's co-founder, Marvel Studios' founder David Maisel, and others (FN)

• Sustainable packaging tech startup watttron raised a $13.3M Series B led by Circular Innovation Fund (FN)

• Coadjute, a homebuying data-sharing platform, raised a $12.6M round from Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, Natwest, and Rightmove (FN)

• Zinclusive, a financially inclusive company, raised a $10M round (FN)

• Kryptos Biotechnologies, a biotech using light to generate heat and control temperature, raised a $10M Series A led by Osang Healthcare (FN)

• Summer, an end-to-end workplace student loan solution, raised $9M in funding led by Rebalance Capital and SemperVirens (FN)

• Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain startup LightLink raised a $6.2M extended seed round from MH Ventures, NxGen, and more (FN)

• Log My Care, a UK-based platform that enables care homes and social care to ‘go digital’, raised a $3.7M round from Mercia Ventures (EU)

• Zulu Networks, a provider of a Two-Tiered Bitcoin Layer 2 offering EVM and UTXO support, raised a $3M pre-seed round from Cryptogram Venture, D11 Labs, and more (FN)

• JARS AI, a platform for creating and watching interactive shows, raised a $3M seed round led by Gradient Ventures (VC)

• Protiv, a performance pay platform for construction, landscaping, and service companies, raised a $2.4M pre-seed round led by Lightbank and Las Olas Venture Capital (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Spanish beauty and fragrance group Puig Brands is planning a Madrid IPO to raise $1.4B in a primary share sale, with shareholders looking to raise over $1.4B in a secondary offering (BBG) 

• Ibotta, a digital marketing software firm backed by Walmart, is seeking to raise as much as $473M in its IPO (BBG) 

• Bain Capital plans to sell its ~1% stake worth $429M in Indian private lender Axis Bank (RT) 

• A consortium led by General Atlantic Credit made a $425M preferred equity investment in digital procurement solutions firm Buyers Edge Platform (BW)

• Centuri Holdings, the infrastructure services business of power company Southwest Gas Holdings, is seeking to raise up to $315M via an IPO and concurrent private placement (BBG) 

• Shell is considering options including switching its listing to New York from London (RT)

SPAC

• Hotel prop-tech operator Hotel101, a subsidiary of Philippine real estate firm DoubleDragon, will merge with JVSPAC Acquisition Corp. in a $2.3B deal (PRN)

Debt

• Silver Lake Management lined up $8.5B of debt financing for its LBO of UFC-owner Endeavor; JPMorgan is leading underwriters on a portion of the financing structured as a leveraged loan (BBG) 

• Private credit lenders led by Antares Capital will provide ~$1.5B to auto-software firm OEConnection to refinance debt (BBG) 

• El Salvador pitched investors on its first Eurobond sale since 2020 (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Embattled French IT company Atos is seeking over $1.1B in new funds and intends to cut debt by half in restructuring plan (BBG) 

• Budget retailer 99 Cents Only filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with plans to liquidate (RT) 

• Fashion retailer Esprit’s Belgium unit filed for insolvency (WSJ)

Fundraising

• Avendus, India’s leading investment bank for venture deals, is seeking to raise ~$300M for a new PE fund (TC)

Crypto Corner

• Ripple’s CEO believes crypto’s market cap will double to $5T by year-end (CD) 

Exec’s Picks

• Jamie Dimon addressed a range of salient issues and trends in his highly-regarded annual letter to shareholders.

Litney Partners - Financial Recruiting 💼💼

If you're currently a junior investment banker looking to break into the buy side, considering lateraling to another investment bank, or have recently been impacted by widespread layoffs, it's time you check out Litney Partners, a partnership between Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates at leading private equity, hedge fund, venture capital, growth equity, and credit funds, as well as investment banks.

To get started, simply head over to the Litney website and create your profile by dropping your resume / filling out the form:

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