A Barbie Legacy for Ken

Author

Litquidity Capital
June 10, 2025

Together with

Good Morning,

US-China trade talks will continue into a second day, Japan pension funds are hiring their first CIOs, new grads are joining the worst job market in years, OpenAI ARR doubled in six months, and Ken Moelis will step down as CEO of Moelis.

Bitcoin Depot, the biggest Bitcoin ATM network in North America, has its eyes set on global expansion and wants the key retail trader segment to stay involved. Check out their investor insights.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 6/9/2025 market close.

Click here to learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks closed mostly flat as traders digested US-China trade talks

    • All three major indexes turned positive YTD

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: GameStop

    • Wednesday: Oracle, Chewy, Victoria's Secret

    • Thursday: Adobe

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • Bitcoin is once again teasing it's ATH on Circle's blockbuster IPO and positive US-China trade talks.

  • Trade your predictions on a range of events, only on Kalshi. Sign up with code LIT and get a $20 bonus when you trade $100.

Headline Roundup

  • Ken Moelis will step down as CEO of Moelis (WSJ)

  • Trump calls China 'not easy,' with trade talks set to resume today (BBG)

  • Japan Q1 GDP was revised upwards to -0.2% YoY (RT)

  • China exports to US saw the biggest drop since Covid (BBG)

  • Hedge funds are circling distressed French PE (FT)

  • Norway's $2T SWF called for urgent reform of Europe capital markets (FT)

  • S&T gold traders posted their best Q1 in five years amid tariff panic (BBG)

  • Munis are set for record sales amid fears of scrapped tax break (FT)

  • Trafigura revamped its US trading team (BBG)

  • Latin America is set to benefit from US market shifts (RT)

  • Japan pension funds are hiring their first CIOs (BBG)

  • Ontario left US banks out of dollar bond sale for first time since 2011 (BBG)

  • Clearlake poached Josh Lederman from KKR to head capital markets (BBG)

  • Barclays will cut 200 IB jobs (BBG)

  • OpenAI ARR doubled to $10B (RT)

  • Solar bankruptcies show US clean energy sector is on the edge (BBG)

  • New grads joined the worst entry-level job market in years (BBG)

  • Firms are pulling back hiring of women execs (AX)

A Message from Bitcoin Depot

Buying Bitcoin Without Buying Bitcoin

Bitcoin Depot (Nasdaq: BTM) is the infrastructure play built on Bitcoin's growth, not price. They operate the largest network of Bitcoin ATMs globally, with over 8,500 machines across the US, Canada, and Australia.

Oh, and they've just had an impressive Q1 2025:

  • Revenue up 19% YoY to $164.2M

  • Q1 net income up to $12.2M vs. net loss of $4.2M in Q4 2024

  • Adjusted profits up 92% YoY to $33.1M

Think of Bitcoin Depot as the physical on-ramp for the crypto revolution. Their revenue hasn't historically been tied to the ups and downs of Bitcoin price – far from it.

Instead, they generate revenue regardless of Bitcoin's price through Bitcoin ATM usage.

With such a good start to the year, even huge asset management firms are adding BTM to their holdings.

Don't just bet on Bitcoin's price, explore the company building the foundation for its future.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Walt Disney will pay an extra $440M to Comcast to finalize its acquisition of Hulu, completing a 2019 agreement that valued the streaming service at $27.5B

  • Food delivery platform Grab Holdings is not in talks to acquire Indonesia's GoTo Group 'at this time,' pausing a planned $7B deal

  • PE firm Advent offered to takeover UK-based precision testing equipment Spectris for $5B at an 85% premium

  • GFL Environmental is considering a stake sale in its infrastructure arm Green Infrastructure Partners at a $3.7B valuation

  • Qualcomm agreed to acquire UK-based semiconductor company Alphawave for $2.4B cash at a 96% premium

  • Aerospace and defense parts maker Crane agreed to acquire Baker Hughes' precision sensors and instrumentation unit for $1.2B

  • L'Oreal agreed to acquire a majority stake in UK skincare brand Medik8 from PE firm Inflexion for ~$1.1B

  • IonQ agreed to acquire UK-based quantum commuting firm Oxford Ionics in a $1.1B cash and stock deal 

  • UnitedHealth Group is weighing four bids for its LatAm unit Banmedica as it eyes a $1B valuation

  • Thai power producer B.Grimm Power and data center operator Digital Edge will form a  $1B JV to invest in a 100-megawatt data center in Thailand

VC

  • Swedish 'vibe coding' startup Lovable is in early talks to raise over $100M at a $1.5B valuation from US investors

  • Guardz, a cybersecurity startup for SMEs, raised a $56M Series B led by ClearSky

  • Runwise, the leading smart operating system for buildings, raised a $55M Series B led by Menlo Ventures

  • Climate tech startup Beewise raised a $50M Series D from Fortissimo Capital, Insight Partners, APG Asset Management, and more

  • Crypto wallet infrastructure startup Turnkey raised a $30M Series B led by Bain Capital Crypto

  • UK legal tech startup Definely raised a $30M Series B led by Revaia, Alumni Ventures, and more

  • Nooks, a startup redefining classified workspaces, raised a $25M Series A led by Zigg Capital, Upper90, SAIC, and Lockheed Martin

  • Ballers, a hospitality-driven social sports venue, raised a $20M Series A led by Sharp Alpha and RHC Group

  • Kargo, an industrial AI startup, raised an $18.4M round led by Matter Venture Partners

  • Altura, an AI-powered bid management platform, raised a $9M Series A led by Octopus Ventures

  • Hirundo, a machine un-learning startup, raised an $8M seed round led by Maverick Ventures Israel

  • GyanDhan, an Indian education financing platform, raised $5.8M in funding led by Classplus and Pravega Ventures

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Sixth Street Partners-backed medtech Caris Life Sciences is seeking to raise $423.5M at a $5.4B valuation in an IPO

  • Specialty insurer Slide is aiming to raise $340M at a $2.1B valuation in an IPO

  • Canadian software networking startup Tailscale plans to IPO by 2030 after its valuation doubled to $1.5B amid the AI boom

  • Warner Bros. Discovery will split its Global Networks cable TV unit and Streaming and Studios streaming unit into two separate publicly-listed firms

  • Activist hedge fund Parvus is building a stake in Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk

Debt

  • Morgan Stanley is broadening investor outreach to support xAI's $5B debt sale

  • Whirlpool priced $1.2B of high-yield notes to refinance debt in its first bond issuance since being downgraded to junk

  • A consortium of banks led Jefferies launched a ~$1B debt sale to fund Bain Capital's $1B acquisition of major fast-food chain franchisee Sizzling Platter

  • HarbourView Equity Partners secured $500M in debt financing from KKR to scale its music portfolio and expand its film and TV rights management business

  • Chinese real estate developer Seazen Group is considering an offshore bond offering to raise between $200M-$300M

  • Atome, Southeast Asia's largest BNPL provider, secured a $75M ABF facility from Lending Ark to expand credit offerings and improve financial access in the Philippines

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • UK utility Thames Water's senior creditors submitted a $6.8B debt and equity rescue plan to regulators

  • Major charter school financier Charter School Capital, a major financier serving one in eight US charter schools, filed for bankruptcy, citing reduced demand from Covid subsidies and a dispute with top backer Orthogon Partners Investment Management

  • PE-owned Korean supermarket chain Homeplus is seeking a rare court-led restructuring, reigniting jitters in Korea's credit market

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • BharCap Partners, a financial services-focused investment firm spunout from Pine Brook, raised $1.1B across its oversubscribed second fund and related co-investment vehicles

  • Centerbridge Partners is seeking to raise a ~$1B continuation fund for its minority stake in Fairstone Bank of Canada

  • Benelux-focused PE firm Gilde Equity Management raised $685M for its sixth flagship fund

  • BID Equity raised a $342M continuation fund for two software-focused PortCos led by StepStone and Rothschild & Co's investment arm Five Arrows

  • Vietnamese PE firm Mekong Capital plans to launch a $200M regenerative agriculture fund

  • Sundance Growth, a software-focused investment firm founded by ex-Accel-KKR dealmaker Christian Stewart, raised $125M for its debut fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Japan hotel group Metaplanet will raise $5.4B to buy more Bitcoin

  • Crypto fund assets hit a record high as investors hedge and diversify

Check out our Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

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  • The super-rich really are different. Check out Rana Faroohar's book review on The Haves and Have-Yachts and Outclassed, two detailed books exploring the widening gap between the super-elites and everyone else.

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.

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