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Good Morning,

Goldman is forcing MDs to Dallas and Utah, DOGE is putting a dent in the labor market, SBF did a podcast episode from jail, bankers have turned cautious on US trade policy uncertainty, 7-Eleven's buyout battle is heating up, and Walgreens ended a century-long run as a public company after agreeing to a PE take-private.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks slid further yesterday amid trade and tariff jitters

  • S&P hit its lowest since early November

  • S&P notched its sixth-straight day of a ±1% change in the longest such streak since November 2020

  • Nasdaq is now down 10% from its December ATH

• Germany's DAX 40 surged to a new ATH 

• 7 Titans, the Magnificent 7-equivalent of China, is up 40% YTD 

  • Mag 7 is down 10% YTD

• French 10Y yields followed Germany to surge to 3.6%, a 14-year high

• US high-yield corporate bond spreads hit 299 bps, the widest since October and over 30 bps wider from mid-February 

• Oil is set for its worst week since October

Earnings

• Costco reported mixed Q2 earnings on a rise in comparable sales but warned of tighter margins amid tariffs (CNBC)

• Broadcom rose 13% after beating EPS and revenue estimates on strong growth in AI semiconductor revenue (CNBC)

• Macy's beat Q4 EPS estimates but missed on revenue while announcing plans to shut down 150 stores as it navigates a turnaround effort (CNBC)

• Gap spiked 18% after blowing past Q4 estimates on strength in its turnaround efforts (CNBC)

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• ECB cut rates by 25 bps to 2.5% in sixth cut since June (BBG)

• Trade war fears reignite familiar 'inflation is transitory' debate (BBG)

• US execs turn pessimistic as trade policies sink in (BBG)

• US delayed most tariffs on Canada and Mexico (BBG)

• US layoffs soar to the highest since Covid thanks to DOGE (CNBC)

• Trump restrained DOGE as concerns mount over job losses (FT)

• Star tech banker and SWF hopeful leading purge of US CHIPS agency (FT)

• Japan's largest union sees biggest wage hike demand in over 30 years (RT)

• Money market funds AUM topped $7T (FT)

• US trade deficit hit a record in January amid gold hoarding (BBG)

• Dealmakers in 'wait and see' mode, expecting M&A to pick up in H2 (BBG)

• Bridgewater debuted an ETF of its famous 'All Weather' strategy (BBG)

• Goldman is forcing MDs to Dallas and Salt Lake City (BBG)

• Bank of Montreal CEO took a third-straight pay cut after missing targets (BBG)

• US retailers are secretly marinating DEI despite public rollbacks (RT) 

• German postal giant DHL cut 8k jobs (RT)

• SpaceX's Starship exploded in space (CNBC)

• Codebases of 25% of YC-backed startups this season are AI generated (TC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Sycamore Partners agreed to take-private Walgreens Boots Alliance in a $24B deal, including debt, ending its century-long run as a public company

• PE firm Silver Lake is in a face off with merger-arbitrage hedge funds over its bid to buyout WWE-owner Endeavor Group at a ~$13B valuation

• ON Semiconductor made an unsolicited offered for Allegro Microsystems at a $6.9B valuation, including debt

• Bain Capital agreed to acquire York Holdings, the supermarket and retail business of Seven & i, for $5.5B, with plans to expand and IPO in three years

• Circle K-owner Couche-Tard is exploring a divestiture of its US stores that would be required to secure regulatory approval for a potential takeover of Japanese rival and 7-Eleven-owner Seven & i

• PE firms Bain Capital and CC Capital raised their offers for Australian wealth manager firm Insignia Financial to $2.1B, intensifying the bidding war

• $1.2B-listed Irish hotel operator Dalata Hotel Group is exploring a sale

• Oryx Global Partners and former exec Michael Carvill's $609M bid to acquire Kenmare Resources was rejected

• American Express agreed to acquire expense-management software firm Center

• Investment firm A.P. Moller plans to acquire a 40% stake in AC Logistics Holdings, a logistics arm of Philippine conglomerate Ayala

• Canadian fuel retailer Parkland is considering a sale amid pressure from Simpson Oil, its largest shareholder with a 20% stake

• Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium failed to reach a deal with Star Entertainment over its 50% stake in a Brisbane casino venture

• Norwegian bank DNB agreed to acquire Norway's 15% stake in Eksportfinans, a state-owned provider of export credits and international financing

• European discounter Pepco Group is evaluating a sale of struggling UK chain Poundland after receiving takeover interest

• Bad Bunny's music label Rimas Entertainment will acquire a significant stake in peer Dale Play Records to expand its LatAm footprint

• US sued to block PE firm GTCR's acquisition of medtech firm Surmodics on competition concerns

VC

• Shield AI, a startup building drones and AI-powered military systems, raised a $240M round at a $5.3B valuation from L3Harris, a16z, and more

• Loxo, a talent intelligence platform and recruiting software company, raised a $115M the growth investment led by Tritium Partners

• PetScreening, a pet policy management software company, raised an $80M Series B led by Volition Capital and Guidepost Growth Equity

• Real-time speech understanding platform Sanas raised a $65M Series B led by Quadrille Capital

• Renaissance Fusion, a startup simplifying complex fusion reactors, raised a $34M Series A-1 led by Crédit Mutuel Impact

• Spiritus, a startup aiming to capture and remove carbon emissions from the built and energy economies, raised a $30M Series A led by Aramco Ventures

• DoubleZero, a startup building an 'improved' blockchain, raised a $28M round at a $400M valuation led by Dragonfly and Multicoin Capital

• Daupler, a response management solution for utilities and municipalities, raised a $15M Series B led by Aqualateral

• Zocks, a privacy-first AI platform for financial advisors, raised a $13.8M Series A led by Motive Ventures

• AIceberg, a platform using GenAI and agentic AI for government and enterprise clients, raised a $10M seed round led by SYN Ventures and Sprout & Oak

• Faireez, a startup bringing 5-star hotel-style housekeeping to multifamily buildings, raised a $7.5M seed round led by Aristagora VC

• Conveo, an AI-powered research coworker, raised a $5.3M seed round led by Y Combinator, 6 Degrees Capital, Entourage, and more

• Aghast Solutions, a Singaporean fintech and environment-tech solutions, raised $4.8M in funding

• Outmarket AI, an intelligence platform for commercial insurance, raised a $4.7M seed round led by Fika Ventures

• Intangible AI, a no-code 3D creation tool for filmmakers and game designers, raised a $4M seed round led by a16z Speedrun, Crosslink Capital, and angels

• Fortytwo, a decentralized AI network, raised a $2.3M pre-seed round led by Big Brain Holdings

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Seven & i plans to spinoff its North American 7-Eleven business amid restructuring efforts to fend off Couche-Tard's $47B takeover bid

• PE firms Apollo and Vistria are exploring an IPO or sale of online school University of Phoenix at a $1.5B-1.7B valuation

• Klarna plans to raise $1B at a $15B valuation in a US IPO, with filings expected as soon as next week

• Lone Star-backed Portuguese lender Novo Banco plans to IPO at a $6.5B valuation in potentially Portugal's largest IPO since 2008

Debt

• Panama raised a $1.3B loan from Bank of America

• CVC-backed Alvogen Pharma raised a new private credit loan from Centerbridge and Blue Torch Capital to refinance $727M in upcoming junk maturities

• Blackstone is working with Citigroup to raise over $200M in debt to back its acquisition of India's South City Mall

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Kean University plans to acquire New Jersey City University, which declared fiscal exigency in 2022

Fundraising

• 400 Capital Management raised $1.4B for its fourth private credit fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Trump signed an executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile

• SBF's crisis manager quits following FTX founder's unexpected prison interview with Tucker Carlson

• FBI puts $10M bounty on ex-Olympian who allegedly laundered drug money with Tether

Subscribe to our free Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

• Financial Times dove deep into hedge fund legend Chris Rokos to answer a timeless LP question: can hedge funds prosper without their star trader founders? A truly insightful read on key person risk.

• Rubin Miller shared some principles on how to make the most of a market downturn.

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.