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The historic $60B LBO of 7-Eleven collapsed, Berkshire liquidated all S&P 500 ETF holdings, Apollo debuted the first private credit ETF, asset managers are pushing back against aggressive PE debt tactics, and KPMG will launch a US law firm.

A team of Zillow execs founded Pacaso to democratize co-ownership of premier properties and while they've already raised capital from top VCs, they're inviting retail investors to help them expand. Check out the opportunity.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks selloff continued as Nvidia's earnings failed to offset economic worries amid Trump's tariff threats 

  • S&P turned negative YTD

  • S&P and Nasdaq are on pace for their worst week since September

• Gold is set for its first weekly loss YTD 

• Euro is trading in tightest range since Trump's inauguration despite tariff threats

Earnings

• Dell missed Q4 revenue estimates but beat on earnings and forecast a strong FY outlook thanks on strong AI server demand (CNBC) 

• TD Bank Group beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates on strength in its retail unit and focus on strategic reform after its US anti-money laundering settlement (INV)

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US says Canada and Mexico tariffs will take effect (BBG)

• US Q4 GDP growth was unrevised at 2.3% (BBG) 

• US pending home sales fell to record low in January (RT)

• Tariff worries surpass 2018 levels, dominating earnings season (BBG)

• Asset managers are pushing back against aggressive PE debt tactics (RT)

• Investors return to levered portable alpha trade that went bust in 2008 (BBG)

• Traders flee risk for safe havens to hedge uncertain stock market (BBG)

• Investors see '2017-like' rally for EM FX (BBG)

• Hedge funds are betting on turnaround in China's property crisis (RT)

• Investors expect sharpest US-Europe inflation divergence since 2022 (RT)

• Europe block trading hit a 20-year high (BBG)

• Berkshire Hathaway liquidated all S&P 500 ETF holdings (FT)

• BlackRock will reassess its Australia exposure (RT)

• Top UK pension yanked $35B from State Street due to ESG pullback (FT) 

• Apollo and State Street debuted the first private credit ETF (CNBC)

• South Africa's SWF sees private credit opportunities in Africa (BBG)

• KPMG will launch a US law firm (WSJ)

• India's family office boom is littered with deals gone bust (BBG)

• Blackstone named McKinsey exec Zemmel as head of portfolio ops (BBG)

• CFPB dropped most cases including against Berkshire and Capital One (RT)

• Goldman dropped DEI section from annual filing (RT)

• Meta plans to release separate Meta AI and Reels apps (CNBC)

• Amazon unveiled its first quantum computing chip (CNBC)

• HP will slash 2k more jobs as part of cost cuts (WSJ)

• Austin rents are down 22% from peak amid home building spree (BBG)

• Japan births fell to lowest in 125 years (FT)

A Message from Pacaso

Top Investors Are Buying This Unlisted Stock

When the team that co-founded Zillow and grew it into a $16b real estate leader starts a new company, investors notice. That's why top firms like SoftBank invested in Pacaso.

Taking the real estate industry by storm once again, Pacaso's streamlined platform offers co-ownership of premier properties – revamping a $1.3T market.

And by handing keys to 1,500+ happy homeowners, Pacaso has made $100M+ in gross profits.

Now, they're focused on international expansion – achieving record-breaking sales in Paris, securing 7 homes in Cabo, and recently acquiring their most valuable European property yet in London.

The best part? You can join them as an investor for just $2.80/share right now. Grow with Pacaso as an investor today.

*This is a paid advertisement for Pacaso's Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• The founding Ito family and Itochu's proposed $60B MBO of 7-Eleven-owner Seven & i Holdings collapsed after failing to secure financing; Circle K-owner Couche-Tard is still pursuing its $47B bid

• India's Jindal Steel raised its offer for troubled Italian steelmaker Acciaierie d’Italia to $4.2B as it seeks to outbid rivals from Azerbaijan

• China's Ping An Insurance is in advanced talks to acquire three logistics projects in China from Blackstone for $372M

• FX payments fintech Flywire acquired hospitality payments firm Sertifi for $330M

• Philippine telecom PLDT is interested in acquiring KKR's 30% stake in its fintech affiliate Maya

• Australian private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care is exploring options for its stake in its European division 

• Location-sharing service Life360 acquired a Fantix unit that uses AI to offer more targeted advertising

• Numerous fashion companies are interested in buying the Versace brand from luxury group Prada

VC

• Payments fintech Stripe and existing investors offered to acquire secondary shares from insiders at a $91.5B valuation

• Shop Circle, a startup allowing merchants to manage ecommerce through a single app suite, raised a $60M Series B led by Nextalia Ventures

• Taktile, a fintech helping automate decision-making workflows, raised a $54M Series B led by Balderton Capital

• Mimic, an enterprise ransomware defense company, raised a $50M Series A led by GV and Menlo Ventures

• Parcel delivery startup Relay raised a $35M Series A led by Plural

• Unique, a Swiss AI platform for finance, raised a $30M Series A led by DN Capital and CommerzVentures

• Skylo, a startup providing 'direct-to-device' satellite connectivity, raised a $30M funding round led by NGP Capital

• VerAI Discoveries, an AI-driven mineral asset company, raised a $24M Series B led by Insight Partners

• Claros, a power management platform, raised $9.8M in funding from Red Cell Partners, General Catalyst, and more

• Charta Health, an AI-powered platform optimizing medical billing and coding workflows, raised an $8.1M seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures

• Just Move In, a startup providing a single point of entry for home setup services, raised an $8M Series A led by Eos Ventures

• AI-powered real estate assistant HouseWhisper raised a $6.7M seed round led by Mayfield

• Model risk management platform Ethos raised a $6M round led by Canapi Ventures

• Inventory management startup Highstock raised a $5.5M seed round led by Greylock

• AI night vision software startup Deepnight raised a $5.5M round led by Initialized Capital

• Firstwork, an AI-powered workforce management platform for frontline workers, raised a $5M seed round led by Gradient

• Nexera Robotics, a robotic grasping startup, raised a $4.5M round led by BDC

• Ligero, a crypto startup focused on zero-knowledge proof tech for data privacy and security, raised a $4M seed round led by Galaxy Ventures and 1kx

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Sycamore Partners is planning a three-way split of Walgreens Boots Alliance into US pharmacy Walgreens, UK pharmacy/consumer unit Boots, and speciality pharma unit Shields Health Solutions if a take-private deal is reached

• PIF-backed Saudi developer Umm Al Qura attracted $126B in demand for its $523M Riyadh IPO, implying oversubscription by 241x

• Oman's OIA-backed logistics firm Asyad Group is likely to price Asyad Shipping's Oman IPO at the top of a marketed range to raise $333M

Debt

• Meta is in talks to raise $35B in private credit for data center CapEx from Apollo and KKR

• Angola received approval to raise $3B in eurobonds and $1B in yen-denominated bonds

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• SoftBank, Liberty Strategic Capital, All Blue Capital and Andra Capital plan to invest $100M to salvage troubled cybersecurity startup Cybereason

• Chinese battery firm Shanshan will enter court-led restructuring

• Chinese developer Yuzhou is seeking financing to proceed with an offshore restructuring plan

Fundraising

• IDC Ventures, the VC arm of asset manager IDC Network, launched a $156M VC FOF

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Crypto fear index fell to its lowest level in over two years 

• SEC said memecoins are more like collectibles than securities

• Bitcoin reserve bills are failing in quick succession in states

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

Exec’s Picks

• PE folks, the days of pulling all-nighters and sacrificing weekends to build LBO models are over. Mosaic's digital deal modeling platform takes care of mundane mechanical calculations and incorporates unparalleled accuracy for you to build comprehensive LBO models in minutes. It's no surprise that Mosaic is already trusted by top PE funds on the street.

  Level up you modeling workflow with Mosaic.

• Bloomberg published an eye-opening deep dive on a disastrous LBO that exposed the fuzzy math of PE…this one simply related to EBITDA adjustments.

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"