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US is weighing directive to bring PE to 401(k)s, Elliott won two board seats in its first-ever proxy fight, OpenAI, Google and xAI are splurging in a talent war, HSBC warned of bonus cuts for WFH staff, and a Bloomberg outage disrupted trading across Europe markets.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks fell yesterday on concerns that the Republican-led spending bill will worsen America's fiscal outlook 

• Canada's TSX posted it's third-straight ATH 

• US 30Y yield jumped 12 basis points to 5.1% near a two-decade high 

• US 10Y yield rose to April tariff turmoil-highs

• Dollar fell to a one-month low

• Bitcoin hit an ATH

Earnings

• Baidu posted a surprise Q1 earnings and revenue beat as accelerating AI cloud demand on the back of China's post-DeepSeek AI development boom offset a drop in ads (BBG)

• Snowflake beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on strong demand for data analytics services as firms prioritize AI spending (RT)

• Target missed Q1 earnings and revenue estimates and cut its FY sales outlook amid weak consumer sentiment, tariff uncertainty, and backlash to its DEI rollback as it struggles to revive growth and rebuild brand reputation (CNBC)

• Zoom beat Q1 earnings estimates and issued higher-than-expected FY guidance on strong customer growth in enterprise customers (BBG)

• TJX beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on resilient demand for off-price goods, though the retailer flagged pressure from US tariffs in its Q2 and FY forecasts (CNBC)

• Canada Goose beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates but pulled its FY outlook due to macroeconomic uncertainty and shifting consumer spending, while downplaying impacts of rising tariffs (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Workday, Ralph Lauren, TD Bank Group, Ross, Intuit

  • Friday: Booz Allen Hamilton 

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Markets don't seem too thrilled about the House spending bill.

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Headline Roundup

• Ex-JPMorgan analyst's Taiwan quant fund is averaging 51% returns (BBG)

• Republican-led spending bill raised major investor concerns (WSJ)

• Bloomberg Terminal outage hit traders (WSJ)

• Amazon CEO sees steady customer demand despite tariffs (BBG)

• Macro fund EDL is up 31% YTD to become this year's best hedge fund (BBG)

• Hedge funds cut 'Mag 7' holdings and increased China exposure (BBG)

• Europe is gaining traction amid doubts over US assets (RT)

• Investors are flocking to non-US equity funds this year (FT)

• Private credit growth fueled by banks may pose risks (WSJ)

• Private credit funds target billions in retail demand from Asia (BBG)

• Chinese firms go on fundraising spree amid rush of easy money (BBG)

• Kuwait's $1T SWF chief raised concerns over PE valuation practices (BBG)

• Activist Elliott won two Phillips 66 board seats in proxy fight (BBG)

• Activist who won Pitney Bowes proxy fight was named CEO (BBG)

• Half of Canada's CPPIB assets are invested in US (FT)

• Jefferies is hiring EM veterans to boost S&T (BBG)

• US is weighing directive to bring PE to 401(k)s (BBG)

• OpenAI, Google and xAI are offering NBA-like pay in talent war (RT)

• Ex-BofA senior banker faces insider trading probe over deal (BBG)

• HSBC warned of bonus cuts for staff who WFH too much (FT)

• Amazon investors again rejected all outside shareholder resolutions (RT)

• Accenture will promote 50k staff after six-month delay (BBG)

• Walmart will layoff 1.5k workers (WSJ)

• Succession planning among wealthy families is rising (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• OpenAI agreed to acquire AI device startup io in a $6.5B all-stock deal

• AT&T agreed to acquire network tech company Lumen Technologies' consumer fiber business for $5.75B cash

• Motorola Solutions is in advanced talks to acquire wireless-radio maker Silvus Technologies for $4.5B

• Engineering conglomerate Honeywell is in advanced talks to acquire UK chemicals firm Johnson Matthey’s Catalyst Technologies unit for $2.4B cash

• Leonardo DRS, the US unit of Italian defense firm Leonardo, is nearing a deal to acquire an unnamed US technology firm specializing in predictive algorithms for a few hundred million dollars

• PE firm Aquiline Capital Partners is exploring a sale of $240B AUM wealth manager SageView

VC

• International payments and financial platform Airwallex raised a $300M Series F at a $6.2B valuation led by Square Peg, DST Global, Lone Pine Capital, and others

• Employee rewards and recognition platform Awardco raised a $165M Series B at a $1B+ valuation led by Sixth Street Growth

• LMArena, an open community platform for evaluating AI models, raised a $100M seed round led by a16z and University of California

• Swiss healthtech startup ReproNovo raised a $65M Series A led by Jeito Capital, AXA IM, and M Ventures

• Veesion, a French AI tools to detect suspicious behavior in physical stores, raised a ~$53M Series B led by White Star Capital, Red River West, and Bpifrance

• Siro, an AI-powered coaching app for sales reps, raised a $50M Series B led by SignalFire

• DataHub, an open source metadata platform, raised a $35M Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners 

• German desk-less worker software startup Flip raised a $28M Series A extension led by LEA Partners, HV Capital, and more

• German payments startup Aufinity Group raised a $26M Series C led by BlackFin Capital Partners

• Clair, a fintech startup offering earned wage access, raised a $23M Series B led by Upfront Ventures

• Converge, a startup using AI and data to decarbonize the construction industry, raised a $23M round led by ABN AMRO

• Greenlite AI, a leading AI agent platform for financial services, raised a $15M Series A led by Greylock

• Reperio Health, an at-home and onsite comprehensive health screenings, raised $14M in funding led by Caduceus Capital Partners

• Sangha Renewables, a renewable-energy focused Bitcoin miner, raised a $14M round from Plural Energy

• Tailor, a provider of head-less ERP platforms, raised a $14M Series A led by ANRI

• Rivan, a startup developing modular synthetic fuel plants powered by off-grid solar energy, raised a $13.5M round led by Plural

• Ravical, a startup providing domain-trained AI agents to professional services firms, raised an $8M pre-seed round led by Lakestar

• Rhizome, a climate resilience planning platform for the power grid, raised a $6.5M seed round led by Base10 Partners

• AI startup Zoca raised a $6M round led by Accel

• Pay-i, a value-intelligence platform for GenAI, raised a $4.9M seed round led by Fuse Partners and Tola Capital

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Insight Partners-backed Hinge Health raised $437M in its US IPO priced at the top of its range for a $2.9B market value

• Saudi airline Flynas's $1.1B IPO was ~100 times oversubscribed amid strong demand

• Indonesian industrials conglomerate Chandra Asri's infrastructure investment unit Chandra Daya Investasi plans to raise $100M+ at a $1B valuation in an Indonesian IPO

• Conglomerate Dubai Holding drew $15B in orders for its $584M REIT IPO amid strong investor demand

• US is considering taking Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae public

• A London-listed vehicle of activist hedge fund Third Point plans to acquire Malibu Life Reinsurance in a $68M all-stock reverse merger 

Debt

• Ares is leading a $5.5B private credit financing to back PE firm Clearlake Capital's $7.7B LBO of business data analytics firm Dun & Bradstreet in one of the largest private credit deals to date

• HPS Investment Partners led a $3B private credit package to fund a dividend recap for GTCR-backed Consumer Cellular and refinance its debt

• AI cloud computing firm CoreWeave raised $2B in an upsized high-yield bond sale 

• Chinese online video-sharing platform Bilibili launched a $575M convertible notes offering

• Indonesian state miner Antam is seeking to raise a debut $500M dollar syndicated loan

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Azul Brazilian Airlines is in advanced talks with creditors for $600M in financing to support a potential Chapter 11 filing

• Brazilian transit infrastructure firm Invepar hired a debt-restructuring advisor amid a technical default 

Fundraising

• French lender Natixis is in talks to raise a ~$1.5B private credit fund

• Crypto investment firm Theta Capital Management raised $175M for a crypto VC-focused FOF

• Munich Re Ventures raised $125M for a fifth fund to back 'built world' startups

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Crypto czar David Sacks says stablecoin bill will unlock 'trillions' for US Treasury

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

Exec’s Picks

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• WSJ did a profile on the buyout king who leans on yoga and team bonding to make billions.

Analyst Opportunity – VC / Growth Equity 💼

• We are working with an anonymous VC / growth equity firm based in Los Angeles to help hire an analyst

• The analyst will support the investment team throughout full deal lifecycles, including sourcing, screening, due diligence, and investment committee preparation

• The ideal candidate has one year of investment banking or consulting and a passion for tech / software. Learn more and apply at Litney Partners

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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.