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Good Morning,

Harvard got clapped on a $500M Bitcoin bet, Michael Dell donated $6B to fund US's children investment accounts initiative, EQT may raise LP fees thanks to retail cash, and OpenAI will shift all focus to ChatGPT in a 'code red' as Google threatens its dominance.

Reserve your spot for BILL's controller appreciation week '25 and get six chances to win an new iPhone, LEGO® sets of your choice, and of course, a first look at BILL's brand new controller toolkit. Register here.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 12/2/2025 market close.

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks closed higher in a volatile trading session yesterday to recover some losses from Monday's slide

    • Oracle CDSs hit their highest since March 2009

  • Bitcoin rebounded from its 30% drawdown 

Earnings

  • CrowdStrike issued a Q3 beat-and-raise on accelerating adoption of its AI-driven Falcon platform (BBG)

  • American Eagle issued a Q3 beat-and-raise as recent high-profile campaigns with Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelce help boost demand (CNBC)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Salesforce, Macy's, Dollar Tree

    • Thursday: TD Bank Group, Kroger, Ulta Beauty, Dollar General, Docusign

    • Friday: Victoria's Secret

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • 'No compromise' was reached on a Ukraine-Russia territory deal, despite productive talks

  • Trade your odds for a Christmas miracle on Polymarket

Headline Roundup

  • Trump will announce new Fed chair 'early next year' (BBG)

  • Hedge funds' leveraged bond trades are drawing regulatory scrutiny (BBG)

  • US IPO banker fees powered through shutdown to top last years (BBG)

  • US money-market AUM hit a record $8T (BBG)

  • SEC wants to ease rules for small-firm listings (BBG)

  • Mom-and-pop bankruptcies hit a record high (BBG)

  • UK pensions dump US stocks on AI bubble fears (FT)

  • BlackRock turned bearish on long-term Treasuries amid AI funding wave (RT)

  • BoE lowered capital requirements for UK banks (FT)

  • Commercial real estate is getting too cheap to ignore (WSJ)

  • EQT weighs raising co-invest fees for LPs amid influx of retail cash (FT)

  • Michael Dell donated $6B to launch 'Trump Accounts' for 25M kids (BBG)

  • HSBC CEO pledged to be 'ruthless' in elevating bank to top 5 status (FT)

  • Goldman's $2B Innovator deal mints rare ETF billionaire (BBG)

  • OpenAI declared 'code red' in internal memo as Google threatens lead (WSJ) 

  • Amazon released an AI chip to take on Nvidia and Google (BBG)

  • Apple poached Microsoft exec Amar Subramanya to lead AI (FT)

  • Taiwan charged Tokyo Electron in TSMC trade secrets case (RT)

  • Nike shakes up leadership as turnaround continues (WSJ)

  • Record shoppers and sales surge signals strong US Q4 momentum (RT)

  • AI boom ignites luxury real estate boom in San Francisco (BBG)

  • US firms are snapping up rare earths that Europe needs (BBG)

  • The slop bowl slowdown has begun (BBG)

A Message from BILL

Controller appreciation week '25

Claim your spot at this year's exclusive virtual gathering of the best and brightest controllers, finance leaders, and industry experts. Over 3 days, we'll have 6 CPE sessions, 6 chances to win an iPhone 17 Pro, 1 exclusive demo offer to earn a LEGO® set of your choice (up to $250 value), and a first look at our brand new controller toolkit.

Come celebrate all the ways BILL helps businesses build, learn new ways to transform your financial operations, and share best-practices with peers. Plus earn plenty of CPE credits to help fill your quota before the end of the year. Register here!

Register Here

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Comcast's bid for $60B-listed Warner Bros. Discovery includes merging its NBCUniversal division with WBD in a cash-and-stock deal

  • Saudi SWF PIF is poised to take a 94% stake in video game developer Electronic Arts in its $55B LBO with Affinity Partners

  • Chipmaker Marvell Technology is in advanced talks to acquire chip startup Celestial AI in a $5B cash-and-stock deal

  • Insurance services firm Asurion agreed to acquire UK warranty business Domestic & General from European PE firm CVC and SWF ADIA for ~$2.8B

  • Analog chipmaker SiTime is in talks to acquire Renesas Electronics' timing unit at a $2B valuation, including debt

  • Mining giants Vale and Glencore are considering a $2B copper JV in Canada

  • Korean industrial engineering conglomerate Doosan is vying to acquire German construction equipment maker Wacker Neuson in a $1.7B take-private deal

  • Canadian lender Fairstone Bank agreed to acquire rival Laurentian Bank of Canada for $1.4B at a 20% premium

  • Gold miner Perseus offered to buy the remaining shares it does not already own in BlackRock-backed rival Predictive Discovery at a $1.4B valuation, implying a 24.5% premium

  • Insurance broker The Baldwin Group will acquire rival CAC in a $1B cash-and-stock deal

  • Italian app investor Bending Spoons will acquire ticketing platform Eventbrite for $500M cash at an 80% premium

  • Carlyle is in talks to buy a majority stake in Edelweiss Financial-owned Indian mortgage lender Nido Home Finance for $300M 

  • Vista-backed infrastructure software company LogicMonitor agreed to acquire startup Catchpoint for over $250M cash

  • French energy giant TotalEnergies emerged as the leading bidder for a 40% stake in Portugal energy firm Galp Energia's major oil discovery offshore in Namibia for $232M

  • AI startup Anthropic acquired developer tool startup Bun

  • Crypto exchange Kraken will acquire tokenized assets platform Backed Finance

  • ExxonMobil approached Iraq to express its interest in buying Russian firm Lukoil's majority stake in the giant West Qurna 2 oilfield

  • French cosmetics giant L'Oreal is eyeing an investment in Italian fashion group Armani

  • Warburg Pincus-backed Asian logistics investor ESR is considering selling some of its China assets

  • Russia's second-largest bank VTB is in talks to buy US-owned agriculture firm AgroTerra

  • Brazilian conglomerate J&F is seeking to sell a minority stake in its LHG Mining unit to foreign strategic partners

VC

  • Nvidia's $100B investment in OpenAI is not yet finalized

  • Prediction market platform Kalshi raised $1B at an $11B valuation led by Paradigm

  • Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI is in talks to raise several hundred million dollars at a $4B valuation from IDG Capital and others

  • Productivity software startup Notion is in talks to sell $200M in secondary shares at a $12B valuation

  • US will invest $150M in free-electron lasers maker xLight

  • Curative, a $0-out-of-pocket employer health insurance startup, raised a $150M Series B led by Upside Vision Fund

  • Mujin, an industrial automation and robotics platform developer, raised a $133M Series D led by NTT Group and QIA

  • Axiado, an AI hardware-anchored platform security solutions startup, raised a $100M+ Series C+ led by Maverick Silicon

  • Antares, a nuclear microreactor startup, raised a $96M Series B led by Shine Capital  

  • French AI voice startup Gradium raised a $70M seed round led by FirstMark Capital and Eurazeo 

  • Zafran Security, an AI-native threat exposure management startup, raised a $60M Series C led by Menlo Ventures 

  • Smart-TV software startup Titan OS raised a $58M Series A led by Highland Europe  

  • Decentralized AI compute network Gonka raised a $50M from Bitfury

  • Physics-driven semiconductor simulation startup Vinci raised a $46M seed and Series A led by Eclipse and Xora Innovation respectively

  • Corintis, a developer of microfluidic chip-cooling solutions, raised a $25M round led by Applied Digital

  • AI desktop-agent startup Simular raised a $21.5M Series A led by Felicis

  • Retail automation startup Duvo raised a $15M seed round led by Index Ventures

Access the complete VC deal flow on Fundable.

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Blackstone, Carlyle, and H&F-backed medical supplies firm Medline is set to launch its $5B IPO next week

  • Indian food delivery company Swiggy is planning a $1.1B FPO 

  • The non-profit owner of safety testing firm UL Solutions is selling $1.1B of shares in a block trade

  • Welsh Carson-backed medical scanning center operator Lumexa is seeking to raise $500M at a $1.9B valuation in an IPO

  • SoftBank-backed Asian travel app Klook delayed its $300M-$500M US IPO to early 2026

  • Wealth management fintech Wealthfront is seeking to raise $485M at a $2.05B valuation in an IPO

  • Spanish lender Santander sold part of its stake in its Polish subsidiary Santander Bank Polsa for $473M

  • Torrent's gas distribution arm Torrent Gas hired three banks for its $450M India IPO

  • Fluorescence technology firm UltraGreen.ai raised $400M in a Singapore IPO

  • Qatar SWF QIA is seeking to sell a $360M stake in UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's

  • JD.com's supply-chain technology unit Jingdong Industrials launched a Hong Kong IPO that may raise $425M

  • Korean AI startup Upstage hired banks for a Korea IPO

  • Chinese autonomous driving firm Momenta filed for a Hong Kong IPO

  • Chinese AI startup Zhipu is eyeing an IPO

Debt

  • The Philippines plans to raise $5.3B in international bonds next year 

  • Oaktree, Franklin Templeton, Canada's PSP and other private lenders snapped up $2B of subordinated debt from Blackstone and TPG's $18B LBO of medical device maker Hologic

  • Cybersecurity firm Check Point is raising $1.5B in a convertible bond sale

  • Saudi National Bank is seeking a $1B syndicated loan, continuing a borrowing rush meant to finance Saudi Arabia's $2T economic overhaul

  • General Atlantic raised $195M in private credit from Ares and Nomura to finance its acquisition of a stake in Australian chicken chain El Jannah

  • Canadian space-technology company MDA Space is preparing to raise $180M in a debut high-yield bond sale

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • ECB refused to backstop a $160B loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets

  • Ukraine warrant holders pushed back on a proposed $3.5B deal to convert GDP-linked securities into sovereign bonds

  • EQT and Canada's OMERS-owned German fiber network operator Deutsche Glasfaser proposed a $2B refinancing deal where lenders would inject $700M of 'super senior' debt and owners and would provide $1.3B of preferred equity

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • Nuveen Real Estate, the real estate arm of investment manager Nuveen, raised $650M for its US Strategic Debt Fund

  • Software investor Expedition Growth Capital raised $375M for its third fund

  • Israeli VC Entrée Capital raised $300M across two new early-stage funds

  • Lower MM Italian PE firm Bravo Invest raised $263M for its third fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Harvard's $500M wager on Bitcoin came right before the bust

  • Shares of Trump family-backed American Bitcoin fell 40% in less than one hour to wipe out $1B in market cap

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

Exec’s Picks

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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