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Good Morning,

No CEOs made $100M for the first time in a decade, wealthy Americans are seeking refuge from Trump in Swiss banks, Trump team's war plan group chat mistakenly added a journalist, and PE firms are pushing to include D&A to the earnings formula that determines tax rates.

Planful's latest eBook dives deep into the critical role that real-time data and technology play in optimizing FP&A. If you work in a finance team, it's definitely worth the read.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US markets rallied yesterday on signs of a more measured US tariff policy 

  • S&P rose a two-week high

• India's Nifty 50 erased all YTD losses as stock rebound gathers steam 

• EM stocks and FX snapped three-day declines

Earnings

• OKLO posted a widening FY loss and forecast 'significant' losses for the near future as the pre-revenue nuclear energy tech firm grapples with high operational costs and regulatory hurdles (BN)

  • Today: GameStop

  • Wednesday: Dollar Tree, Jefferies, Chewy

  • Thursday: lululemon

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• PE firms want to add D&A to formula used to calculate tax deductions (BBG)

• Wall Street sees signs that worst of US stock selloff is over (BBG)

• Hedge funds sold European stocks for a second-straight week (RT)

• Billions raised by 'perennially private' firms are keeping IPOs on ice (BBG)

• No CEOs made $100M for the first time in a decade (WSJ)

• Silver Lake and Davidson Kempner face off over ecommerce startup (FT)

• Klarna IPO filing spurs hope of UK fintech listings (RT)

• BoE diluted stress test scenario for lenders (FT)

• SAP overtook Novo Nordisk as Europe’s most valuable company (FT)

• HSBC mulls outsourcing some fixed income trading (BBG)

• Activist Half Moon Capital is pressuring Dropbox to end founder control (RT)

• Japan named Kazuto Uchida as head of $1.7T GPIF (BBG)

• Samsung co-CEO Han Jong-Hee died of cardiac arrest (WSJ)

• Boeing is pushing to withdraw its guilty plea agreement (WSJ)

• Wealthy Americans are seeking refuge from Trump in Swiss banks (FT)

• Trump team's war plan group chat mistakenly added Atlantic editor (BBG)

A Message from Planful

Priorities to Remove Silos and Close Gaps in Strategic Analysis

The concept of finance being a 'team sport' is widely recognized among FP&A teams. This is a crucial mentality for FP&A leaders who need to make tough decisions and keep budgets on track, even in uncertain times. 

In reality, many teams today are still in clunky spreadsheets that are passed back and forth between emails, resulting in inaccurate data and poorly informed decision-making.

Download our report, published in partnership with CFO Dive and written in collaboration with Industry Dive, which addresses the top challenges CFOs face today.

Packed with results from new research, you'll discover the critical role that real-time data and technology play in fostering a 'team sport' culture within your finance and accounting departments.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• UAE energy company Taqa approached CriteriaCaixa, Naturgy Energy Group's largest shareholder, to revive an offer for a stake in the $26B Spanish utility

• Business services firm Cintas ended talks to acquire uniform maker UniFirst at a ~$5.3B valuation

• Australian gold miner Gold Road Resources rejected a $2.1B takeover offer from South African peer Gold Fields

• French PE firm Ardian agreed to acquire solar and wind power developer Akuo Energy from Intermediate Capital for ~$2.2B, including debt

• UAE engineering company Sidara is in extended talks to acquire troubled UK engineering firm John Wood Group at a ~$2B valuation

• The Pohlad family is reportedly seeking to sell MLB team Minnesota Twins for $1.7B 

• Meta's $800M bid for Korean chip startup FuriosaAI was rejected

• PE firm Searchlight Capital is exploring a sale of Survitec's aerospace and defense business

• French billionaire Dassault and Saade families, and health insurer MACSF, are acquiring a 25% stake in French VC firm Founders Future

VC

• Quantum computing startup PsiQuantum is raising $750M at a $6B pre-money valuation led by BlackRock

• n8n, an AI-powered workflow automation platform, raised a $60M round at a $270M valuation led by Highland Europe

• Next-gen college/education platform Campus raised a $46M Series B from General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Sam Altman, 8VC, and others

• CamGraPhIC, a startup building high bandwidth optical interconnect technology, raised a $27M Series A led by CDP Venture Capital, NATO, Sony, and more

• Card issuing platform Rain raised a $24.5M round led by Norwest Venture Partners

• Mundimoto, a Spanish motorcycle trading and renting platform, raised $21M in funding led by Orilla Asset Management and Endeavor

• RockFi, a French fintech that combines human expertise with advanced technology to deliver transparent and personalized wealth management services, raised a $19.5M Series A led by Partech

• Enza, an African fintech for banks, raised a $6M seed round led by Algebra Ventures and Quona Capital

• Automaise, an AI platform for customer service, raised a $5.4M Series A led by Oxy Capital

• Nace.AI, a startup providing precision-driven enterprise models, raised a $5M round led by General Catalyst

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese tech conglomerate Xiaomi is set to raise $5.5B in an upsized share sale to fund EV expansion

• Utility American Electric is seeking to raise $2B in a common stock offering

• Activist Elliott took a 5%, ~$1.3B stake in Germany energy firm RWE

• SmartStop Self Storage REIT is seeking to raise up to $972M in an IPO

• Online grocer Zepto is in talks for current shareholders to sell up to $250M in a secondary share sale ahead of their potential IPO

• Israeli trading platform eToro filed for an IPO

• TPG-backed cybersecurity company Delinea is exploring an IPO

Debt

• Banks led by Morgan Stnaley lined up $5.75B in debt to back Clearlake Capital's $7.7B LBO of data and analytics provider Dun & Bradstreet 

• BofA, JPMorgan, Goldman, and Barclays are selling $2.7B in high-yield bonds to support Flutter Entertainment's acquisition of Playtech's Italian gambling business

• UBS, Citi and Wells Fargo are preparing a $2.35B debt package to back Patient Square Capital's $4.1B LBO of healthcare equipment firm Patterson Companies

• Verizon sold $2.25B of investment-grade bonds to fund a $985M redemption due next year

• Crypto trading platform Kraken is exploring raising $1B in debt ahead of a potential IPO

• Suriname's state-owned energy company Staatsolie raised $516M in a bond sale

• Saudi banks led by Saudi National Bank plan to sell non-performing loans through securitization deals

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• DNA testing firm 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Fundraising

• PE firm Oakley Capital raised $4.9B for its sixth flagship fund

• Chinese VC Qiming Venture Partners is seeking to raise $800M to invest in Chinese AI startups

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Trump Media announced an ETF deal with Crypto.com

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

Exec’s Picks

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• A Trump administration team of JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Tulsi Gabbard, and fifteen other high-ranking officials accidentally added The Atlantic's Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat that discussed recent war plans against the Houthis in Yemen. Jeffrey Goldberg has since leaked everything. Take a look here.

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.