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Good Morning,

BlackRock is nearing the largest infrastructure takeover deal ever, London dropped out of top 20 IPO markets, family offices are paying $1M salaries to CIOs, Musk's firms are suffering from a staff exodus, and IPO markets are at risk after the US government shutdown.

Planful's latest eBook dives deep into the best strategies to stay agile and drive better outcomes with continuous planning. If you work in a finance team, it's definitely worth the read.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 9/30/2025 market close.

Click here to learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks continued to rise yesterday as investors shrugged of government shutdown concerns

    • Dow hit a fresh ATH

    • S&P and Nasdaq notched their best Q3 since 2020 and their best September since 2010

  • Europe's Stoxx 600 rose for a third-straight day 

    • The index posted its best month since May and first positive September since 2019

  • UK's FTSE 100 hit a new ATH

    • The index had its best quarter since 2022 

  • Israel's TA-35 Index surged 2.8% to a fresh ATH 

    • The index gained for a fifth-straight quarter

  • EM stocks rallied for a ninth-straight month for its best streak in over two decades 

  • Munis posted their best month since 2023

Earnings

  • Nike beat Q1 earnings estimates on surprise sales growth amid progress in its turnaround strategy under new CEO Elliott Hill, though China revenue fell 9% and the firm forecast a drop in holiday-quarter sales (CNBC)

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • That was quick.

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Headline Roundup

  • US government shut down after Congress failed to pass funding bill (CNBC)

  • White House pulled EJ Antoni's nomination for BLS commissioner (BBG)

  • Q3 global M&A was best and worst in recent history (RT)

  • US IPOs at risk as government shutdown impacts SEC (BBG)

  • US ECM activity topped $255B for its best YTD since 2021 (BBG)

  • London IPO volume dropped 69% to its lowest in 35 years (BBG)

  • Global OTC FX trading soared to an ATH of $9.6T on tariffs (BBG)

  • Private market blowups highlight perils for retail investors (BBG)

  • US family offices are paying $1M salaries to CIOs (BBG)

  • US unemployed now outnumber job openings (BBG)

  • US auto bankruptcies show rising credit pain in low-income households (RT)

  • SEC approved TXSE's application for new Texas stock exchange (RT)

  • Yuan moves closer to replacing pound as fourth most-traded currency (BBG)

  • India will roll out 0DTE options (BBG)

  • JPMorgan plans to put private credit into an ETF wrapper (BBG)

  • Nonbanks are struggling to gain FX trading market share (BBG)

  • South Korea moves toward forcing firms to cancel treasury shares (BBG)

  • Steve Cohen moves closer to winning $8B casino bid (BBG)

  • Robinhood is exploring expanding prediction markets outside US (BBG)

  • OpenAI H1 sales hit $4.3B with $2.5B cash burn (TI)

  • Japan 2Y bond sale saw the weakest demand since 2009 (BBG)

  • Spotify founder Daniel Ek will step down as CEO (RT)

  • Glencore's head of O&G trading departed (BBG) 

  • ExxonMobil will cut 4% of employees (BBG)

  • Musk's empire is seeing exodus of senior staff over burnout and politics (FT)

  • NYC's running boom is adding $1B to the local economy (BBG)

A Message from Planful

Continuous Planning: The Secret to Smarter Financial Decisions

Looking for a game-changing strategy for 2026? Our latest eBook reveals how finance teams stay agile and drive better outcomes with continuous planning. Discover the insights you need to streamline your processes and stay ahead of surprises.

💡 What you'll learn:

  •  Why agility is the cornerstone of financial success

  •  How to build a culture of continuous planning

  •  Collaboration strategies for cross-functional alignment

  •  Forecasting tips to navigate uncertainty

Ready to transform your planning game? Download the eBook now.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners is nearing a $38B deal to acquire utility group AES in what may be one of the largest infrastructure takeovers ever

  • French lender Credit Agricole discussed a possible tie-up between $22B-Italian lender Banco BPM and Credit Agricole's Italian unit 

  • Spanish lender Banco Sabadell rejected rival BBVA's $20B takeover offer on valuation concerns

  • Berkshire Hathaway is in talks to buy Occidental Petroleum's petrochemical business OxyChem for $10B

  • UK PE firm Permira is considering a sale of pharmaceutical company Neuraxpharm at a $3.5B-$4.7B valuation

  • $3B-listed O&G explorer Civitas Resources is exploring a sale

  • US will take a 5% stake in Lithium Americas and a 5% stake in their Nevada mining project, restructuring a $2.26B US loan agreement 

  • Japan's largest lender MUFG is in advanced talks to acquire a 20% stake in Indian shadow lender Shriram Finance for $2.6B

  • An investor group led by real estate mogul Patrick Zalupski agreed to acquire MLB's Tampa Bay Rays from Stu Sternberg for $1.7B

  • French investment firm Eiffel Investment Group agreed to acquire a 50% stake in a portfolio of French wind and solar assets from French oil giant TotalEnergies for $311M

  • Australian media groups Seven West Media and Southern Cross Media agreed to merge to create a $274M enterprise

  • Meta plans to buy chip startup Rivos

  • Beauty products maker Coty is exploring a sale of its consumer beauty business including brands such as CoverGirl and Rimmel

  • Multi-strat Jain Global acquired wholesale marketing firm Anahau Energy

VC

  • Cerebras Systems, a maker of wafer-scale AI chips, raised a $1.1B Series G at an $8.1B valuation led by Fidelity Management & Research and Atreides Management 

  • Materials-science automation startup Periodic Labs raised a $300M seed round from a16z, DST, Nvidia, Accel, Elad Gil, Jeff Bezos, and others

  • AI-web services cloud platform Vercel raised a $300 million Series F at a $9.3B valuation co-led by Accel and GIC

  • Viamericas, a remittance and international money transfer provider, raised $113.6M led by Old National Bank

  • AI-native legal tech startup Eve raised a $103M Series B at a $1B valuation led by Spark Capital

  • Indian EV mobility firm Ola Electric will raise $100M in a preference shares sale

  • AI-native cloud platform Modal Labs raised an $87M Series B at a $1.1B valuation led by Lux Capital

  • CTV ad-tech startup Vibe.co raised a $50M Series B led by Hedosophia

  • Recur Club, a debt marketplace leveraging AI for startup and SME financing, raised $50M from InfoEdge Ventures, Incred, and more

  • AI-driven TMS provider Alvys raised a $40M Series B led by RTP Global

  • College-recruiting platform Scorability raised a $40M round led by Bluestone Equity Partners

  • RunBuggy, a logistics tech platform for automotive transport, raised a $37M Series B round led by Centana Growth Partners

  • No-code IAM startup Descope raised a $35M seed extension from Notable Capital, Lightspeed, Dell Technologies Capital, and others

  • Virtual women's health clinic Visana Health raised a $24M Series A led by Noro-Moseley Partners

  • Bite Stream, a SaaS platform for alternative asset managers, raised a $25M strategic growth round from NewSpring Growth

  • Zania, an AI-driven GRC automation startup, raised an $18M Series A led by NEA

  • Agentic vulnerability management startup Mondoo raised a $17.5M round led by HV Capital

  • Freight Tiger, an AI-driven logistics platform, secured a $13M Series C from Tata Motors

  • KGeN, a verified-user protocol for AI, DeFi, and gaming, raised a $13.5M strategic round led by Jump Crypto

  • AdPipe, an AI video personalization platform for enterprises, raised a $12M Series A led by LGVP

  • True AI, a conversational AI-driven decentralized exchange startup, raised a $10M seed round led by Core Holding

  • Electroflow Technologies, a startup making it easier to extract lithium from brines, raised a $10M seed round was led by Union Square Ventures

  • AI-driven infrastructure automation startup StackGuardian raised a $10M Series A led by TIN Capital

  • Tie, an AI-powered identity platform for e-commerce brands, raised a $10M Series A led by Innovating Capital 

  • Epic Padel, a padel club and ecosystem builder, raised a $10M seed round led by NowaisWorld

  • Supernova, an AI product-development platform, raised a $9.2M Series A led by Taiwania Capital

  • Area 2 Farms, a local indoor-farming startup, raised a $9M round led by Slow Ventures and Seven Seven Six

  • Ingage, a MEMS navigation sensor startup, raised a $7M round led by Supernova Invest and 360 Capital

  • Cross-browser AI agent startup Composite raised a $5.6M seed round led by NFDG

  • AI investigations startup Longeye raised a $5M seed round led by a16z

IPOs / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Zijin Gold International surged 68% in its Hong Kong trading debut after raising $3.2B in the world's biggest IPO since May

  • Korean electronics conglomerate LG Electronic's India arm is seeking to raise $1.9B at a $8.7B valuation in its India IPO

  • Data center REIT Fermi raised $682.5M in an IPO priced near the top of a marketed range

  • Flood insurer Neptune raised $368M at a $2.8B valuation in its IPO

  • Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank and HSBC-backed Indian insurer Canara HSBC Life Insurance is seeking to raise $300M in its India IPO

  • Angola's second-largest bank Banco de Fomento Angola raised $240M in its IPO

  • Apollo and Vistria-backed for-profit online university University of Phoenix is seeking to raise $140M at a $1.17B valuation in an IPO

Debt 

  • Kuwait raised $11.25B in its first eurobond sale since 2017

  • Indonesia's SWF Danantara received sufficient pledges from wealthy tycoons for its plan to issue $3B of 'patriot' bonds

  • A consortium of banks led by Santander will be forced to hold a portion of the $2.7B debt supporting PE firm Thoma Bravo's $1.7B LBO of customer-service automation firm Verint Systems

  • Biotech Thermo Fisher Scientific raised $2.5B in its first bond sale since 2023

  • Five Point-backed WaterBridge Infrastructure raised $1.4B in senior unsecured notes

  • Asset management and insurance firms Eldridge raised $504M in its first CLO sale

  • ECB offloaded its entire $235M position in bonds of embattled French payments company Worldline

  • Credit card startup Imprint is planning its first ABS sale

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • A newly appointed First Brands board committee is investigating the bankrupt  auto parts supplier's use of $2.3B in off-balance sheet financing

  • Spirit Airlines signed a $475M DIP agreement with bond holders

  • Millennium took a $100M hit in the collapse of First Brands

  • Veritas-backed education software provider Anthology filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a plan to sell parts of its business to lenders including Oaktree and Nexus Capital Management

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • MM PE firm Gemspring Capital raised $1.1B for its latest growth equity fund

  • Hughes & Company, a PE firm focused on healthcare technology companies, raised $260M for its second fund

  • Sustainable agriculture investment firm Cibus Capital launched a $200M fund focused on Australian forest carbon credit markets

  • European VC Notion Capital raised $134M for its third growth fund

  • Draper family-linked Boost VC raised $87M for its fourth fund

  • A team of EQT and McKinsey alumni plan to launch ETNA, a European PE firm targeting defense and cyber-security deals

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • A Chinese crypto fraudster pled guilty to laundering $7B

  • Fintech startup Brex will allow stablecoin transactions

Crypto Sum summarizes the most important stories on crypto daily. Read it here.

Exec’s Picks

Finance & Startup Recruiting 💼

Litney Partners

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting venture between Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm), Litney Partners places talent at leading firms in PE, hedge funds, VC, growth, credit, IB, and fintech and is currently recruiting for some incredible roles. Head over to our website to drop your resume and we'd love to get in touch!

Next Play

If you're down bad, realizing finance isn't for you, and want to explore the world of startups (BizOps, chief of staff, strategic finance, etc.), fill out this form. Next Play will reach out to schedule a 1:1 video call if they think they can help as your own, personal startup matchmaker. They've grown their community to over 50k talented professionals and have deep relationships across the tech ecosystem.

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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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