Good Morning,

Fed governor Cook sued to block her firing, merger-arbitrage hedge funds are springing back to life, hedge fund LPs are betting on Europe, ANZ bankers were fired via an accidental email, and US started issuing GDP data on blockchains.

Before we dive in, my events company Palm & Park is partnering with Farsight for another chill happy hour on Tuesday, September 16 in Midtown Manhattan to bring together an exclusive group of experienced IB and PE professionals. Take some time off this unusually busy summer and join us for some laid-back conversations! RSVP here.

Hope you all have an excellent Labor Day Weekend. See you all on Tuesday!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks rose yesterday as investors digested Nvidia's earnings and optimistic economic data

  • S&P and Dow hit new ATHs

• China's CSI 300 index gained for a ninth week in ten, adding $1.3T in market cap just this month

• South African stocks and currency posted their best month in two decades

• Colombian dollar bonds surged after a group of the world's largest banks announced a tender offer for the notes

Earnings

• Dell issued a Q2 beat-and-raise amid strong growth in its AI server business but missed on Q3 guidance causing shares to fall 5% AH (CNBC)

• TD Bank Group beat Q3 earnings estimates as strong performance in Canadian personal, commercial, wealth management, and insurance units offset US regulatory headwinds; the bank highlighted ongoing AML remediation efforts, with most milestones expected this year (YH)

• Best Buy beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates on its best comparable sales growth in three years driven by online sales and the Nintendo Switch 2 launch; the firm reaffirmed FY guidance despite tariff headwinds and selective consumer spending (CNBC)

• DICK'S Sporting Goods issued a Q2 beat-and-raise as both ticket size and transactions grew, while preparing to close its $2.4B Foot Locker acquisition in September (CNBC)

• Dollar General issued a Q2 beat-and-raise driven by stronger traffic and basket sizes amid growth across all income brackets as affluent shoppers traded down; the firm also noted efforts to offset tariff-related costs (WSJ)

• Victoria's Secret issued a Q2 beat-and-raise on 4% comparable sales growth driven by disciplined inventory management and a promotional approach, though management flagged a doubled tariff hit of ~$100M to net income as their new CEO pushes ahead with a turnaround amid investor pressure (WSJ)

• Ulta Beauty issued a Q2 beat-and-raise as comparable sales rose 6.2% on growth across all major categories amid strong consumer demand and momentum in beauty trends (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Alibaba

• Full calendar here 

Prediction Markets

• Always hedge your tail-risk.

• Trade your predictions on a range of events, only on Kalshi. Sign up with code LIT and get a $20 bonus when you trade $100.

Headline Roundup

• Putin met with Modi and Xi to thrash out energy needs (BBG)

• US Q2 GDP growth was revised upwards to 3.3% YoY (WSJ)

• Fed governor Lisa Cook sued block Trump's firing (BBG)

• US hit small packages with fresh tariffs as exemption ends (FT)

• EU will scrap tariffs on US goods for reduced tariffs on autos (RT)

• US-Nvidia talks for China AI chip sales will take time (RT)

• US-Intel deal is designed to block sale of chipmaking unit (FT)

• Merger-arbitrage hedge funds are coming back to life (BBG)

• World's best performing SWF bets on Europe over US (FT)

• Europe hedge funds gain favor as investors steer away from US (RT)

• Japan 2Y bond auction drew the weakest demand in 16 years (BBG)

• Indian firms tap bond market for M&A on mutual fund demand (RT)

• China banks warn on using credit cards to fund stock trading (BBG)

• Chinese money launderers are moving billions through US banks (WSJ)

• Alcohol firms turn to private credit amid tariffs and a drinking declines (BBG)

• ANZ bankers learn of firing via accidental email (FT)

• Jensen Huang says AI boom far from over (RT)

• Zuckerberg lobbied Trump on digital taxes before tariff threat (BBG)

• Musk's xAI forays into agentic coding with new model (RT)

• Toyota sales rose for a seventh-straight month (RT)

• A Microsoft software engineer died in office (B​​BG)

A Message from Litquidity

M&A is popping and markets are at record highs as we head into Labor Day.

Before we shut our laptops for the long weekend, I wanted to remind you guys of ways the Litquidity network can help make your lives easier and more rewarding as we continue to chip away.

We're here to deliver memes, news, jobs, and deals and we're always exploring ways to connect and work with you all.

Advertising & Partnerships

Exec Sum would not be possible without the continued support from our sponsors. As such, we’re always looking to partner with exciting brands looking to reach a highly-engaged and lucrative professional audience. We have the strongest engagement and conversion through our premium offerings and trusted brands.

Interested in advertising across the Litquidity brand portfolio that reaches over 2M unique individuals? Fill out our partnership form here.

Litquidity Ventures

We've been on an absolute tear securing primary allocations into high-profile funding rounds led by Tier 1 VCs, as well as allocations into late stage opportunities with incredible demand (such OpenAI, xAI, and SpaceX).

If you're an accredited investor or qualified purchaser and want to gain access to the deal flow, pls fill out this quick form if you’d like access to our deal flow.

If you are a startup currently raising capital and are interested in an investment from Litquidity, pls send an email to [email protected]

Litney Partners - Financial Services Recruiting

If your firm is currently seeking experienced investment bankers & institutional investors (private equity, hedge funds, credit, etc), shoot me an email at [email protected] so we can find a way to work together!

If you are a candidate looking for a job across IB, PE, VC, hedge funds, credit, family offices, and Corp Dev, drop your resume at our portal and we'll be in touch with relevant opportunities!

Palm & Park – Events Planning

If you're looking to organize exclusive happy hours, private dinners, padel & wellness events to build community and network with founders, investors, and dealmakers, check out Palm & Park, a new events business I co-founded earlier this year to connect with our vast network IRL. Learn more here.

WORK FOR LITQUIDITY

I will shortly be looking for a handful of interns and contributors who are interested in creating content and writing for Litquidity Media. If you're interested in learning more about working for me, feel free to reach out to [email protected]. Stay tuned for more info on openings and applications!

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Andy Murray-backed sportswear brand Castore acquired motorcycle jacket maker Belstaff from Ineos; the jacket maker was last valued in 2023 at $1.4B 

• Canadian financial institution Desjardins agreed to take-private Toronto's Guardian Capital Group in a $1.2B all-cash deal at a 66% premium

• Pacific Avenue Capital Partners agreed to acquire automobile parts giant LKQ's self-service unit at a $410M valuation

• Sweden-based Swedbank agreed to acquire Barclays' stake in their Nordic consumer credit JV Entercard for $273M

• European fintech giant Revolut is seeking to acquire a US-based lender

• Consumer goods company Mammoth Brands is in talks to acquire premium baby diaper brand Coterie

VC

• Fusion power startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems raised an $863M round from NVIDIA, Google, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and more

• No-code website builder Framer raised a $100M Series D at a $2B valuation led by Meritech and Atomico

• Stablecoin fintech Rain raised a $58M Series B led by Sapphire Ventures

• Enterprise stablecoin platform Rain raised a $58M Series B led by Sapphire Ventures

• Portal, a Bitcoin-first protocol enabling trust-minimized cross-chain trading, raised $50M led by Paloma Investments

• Stablecoin startup Mo raised a $40M Series B led by Polychain and Ribbit Capital

• Atomic, a New York-based embedded investing platform for fintech and financial institutions, raised a $30M round led by Aquiline and Brewer Lane

• Maisa AI, a startup building an accountable, non-black box AI platform, raised a $25M seed round led by Creandum

• TransBnk, an Indian corporate banking platform, raised a $25M round from Bessemer Venture Partners

• aPriori, a crypto startup building an execution layer for on-chain markets, raised a $20M round from HashKey Capital, Pantera Capital, Primitive Ventures, and more

• Fusion Fuel Cycles, a JV between Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and Kyoto Fusioneering, raised a $20M investment from General Atomics

• UserEvidence, a customer evidence platform for GTM teams, raised $7M in funding led by existing investors

• EnsiliTech, a startup improving the storage and transportation of life-saving medicines, raised a $5.2M seed round led by Eos Advisory

• Credit Coop, a protocol transforming credit markets, raised a $4.5M seed round led by Maven 11 and Lightspeed Faction

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Antivirus software giant McAfee is redeeming all of its preferred shares for $1.17B

• Indian infrastructure investment trust Cube Highways Trust is preparing to file for an IPO that could raise $600M

• Billionaire founder Raakesh Gangwal raised $500M from selling a 1.96% stake in low-cost Indian carrier IndiGo

• Abu Dhabi's state energy company ADNOC is seeking to raise $328M in a secondary share sale in its ADNOC Logistics and Services unit

• Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in Japan's Mitsubishi Corp to above 10%

Debt

• Chinese tech giant Alibaba is in talks with banks to refinance a $6.5B loan at an 80 bps premium

• Europe's first defense bond was sold by French bank BPCE for $876M with over $3.3B in orders

• Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is in talks with HSBC and Standard Chartered to raise debt to help support its $2.6B acquisition of German consumer electronics retailer Ceconomy

• African Development Bank is working with Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas to help arrange a $500M-$1B hybrid bond issuance

• India's Vodafone Idea Telecom Infrastructure, a wholly owned subsidiary of telecom operator Vodafone Idea, is in talks to raise $570M in a debt sale

• SoftBank set terms for a $1.3B hybrid bond at a 4.556% coupon, Japan's highest this year

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Canadian fashion e-tailer Ssense is on the verge of filing for creditor protection in Canada after a conflict with a BMO-led consortium of lenders

Fundraising / Secondaries

• MM healthcare investor Curewell Capital raised $535M for its debut fund

• Prominent European VC Lakestar raised a $265M multi-asset continuation vehicle from Lexington Partners, Industry Ventures, Performance Equity Management, and others

• Japanese EM-focused VCs Uncovered Fund and Monex Ventures launched Uncovered Monex Africa Investment Partnership, a $20M VC JV to invest in early-stage MENA startups

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• US put GDP data on the blockchain

• CFTC said offshore crypto firms have path to bringing on US investors

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

Exec’s Picks

• Bloomberg Odd Lots sat down with ex-UK PM Liz Truss to discuss the 'doom loop' engulfing the UK economy.

• Fortune published an interesting piece on why college-educated Gen Z men, in particular, are underemployed.

Meme Cleanser

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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.