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Dimon Gives It Straight
Together with
Good Morning,
PE giants are increasingly investing in each other's deals, Trump's antitrust enforcers are being lenient on mega M&A deals, private credit firms are pitching more leverage to beat out banks, and Jamie Dimon had some harsh things to say about Democrats, Europe, and market bulls.
In part one of M&A corner, Greenhill's Kevin Costantino discusses the recent PE-driven resurgence in dealmaking as well as high-profile moves in Delaware's business politics. It's another short but insightful listen.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell

As of 7/10/2025 market close.
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Markets
US stocks rose as traders continued to shrug off tariff threats to embrace the TACO trade
S&P and Nasdaq notched fresh ATH
Small caps Russell 2000 turned positive YTD
UK's FTSE 100 hit a fresh ATH
Europe's Stoxx 600 hit a one-month high
China's CSI 300 rose to its highest since March
Bitcoin hit another ATH
Earnings
Delta beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates due to stabilized bookings following earlier demand drops, strong growth in higher-priced seats, and a 10% YoY revenue increase from its Amex partnership (CNBC)
Levi Strauss issued a Q2 beat-and-raise as it expects robust growth to offset tariff impacts, which it plans to partially absorb for now (CNBC)
Full calendar here
Prediction Markets
Headline Roundup
Jamie Dimon warned of risk of higher Fed rates (BBG)
Jamie Dimon says Europe is losing (FT)
Jamie Dimon called Democrats 'idiots' for DEI and ideology focus (BBG)
Bessent says Trump and Soros have 'impatience' in common (BBG)
PE giants are investing in each other's deals (BBG)
Private credit firms are pitch more leverage to win deals over banks (BBG)
Investors brace for first US earnings quarter under Trump tariff war (RT)
Trump's antitrust enforcers 'get out of the way' of mega M&A deals (BBG)
Saudi royal runs $250B firm gatekeeping access to mega deals (BBG)
France sees Europe's biggest jump in distressed firms (BBG)
Indian IPOs are set to raise $18B in H2 surge (BBG)
Dutch pension funds are set to sell $150B of Europe government bonds (FT)
Hong Kong's push to defend dollar peg is just getting started (BBG)
Blackstone and UK's Legal & General partnered on private credit (BBG)
JPMorgan is considering cutting China and India from EM bond index (BBG)
Citadel Securities and Virtu clash over new options exchange (FT)
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with Trump (CNBC)
UK regulator is investigating Deloitte for audits of collapsed fintech Stenn (FT)
Ex-ASML staffer got three years for sharing trade secrets with Russia (BBG)
xAI's Grok chatbot went rogue (WSJ)
Nestle's France HQ was raided in mineral waters investigation (BBG)
Indeed and Glassdoor plan to cut 1.3k jobs in AI-focused restructuring (BBG)
UK will end paper shares after 400 years (BBG)
Dubai developers hit Miami and Sydney after 70% boom at home (BBG)
Wells fargo ended credit-card partnership for rewards on rent (WSJ)
The original Birkin bag sold for $10M at auction (WSJ)
Manhattan rents hit another ATH (BBG)
El Chapo's son is expected to plead guilty in US (FT)
Wall Street financiers rush to build anti-Mamdani mayor war chest (WSJ)
A Message from Mizuho
Market certainty drives businesses to take action, and returning confidence has led to a flurry of transactions across several sectors. In part one of this installment of M&A Corner, Mizuho | Greenhill's Co-Head of Corporate Finance and Head of Greenhill International, Kevin Costantino, sat down with Stephen Amdur, Partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, to discuss the recent resurgence in dealmaking and what is driving it. Together, they discuss:
The uptick in deal activity as private equity sponsors are becoming more comfortable with new market conditions following an extended period of uncertainty
How Mizuho | Greenhill has navigated inconsistent markets to successfully advise our clients on recently announced deals
New statute changes in the state of Delaware and how they will impact businesses looking to incorporate there
Deal Flow
M&A / Investments
Indonesian telecom tower giant Mitratel is considering reviving a $5.5B merger with rival Tower Bersama Infrastructure
Candy maker Ferrero International agreed to acquire WK Kellogg, the cereal business spunoff from Kellogg, for $3.1B at a 31% premium
Aerospace and defense tech provider Leonardo bid $1.9B for truck manufacturer Iveco Group's defense unit, the lowest among offers
Gambling company Flutter Entertainment will buy Boyd Gaming's 5% stake in FanDuel for ~$1.76B at a $31B valuation, giving it complete ownership of the online betting operator
PE firm Main Post Partners acquired a minority stake in smoothie chain Smoothie King at an over $1B valuation
Glencore and Chandra Asri Group’s JV Aster Chemicals and Energy is in exclusive talks to acquire ExxonMobil’s 59 gas stations in Singapore in an over $1B deal
India's Manipal Health Enterprises acquired a majority stake in India's Sahyadri Hospitals from Canada's OTPP for ~$700M
Blackstone raised its bid to acquire UK's Warehouse REIT for $666M, offering a 3.6% premium over Tritax Big Box's previous cash-and-share proposal
Monogram Capital Partners will re-acquire meat snack manufacturer Western Smokehouse Partners in a $500M deal
Goldman Sachs acquired the Mercure Ambassador hotel and other retail assets in South Korea for $190M
Citadel Securities acquired Morgan Stanley's US equity options market-making unit
Portugal launched a plan to sell a 49.9% stake in national carrier TAP as part of its latest privatization effort
Cosmetics chain Ulta Beauty acquired UK high street cosmetics retailer Space NK, which operates 83 stores in UK
Automotive company Mack de Venezuela acquired Unilever’s Venezuelan ice cream business
Angeles Equity-backed Agile Occupational Medicine will merge with Kain-backed Akeso Occupational Health to create one of the largest independent occupational healthcare providers in US
VC
Amazon is considering another multibillion-dollar investment in AI startup Anthropic
iCapital, a private markets fintech platform, raised over $820M at a $7.5B valuation led by T. Rowe Price and SurgoCap Partners
AI chip startup Groq is in talks to raise $300M-$500M at a $6B post-money valuation
Rent rewards platform Bilt Rewards raised a $250M round at a $10.8B valuation led by General Catalyst
Airalo, a startup providing mobile connectivity for international travelers, raised a $220M round at a $1B valuation led by CVC
Varda Space, a startup using space to make drugs, raised a $187M Series C led by Shrug Capital and Natural Capital
MaintainX, a predictive maintenance and asset management platform, raised a $150M Series D at a $2.5B valuation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, DE Shaw Ventures, and more
Harmonic AI, the math AI startup founded by Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, raised a $100M Series B at an $875M valuation led by Kleiner Perkins
Cambridge Aerospace, a stealth UK startup developing Iron Dome-like defense systems, raised ~$100M in early funding at a targeted $400M valuation
Hunterbrook Global, a hedge fund powering trading decisions from an in-house newsroom, raised funds at a $100M valuation from Ford Foundation and Floating Point
Ionic Mineral Technologies, a vertically integrated US producer of advanced materials for the energy, defense, and technology sectors, raised a $29M Series B
Engineering General Intelligence platform Foundation EGI raised a $23M Series A led by Translink Capital
Cloud storage management platform Datafy raised a $20M seed round led by Bessemer Venture Partners
QuiX Quantum Quantum, a Dutch startup developing photonic quantum computing hardware, raised a $17.5M Series A led by Invest NL and EIC Fund
Supply Wisdom, an AI-powered risk intelligence SaaS platform, raised a $14M Series B led by Jurassic Capital
Ryft, a cloud data management platform, raised an $8M seed round led by Index Ventures
Lithium startup Electroflow is aiming to raise an $8M seed round
Goodrays, a UK CBD drinks brand, raised a $6.7M Series A led by Guinness Ventures
IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
State Bank of India is planning an up to $2.9B share sale for next week
US DOD invested $400M for a 15% stake in $7.4B-listed US rare earths producer MP Materials, in an unusual deal aimed at breaking Chinese dominance of critical minerals
Debt
Japanese telecom giant NTT sold $17.7B of dollar and euro bonds in the largest-ever global debt offering by an Asian firm
Nissan launched a $4.5B dollar and euro bond sale offering a record-high coupon as it seeks to recover from a major annual loss
Morgan Stanley is marketing $950M in leveraged loans to refinance debt of software platform BetaNXT
Dartmouth College is issuing $456M in bonds, joining a wave of elite colleges tapping the debt markets
Goldman Sachs is working to raise $292M in debt to finance renovations of Spanish football club Real Betis Balompie's stadium
Developer Vanbarton Group secured a $250M loan from an Eldridge Capital unit to convert the former Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York HQ into luxury apartments
Fiber internet provider Wire 3 raised $235M in private credit led by Guggenheim
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
Thames Water rejected Lord Rupert Redesdale's last-ditch financial rescue offer, choosing to proceed with a creditor-led plan involving $6.8B in new funding to restructure ~$27B in debt and raise fresh equity
ReGen Healthcare submitted a bid to acquire bankrupt nursing home operator Genesis Healthcare, which operates 175 facilities and carries $2.2B in debt
Macquarie-backed LNG developer WaveCrest Energy is in limbo after all staff departed in June
Fundraising / Secondaries
BlueFive Capital raised $2B for one of the largest funds raised by a Gulf-based investor
Ex-Citadel PM Gilberto Marcheggiano debuted macro hedge fund Agave Capital Management with ~$1B AUM
Morgan Stanley Investment Management raised over $280M for its first standalone VC FOF
Italian multi-asset manager EQUITA Capital raised $187M for its third private credit fund targeting the DACH region and Spain
Crypto Sum Snapshot
EU criticized Malta's lax crypto rules
China's Ant Group is working to add Circle's stablecoins
Crypto scammer Truglia was sentenced to 12 years for stealing $22M in Bitcoin
Florida is probing Robinhood’s crypto trading promotions
Check out our Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto!
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