Together with

Good Morning,

PE execs are prioritizing exits over returns, Oaktree apologized to Advent and Silver Lake, retail CEOs are coming under board pressure, and Trump escaped another assassination attempt.

Mosaic's platform was recently featured in Financial Times for helping Wall St professionals automate their financial modeling tasks. A tool I wish I had during my banking and PE days and it's something you should definitely check out…

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose on Friday ahead of a pivotal Fed decision this week

  • S&P and Nasdaq posted their best weeks YTD 

  • Traders raised odds of a bigger 50 bps Fed rate cut to 50%

• Dollar fell to a nine-month low versus yen 

• Fed, BoE and BOJ each announce crucial rate policy decisions later this week

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Wednesday: General Mills

  • Thursday: FedEx

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• PE execs say distributions are 'magic word' after exit slowdown (FT)

• Investors pile into consumer staples as recession fears grow (FT)

• Retail, consumer CEOs see shorter tenures as boards increase pressure (RT)

• China is risking a deflationary spiral (WSJ)

• BoC governor raised prospect of faster rate cuts (FT)

• EU governments have sold ~$18B of bailed-out bank stocks in past year (FT)

• Oaktree apologized to Advent and Silver Lake for name blaming (FT)

• AC Milan's PE owner criticized industry peers for inflating sports valuations (FT)

• Deloitte's revenue growth slowed to its weakest in fourteen years (FT)

• China banned and fined PwC for six months over Evergrande collapse (AP)

• Boeing woes deepen as workers strike (CNBC)

• Negative European energy prices hit record level (FT)

• Soaring coffee prices have Italians 'afraid and panicking' (FT)

• Trump survived another assassination attempt (AP)

A Message From Mosaic.pe

With Fed rate cuts and deal flow ramping up, we’re all about to get a lot busier. But those long hours spent building complex models? That's in the past – and Financial Times agrees. 

While Blackstone leverages its BX Atlas tool to give dealmakers an almost instant read on deal viability, Mosaic is bringing that same game-changing power to everyone and is already trusted by leading firms from CVC to Warburg Pincus. 

Mosaic's leading deal modeling platform offers unparalleled precision, enabling you to evaluate new LBO opportunities in minutes. 

Build models with..

• AVPs + dynamic sensitivity tables

• Public-to-private scenarios 

• Equity check splits

• Dividend recaps

• IPO exits

…and more. Plus, you can export your analysis to Excel and PowerPoint, making it easier than ever before to share with your deal team. Mosaic has you covered - triage new deals from CIM to LBO in minutes. 

Elevate your modeling workflow with Mosaic, the world's leading digital deal modeling platform.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• CEO Mathias Döpfner and KKR are nearing a $15B deal to split up media giant Axel Springer (FT) 

• Italian energy firm Eni is in talks to sell a minority stake in its renewable and retail business Plenitude at an $11.1B valuation (RT) 

• $5.5B-listed eye care firm Bausch + Lomb is exploring a sale to end its spinoff from its heavily indebted parent Bausch Health (FT) 

• French electrical supplies firm Rexel rebuffed a ~$9.4B takeover offer from technology solutions firm QXO (RT) 

• Singapore's Temasek is nearing a 20% stake purchase in Blackstone-owned visa services firm VFS Global at a ~$7B valuation, including debt (BBG)

• Ares is in advanced talks to acquire GLP Capital Partners' non-China operations in a $5B cash and stock deal (BBG) 

• Insight Partners is exploring a sale of software testing firm Tricentis for over $4B (RT) 

• Korean PE firm MBK Partners launched a $1.5B tender offer to secure a controlling stake in metal producer Korea Zinc (WSJ) 

• Bain Capital is exploring a $1.3B sale of UK insurer esure (RT)

• Apollo-owned ABC Technologies proposed to acquire UK-listed automotive components supplier TI Fluid Systems for over $1.05B (RT) 

• Saudi mining company Ma'aden will acquire a 25% stake in its Ma'aden JV from US aluminum maker Alcoa in a $1.1B cash and stock deal (RT) 

• UK will acquire National Grid's Electricity System Operator for $828M (BBG) 

• KPMG is weighing a sale of its French SME advisory at a ~$554M valuation (BBG) 

• Sony Music is in talks to buy Pink Floyd's music rights for $500M (FT)

• AT&T and JV partner TPG are in talks to merge their DirecTV satellite TV service with EchoStar-owned Dish (RT) 

• Rand Merchant Bank is in talks to acquire HSBC's South African unit (BBG) 

• Swiss technology firm SoftwareOne is exploring a merger with smaller Norwegian rival Crayon in a deal backed by Apax Partners (BBG) 

• Infrastructure investor DigitalBridge is considering a sale of ASEAN-based telecoms firm EdgePoint Infrastructure (BBG) 

• Aircraft finance firm Avolon agreed to buy credit firm Castlelake's aircraft leasing unit (BBG) 

VC

• Mubadala, Coatue, Tiger Global, and more bought $500M of secondary shares in UK fintech Revolut at a $45B valuation (FT)

• Fei-Fei Li's AI startup World Labs raised $230M at a $1B+ valuation led by a16z, NEA, and others (TC)

• Second Front Systems, a mission critical software solutions, raised a $70M Series C led by Salesforce Ventures (PRN)

• XP Health, an affordable eye care solutions, raised a $33.2M Series B led by QED Investors (TC)

• Insurtech startup Ledgebrook raised a $17M Series B led by Duquesne (PRN)

• Autonomous AI products startup Bounti raised a $16M seed round led by GV (TFN)

• Social calendar app Howbout raised an $8M Series A led by Goodwater Capital (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Thailand's state-controlled Vayupak Fund launched a $4.5B offering to boost its stock market (BBG)

• LG Electronics selected Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley for a $1.5B India IPO (BBG) 

• Indian food-delivery platform Swiggy is weighing a $1B+ local IPO (BBG) 

• DC-based Chain Bridge Bancorp filed for a US IPO (RT) 

• Chinese courier delivery firm BingEx filed for a US IPO (RT) 

• General Atlantic-backed Swiss online marketplace operator SMG is exploring an IPO (BBG) 

Debt

• Vista Equity Partners and Blackstone are seeking a $3.2B private credit package for their proposed LBO of collaboration software Smartsheet (BBG) 

• PE firm CD&R is in talks with banks for debt to fund its bid for Sanofi's $16.6B consumer health division (BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• CD&R-owned PwC-spinoff Vialto is in talks with PIMCO and Blackstone to restructure $1.5B of debt (FT)

• Telecom services provider Mobileum exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy (RT) 

Fundraising

• VC Insight Partners is close to raising $10B+ for its thirteenth fund (FT) 

• European VC firm Noteus is seeking over $665M for a debut fund (FT)

Crypto Corner

• MicroStrategy purchased $1.1B of Bitcoin, its most since 2021 (BBG) 

• Jailed FTX co-founder SBF is seeking a new trial (BBG) 

Exec’s Picks

• Adam Grossman gave a great explanation for why great companies don't always make for great stocks.

• With many arguing that Google's breakup is starting to be priced in, Matt Stoller shared an incredible perspective on what may happen if Google loses its antitrust case.

Investment Banking Opportunity

Cascadia Capital - Experienced Investment Banking Analysts & Associates

• Independent middle market advisory is hiring experienced IB associates and analysts in Austin, Minneapolis and Seattle

• The firm is expanding after a significant investment from ex-Barclays CEO Bob Diamond and several senior banker hires.

• Seeking associates and analysts across four coverage groups, and analysts in capital markets and generalist roles

• Immediate start, competitive comp packages

Meme Cleanser

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures // Book a call with Lit // Launch your own newsletter