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Good Morning,
PE returns overtook private credit after two years, bankers are offering to do some LevFin deals for free, McKinsey is considering a sale of its in-house wealth manager, OpenAI is in talks to raise funds at a $340B valuation, and SBF's parents are seeking a Trump pardon for SBF.
Invest in institutional-caliber private markets with 10 East, a membership-based investment platform offering targeted exposure to PE, VC, and more.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell

As of 1/30/2025 market close.
Markets
US stocks inched upwards as investors digested a slew of earnings, the Fed's rate cut pause, and ongoing tariff talks
Traders reduced odds of a 25 bps March rate cut to 13%
One 25 bps cut is fully priced in by July
UK's FTSE 100 hit a new ATH
Europe's Stoxx 600 hit a new ATH after the ECB cut rates
Traders now see 75 bps of additional ECB rate cuts this year
Germany 2Y yield fell 10 bps to 2.18% in its best day in two months
Gold hit a new ATH in its first since October
Mexican peso and Canadian dollar slid on news that US will follow through with tariffs
Earnings
Apple beat Q1 estimates on record revenue, earnings, and gross margin on strength in its services division but reported a surprise sales decline in iPhones and its China business (CNBC)
Intel met Q4 earnings and revenue estimates on its third-straight revenue decline and issued disappointing Q1 guidance due to seasonality and competition as it struggles to find footing in the AI race (CNBC)
Visa beat Q1 earnings estimates as consumers splurged on discounts during the holiday season (RT)
Mastercard beat Q4 earnings estimates on robust holiday spending (RT)
UPS plunged 14% in its worst day ever despite beating Q4 estimates as it announced plans to cut Amazon volume by 50% to increase profitability (RT)
Blackstone beat Q4 distributable earnings estimates thanks to performance revenues from perpetual infrastructure and credit funds (FT)
Deutsche Bank profits plunged 92% in Q4 and warned of higher than expected costs; their CEO will consider ditching weaker businesses to improve performance (FT)
Lazard profit jumped 30% in Q4 as a recovering M&A market boosted its advisory; the bank plans to add 10-15 MDs each year through 2030 (RT)
Southwest beat Q4 earnings estimates thanks to robust travel demand and improved airfares in its first quarter since settling with activist Elliott (RT)
Comcast plunged 11% despite beating Q4 earnings estimates due to above-expected broadband subscriber losses and stagnating subscriber numbers in Peacock (CNBC)
Deckers Outdoor beat Q3 revenue estimates on robust holiday demand for its Hoka shoes, but an in-line FY forecast caused shares to tumble 16% (RT)
What we're watching this week:
Today: Brookfield, ExxonMobil, Chevron
Full calendar here
Prediction Markets
Headline Roundup
US GDP grew 2.3% in Q4 (CNBC)
Eurozone GDP grew 0% in Q4 (CNBC)
ECB cut rates for fifth time by 25 bps to 2.75% (CNBC)
PE returns overtook private credit in Q3 (BBG)
Banks are offering to do deals for free in hectic LevFin market (BBG)
Tentative IPO rebound threatened by DeepSeek-fueled volatility (BBG)
US retail investors dive into tech stocks in response to DeepSeek selloff (RT)
Wells Fargo's private credit JV did $2.8B in deals since June (BBG)
Musk-Trump bromance turns Twitter debt to asset for Morgan Stanley (BBG)
Blackstone defends data center investments amid DeepSeek fears (RT)
Norway's SWF sticks to renewables despite market setbacks (RT)
Wells Fargo lifts CEO Charles Scharf's pay to $31M for 2024 (BBG)
Wells Fargo co-CEO of IB Jon Weiss stepped down (RT)
OpenAI's investment banker at Goldman will join BDT & MSD (WSJ)
Chinese fund managers will cut fees in reform push (FT)
BMO becomes latest bank to launch FX-hedged global stocks (BBG)
Amazon ramped up ad spending on Twitter / X (WSJ)
Walgreens suspended its dividend amid turnaround efforts (RT)
Global energy transition investment topped $2T last year (RT)
Rothschild hired Moelis banker who resigned after NYC self-defense / punching incident (BBG)
Ex-Barclays CEO Jes Staley discussed confidential info with Epstein, including Bernie Madoff (FT)
American Airlines mid-air collision in DC leaves no survivors (BBG)
A Message from 10 East
Where Sophisticated Investors Access Private Markets
10 East is a co-investment platform where sophisticated investors access private market investments alongside a veteran team with a 12+ year track record of strong performance across over 350 transactions. The firm is led by Michael Leffell, former Deputy Executive Managing Member of Davidson Kempner.
Members have the flexibility to participate on a deal-by-deal basis across private equity, credit, real estate, and venture capital.
Benefits of 10 East membership include:
Flexibility – members have full discretion over whether to invest on an offering-by-offering basis.
Alignment – principal commits material personal capital to every offering.
Institutional resources – a dedicated investment team that sources and diligences each offering.
There are no upfront costs or commitments associated with joining 10 East.
Exec Sum readers can join 10 East with complimentary access here.
Deal Flow
M&A / Investments
US sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14B acquisition of Juniper Networks
PE firm TJC is weighing a sale or IPO of mobile communications provider Silvus Technologies at a $5B valuation
$2.8B-listed UK broadcaster ITV is in talks to merge with Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI's production business All3Media, which it acquired for $1.4B in 2024
PE firm NGP Energy Capital is exploring a sale of natural gas producer Camino Natural Resources, which could fetch $2B, including debt
Cloud software firm Snowflake is in talks to acquire data analysis startup Redpanda for $1.5B
Insurance giant Nationwide will acquire Group Health Business from Allstate for $1.25B cash
Zimmer Biomet will acquire medical device company Paragon 28 for $1.1B
Sound Point Capital Management is weighing a sale of auto finance company Global Lending Services for $1B
Healthcare infrastructure REIT Welltower will acquire senior housing REIT NorthStar Healthcare for $900M
Mercedes-Benz is exploring a sale of its Athlon car-leasing business
India's billionaire Ambani family will acquire a 49% stake in the Oval Invincibles cricket team in London
Carlyle agreed to acquire a significant minority stake in Hollywood production and talent management company Entertainment 360
McKinsey is considering a sale of MIO Partners, its in-house wealth manager for the firm's senior staff and alumni
VC
OpenAI is in talks to raise up to $40B at a $340B valuation led by SoftBank
Voice AI startup ElevenLabs raised a $180M Series C at a $3.3B valuation co-led by a16z and ICONIQ Growth
Rad AI, a healthcare AI company, raised a $60M Series C at a $525M valuation led by Transformation Capital
Neuralink-rival Echo Neurotechnologies raised a $50M round led by a16z
Closinglock, a fintech and fraud prevention technology provider for real estate, raised a $34M Series B led by Sageview Capital
Anchor, an autonomous billing and collections platform, raised a $30M Series A led by Mosaic General Partnership and Zeev Ventures
Enterprise browser security startup Seraphic Security raised a $29M Series A led by GreatPoint Ventures
KODE, an on-demand medical coding platform, raised a $27M Series B led by Noro-Moseley Partners
SuperOps, an Indian startup for IT service providers and system administrators, raised a $25M Series C at a $200M valuation led by March Capital
Paxton, an AI platform for the legal industry, raised a $22M Series A led by Unusual Ventures
Elastos, a decentralized infrastructure provider, raised a $20M round from Rollman Management
Savant Labs, an automation platform for business analysts, raised an $18.5M Series A led by Dell Technologies Capital
Observo AI, an AI-native data pipeline company, raised a $15M seed round led by Felicis and Lightspeed Venture Partners
MEMS fabrication startup Omnitron raised a $13M+ Series A led by Corriente Advisors
Stablecoin payments platform Cedar Money raised a $9.9M seed round led by QED Investors
Backline, a security startup using AI agents to automatically remediate vulnerabilities, raised a $9M seed round led by StageOne Ventures
Le Fourgon, a French startup building a glass deposit system for reuse, raised an $8.5M Series A extension from ID4 Ventures, Teampact Ventures, and more
C the Signs, a UK AI-based platform to identify patients at risk of cancer, raised $8M in funding led by Khosla Ventures
Final Round AI, a job finding platform, raised a $6.9M seed round from Uncork Capital, Linear Capital, Ritual Capital, and more
Zelt, an all-in-one people operations software startup, raised a $6M round led by Nauta Capital
Irish sports technology company Output Sports raised a $5.2M pre-A led by Apex Capital, Uni.Fund, and Dopamine Sports
MedSender, an AI-powered workflow automation platform for healthcare providers, raised a $5M Series A led by Ballast Point Ventures
Prosper, a UK wealth management platform, raised a $5M round led by Fuel Ventures
IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
Spanish travel tech firm HBX, which is backed by Cinven, Canada's CPP, and EQT, filed for a $782M Spain IPO
Debt
Clean power developer Encore Renewable Energy raised $389M in loans and tax-equity financing from Brookfield
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
India's central bank filed a bankruptcy application against Aviom India Housing Finance
Fundraising
Fortress Investment Group is seeking to raise $1B for its second litigation finance fund
PE firm Cogenuity Partners closed its debut fund at $425M
Crypto Sum Snapshot
SBF's parents are seeking a Trump pardon for SBF
Hedge fund Elliott warned White House is inflating crypto bubble that 'could wreak havoc'
Central banks could buy Bitcoin on Trump's crypto proposals
ECB's Lagarde is confident EU central banks will shun Bitcoin
Check out our Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto!
Exec’s Picks
Hear how investment banking leaders have evolved their pitchbook creation process to gain a competitive edge and win more deals. Watch UpSlide's exclusive webinar now.
A Deutsche Bank client deck contained TWENTY-FIVE memes! Good on them for giving it a go. Take a look at what they cooked.
Somehow unsurprisingly, PE played a role in the LA wildfires. Check out Basel Musharbash's analysis on the same.
Financial Services Recruiting 💼
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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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