Together with

Good Morning,

Top hedge funds erased losses to turn positive in H1, activist investors are taking a breather, Europe junk bond issuances hit a new record in June, Trump has 'two or three' choices to replace J Pow, and Trump's fiscal agenda passed the Senate.

Mizuho America's Head of TMT sat down with 3x NBA champion Rick Fox for an insightful conversation on the role of teamwork, humility, and purpose in shaping unique successful entrepreneurial ventures. It's worth the listen.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks closed mixed yesterday as traders digested implications of the 'Big Beautiful Bill' and looked ahead to Q3

  • All three major stock indexes hit fresh ATHs earlier this week

• Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 20% in H1

  • China's CSI 300 index is up only 3.5% in H1

• Canada's TSX index gained 8.6% in H1

  • In US dollar terms, the index is up 15%

• US yields hit two-month lows

• Italy-Germany 10Y yields spreads fell to 90 bps to a 15-year low

• Copper prices rose to a three-month high

• Euro notched its longest winning streak versus dollar in over two decades

• Czech koruna hit its highest versus euro in over a year 

Earnings

• Constellation Brands missed Q1 earnings and revenue estimates as aluminum tariffs and weaker demand from Hispanic consumers pressured margins; the firm reiterated its FY outlook despite tariff impacts (CNBC)

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• This is like Keeping Up With the Kardashians, but for the entire country.

• 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

• FOMO outweighs tariff concerns as traders chase gains (BBG)

• Tech billionaires are backing a new lender to rival Silicon Valley Bank (FT)

• Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' passed the Senate (BBG)

• Trump has 'two or three' choices to replace J Pow (RT) 

• US holds firm on July 9th trade talks deadline while threatening Japan (BBG)

• US manufacturing activity contracted for a fourth-straight month (BBG)

• US job openings climbed to highest since November (BBG)

• Biggest hedge funds erased losses to turn positive in H1 (BBG)

• Citadel lost to smaller hedge fund rivals in trade war turmoil (FT)

• Nasdaq bested NYSE in H1 listings amid blockbuster IPOs (RT)

• Europe IPO bankers pin hopes on all as revival falters (BBG)

• Activist investors slow pace of demands amid global uncertainties (RT)

• US banks announced dividend hikes and buybacks after acing stress tests (RT)

• Europe junk bond issuances hit a new record in June (BBG)

• Hedge funds pile in as big US banks soar to ATHs (BBG)

• BofA clients ditched stocks at the fastest pace in ten weeks (BBG)

• Retail risk shows in 'dash to trash' snap-back market rally (BBG)

• Global dividend funds see strong inflows on rate-cut hopes and jitters (RT)

• Gulf oil companies slow $60B M&A spree as oil prices fall (FT)

• Foreign investors increased dollar hedges on US stock portfolios (RT)

• UBS named Morgan Stanley's Henricks as head of Americas / tech M&A (RT)

• Citigroup named two co-heads for Japan IB (RT)

• Munis market is poised for space bonds under 'Big Beautiful Bill' (BBG)

• Columbia's applicant and student personal data was stolen by a hacker (BBG)

• CFA Level II pass rate rose to 54%, above the decade average (BBG)

• PE gets caught in crosshairs of lawmaker's attack on Harvard (WSJ)

A Message from Mizuho

Mizuho Investment & Corporate Banking is proud to present the next episode of our award-winning podcast, Storytellers in Business, where we hear the fascinating stories, anecdotes and life lessons of business icons and industry leaders.

In this episode, host Andy Laszlo, Head of Technology, Media & Telecom at Mizuho Americas, talks to Rick Fox, Co-Founder & CEO of Partanna, actor and former professional basketball player.

A three-time NBA champion, serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, Rick has brought his learnings from sports leadership and acting into the business world, driving several successful ventures across industries as varied as esports and chemical manufacturing.

In conversation with Andy, Rick reflects on the influence of teamwork on his career, the importance of humility in leadership and how finding his purpose in entrepreneurship and sustainability led to the founding of Partanna.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Spain's Banco Santander agreed to buy peer Banco Sabadell's UK unit TSB for $3.6B

• Online lottery designer Intralot agreed to acquire Bally's interactive casino unit at a $3.2B valuation

• European PE firm EQT began selling a significant minority stake in Radius Global Infrastructure's Italian unit, valued at over $1.2B

• PE firm Thoma Bravo is in talks to acquire $1.1B-listed call center software firm Verint Systems

• PE firm Warburg Pincus agreed to acquire a majority stake in German helmet maker Uvex Group at a $942M valuation, including debt

• AI writing assistant Grammarly agreed to acquire email startup Superhuman, last valued at $825M in 2021

• Axian Telecom is exploring a takeover of Africa's largest e-commerce firm Jumia Technologies, which has a market cap of ~$500M

• Pan-European stock exchange Euronext is in talks to acquire Athens Stock Exchange in a $470M deal

• Warner Music and Bain Capital's new music JV is in talks to acquire rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers' catalogue for over $300M

• French lender BNP Paribas completed its acquisition of French insurance giant AXA's asset management unit, forming a $1.8B AUM powerhouse

• US-based sports adviser Beckett Layne Ventures acquired Italian soccer club AC Monza from the Berlusconi family, marking the end of Berlusconi's football legacy

• KKR-backed Ascend Asia Financial Services will acquire Singaporean financial advisory firm finexis 

VC

• Musk's xAI raised $5B in new equity

• Surge AI, a data-labeling firm that competes with Meta-backed Scale AI, is seeking to $1B in its first capital raise

• Genesis AI, a startup build a foundational model for robotic data, raised a $105M seed round led by Eclipse and Khosla Ventures

• Emerald AI, a platform that enables AI data centers to switch between on and off grid power sources, raised a $24.5M seed round led by Radical Ventures

• Sri Mandir, an Indian startup building a Hindu devotional app, raised a $20M Series C led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital

• Remark, a human-powered expert models for e-commerce, raised a $16M Series A led by Inspired Capital

• Wisq, a startup building an AI HR generalist, raised a $15M round led by Norwest Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures, and True Ventures

• Deeto, a startup using AI to help companies capture and activate authentic customer voices, raised a $12.5M Series A led by Jump Capital

• SR Robotics, a startup building underwater robots, raised $10M in funding from Vinci

• KERYS Software, a startup helping companies cut infrastructure costs and emissions, raised a $7.3M pre-seed round led by Daphni, Seedcamp, and Backtrace

• TopK, an AI native search engine for enterprises, raised a $5.5M seed round fro, Earlybird, KAYA, Irregular Expressions, and several angels

• Zango, a regulatory compliance solution that leverages AI and subject-matter experts, raised $4.8M in funding led by Nexus Venture Partners

• Nootropic drinks startup Neutonic raised a $3.7M round at a $20M valuation from Contrarian Thinking founder Codie Sanchez, JDI Investment, Kayla Itsines, and others

• Metafide, a startup combining human intuition and AI to revolutionize financial trading, raised $3.3M in funding led by DIY Fund

• Omnisent, a startup turning industrial noise into intelligence, raised a $3M pre-seed round led by Atlantic Labs

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Design software firm Figma filed for a US IPO; Figma was last valued at $12.5B one year ago after its $20B sale to Adobe collapsed in 2023

• Chinese AI chip startups Moore Threads and MetaX plan to raise a combined $1.7B in China IPOs 

• Shareholders of Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power approved a $1.9B rights issue to fund its renewable and clean energy expansion

• Jeff Bezos sold $736.7M worth of Amazon shares in his first stock sale of the year

• German medtech Brainlab postponed its $378M Germany IPO after some investors pulled orders 

• Malaysian semiconductor designer SkyeChip is close to a Malaysia IPO that could feth a $240M valuation

• Valar Ventures sold a ~$68M stake in international payments firm Wise

• British-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca is seeking to move their listing to US, signaling UK's declining appeal as a global capital hub

• India's largest healthcare group Apollo Hospitals Enterprise announced plans to merge and spinoff its digital health and pharmacy units

Debt

• Musk's xAI raised $5B in a debt sale 

• A key unit of Japan's SoftBank is set to raise $1B in its first dollar bond sale in US high-grade markets

• Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises plans to raise $117M in a retail bond issue

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• UK utility Southern Water secured a $1.7B equity package from owners led by Australia's Macquarie to avoid a potential ratings downgrade

• AMC Entertainment reached a deal with bondholders to end litigation from its debt restructuring, including a $223.3M capital injection to refinance debt and immediate conversion of $143M of a 2030 convertible note into equity

• Malaysian engineering services firm Sapura Energy's restructuring plan, including a $262M injection, is in final stages as it aims to end distressed status

• Cinemex Holdings USA, the owner of CMX Cinemas, filed for bankruptcy for the second time in five years

Fundraising / Secondaries

• VC Greenoaks raised $2.5B for its sixth VC fund 

• Bain Capital and Warner Music launched a $1.2B JV to buy music catalogs

• Generation Investment Management raised $800M for its second sustainable PE fund 

• DevCo Partners raised a $613M continuation fund for European energy infrastructure firm Vexve led by private markets investor Pantheon

• Italian sustainable investment firm raise $590M for a new fund to back small cap environmental champions

• UK PE firm Growth Capital Partners raised $565M for its sixth fund

• UK knowledge economy investor Growth Capital Partners raised $485M for its sixth flagship fund

• PE firm Shore Capital Partners raised a $450M fund focused on food and beverage

• KKR-backed VC firm Catalio Capital Management raised over $400M for its latest biotech startup fund

• Ribbit Capital, a VC firm on fintech startups, is seeking to raise $300M for a new fund

• MM PE firm Lindsay Goldberg’s raised $100M from Pennsylvania pension fund PSERS for its flagship fund

• Commodities giant Vitol and energy investor Breakwall Capital launched a credit fund focused on financing mining companies in the Americas

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Visa and Mastercard race to tame $250B stablecoins threat

• SEC approved Grayscale's multi-asset crypto ETF 

• Strategy is set to register a $14B unrealized Q2 gain from Bitcoin

• Italian lender UniCredit plans to offer BlackRock Bitcoin ETF-linked product to some clients

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

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• The Litquidity merch store is back with fresh summer collections and a store-wide sale for the Fourth of July weekend! It's a great excuse to snag some of your favorite merch as a little Fourth of July treat 🇺🇸🇺🇸

  Get 20% off the entire collection.

• WSJ published a list of the highest paid CIOs of 2024. Not the kind of 'CIO' finance folks are familiar with…

• Robinhood's CEO plans to tokenize 'everything.' Take a listen to Vlad Tenev's ambitions for Robinhood.

• TikTok influencers are making highlight reels for banks the same way fan accounts do for sports🤦

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

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!

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.