It's IPO Comeback Season

Author

Litquidity Capital
September 03, 2025

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Good Morning,

Bankers are prepping for the busiest IPO rush of the year, Bessent will begin Fed chair interviews this week, prop traders made a killing in Q2, Paramount will produce a Call of Duty movie, and investors are bracing for volatility after the summer lull gave way over the long weekend.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 9/2/2025 market close.

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Markets

  • US stocks slumped yesterday on tariff and tech valuation concerns

  • Europe's Stoxx 600 index fell 1.5% in its worst day in a month 

  • Long-term bonds retreated globally

    • US 30Y yield approached 5%

    • UK 30Y yield hit its highest since 1998 after

    • UK 10Y yield hit 4.81%, its highest since January

    • UK sold a record £14B of 10Y bonds at a 4.87% yield, its highest since 2008

    • Japan 30Y yield rose to 3.286% to a record high

    • Japan 20Y rose to 2.695% to its highest since 1999

  • European corporate spreads rose from record lows to 2021 levels

  • Gold rose for a sixth-straight day to a new ATH

  • Dollar hit a five-week low 

    • Pound slid 1.5% in its worst day since April

    • Chinese renminbi is up 2.3% YTD to its highest since Trump's election

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Dollar Tree, Salesforce, Macy's, American Eagle, Figma

    • Thursday: Broadcom, lululemon, DocuSign

  • Full calendar here 

Prediction Markets

  • Rumors never sleep.

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Headline Roundup

  • Bessent will begin Fed chair interviews on Friday (WSJ)

  • Fed's reverse repo facility use tumbled to lowest since 2021 (BBG)

  • Fed announced new capital levels for large banks (RT)

  • US asked SCOTUS to expedite ruling on tariffs (BBG)

  • Bankers prep for the busiest week of the year in US IPO rush (BBG)

  • Goldman's global M&A chair sees chance for record M&A in 2026 (BBG)

  • Big Tech's market dominance stirs debate on concentration risks (BBG)

  • Hedge funds are cautious on US stocks going into September (RT)

  • Investors brace for volatility after summer lull gave way (RT)

  • US firms swaps decades for days in rush to commercial paper (BBG)

  • Jane Street revenue surged 150% in Q2 (BBG)

  • Buffet conceded the merger of Kraft Heinz he orchestrated a decade ago wasn't a brilliant idea (BBG)

  • A federal judge ruled Google doesn't have to sell Chrome (BBG)

  • JPMorgan will boost corporate banking in India (BBG)

  • Deutsche Bank named HSBC's Lisa McGeough as US CEO (RT)

  • Meta poached Apple's lead AI researcher for robotics (BBG)

  • Software becomes the next frontier for building quantum computers (FT)

  • Paramount will produce a 'Call of Duty' movie (BBG)

  • Ray Dalio warned US is sliding towards 1930s-style autocracy (FT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Italian bank BMPS added $877M in cash to its bid for rival Mediobanca, now valuing the bank at $19.7B

  • A group comprising Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo, SMBC Aviation Capital, Apollo, and Brookfield agreed to acquire aviation firm Air Lease for $7.4B

  • TDR Capital is among investment firms exploring an acquisition of Costa Coffee from Coca-Cola; Coca-Cola acquired Costa for $5.2B five years ago

  • US health insurer Cigna-backed Evernorth Health agreed to invest $3.5B in specialty pharmacy firm Shields Health

  • Crude oil transporters Plains All American Pipeline and Plains GP Holdings agreed to acquire a 55% stake in pipeline operator EPIC Crude Holdings from Diamondback Energy and Kinetik Holdings for $1.57B, including $600M debt

  • GLP, a global business builder and investment manager, raised a $1.5B investment from SWF ADIA

  • OpenAI agreed to acquire product testing startup Statsig for $1.1B in an all-stock deal

  • Blackstone agreed to acquire a majority stake in Korean premium hair care business Juno at a $575M valuation

  • Australia's Macquarie acquired some of chemical maker Dow's stake in their Diamond Infrastructure Solutions JV for $540M to raise its stake to 49%

  • Norway's SWF NGIM bought a 95% stake in a Manhattan office property for $543M 

  • Data security company Varonis Systems agreed to acquire AI-based email security provider SlashNext in a $150M deal

  • Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi is in talks to acquire a stake in Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Raizan

  • Mubadala-backed US wealth manager Corient agreed to acquire UK's Stonehage Fleming and Stanhope Capital to double AUM to $430B

  • Multinational IT firm Transaction Network Services agreed to acquire UK telecom BT Group's financial services solutions unit Radianz

  • Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is in talks with PIF to acquire a majority of Al Hilal Football Club

VC

  • AI startup Anthropic raised a $13B Series F at a $183B valuation led by ICONIQ and Fidelity

  • Fermi America, a low-cost AI-driven power center, raised a $100M Series C led by Macquarie

  • Japanese AI startup LayerX raised a $100M Series B led by TCV

  • Mexican neobank Kapital raised a $100M Series C at a $1.3B valuation led by Tribe Capital and Pelion Ventures

  • Indian e-commerce startup Citymall raised a $47M Series D at a $320M valuation led by Accel

  • Phasecraft, a software to connect quantum computers with practical applications, raised a $34M Series B led by Plural, Playground Global, and Novo Holdings

  • Predoc, a startup using AI to improve healthcare data management, raised a $30M Series A led by Base10 Partners

  • Kite, a startup enabling autonomous agents to transact using stablecoins, raised an $18M Series A led by General Catalyst and PayPal Ventures

  • Offgrid Energy Labs, an India startup building zinc-bromine batteries as a lithium alternative, raised a $15M Series A led by Archean Chemicals

  • Arabic speech intelligence startup Intella raised a $12.5M Series A led by Prosus

  • Digital asset custodian Tangany raised an $11.6M Series A led by Baader Bank, Elevator Ventures, and Heliad Crypto Partners

  • LightYX, a construction tech startup enabling precise on-site laser projection of building plans, raised an $11M Series A led by NOVA by Saint-Gobain

  • AI camera startup Camera Intelligence raised a $2M seed round from Betaworks, F4 Fund, Next Wave, and more

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • $30B-listed Kraft Heinz plans to separate into two entities one decade after merging

  • France-owned defense giant KNDS is seeking a dual IPO at a $23B valuation

  • Defense company Czechoslovak Group is weighing an IPO at an 11-figure valuation

  • Activist hedge fund Elliott built a $4B stake in PepsiCo

  • Swedish BNPL fintech Klarna is seeking to raise $1.3B at a $14B valuation in a US IPO

  • General Atlantic-backed Swiss marketplace firm SMG is planning to raise $1.2B at a $5.6B valuation in a Swiss IPO

  • Blackstone-backed HVAC firm Legence is seeking to raise $754M at a $3B valuation in an IPO

  • Crypto firm Gemini is seeking to raise $317M at a $2.2B valuation in an IPO

  • Arizona-based drive-through-focused coffee chain Black Rock Coffee Bar is seeking to raise as much as $265M at an $860M valuation in its IPO

  • Dutch insurer Aegon is seeking to sell a 6% stake worth $838M in peer ASR Nederland to cut its stake to 24%

  • Chinese air conditioner maker Aux Electric Co. fell in its trading debut after raising $532M in its Hong Kong IPO

  • Blockchain-based lender Figure is seeking to raise $526M at a $4.1B valuation in its IPO

  • CVC-backed personal-care goods maker FineToday is weighing a second Tokyo IPO attempt that could raise $127M

  • Africa's third largest telecom operator Airtel Africa is planning a 2026 IPO of its mobile money unit Airtel Money at an $4B valuation

  • Alibaba-backed Chinese robotics startup Quicktron Robotics confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO that could raise $100M

  • Chinese robot startup Unitree filed for a Chinese IPO

  • German telecom group Freenet is considering an IPO of its television streaming platform Waipu.TV at a $1.7B valuation

Debt

  • Indian conglomerate Reliance Group plans to raise $2B in an ABS sale

  • Brazil sold $1.75B in dollar bonds in its busiest year since 2014

  • Icahn Enterprises raised $500M in a senior secured notes sale

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • UK's third-largest fiber network CityFibre secured a crucial $3B refinancing amid material uncertainty to its financial future

  • A BMO-led consortium of creditors to luxury fashion retailer Ssense are asking a Canadian court to allow a quick sale

  • Creditors including Elliott and SIlver Point Capital pledged more investment to try and seal a rescue deal for UK utility Thames Water

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • Blackstone raised $5.5B for its fourth infrastructure secondaries fund

  • Apollo is set to launch a $5B sports fund 

  • Benefit Street Partners raised $2.3B for a multi-asset credit continuation fund led by Coller Capital

  • EAAA India Alternatives raised $510M for its first private credit fund focused on special situations

  • Swiss PE firm Chiron Sports Group raised a $150M fund to target US college sports

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Treasury deals surge as firms add cryptocurrencies to balance sheets

  • Crypto treasury firms mirror CDO risks from 2008 financial crisis

  • Coinbase launched futures trading for index funds and Bitcoin ETFs

  • Google search volume for "memecoin" climbed back after months of subdued activity

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

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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.

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