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Good Morning,

Honda and Nissan began talks to merge, Bain Capital is going hostile against KKR in Japan, Databricks raised the biggest-ever VC round, and a tech consultant was convicted in the murder of Cash App's founder.

The most interesting news however came from Blue Owl's co-founder. After pioneering a strategy of buying stakes in other investment firms, Michael Rees wants a handful of firms such as Stonepeak, Vista Equity Partners and Silver Lake to merge to rival with giants like Blackstone.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks fell yesterday as investors digested economic data and braced for the Fed's third and final rate cut of the year

  • Dow fell for a ninth-straight day in its longest losing streak since 1978

• Europe's Stoxx 600 fell for a fourth-straight day

• UK's FTSE 100 hit a three-week low

• US 10Y yield is up 70 bps since the Fed's first rate cut in September

• Asian currency index dropped to a two-year low on China and Trump worries

• Bitcoin topped $108k

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Micron, General Mills

  • Thursday: Nike, FedEx, CarMax, Accenture

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Bitcoin is soaring on speculation of a US Bitcoin strategic reserve. But what are the odds? 🤔

• Trade your predictions on a range of notable events on Kalshi. Get a $20 bonus when you deposit $100 with code LIT on signup!

Headline Roundup

• Blue Owl's co-founder is seeking a multiway merger of numerous PE, private credit, and infrastructure firms to create a PE giant to rival Blackstone (FT)

• PE firms hoping to cash out in IPOs mull creative debt fixes (BBG)

• Brazil is facing a historic everything-market selloff (BBG)

• UK will give insider trading leeway in PE secondaries market (BBG)

• Bond funds saw record $600B inflows in 'year of the bond' (RT)

• Global dealmaking values rose in 2024 after two down years (BBG)

• Trump's win sparked an explosive trading surge for banks (FT)

• Megacap tech stocks have gotten too big for Nasdaq 100 again (BBG)

• US retail sales showcase economy's enduring strength (RT)

• China plans to run a record deficit of 4% of GDP for 2025 (RT)

• Canada inflation dropped to 1.9% (BBG)

• Australia is the new bond market favorite for JPMorgan (BBG)

• Wall Street bets Trump will fuel further dollar gains (FT)

• Abrdn is betting on a 1% China 10Y yield (BBG)

• Hong Kong is counting on China-listed firms to boost 2025 listings (BBG)

• Mutual fund-to-ETF conversions hit a record high (BBG)

• Paul Singer's Elliott's succession plan is under a spotlight (BBG)

• Credit Agricole named Olivier Gavalda as new CEO (FT)

• KPMG outpaces Big Four rivals as audit and tax units shine (FT)

• Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are set to begin an $80B M&A face-off (RT)

• Nima Momeni was convicted in murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee (TC)

• FDIC is considering suing ex-SVB execs (RT)

• ​​EU is investigating TikTok for election interference (RT)

• FTC banned hidden junk fees in hotel and event ticket prices (RT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Honda, Nissan, and potentially Mitsubishi will begin talks on a possible merger

• Australian mining giant BHP will try a club deal for UK peer Anglo American after an earlier takeover attempt failed

• PE firm Stone Point Capital will acquire a 15%-20% stake in UK insurance broker Ardonagh at a $14B valuation

• Japanese software firm Fuji Soft rejected Bain Capital's raised buyout offer in favor of KKR's $4.1B offer; Bain will launch a $4.2B hostile bid

• Australian wealth manager Insignia Financial rejected a $1.7B takeover offer from Bain Capital

• Grammarly will acquire productivity startup Coda, which was last valued at $1.4B in 2021

• Bain Capital is in talks to acquire fast-food chain operator Sizzling Platter for $1B, including debt 

• Spice maker McCormick is in talks to acquire peer Sauer Brands from Falfurrias Capital Partners for over $1B

• Youngor Fashion agreed to acquire Alibaba's Intime department store business for $1B

• UK CRE firm Land Securities agreed to acquire a 92% stake in shopping center Liverpool ONE from SWF ADIA for $622M

• Italy's Moltiply Group is in talks to acquire German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1's price-comparison site Verivox for over $263M

• Blackstone acquired a $262M minority stake in France-based global consulting firm Sia Partners

• NXP Semiconductors will acquire in-vehicle connectivity solutions provider Aviva Links for $243M

VC

• Data analytics software firm Databricks raised a $10B Series J at a $62B valuation led by Thrive Capital

• Hostaway, a vacation rental management platform, raised a $365M round at a $925M valuation led by General Atlantic

• Singapore-based digital bank Tyme Group raised a $250M Series D at a $1.5B valuation led by Nubank 

• CleanCapital, a power producer focused on distributed clean energy, raised a $145M round led by Manulife Investment Management

• Parafin, an embedded finance infrastructure startup, raised a $100M Series C at a $750M valuation led by Notable Capital

• Cassava Technologies, a South African digital infrastructure company, raised $90M from Google, IDFC, and more

• Stablecoin payments infrastructure provider BVNK raised a $50M Series B led by Haun Ventures

• AI-powered accounting automation startup Basis raised a $34M Series A led by Khosla Ventures

• Stand, a startup improving insurance for climate-impacted properties, raised a $30M round from Inspired Capital, Equal Ventures, and more

• Automated truck-loading robotics startup Slip Robotics raised a $28M Series B led by DCVC

• BILT, a 3D instructions platform, raised a $21M Series B led by Silverton Partners

• Engineered Arts, a UK humanoid robot startup, raised a $10M Series A led by Helium-3 Ventures

• Couples wellness platform Arya raised an $8.5M Series A led by Ibex Investors

• Nectir, a personalized AI learning partner for students, raised a $6.3M seed round led by Long Journey Ventures and Entrada Ventures

• Volume, an account-to-account payments startup, raised a $6M seed round led by United Ventures

• AI-hardware company TG0 raised a $5.4M Series B led by NetmindAI

• Starboard, an AI-powered solution for logistics, raised a $5.5M round led by Eclipse

• T-robotics, a no-code platform to program robots, raised a $5.4M seed round led by Emergent Ventures and Engine Ventures

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Saudi healthcare provider Almoosa's $450M IPO drew $46B in orders

• Infinity Power, a renewable energy firm backed by Abu Dhabi state-owned Masdar, is considering an Abu Dhabi IPO

Debt

• Telecom infrastructure firm CommScope reached a deal with creditors led by Apollo and Monarch Alternative Capital to refinance $4.3B of debt

• Ecuador completed a $1.5B debt-for-nature swap for Amazon conservation

• Indian shadow bank Shriram Finance is in advanced talks to raise $1.25B in an offshore multi-currency loan 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Junior lenders of troubled UK water utility Thames Water challenged a $3.8B planned rescue loan

• Turkey's Dogus Group agreed to restructure $1.1B of debt tied to its flagship Istanbul cruise port and shopping center and give creditors a 49% stake in the project

• Spirit Airlines's Chapter 11 restructuring will wipe out shareholders and hand control to bondholders

• EV truck and bus maker Lion Electric defaulted and is seeking bankruptcy protection in Canada

• Spanish state-owned shipbuilder Navantia is set to rescue struggling UK shipbuilder Harland & Wolff 

• Swedish debt collector Intrum's bond restructuring efforts failed and will proceed to Chapter 11

Fundraising

• Investment manager MidOcean Partners raised $304M for its debut CLO equity fund

• Australia's MA Financial is preparing a specialty North American private credit fund

Crypto Corner

• Crypto.com CEO met with Trump (BBG)

• Crypto industry eyes a deep list of government appointments (AX)

• Bitcoin rally leaves world's original crypto ETFs behind (BBG)

• Deutsche Bank tries to tackle compliance hurdles for public blockchains (BBG)

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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!

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