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Good Morning,

Australia banned social media for youth under 16, Amazon developed its own video AI model, Citigroup is beefing with FT on LinkedIn, and Jensen Huang once turned down a TSMC CEO role within ten minutes.

Transform your sleep for the better with Eight Sleep, technology trusted by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Lewis Hamilton.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose to end the holiday-shortened trading week higher

  • S&P and Dow notched new ATHs 

  • S&P and Dow notched their best months YTD

  • Small caps Russell 2000 gained 10% last month

• Canada's TSX index posted a new ATH

• US 10Y yield slid to the lowest level since October

  • 2Y-10Y yield curve re-inverted

• Chinese 30Y yields fell to 2.21%, below Japan's for the first time ever

• France-Germany 10Y spread rose to 0.9% to its highest since the eurozone crisis on threat of France parliament's collapse

• Arabica coffee futures are trading near ATHs after their biggest monthly jump in over a decade

• Euro had it worst month since early 2022, teasing parity with the dollar

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Tuesday: Salesforce 

  • Wednesday: Dollar Tree, RBC

  • Thursday: lululemon, TD Bank Group, Dollar General, Kroger

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Australia banned social media for teens under 16 (AP) 

• Fed-favorite PCE index rose 2.3% YoY (CNBC)

• Eurozone inflation ticked up to 2.3% YoY (CNBC)

• Canada GDP grew 1% in Q3 (RT)

• Equity funds saw inflows for a ninth-straight week (RT)

• PBOC injected $111B of liquidity as bond supply surges (BBG)

• Stocks versus bonds dilemma hits EM investors as Trump returns (BBG)

• Trump demanded commitment from BRICS to stay on dollar (BBG)

• UK M&A activity sweeps market with $6.7B of deals last week (FT)

• Pharma M&A fell to the lowest level in almost a decade (FT)

• BoE warned of risks from non-banks in future crises (FT)

• Traders expect summer gas prices to be higher than winter (FT)

• UBS is searching for its next chairman (RT)

• Private bank Lombard Odier was indicted for money laundering (CNBC)

• JPMorgan dropped its lawsuit against Tesla over stock warrants (RT)

• Amazon developed its own video AI model (TI)

• TSMC's founder once offered CEO job to Jensen Huang (RT)

• Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares resigned (CNBC)

• Number of CFA candidates has declined sharply (FT)

• Citigroup is beefing with Financial Times on LinkedIn (LI)

• Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden (BBG)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• BlackRock is nearing a deal to buy private credit giant HPS for over $12B

• A consortium of Starwood Capital, Warburg Pincus, QIA, and management aim to finalize a take-private deal of Hong Kong-listed real estate fund manager ESR at an over $7B valuation 

• Brookfield dropped a $6.8B bid for Spanish pharma giant Grifols

• Blackstone-backed Indian hospital chain Quality Care India agreed to combine with peer Aster DM Healthcare in a $5B stock deal, including debt

• UK's Direct Line Insurance rejected a $4.2B takeover approach from peer Aviva

• Northern Star Resources agreed to buy Australian gold miner De Grey Mining in a $3.3B stock deal

• Apollo-backed Canadian auto parts maker ABC Technologies agreed to buy UK's TI Fluid Systems for ~$1.3B cash

• Global Payments is weighing divestitures of its payroll and Active Network units, which it acquired for $1.2B in 2017

• Dutch PE firm Parcom Capital Management is considering a $1.1B sale of meat supplier Group of Butchers

• China's Huaxin Cement will acquire Swiss building materials company Holcim's Nigerian business at a $1B valuation

• Macquarie offered to acquire UK-listed waste management firm Renewi for $887M

• Mitsubishi UFJ is seeking to acquire Japanese robo-adviser WealthNavi for up to $665M cash

• PE firms FountainVest Partners and Unison Capital acquired Japanese jeweler Tasaki from MBK Partners for $660M

• Germany's Heidelberg Materials agreed to buy US cement producer Giant Cement for $600M

• TPG is in advanced talks to buy a controlling stake in Asian floricultural business Hasfarm from holders including Lombard Investments at a $500M valuation

• Airline Air France-KLM is in talks to buy an up to 20% stake in Air Europa for ~$105M

• Saudi-backed LIV Golf is considering a potential tie-up with Europe's DP World Tour 

VC

• SoftBank is seeking to acquire $1.5B in OpenAI secondary shares

• UK digital savings and mortgage platform Tembo raised an $18.1M Series B led by Goodwater Capital

• ​​SatVu, a UK-based climate tech startup, raised $12.8M in funding led by Adara Ventures and Molten Ventures

• EV fleet management platform Flipturn raised an $11M Series A led by 

• Pathway, a startup building live AI systems, raised a $10M seed round led by TQ Ventures

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Delivery Hero upsized the IPO of its Mideast unit Talabat to $2B in what could be the UAE's largest listing this year

• The Philippines' biggest fintech GCash is weighing a $1B-$1.5B listing in what could be the country's largest IPO ever

• Chinese autonomous driving startup Pony AI fell 8% in its trading debut after its $413M IPO and private placement

• Norway's Orkla is considering a $400M Mumbai IPO of its Indian business, which focuses on food products and condiments

• Saudi cosmetics retailer Nice One Beauty is planning a $322M local IPO

• Dubai-listed Amanat Holdings plans to list its education business in Riyadh in a $300M IPO

• Aston Martin raised $140M in equity in its sixth capital raise since 2020 

• Citigroup is close to spinning off its Mexican consumer bank Banamex

• Global logistics giant GLP is considering a Hong Kong IPO 

• German car parts maker MAHLE is considering an India IPO of its Indian unit

• Swedish investment firm Nalka Invest is preparing a potential IPO of European medical unit Asker Healthcare

Debt

• Chinese property giant unit Dalian Wanda Commercial Management is seeking to raise $6.9B-$12.4B to pay taxes and debt via a fund backed by over 50 malls 

• Bain-owned data center operator Chindata is in talks for a record $2.8B loan 

• Veritas Capital is looking to reduce its stake in a $1.8B private credit loan that backed Thoma Bravo's LBO of software firm Medallia 

• Deutsche Bank sold a $1B US CRE portfolio 

• Blackstone acquired interests in a $1B infrastructure loan portfolio from Santander

• Japanese tech conglomerate Rakuten plans to raise $500M in a dollar bond sale

• Investment firm Pantheon acquired $460M in private credit stakes from tech investor Vista's credit fund

• Asian investment firm PAG secured a $375M buyout loan from four banks for its planned acquisition of Indian packaging firm Manjushree Technopack

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Citadel, PIMCO, and Western Asset are among firms set to own stakes in Spirit Airlines after its restructuring in bankruptcy

• Liquidators of property developer China Evergrande filed a winding-up petition against unit Tianji Holding

• The US unit of alcohol maker Stoli filed for Chapter 11 

Fundraising

• Carlyle-backed UK life sciences investor Abingsworth launched a $1.5B clinical trials fund

Crypto Corner

• Crypto's $1T rally has yet to reprise Covid-era mania (BBG)

• Crypto boom still has retail investors 'sitting on sidelines' (PYM)

Exec’s Picks

• Diversify your portfolio with private credit deals with up to 20% APY. Get a bonus of up to $500 with your first investment on Percent.

• Bloomberg Odd Lots sat down with reporter Janet Lorin to discuss how Harvard's endowment is on the verge of losing its crown.

• Adam Grossman shared some insights on why it's hard to make the math on hedge funds add up.

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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