Nothing Ever Happens

Author

Litquidity Capital
May 14, 2025

Together with

Good Morning,

US stocks recovered from a bear market in just one month in the most fashionable 'nothing ever happens' moment. On a somewhat related note, a Goldman alumn launched a fintech startup to over-lever 401(k)s.

Whether you work with early-stage startups or growing enterprises, Brex can help you fuel growth for your PortCos with a banking solution that takes every dollar further.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 5/13/2025 market close.

Click here to learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks continued to rally as investors digest optimistic inflation data and easing trade tensions

    • S&P and Nasdaq 100 turned positive YTD after recovering from ~20% drawdowns 

  • Egg prices fell 18% from last month's ATH

  • LatAm currencies rallied 1%, outperforming EM peers, as US inflation data stoked optimism

Earnings

  • SoftBank profit soared by 124% to $3.5B 124% on valuation boosts of tech startups like ByteDance and Didi Global; the firm reaffirmed plans to invest up to $30B in OpenAI (BBG)

  • JD.com missed Q1 earnings estimates but beat on revenue on its fastest growth since 2022 amid aggressive expansion into food delivery and China's stimulus; regulators summoned JD and rivals over rising concerns of disorderly competition (BBG)

  • Honda missed Q4 earnings estimates but met on revenue as operating profit plunged 76% and FY profit dropped 12% YoY; the automaker warned of a potential $3B tariff hit and cited global policy volatility as a major challenge to future outlook (CNBC)

  • Under Armour beat Q4 revenue estimates despite an 11% sales decline and warned that turnaround efforts face headwinds from soft consumer sentiment and ongoing trade tensions (BBG)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Cisco, Sony, CoreWeave, Tencent

    • Thursday: Alibaba, Applied Materials, Cava, Walmart, John Deere, Take-Two Interactive

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • In a world full of 'nothing ever happens,' the trade war market crash didn't happen the most.

  • 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

  • Startup Basic Capital plans to bring leverage to 401(k)s (BBG)

  • US CPI growth slowed to 2.8% to a four-year low (CNBC)

  • US small-business optimism declined for a fourth-straight month (BBG)

  • Saudi Arabia pledged to invest $600B in US (BBG)

  • PE firms ramp us debt sales to fund dividends and showcase returns (BBG)

  • Investment banks will see minimal fees for CATL's blockbuster listing (RT)

  • Hedge funds missed out on US-China trade talks rally (RT)

  • Ken Griffin said cash was best bet in tariff turmoil (BBG)

  • Traders are unwinding Fed rate cut bets on tariff optimism (BBG)

  • Foreign investors bought Asian stocks for first time in five months (RT)

  • Foreign investors bought a record $57B of Japan stocks in April (FT)

  • BlackRock sees trillions of dollars idle as volatility persists (RT)

  • Banks say easing of US leverage rules could support Treasury market (RT)

  • Europe stock exchanges step up battle against IPO flight to US (RT)

  • UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty abruptly resigned (CNBC)

  • SoftBank backed OpenAI's reform plan to keep nonprofit control (BBG)

  • Mercedes will move production of top SUV to US (BBG)

  • Microsoft will cut 3% of its workforce (CNBC)

  • Promoter of $100M NJ deli was sentenced to six months for fraud (BBG)

  • Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's net worth surpassed $100B (RT)

A Message from Brex

Banking That Takes Every Dollar Further

Brex knows runway is everything, so they built a banking solution that helps companies take every dollar further.

Unlike traditional banking solutions, Brex has no minimums and gives companies access to 20x the standard FDIC protection via program banks.

Plus, companies can earn industry-leading yield from their first dollar – while being able to access their funds anytime.

If you want to make sure your company and/or your portfolio companies have a place to save, spend, and grow capital, check out Brex.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Bain Capital pulled out of a ~$2.2B bidding race with CC Capital for Australian wealth manager Insignia Financial 

  • Samsung agreed to acquire European HVAC firm FläktGroup from Triton Investments Advisers at a $1.7B valuation

  • South African coal miner Exxaro agreed to acquire manganese mines in South Africa from Tshipi e Ntle Manganese Mining for $640M

  • Southern European hotel-tech scaleup Room00 raised $450M from King Street Capital Management

  • Africa's Gabon Oil Company agreed to acquire Tullow Oil’s entire stake in Tullow Oil Gabon for $300M cash

  • Robinhood agreed to acquire crypto platform operator WonderFi Technologies for $179M cash at a 41% premium

  • Retailer DICK'S Sporting Goods made a $120M strategic investment in youth sports platform Unrivaled Sports

  • Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's estate put NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers up for sale

  • Private markets fintech iCapital agreed to acquire Citigroup’s global alternatives investment fund advisory unit

  • Café Sirena, a unit of Mexican restaurant operator Alsea, acquired Nutresa's 30% stake in Estrella Andina, the operator of Colombia's Starbucks franchise

VC

  • SiCarrier, a Chinese chip equipment maker linked to Huawei, is seeking to raise a $2.8B maiden funding round at an $11B valuation 

  • Addepar, a technology and data platform for investment professionals, raised a $230M Series G at a $3.25B valuation led by Vitruvian Partners and WestCap

  • Insurtech startup Bestow raised a $120M Series D led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Smith Point Capital

  • Owner.com, a restaurant tech startup, raised a $120M round at a $1B valuation led by Meritech Capital and Headline

  • Saildrone, a Danish startup specializing in maritime autonomy, raised a $60M funding round led by EIFO

  • AI/ML-driven clinical development startup PhaseV raised a $50M Series A led by Accel and Insight Partners

  • Cart.com, a unified commerce solutions provider, raised a $50M round at a $1.6B valuation from BlackRock, Neuberger Berman, eGateway Capital, and more

  • Optimal Dynamics, an AI-based decision intelligence for trucking companies, raised a $40M Series C led by Koch Disruptive Technologies

  • Flock, a retirement solutions company for landlords, raised a $20M Series B led by Renegade Partners

  • Complement 1, a health tech startup improving cancer care through personalized lifestyle medicine, raised a $16M seed round led by Owl Ventures and Blume Ventures

  • Shakers, a Spanish startup connecting businesses with vetted freelancers, raised a $15.5M Series A led by Partech

  • Celebal Technologies, an enterprise AI solutions provider, raised a $15M Series B led by InCred

  • Flam, an Indian GenAI-powered products provider, raised a $14M Series A led by RTP Global

  • Identity-driven security company ClearVector raised a $13M Series A led by Scale Venture Partners

  • FlexPoint, a payments platform for MSPs, raised a $12M Series A led by Foundry Group

  • Olio, a care coordination company, raised an $11M Series B led by Fulcrum Equity Partners

  • Scription Maintenance, a Canadian tech startup for the commercial foodservice industry, raised a $7.8M seed round led by IA Capital

  • Hyperbots, an agentic AI platform for finance and accounting, raised a $6.5M Series A led by Arkam Ventures and Athera Venture Partners

  • Stackpack, a vendor stack management platform, raised $6.3M in funding led by Freestyle Capital 

  • Celery, an Israeli FinOps platform, raised a $6.25M seed round led by Team8

  • Agentic AI startup Adopt.AI raised a $6M seed round led by Elevation Capital

  • AutoUnify, a startup building an API to allow dealerships and service shops to communicate with manufacturers, raised a $5M round led by UP.Partners

  • Lleverage, a Dutch 'vibe automation' AI platform, raised a $3.3M round from Peak

  • VMetrix, a LatAm SaaS for investment, risk, and treasury management, raised a $3.2M seed round led by Kayyak Ventures

  • ThriveAI, an AI-powered junior product manager, raised a $1.2M pre-seed round led by 500 Global

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Chime, the no-fee banking fintech last valued at $25B in 2021, filed for an IPO

  • Israeli retail trading platform eToro now plans to raise $620M in an upsized US IPO

  • Dubai Holding's Dubai Residential REIT raised $487M in an IPO that sold out in minutes

  • Tiger Global and Insight Partners-backed physio app maker Hinge Health is seeking to raise $440M at a $2.6B valuation in a US IPO

Debt

  • TDR Capital and I Squared Capital-backed power equipment company Aggreko offered $2.27B in debt, with $503M earmarked for a dividend recap

  • Brookfield revived a $2.4B CMBS deal to refinance Hawaii's Ala Moana Center

  • Romania sold $1.8B of euro-denominated bonds ahead of a contentious presidential run-off

  • Macquarie-backed German chemicals company Currenta Group launched a $1.1B bond sale to partly fund a dividend recap 

  • French cosmetics giant L'Oréal raised $1B in a US bond market debut

  • Chinese state-owned oil giant Sinopec is seeking to raise $994M in an exchangeable bonds sale to refinance existing offshore debt, with bonds exchangeable into shares of its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary China Petroleum & Chemical Corp

  • Real estate lender Arbor Realty Trust is set to issue over $800M in a CRE CLO backed by loans tied to apartment rentals in its first securitization since 2022

  • Advent-backed Czech pharma company Zentiva raised a $670M loan to partly fund a dividend recap

  • CD&R-backed UK HVAC firm Wolseley launched a $460M bond sale to fund a dividend recap

  • Retailer Kohl's plans to sell $360M in junk bonds to refinance debt amid financial challenges and searches for a new CEO

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • A group of creditors offered US chipmaker Wolfspeed $600M in rescue refinancing to avert bankruptcy

  • Hungarian fertilizer maker Nitrogenmuvek entered last-ditch talks with creditors to avoid default on a $222M bond

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • PE firm TPG is seeking to raise $13B for its tenth flagship fund

  • Blackstone is in talks to raise over $5.6B for its latest PE GP stakes fund to acquire minority stakes in other PE firms

  • Investment firm Kayne Anderson raised $2.25B for its flagship private energy income fund

  • General Atlantic-owned infrastructure investor Actis raised $1.7B for its second EM-focused long-life infrastructure fund

  • Ex-Viking CIO Ning Jin's new L/S hedge fund Avantyr will launch in Q4 with over $1B in one of this year's largest hedge fund debuts; a second fundraising round is planned for 2026

  • Spanish PE firm Corpfin Capital raised $336M for its sixth fund

  • BluePeak Private Capital is on track to raise $250M for its African private credit fund with backing from EU

  • VC Work-Bench raised $160M for its fourth fund to focus on NYC startups building in AI, cybersecurity, developer tools, and enterprise apps

  • Saudi-based Amwal Capital launched a $150M Shariah-compliant private credit fund

  • Bat VC launched a $100M fund to back US and Indian AI startups

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • An armed gang tried to kidnap a crypto CEO's daughter and grandson in Paris

  • Thailand will issue $150M in government investment tokens

  • Subscribe to our Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

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  • The annual Lit Cup is back for 2025! Litquidity's annual padel tournament featuring Wall Street's best is all set for ​June 28-29 at Reserve Padel in Hudson Yards, NYC. Join us for a weekend of padel, music, food, and fun as Wall Street folks compete for a shot at glory!

    RSVP here.

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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*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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