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Good Morning,

Trump tweeted to buy the dip three hours before triggering the most blistering stock market rally in US history.

Whether you work with early-stage startups or growing enterprises, Brex offers the complete financial stack for your firm. Optimize your and your PortCos' banking needs with Brex, startup banking that takes every dollar further.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks soared in one of the most historic rallies ever after US announced tariff relief

  • S&P had its best day since 2008 and its third-best day since WWII

  • Nasdaq had it best day since 2001 and its second-best day ever

  • Dow had its best day since Covid

  • 'Mag 7' stocks added $1.5T in market value 

• UK 30Y gilts yield surged past 5.5% to a 27-year high

• Gold had its best day since Covid

• Oil rebounded from four-year lows

• Chinese yuan sunk to a 17-year low

Earnings

• Delta met Q1 earnings and revenue estimates but pulled its FY guidance as tariffs threaten to hurt bookings (CNBC)

• Constellation Brands beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates but issued weak FY forecast as US tariffs on beer place a drag on its business (CNBC)

  • Today: CarMax

  • Friday: JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, BlackRock

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Masters patrons gonna have a heart attack once they're finally allowed to check their phones…

• 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

• Trump hinted at buying the dip before tariff relief (BBG)

• US paused tariffs but doubled-down on China (CNBC)

• Fed minutes reveal stagflation concerns due to tariffs (BBG)

• China saw deflation for second month as trade gloom worsens (CNBC)

• Australia turned down China offer to 'join hands' to fight US tariffs (RT)

• Private credit swoops in as market chaos rattles bank debt deals (BBG)

• US corporate bond market dries up on tariff volatility (RT)

• Bill Ackman's Pershing Square is down 14% YTD (RT)

• US threatened to end consulting contracts after 'insulting' proposals (FT)

• Activist Ancora dropped US Steel campaign after Trump ordered review (RT)

• Banks will battle for fees on UK new private share trading platform (RT)

• TikTok US deal is still 'on the table' (RT)

• OpenAI countersued Elon Musk for harassment (RT)

• Meta antitrust case will go to trial with Instagram, WhatsApp breakup at risk (BBG) 

• Alphabet reaffirmed its $75B FY CapEx plan (RT)

• Billionaire wealth soared $300B in the biggest gain ever (BBG)

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 anything.

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

• KKR agreed to acquire Swedish consumer health firm Karo Healthcare from EQT at an over $2.7B valuation

• German Industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp is exploring exit options for its materials trading arm, which could fetch ~$2.2B

• Hellman & Friedman and Valeas Capital-backed accounting firm Baker Tilly is in advanced talks to merge with peer Moss Adams in an over $2B deal

• KKR and Stonepeak Partners agreed to acquire UK medical landlord Assura for ~$2.1B cash

• Hong Kong infrastructure conglomerate CK Hutchison invested $1.7B in two Panama Canal port, exceeding the required contract obligations

• Prada cut its offer for Capri Holdings-owned Versace by $275M to ~$1.4B as tariffs put deal on risk of collapse

• Bain Capital agreed to acquire restaurant operator Sizzling Platter from investment firm CapitalSpring for over $1B, including debt

• A group comprising CEO Ari Emanuel, Apollo and RedBird Capital Partners outbid CVC for a deal to acquire sports and entertainment giant Endeavor's tennis assets including the Miami Open and Madrid Open for over $1B

VC

• Tailscale, a startup building secure networks, raised a $160M Series C led by Accel

• Autonomous driving startup Nuro raised a $106M Series E at a $6B valuation from T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Tiger Global, Greylock Partners, and XN LP

• Amca, an aerospace product company, raised $76M in funding from Caffeinated Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and more

• Tessell, a startup developing a multi-cloud database-as-a-service, raised a $60M round led by WestBridge Capital

• Wunder.Social, a blockchain-based startup 'reinventing social media,' raised a $50M round led by Rollmann Management

• AI-powered threat detection and cyber intelligence platform Sekoia.io raised a $28M Series B led by Revaia

• AI sales agent startup Artisan raised a $25M Series A led by Glade Brook Capital

• TransFICC, a UK-based low-latency connectivity and workflow services provider for the fixed income and derivatives markets, raised a $25M Series B led by Citadel Securities and BlackFin Tech

• Tracera, an AI-driven platform for sustainability data management, raised a $12M Series A led by Foundry

• IP-focused legal AI startup Solve Intelligence raised a $12M Series A led by 20VC

• Captive insurance platform Luzern Risk raised a $12M Series A led by Caffeinated Capital

• Ottometric, a startup specializing in validation of driver assistance systems, raised a $10M Series A led by Schooner Capital

• Global Gaming League, a gaming entertainment and media company, raised $10M in funding led by Solyco Capital

• Neuranics, a Scottish semiconductor startup, raised an $8M seed round led by Blackfinch Ventures

• UK fintech startup Ryft raised a $7.4M Series A led by EdenBase

• German identity security startup Unosecur raised a $5M seed round led by VentureFriends and DFF Ventures

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• German energy tech startup and unicorn 1KOMMA5° is shelving US IPO plans amid market volatility

• Latvia contacted neighboring countries about investing in Air Baltic's planned $332M IPO

• China Mobile acquired a 15.5% stake in Hong Kong telecoms firm HKBN from PE firm TPG at its planned offer price, adding a hurdle to Infrastructure investor I Squared Capital's potential bid for HKBN

• Bain Capital-owned airline Virgin Australia is targeting a June IPO despite market turbulence

Debt

• Morgan Stanley backed out of plans to lend $1.2B to back KKR's $2.7B LBO of Karo Healthcare from EQT

• State-owned Vietnam Airlines raised a $560M loan from Citi to fund CapEx

• Vietnamese budget carrier Vietjet signed a $300M financing agreement with KKR-partner AV AirFinance

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• WeightWatchers is preparing to file for bankruptcy to hand control to creditors amid stifling competition from Ozempic

Fundraising

• Blackstone raised a record $10.8B for its seventh Europe real estate fund

• Canadian PE firm Onex's lower MM arm ONCAP raised $1.3B for its fifth fund, below its $1.5B goal

• OCIO GEM Investments raised $450M for a fund to back deals by independent sponsors (aka fundless PE managers)

• VC Lerer Hippeau raised $200M for its ninth flagship fund

• VC investment firm Industry Ventures launched a liquidity program for VC funds

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Senate confirmed crypto advocate Paul Atkins to as SEC chair

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

Exec’s Picks

• Alt Managers, stop wasting your time managing vendors, contracts, invoices, and expense allocations manually in Excel. StavPay automates and streamlines this process and now has over 100 clients with $2.3T AUM leveraging the system daily. Get more details at stavpay.com and schedule a demo today.

• Navy SEAL, Harvard doctor, and now NASA astronaut. Jonny Kim probably has the most stacked resume of all time.

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.