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The Iran situation is likely to drag on for worse as Trump weighs ground operations. But amid the Iran, energy, software, and credit troubles sweeping across global markets, there's one group of investors eyeing their biggest break since 2008: vulture funds.

Mizuho analyst Nick Setyan published an insightful report on the state of fast-food markets. Read more below.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 3/27/2026 market close.

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks continued to tumble on Friday as Strait of Hormuz tensions sent oil prices soaring

    • S&P fell for a fifth-straight week to a seven-month low

    • Dow entered a correction, down ~10% from its February ATH

    • Nasdaq is also down ~13% from its October ATH 

  • MSCI All Country World index is down 9% MTD

  • US leveraged loans are outperforming junk bonds by the most since September 2023

    • Leveraged loans are up 0.64% MTD

    • High-yield bonds are down 1.5% MTD

  • Eurozone 10Y bonds are set for their worst months of the past decade

  • Global oil prices settled at the highest since July 2022

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Tuesday: Nike

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • The levels of situation monitoring are going to be off the charts

  • Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market

Headline Roundup

  • Police thwarted an attempted terrorist attack at BofA's Paris HQ (RT)

  • Vulture funds target private credit as 'greatest opportunity' since 2008 (FT)

  • US is weighing ground operations in Iran (CNBC)

  • JPMorgan, PIMCO say bond market is underestimating slowdown risk (BBG)

  • Wall Street reels as Iran war shatters portfolio defenses (BBG)

  • US equity funds saw the strongest inflows in four months (RT)

  • Blue Owl and HPS join private credit funds stung by February losses (BBG)

  • Oaktree met 8.5% private credit withdrawal requests while peers reel (RT)

  • SEC division overseeing private credit firms lost 24% of staff (BBG)

  • Apollo is planning a second HQ in a southern state (FT) 

  • BlackRock raised CEO Larry Fink's pay to $38M (RT)

  • T-Rex filed for leveraged SpaceX, Anthropic ETFs ahead of IPOs (RT)

  • AI breakthrough from Google exposes divide in memory chip stocks (BBG)

  • Microsoft froze hiring in cloud and North America sales groups (TI)

  • KPMG will cut ~600 UK jobs as slowdown persists (FT)

  • Norwegian Cruise will replace five directors in deal with activist Elliott (WSJ)

  • Chinese universities with military links bought Supermicro servers with restricted AI chips (RT)

A Message from Mizuho

Major restaurant chains are stumbling this year. Chipotle has highlighted softer spending from younger guests, Starbucks is working through weaker US traffic, and even McDonald's has acknowledged pressure among lower-income diners.

These headlines have fueled a familiar narrative that the economy is weakening and that consumers are pulling back. But the data tells a different story. Rather than retreating, consumers are becoming more rational, reassessing where they spend and gravitating toward the strongest relative value.

After years of post-pandemic pricing distortion, the gap between restaurant inflation and grocery costs has widened dramatically, and a new wave of discounting across quick-service restaurants (QSRs) – is reshaping traffic patterns across the industry. In this environment, value perception now drives performance. Restaurants that protected affordability are gaining share, while those that overshot consumer expectations are now giving it back.

Read more

Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

  • Taiwan's SinoPac Bank will merge with King's Town Bank in a cash-and-stock deal to create a lender with $100B AUM 

  • CVC will explore divestments of Italian drugmaker Recordati if it succeeds in its $12.5B LBO of the firm

  • A judge ordered Nexstar Media Group to pause its ~$6B merger with rival TV station owner Tegna after DirecTV filed an antitrust suit

  • KKR, CD&R, and PAI Partners advanced to the next round of bidding for a 50% stake in food giant Nestle's water business, which could fetch a $5.75B valuation

  • Austria may block Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com's $2.5B deal for German electronics retailer Ceconomy 

  • Eli Lilly will acquire exclusive rights to sell a GLP-1 diabetes drug from Hong Kong-listed Insilico Medicine in a $2B deal

  • Swiss pharma giant Novartis agreed to acquire allergy-focused biotech Excellergy in a $2B deal

  • Blackstone-backed Indian packaging company EPL agreed ‌to merge with Thai petrochemicals firm Indorama Ventures' Indovida India unit to create a $2B entity

  • A consortium of Blackstone and industrial investor Tinicum is in advanced talks to acquire $1.5B-UK listed aerospace parts supplier Senior

  • CrossCountry Mortgage will acquire mortgage REIT Two Harbors in a revised cash bid to beat a $1.3B all-stock offer from United Wholesale Mortgage 

  • Austria-based Raiffeisen Bank International will acquire Spanish lender BBVA's Romanian Garanti unit for $680M

  • Synergy Sports Capital, a PE fund led by two ex-NFL players, acquired League One Volleyball Salt Lake, a volleyball team of the LOVB Pro system

  • Sixth Street Partners is nearing a deal to acquire the women's team of UK soccer club Sunderland

VC

  • Aetherflux, the space solar power startup of Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, is in talks to raise a $250M-$350M Series B at a $2B valuation led by Index Ventures

  • Advanced Digital Gaming Technology, an Abu Dhabi-based payments and data intelligence platform for regulated gaming markets, raised a $250M investment in a strategic partnership led by Blackstone

  • Lunar, a Danish mobile-first neobank, raised a $200M funding round led by CapitalG

  • Isara, an AI agent-swarms software startup, raised $94M at a $650M valuation from investors including OpenAI, Amity Ventures, and Stanley Druckenmiller

  • Above Security, an AI-native insider risk platform, raised a $50M funding round led by Ballistic Ventures, Merlin Ventures, and Norwest

  • allocatte, a UAE-based fractional real estate investment platform, raised a $31M Series B led by Emirates NBD

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Anthropic is considering an IPO as soon as October; the startup is valued at $380B

  • Hg-backed software firm Visma delayed its $22B London IPO to next year

  • Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries set advisory fees for the IPO of its telecom unit Jio Platforms at 0.65%; the firm is expected to raise $4B at a ~$150B valuation

  • $30B-listed Indian mining firm Vedanta will split into five ​listed companies 

  • Asian investment firm Aspex Management is in talks to acquire another 10% stake in $5B-listed Delivery Hero from Dutch tech investor Prosus to overtake Prosus as the firm's largest shareholder

  • German chemicals giant BASF sold a $290M stake in UK O&G group Harbour Energy is a share placement at a 9% discount

  • Czech investment firm KKCG Maritime raised ​its voluntary offer to boost its stake ‌in Italian yacht maker Ferretti to $235M at a 35% premium

  • Weight loss-focused Kailera Therapeutics filed for a US IPO

  • Brookwood Financial Partners-backed convenience store and gas station operator Yesway filed for an IPO

  • Baby registry platform Babylist is exploring a 2027 IPO

Debt

  • Bank of America and Citigroup started selling chunks of a $57.5B bridge loan backing Paramount Skydance's $110B takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery

  • Google plans to help finance a $5B data center project in Texas leased to Anthropic

  • Korean battery company LG Energy Solution sold a $1.6B dollar bond

  • Australia's Westpac Banking Corp sold a $1.2B covered bond

  • Argentina sold a $150M dollar-denominated bond to gauge investor appetite for debt beyond Milei's first term

  • Australia's Macquarie also launched a benchmark-sized dollar bond sale

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • An industry peer agreed to acquire twelve brands, including their liabilities, from bankrupt auto parts supplier First Brands for $25M

Funds / Secondaries

  • Advisory firms Hybrid Advisors and Faithstone Capital are seeking to raise $3B for a new FOF JV

  • Defense-focused PE firm JF Lehman is seeking to raise $3.25B across its seventh flagship fund and a second credit vehicle

  • Japanese O&G producer Inpex Corp. will commit $620M to Texas energy-focused PE firm Formentera Partners to expand shale-gas exploration across Australia

  • Forward Consumer Partners, a PE firm launched by ex-L Catterton partner Matt Leeds, raised $500M for a sophomore fund

  • Treville Capital Management raised over $500M for a new private credit fund

  • Climate Investment, a fund launched by O&G companies a decade ago, raised $450M for a new decarbonization growth fund

  • Pritzker family-backed PE FOF Pritzker Alternative Strategies raised a $385M debut fund

  • NFL Super Bowl champ Malcolm Jenkins launched Pleasant/Rock, a $500M investment firm to invest in real estate and the sports industry

  • Africa-focused investor Adenia Partners raised $180M for a debut small cap Africa fund

  • Defense-focused VC First In raised $148M for its third fund

  • European VC Samaipata is looking to raise $125M for its third fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Revised CLARITY Act could be a headwind for DeFi tokens ring-fencing yield

  • Bitcoin miners are becoming AI companies and selling their Bitcoin to fund the transition

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

Exec’s Picks

Off-Market 👀

  • Pssst…ditch the dating apps. Trade a spark OTC…IFYWIM

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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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