Together with

Good Morning,

BlueFlame AI and Litquidity are back for another evening of food, drinks, and networking...this time with some epic games for PE professionals. Join us if you're around NYC! RSVP here. Powered by Palm & Park, a Litquidity venture

Check out today's sponsor, OLarry, a personalized tax service for professionals with emerging wealth.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks fell yesterday on souring earnings and shaky trade sentiment

  • All three major indexes posted back-to-back declines

Earnings

• Brookfield missed Q1 earnings and revenue estimates despite a 20% YoY rise in distributable earnings and fee-bearing capital; the firm emphasized plans to deploy $119B in dry powder amid market dislocations, with credit opportunities expanding via Oaktree Capital (BBG) 

• AMD beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on a 36% YoY sales increase driven by strong chip demand growth and a 57% rise in data center sales, though trade tensions and valuation concerns linger; the firm forecasted a $1.5B revenue hit from US curbs on China chip exports (CNBC)

• Supermicro missed Q1 earnings estimates and delivered weak guidance citing macroeconomic uncertainty, tariff impacts, and delayed customer purchases of data center tech (CNBC)

• Marriott beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates but trimmed its FY room revenue forecast due to a 10% drop in US government bookings amid federal spending cuts and trade-driven travel uncertainty, though the firm signaled resilience from wealthy travelers (RT)

• Rivian beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates and reaffirmed FY profitability targets, but cut 2025 delivery guidance and raised expected CapEx amid tariff pressures and global trade uncertainty; the company posted a second-straight quarter of gross profit, unlocking a $1B investment from Volkswagen (CNBC)

• DoorDash missed Q1 revenue estimates but beat on earnings amid resilient consumer demand and engagement but warned of some geopolitical and currency risks; the firm also announced two major M&A deals (CNBC)

• Celsius missed Q1 earnings and revenue estimates due to elevated retail promotional allowances (BZ)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Uber, Walt Disney, Carvana, Barrick Gold, LandBridge, Texas Pacific Land

  • Thursday: Shopify, Peloton, DraftKings, Coinbase, Warner Bros

  • Friday: Honda 

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• US-China trade talks are expected to begin this week.

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Headline Roundup

• Global debt hit a record $324T in Q1 (RT)

• Bessent says US is on debt-limit 'warning track' (BBG)

• US trade deficit widened to a record on pre-tariff imports rush (BBG)

• Elite colleges are leading the rush to exit PE stakes (BBG)

• M&A hit a 20 year-low after April 2nd 'Liberation Day' (RT)

• US share buyback plans hit a record high (BBG)

• Berkshire plans to hold Japan trading houses for 50+ years (BBG) 

• US-China trade talks are slated to begin this week (BBG)

• China injected 'tactical' stimulus ahead of US trade talks (RT)

• China's capital markets are under pressure from US tariffs (RT)

• Morningstar will start rating private investments (BBG)

• PE and VC firms are ready to play role in Europe's rearmament (FT)

• UBS and General Atlantic announced a private credit partnership (RT)

• Interactive Brokers expanded trading for forecast contracts (BBG)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• PE firm CVC is exploring an $8B take-private of Swiss duty-free retailer Avolta

• Infrastructure investor I Squared Capital agreed to acquire a majority stake in the Matterhorn Express Pipeline alongside partners from Ridgemont and Devon at a ~$5B valuation, including debt

• DoorDash agreed to acquire UK-based food-delivery platform Deliveroo for $3.9B cash, a 29% premium

• DoorDash will also acquire hospitality software company SevenRooms for $1.2B cash

• KKR-backed Crescent Energy is exploring over $1B in asset sales to refocus on core operations in the Eagle Ford and Uinta basins

• PE firm TPG agreed to acquire $7.7B AUM tower investment firm Peppertree Capital in a $960M deal

• Uber will acquire an 85% stake in Alibaba-backed Turkish food delivery platform Trendyol for $700M cash

• Bain Capital is nearing a take-private of Japanese aircraft parts maker Jamco for $700M, including debt

• Samsung unit Harman acquired health tech firm Masimo's audio business for $350M 

• Sweden's podcast conglomerate PodX Group will acquire Lemonada Media for ~$30M

• Japanese bank SMBC is nearing a deal to acquire a 51% stake in India's Yes Bank

• Associated British Foods is in talks with investment firm Endless to potentially combine their Kingsmill and Hovis bread brands

VC

• Wonder, the food hall company that owns Grubhub and Blue Apron, raised $600M at a $7B valuation from NEA, Accel, GV, and others

• NewLimit, a startup aiming to increase healthy lifespan by genetically programming cells, raised a $130M Series B led by Kleiner Perkins

• German agentic AI customer service startup Parloa raised a $120M Series C at a $1B valuation led by Durable Capital Partners, Altimeter Capital, and General Catalyst

• Dutch SMB-focused digital bank Finom raised a $105M growth investment from General Catalyst

• Autonomous shipping platform Orca AI raised a $72.5M Series B led by Brighton Park Capital

• Recraft, an AI startup who's top-ranking AI image model is still in stealth, raised a $30M Series B led by Accel

• Blinq, a startup replacing business cards with a digital alternative, raised a $25M Series A led by Touring Capital

• Sentora, a DeFi platform for institutional investors, raised a $25M round led by New Form Capital

• AI agent OS startup Relevance AI raised a $24M Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners

• AppSignal, a startup providing actionable insights for developers, raised a $22M Series A led by Elsewhere Partners

• AI-powered codebase assistant Unblocked raised a $20M Series A led by B Capital and Radical Ventures

• StackOne, a UK AI-powered platform for AI agents and SaaS integrations, raised a $20M Series A led by GV

• Onebeat, a dynamic inventory optimization and execution platform, raised a $15M round led by Schooner Capital

• RightRev, a company specializing in automated revenue management, raised a $13M Series A led by Cheyenne Ventures and Innovius Capital

• Duna, a Dutch platform for compliant business identity, raised a $12M seed round led by Index Ventures

• Specialty Printing, a manufacturer developing labeling solutions, raised $11.5M from Advantage Capital

• Posha, a startup building countertop robots that cook meals, raised an $8M Series A led by Accel

• Alphabiome, a startup extracting genetic biomarkers from microbial DNA, raised an $8M seed round led by AIX Ventures

• AI-powered e-signature platform Agree.com raised a $7.2M seed round led by Pelion Venture Partners

• DogeOS, an application development layer for the Dogecoin ecosystem, raised a $6.9M round led by Polychain Capital

• Hotiday, an Italian travel tech startup, raised a $6.2M round led by P101 SGR 

• Rentana, an AI-driven revenue intelligence platform for multifamily owners and operators, raise a $5M seed round led by Zigg Capital and Benchstrength

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Saudi low-cost carrier Flynas is considering raising $1B at a ~$3B valuation in a local IPO

• Malaysia's Capital A, the owner of budget carrier AirAsia, plans to raise $200M in its secondary Hong Kong listing once it exits distress status

• Mekong Capital-backed consumer finance network provider F88 plans to list in Vietnam this year

• Novo Banco, a Portuguese lender owned by PE firm Lone Star, is preparing to launch its IPO in June

• Activist hedge fund Glenview Capital cut its stake in CVS Health amid improved earnings

Debt

• Permira-owned luxury sneaker brand Golden Goose plans to sell ~$550M in bonds to refinance debt, with a buyback option if its postponed IPO occurs in one year

• Indian shadow lender Jio Finance plans to raise $120M in a debut rupee bond sale

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• WeightWatchers filed for bankruptcy to execute a lender-backed plan that would cut $1.15B in debt, amid stiff competition from Ozempic

• Gene-editing tool maker Synthego filed for bankruptcy with plans to sell itself to its main lender Perceptive Advisors in exchange for up to $85M in debt forgiveness

• Bankrupt 23andMe expects multiple bids for its DNA data and other assets amid strong buyer interest

Fundraising

• KKR raised over $14B for its targeted $20B North America flagship fund

• Ares raised $3B for its first credit secondaries fund 

• Ares raised $2B for its third infrastructure secondaries fund 

• Tech investor Coatue launched a new fund targeting individual investors, with a $1B anchor investment from Jeff Bezos' and Michael Dell's family offices, to invest in public and private high-growth tech firms

• Synergy Capital raised $715M for a third targeted $1B India-focused private credit fund

• Healthcare investor Deerfield Management raised over $600M for its third VC fund

• LaunchBay, a growth investment firm founded by Ex-Temasek India execs, is seeking to raise $400M for a debut fund to invest in healthcare and consumer sectors

• European PE firm Enterprise Investors raised $385M for its ninth flagship fund

• VC Smith Point Capital raised $360M for its debut VC fund to focus on operational improvements in 'intelligent enterprise' startups

• Ballast Equity Partners raised $93M for its debut fund to target VC and growth secondaries

• Private credit firms including Gaw Capital and Blue Mountain are raising new funds for Hong Kong property as banks step aside

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• 58 crypto wallets made millions on Trump's meme coin while 764k lost money

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

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• @BoringBiz_ shared their cheat sheet of 52 Excel shortcuts that every analyst should add to their skillset.

• WSJ did a deep dive on the millennial path to wealth, with finance and tech professionals catching up to doctors and lawyers. Diversity has been an interesting evolving factor too.

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.