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Good Morning,

BP wants a piece of Tesla superchargers, OpenAI is set to announce a Google search competitor, Bridgewater’s new CEO has 'rewired' the hedge fund, Goldman is making the most of Japan's market rally, and lenders are seeing a bottom for consumers.

Titans from Lewis Hamilton to Mark Zuckerberg swear by Eight Sleep…and as they just launched their next-gen Pod 4, it's your chance to find out why. Check it out and transform you sleep for the better.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• Stocks rose yesterday as new jobless claims data rekindled hopes for rate cuts this year

  • The S&P closed at a five-week high

  • The Dow rose for a seventh-straight day

• Asian stocks stayed on course for a third-straight week of gains

• PGMs market is forecast for its largest supply shortfall in 10 years

Earnings

• Warner Bros Discovery missed Q1 earnings and revenue estimates despite strong growth in its streaming unit (CNBC) 

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• OpenAI will announce a Google search competitor (RT)

• Bridgewater’s CEO has 'rewired' the hedge fund (FT)

• Weekly jobless claims jump to highest since August (CNBC)

• Emerging market junk bonds are top performers in sovereign debt markets (FT)

• Goldman tops investment banks reaping windfall in Tokyo (BBG)

• Big tech is leading the stock buyback spending spree (WSJ)

• Lenders are seeing a bottom for consumers (WSJ)

• Rates start to fall in Europe as Fed lags (RT)

• Fed's communications style scores well with analysts but not public (RT)

• Lazard named ex-Morgan Stanley M&A chair Colocci as vice chair / MD (RT)

• Robinhood makes headway beyond trading (RT)

• Carbon offsets found to be largely ineffective (RT)

• Cornell President becomes third Ivy League leader to depart since December (WSJ)

A Message From Eight Sleep

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Head to eightsleep.com/lit and use code LIT to get $350 off your new Pod 4.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Energy Capital Partners, Access Industries, and CPP Investments whom own US power plant operator Calpine are exploring a sale, IPO, or stake divestment at a valuation of $30B, including debt (RT) 

• Alphabet made progress in its talks to acquire $29.9B marketing software provider HubSpot (BBG) 

• Spanish lender BBVA took its $12.4B all-stock bid directly for Banco de Sabadell directly to shareholders, turning its takeover hostile (BBG) 

• T-Mobile and Verizon are in talks to buy parts of United States Cellular in separate transactions with one potentially worth over $2B (WSJ) 

• Blackstone is set to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund for $1.57B, as Concord's last offer was final (BBG)  

• Electrical equipment maker nVent Electric is considering a sale for its heating cables business at a $1.5B valuation (BBG) 

• Gridiron Capital, the PE owner of Good Sportsman Marketing Outdoors, is exploring a sale of the hunting and fishing gear maker at a ~$1.5B valuation, including debt (RT) 

• Sony Music is preparing a bid against PE funds Blackstone and KKR to acquire Japanese e-comics provider Infocom in a deal worth ~$1.3B (BBG) 

• Todd Boehly's investment house Eldridge Industries is in advanced talks to buy private credit firm Hayfin Capital in a deal worth over $1.1B (FT) 

• PE firm Brightstar Capital Partners will acquire global gaming supplier PlayAGS for ~$1.1B (PRN)

• Singapore lender OCBC made a $1B take-private offer to its insurance arm Great Eastern (RT)

• Ares Real Estate and partner EQ Group acquired an 18-strong portfolio of UK hotels from Land Securities for $499M (RT) 

• Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri acquired Leonardo's Underwater Armament Systems in a deal that gives the submarine business a $447M EV (RT) 

• Telecoms conglomerate Sinclair is looking to sell over 30% of its broadcast stations (CNBC) 

• BP is interested in acquiring Tesla supercharger sites in US (BBG)

VC

• Hysata, an Australian startup developing sustainable electrolyzers, raised a $111M Series B led by bp Ventures and Templewater (FN)

• Battery recycling tech startup Li Industries raised a $36M Series B led by Bosch Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and LG Technology Ventures (PRN)

• Sift Healthcare, a provider of AI-powered healthcare payment solutions, raised a $20M Series B led by B Capital (FN)

• CoverTree, an insurtech specializing in manufactured home insurance solutions, raised a $13M Series A led by Portage (BW)

• Fairgen, a startup generating accurate AI responses to surveys, raised an $8M seed round led by Maverick Ventures Israel (PRN)

• Decentralized multi-chain trading platform Uxuy raised a $7M pre-A round from Binance Labs and more (FN)

• Roam, a platform making homeownership more affordable, raised $3M in financing led by Founders Fund (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese EV maker Zeekr priced its IPO at the top of an indicated range to raise $441M at a $5.5B valuation (RT) 

• High-end supermarket chain Spinneys rose in its Dubai trading debut after its $375M IPO (BBG) 

• Bain Capital made a $250M minority growth investment in professional services company Sikich (BW)

• Proficient Auto Logistics shares opened roughly flat after its $215M IPO (BBG) 

• Mexican lender Bankaool is planning a 2026 US IPO (RT)

• African bank BGFIBank Group is reviving a plan for an IPO (BBG) 

Debt

• PE-owned Citrix Systems raised $1.8B via a twice-upsized bond offering in third debt sale in six months (BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Century-old musical-instruments retailer Sam Ash filed for bankruptcy with plans to liquidate (WSJ) 

Fundraising

• Growth investor EnCap Energy Transition closed its second fund at $1.5B (FN) 

• Investcorp closed its fifth tech fund at $570M (FN)

Crypto Corner

• Donald Trump endorsed crypto as part of presidential campaign (TB)

Exec’s Picks

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• FT published a piece explaining American endowments' complicated love affair with private equity.

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