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SpaceX employees are unionizing against wealth management firms, Berkshire announced $17B of deals in two days, ChatGPT app hit 1 billion MAU in record time, a Santander employee was arrested in a Chile crime sting against Venezuelan gangs, and Victoria's Secret is officially bringing back sexy (officially).

SS&C Intralinks published their H2 2026 Global M&A Dealmakers Sentiment Report. Some great insights into where 400 global dealmakers see momentum building for the months ahead. Read it here.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 6/2/2026 market close.

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Markets

  • US stocks rose further yesterday as investors monitored US-Iran developments as well as economic data and tech headlines

    • All three major indexes closed at ATHs for a fifth-straight day for the first time since February 2017

    • S&P climbed for a ninth-straight day to match its longest win streak since 1995

    • Chipmakers are outperforming software stocks by the most ever

  • Canada's TSX index hit a new ATH

  • Chinese yuan strengthened to a fourth-year high

    • Yuan is up 3% YTD vs dollar

    • Traders are the most bullish on yuan in 15 years

Earnings

  • Palo Alto Networks beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates as AI fuels cybersecurity urgency (CNBC) 

  • Victoria's Secret soared 50% after posting a mega Q1 beat-and-raise on turnaround efforts aimed at reclaiming its 'sexy' identity, including changing its ticker to $VSXY (CNBC)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Broadcom, CrowdStrike, Macy's

    • Thursday: lululemon

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • Knicks and Spurs are set for a rematch after 27 years. Will NYC finally get its moment of glory?

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

Headline Roundup

  • US proposed new tariffs on 60 economies over forced labor trade practices (CNBC)

  • Kevin Warsh wants Fed to think about inflation differently (WSJ)

  • US says talks with Iran are ongoing (CNBC)

  • US job openings jumped to the highest in two years as layoffs fall (BBG) 

  • Gold replaced US Treasuries as world's top reserve asset (FT)

  • Wall Street analysts turn skeptical after two-month stock rally (BBG)

  • Goldman CEO sees 'more greed than fear' on Wall Street (FT)

  • Muted exits push PE continuation funds to 8-year high (S&P)

  • US convertible bond market is on course for record year amid AI boom (FT)

  • Insurers of private credit firms brace for looming legal storm (WSJ)

  • Trump friend-or-foe gauge is key new metric in EM (BBG)

  • South Korea overtook India as world's sixth-largest stock market (BBG)

  • Global investment into India stocks fell to a decade low (BBG)

  • Venezuela moves to open power sector to private investment (BBG)

  • Berkshire invested $17B in two days under new CEO Abel (RT)

  • Anthropic pulls ahead of OpenAI in high-stakes race for IPO riches (BBG)

  • ChatGPT app hit 1B MAU in record time (RT)

  • SpaceX employees unionize to win lower fees from wealth managers (BBG)

  • Prominent short seller Andrew Left was convicted of fraud (WSJ)

  • Santander employee was arrested in Chile crime sting against Venezuelan gangs (BBG)

M&A may finally be entering its cautiously optimistic era.

After years of false starts and "wait until next quarter" forecasts, dealmakers are starting to see momentum building for H2 2026. Our SS&C Intralinks Global M&A Dealmakers Sentiment Survey – produced with Reuters Insights and based on a survey of 400 global corporate and PE dealmakers – shows 51% of dealmakers expect M&A activity to increase over the next 12 months.

What's driving the shift? Digital transformation, AI integration and renewed interest in cross-border opportunities. In fact, 81% have already integrated AI into their deal processes, while 44% cite digital transformation as a key driver of the next wave of transactions.

That optimism is still tempered by reality. Financing pressure, geopolitical uncertainty and tighter execution windows continue to define the deal environment. 52% expect financing conditions to tighten, forcing teams toward more creative structures and sharper execution.

Download the report for a grounded look at where momentum is building and how leading teams are positioning for what comes next.

Download the report

Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

  • Italian lender UniCredit's hostile takeover offer for $56B-listed German rival Commerzbank was accepted by enough investors to give it a 34% stake

  • Genco Shipping & Trading rejected Diana Shipping's latest ~$1B takeover offer at a 39% premium as still undervalued 

  • Triton Partners is nearing a deal to acquire German drive technology maker Flender from Carlyle at a $3.5B valuation

  • Ithaca ‌Energy held advanced talks to acquire BP's UK North Sea assets in a $2.7B deal

  • Aluminium Bahrain agreed to acquire EU's biggest ‌aluminum smelter Aluminium Dunkerque in a $2.2B deal; French state-backed investment bank Bpifrance will take a 6% ​stake for $116M

  • Hellman & Friedman acquired global business events group Hyve from Providence Equity and Searchlight Capital for $1.8B

  • New Zealand second-tier lenders Heartland Bank and TSB Bank will merge in a $370M deal, including cash, vendor finance, and shares

  • PE firm JC Flowers closed its acquisition of the French unit of Italian lender BMPS

  • A group including local tea brand Ningji will acquire ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs' mainland China shops from General Mills

VC

  • Investment research firm Morningstar valued SpaceX at $780B, half its IPO target

  • Impulse Space, the spacecraft startup of SpaceX employee #1 Tom ​Mueller, raised a $500M Series D at a $4.3B valuation led by 137 Ventures and Banner VC

  • NewLimit, the longevity startup of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, raised a $435M round at a $3.1B valuation led by Founders Fund

  • Data storage security startup Cyera is finalizing a $300M Series G at a $12B valuation led by Evolution Equity Partners

  • Mal, an AI-native Islamic digital financial platform and digital companion, raised a $230M seed round led by Abu Dhabi-based asset manager BlueFive Capital 

  • ZutaCore, a two-phase liquid cooling specialist, raised a $100M Series C from Mitsubishi Electric, Carrier Ventures, and Samsung Ventures 

  • BibliU, an integrated academic and campus store solutions provider, raised $55M in growth capital from BlackRock, Stonehage Fleming, and others

  • Layup Parts, a composites parts startup, raised a $42M Series A led by Marlinspike

  • Opal, a consumer hardware company building an audio gadget, raised a $40M Series B led by OpenAI

  • Tilt, a live-commerce platform, raised a $26M funding round from Vinted Ventures and others

  • Board, a "together tech" game startup, raised a $20M Series A led by Union Square Ventures

  • Archestra.AI, an open-source platform enabling enterprises to connect sensitive data to AI agents, raised a $10M seed round led by 20VC

  • Alitheon, an advanced optical-AI company, raised an $8M Series A1 led by Emerald Technology Ventures

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Alphabet's surprise $80B equity offering is set to become the biggest equity capital markets transaction of all time

  • SpaceX will set terms for its record $75B IPO today

  • Goldman Sachs is working on a Kuwait IPO of online beauty and fashion retailer Boutiqaat which could fetch a $1B valuation in Goldman's first Kuwait IPO mandate ever

  • Apollo-backed sisters-led Swiss dental startup vVardis is working on a US IPO; the firm is valued at $1B

  • Activist Elliott built a $715M stake in Australia's biggest gold miner Northern Star Resources 

  • Digital consumer bank Forbright is seeking to raise $160M at a $1B valuation in its IPO

  • Aequita-backed German military antenna maker Smag Mobile Antenna Masts is considering a Germany IPO

  • Vedanta Resources' US-domiciled integrated ​copper and cobalt producer CopperTech Metals filed for a US IPO

Debt

  • JPMorgan and Bank of America are preparing to sell a $2.5B debt package to support Long Lake Management's $6.3B LBO of Amex GBT

  • Elk Grove Village Property, a CoreWeave-linked subsidiary of Prime Data Centers, sold $900M of junk bonds

  • UBS sold $1.5B of dollar AT1 bonds 

  • A Blue Owl Capital private credit fund sold $500M of investment grade bonds 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Venezuela retained Hogan Lovells for its $170B sovereign debt restructuring

  • Brazil ‌reached a deal for a $1.2B loan to support struggling state-run lender BRB

  • Florida high-speed rail Brightline is weighing bankruptcy loan offers from its largest creditors after failing to secure a buyer 

  • Blackstone-backed Legoland operator Merlin Entertainments is facing pressure on its debt as it seeks to refinance over $800M of junk bonds 

  • Brazilian petrochemicals giant Braskem is seeking creditor support for an out-of-court restructuring ahead of debt payments scheduled for July

Funds / Secondaries

  • European PE firm EQT is seeking to raise $24.4B for its seventh flagship infrastructure fund

  • Blackstone raised $13.1B for its third and biggest Asia PE fund

  • European PE firm Eurazeo raised $4.5B for its seventh private credit fund

  • Solar investor NextEnergy Capital raised $975M for an international solar and energy storage fund

  • Canadian VC Version One Ventures raised $108M across its fifth pre-seed and seed fund and third opportunities fund

  • Cliffwater's flagship private credit fund capped redemptions at 5% in Q2 after investors tried to pull 17% of shares

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Premier League clubs could face legal action over crypto sponsorship deals 

  • US sanctioned Iran's largest crypto exchange Nobitex

  • BofA named top trading exec as global head of crypto strategy 

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

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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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