Together with

Happy Easter Monday!

We hope you enjoyed the Easter long weekend, relaxing with the folks and taking some time off the grind. While most of us were away, Wall Street remained active with some eye-catching headlines.

Trump studying ways to fire J Pow, Yale's endowment offloading almost its entire buyouts portfolio, and Chinese firms reevaluating their export model are just a few.

The Wharton Online-Wall Street Prep Private Equity Certificate Program is back! Level up your PE skills in the globally acclaimed Private Equity Certificate Program and save with out Litquidity discount! Learn more below.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US, Europe, and UK markets were closed on Good Friday

• US stocks closed mixed on Thursday as investors digested crucial early Q1 earnings amid an unfavorable economic environment

  • All three major indexes posted their third weekly decline in four

• MSCI EM index gained 2.2% in its best week since March

  • EM FX benchmark also gained for its best week since March

• US-German 2Y spread rose to 200 bps

• Singapore 5Y-30Y yield spread rose to 40 bps, the steepest since March 2022

• Gold hit another ATH

• FX volatility is at its highest since SVB's and Credit Suisse's collapse in March 2023

• Europe, UK, Hong Kong, and Australia markets will remain closed today for Easter Monday

Earnings

• TSMC beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates and maintained its FY forecast on a continued demand surge for AI chips despite trade uncertainties impacting demand outlook (CNBC)

• UnitedHealth plummeted 23% in its worst day this century after missing Q1 earnings estimates and lowering its FY profit forecast due to rising medical costs in its Medicare plans (CNBC)

• Netflix comfortably beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on higher-than-expected subscription and ads revenue as entertainment spend remains resilient amid economic uncertainty (CNBC)

• Blackstone beat Q1 earnings estimates on strong performance in its PE and credit businesses, though it cautioned that volatility could impact exits in the short term, signaling a shift from post-election optimism (RT)

• State Street beat Q1 earnings estimates but missed on revenue as the firm navigates an uncertain economic and investing environment (INV)

• American Express beat Q1 earnings estimates on the back of resilient spending from wealthy and young cardholders who remain largely unfazed by tariff jitters (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Tuesday: Tesla, Verizon, Lockheed Martin, RTX, Capital One, SAP 

  • Wednesday: Boeing, IBM, AT&T, Chipotle, Newmont

  • Thursday: Alphabet, Intel, PepsiCo, Southwest, T-Mobile, Vale

  • Friday: AbbVie

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Lando Norris try not to bottle it in the fastest car challenge: level impossible

• This F1 season is turning out more interesting than expected…especially for the 24-year-old McLaren underdog.

• 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 wants Fed chairman Jerome Powell out (WSJ)

• Trump was 'reluctant' to keep raising China tariffs (BBG)

• Trump is 100% confident on US-EU trade deal (RT)

• ECB cut rates by 25 bps to 2.25% (CNBC)

• US is open to recognizing Crimea as Russian in Ukraine deal (BBG)

• Treasury is in talks with peer agencies to streamline bank regulations (BBG)

• China is seemingly intervening to stabilize local stock market (BBG)

• M&A bankers get creative amid trade war volatility (RT)

• PE is close to breaking down (WSJ)

• State legislatures are eyeing regulations on healthcare PE (WSJ)

• Strategists are slashing S&P 500 targets at a faster pace than Covid (BBG)

• Investors are looking to CapEx for clues on stocks (BBG)

• Shortsellers expanded short exposure ahead of 'Liberation Day' (RT)

• Moody's raised default forecasts amid trade war (BBG)

• PIMCO is bearish on dollar and long-term Treasuries (RT)

• Taiwan extended short-selling curbs amid tariff uncertainty (BBG)

• Japan munis are failing to sell amid rate swings (BBG)

• JPMorgan is rapidly expanding its activism defense group (RT)

• Investor concerns over Chinese ADR delistings resurface (RT)

• Private credit ETF has seen no new inflow in two months (BBG)

• Retail degens plow into leveraged ETFs despite market volatility (BBG)

• Canadian investment in US stocks hit a record in February (BBG)

• Fed proposed averaging big bank stress test results to reduce volatility (RT)

• Zuckerberg and Dimon were top insider sellers ahead of market rout (BBG)

• DraftKings pulled application to sell derivatives for prediction markets (BBG)

• China Big Tech groups lead multibillion-dollar campaign to sell locally (FT)

• China stopped LNG imports from US (FT)

• Intel's new CEO flattened leadership structure and named a new AI chief (RT)

• UAE will use AI to write laws in historic first (FT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• US approved Capital One and Discover's $35B merger which will create the country's biggest credit-card issuer

• Global Payments agreed to acquire payment processing firm Worldpay from Fidelity National Information Services and PE firm GTCR at a $24.3B valuation

• India's Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone agreed to acquire Australia's Abbot Point Port from Carmichael Rail and Port Singapore in a $2.5B stock deal

• PE firm Carlyle is in talks with Japan's Makino Milling Machine as a potential white knight buyer to counter a $1.8B hostile takeover bid from Japanese motor manufacturer Nidec

• Commodities giant Gunvor and Abu Dhabi's ADNOC were shortlisted to acquire Shell's South African retail and trading operations assets, valued at ~$1B

• PE firms KKR, CVC, I Squared Capital, and Investcorp, Engie-backed Abu Dhabi district cooling firm Tabreed, and Abu Dhabi utilities firm TAQA are competing to acquire a district cooling business from Abu Dhabi holding firm Multiply Group for ~$1B

• PE firm Warburg Pincus and Abu Dhabi SWF ADIA plan to invest $877M in India's IDFC First Bank

• MidOcean Partners agreed to acquire digital media firm GSTV from Rockbridge Growth Equity at a $500M-$600M valuation

• Brookfield will acquire 80% of Barclays' bank's payments unit in a deal that will see Barclays inject $530M

• Uber is in talks to acquire Turkish food delivery platform Trendyol Go

• Infrastructure investor DigitalBridge's sale of Southeast Asian tower firm EdgePoint stalled amid valuation concerns

• Abu Dhabi's main power utility Taqa acquired UK electricity transmission firm Transmission Investment

• Brazilian logistics firm Rumo is in talks to raise capital from global investors to fund expansion

VC

• Goodfire, an AI interpretability research company, raised a $50M Series A led by Menlo Ventures

• Yarbo, a startup building a year-round multipurpose yard robot, raised a $27M Series B

• 1Fort, an AI platform streamlining business insurance processes, raised a $7.5M round led by Bonfire Ventures

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese milk tea chain CHAGEE raised $411M at a $6.2B valuation in a US IPO priced at the top of the range despite market volatility

• Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square took a 20% stake worth ~$500M in car rental company Hertz

• Swiss industrial group ABB plans to spinoff 100% of its robotics unit to shareholders

Debt

• South Korea plans to double its FX bond issuance limit to $3.5B

• UBS and Citigroup are stuck holding $2.35B in hung debt tied to Patient Square Capital's $4.1B LBO of dental equipment supplier Patterson after failing to sell to investors

• Asia Pulp & Paper is seeking up to $2B in debt to fund its $4B acquisition of Kimberly-Clark's international tissue business

• 15 banks signed a ~$1B bridge loan to fund Indian conglomerate Tata’s construction of UK's largest battery manufacturing plant

• Japanese tire maker Bridgestone halved its planned bond offering to $350M

• EQT-backed telecoms firm Zayo is in talks with creditors to restructure debt as it looks to finance its acquisition of tower operator Crown Castle's fiber assets

• Dubai's Sobha Realty is exploring a dollar-denominated sharia bond sale to raise funds for land acquisitions in Dubai amid a real estate boom

• Hertz is seeking to raise additional debt to strengthen its balance sheet amid looming liabilities

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• UK started searching for a buyer for insolvent British Steel

Fundraising

• Yale University is selling ~$6B of PE LP stakes worth ~15% of its entire endowment, ~33% of its illiquid allocation, and ~80% of its buyouts allocation 

• Healthcare PE firm Linden Capital Partners closed its sixth buyout fund at $5.4B

• Secondaries investor Coller Capital partnered with Ares and Barings to raise a $2.4B structured funding vehicle to invest in private market secondaries

• Credit investor Crayhill Capital Management raised over $1.3B for its third flagship asset-based finance fund

• Generali Investments, the asset management arm of insurance giant Generali, and Swiss PE firm Partners Group plan to raise $1B for a private credit secondaries fund

• Investment firm Sculptor Capital raised $900M for an opportunistic credit fund to target corporate, asset-based, and real estate private credit deals

• African investment firm Development Partners International plans to launch an Africa-focused early-stage VC firm after taking over $100M Egyptian VC fund Nclude 

• Blackstone will launch a credit fund for individual investors next month

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Binance is now advising to governments on crypto regulations

• Kraken laid off staff as it prepares to IPO

Crypto seems to be the only calm asset class amid the storm of trade wars. Subscribe to our Crypto Sum newsletter to get the most relevant scoops on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

• WSJ did a profile on the people taking advantage of the recent market turmoil. At this point, it's not even surprising.

• Sam Ro wrote an insightful piece observing how the stock market's best days almost always occur during the stock market's worst times.

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.