The List

Author

Litquidity Capital
June 30, 2025

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Good Morning,

Canada folded on trade talks, Zuckerberg is compiling a secret 'list' of AI superstar recruits, Gen Z is crushing the retirement savings game, Goldman scrapped plans for a hotel brand in Greece, and US stock indexes hit new all-time highs in a welcome milestone ahead of Fourth of July.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 6/27/2025 market close.

Click here to learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks rallied to fresh highs as traders shook of US-Canada trade talk roadblocks and looked to Fed rate cuts ahead

    • S&P and Nasdaq hit new ATHs

    • Nasdaq in on track for a new bull market

    • Traders priced in 60 bps of rate cuts by year-end

  • Europe's Stoxx 600 gained 1.3% in its best week in six

    • The index is up 7% YTD

  • Japan's Nikkei 225 index hit an eleven-month high

  • MSCI EM index is up 14% YTD, beating the S&P for the first time since 2017

    • Latin America sub-index is up 25% YTD

    • Eastern Europe sub-index is up 45% YTD

  • MSCI India index is underperforming the MSCI APAC index as India slowly loses Asia edge

  • US Treasuries are rallying as traders eye Fed rate cuts ahead

    • Treasuries gained for a third-straight week, for their best month since February and best H1 streak in five years

  • European natural gas posted its largest weekly drop in two years 

  • Euro is on track for its best streak versus dollar in eight years after gaining for six straight months

  • Taiwan dollar hit a three-month high versus dollar 

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Tuesday: Constellation Brands

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • Trump's agenda passed a key hurdle in the Senate.

  • 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

  • Investors are going all in on risky stocks (BBG)

  • Stock market rally sees little influence from Big Tech or 'Mag 7' (WSJ) 

  • US-Canada trade talks are set to resume after Canada folded (CNBC)

  • US consumer spending fell by the most YTD in May (BBG)

  • All big US banks passed Fed stress tests (FT)

  • Americans cash out on gold bars as Asians bulk up (BBG)

  • US equity funds saw sixth-straight week of outflows (RT)

  • Hong Kong ECM bounced back in H1 as Shein IPO looms (RT)

  • India earnings are set to to outperform China (BBG)

  • Asian banks fuel $2B loan boom in Middle East (BBG)

  • Citigroup sees bigger IPOs as private deals bulk up valuations (BBG)

  • BlackRock and Mubadala will unwind Asia private credit partnership (BBG)

  • Activist ASL wants to oust entire Avadel Pharmaceuticals board (WSJ)

  • Hedge fund strategy built on catastrophes taps a hot new trend (BBG)

  • South Korea ended 14-year restriction on kimchi bond investment (BBG)

  • Zuckerberg is compiling 'The List' of AI geniuses in wild recruiting push (WSJ)

  • PwC cut prices as tech and AI save staff time (BBG)

  • Trump says there's a buyer for TikTok but won't disclose name (BBG)

  • Nvidia insiders have cashed out of over $1B in stock amid market surge (FT)

  • SoftBank aims to become leading 'artificial super intelligence' platform (RT)

  • Intel's top strategy exec will depart (RT)

  • Harvard is asking corporations to fill its federal funding gap (WSJ)

  • Buffett donated a record $6B in Berkshire shares (RT)

  • US holiday-makers descend on Europe as over-tourism fears mount (FT)

  • Goldman Sachs scrapped plans to build hotel brand in Greece (WSJ)

  • Gen Z is one step ahead in retirement savings (NYT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Real estate holding company Adler Group is considering a sale of its $4.1B Berlin rental portfolio

  • European lenders Banco Santander and Barclays are the final bidders for Spain's Banco Sabadell’s UK unit TSB, which could feth a ~$3.1B valuing

  • Indian conglomerate JSW Group agreed to acquire up to 75% of Akzo Nobel’s Indian unit in a deal valued at ~$1.6B, including debt

  • India's Torrent Pharmaceuticals agreed to acquire a 46.4% stake in JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals from KKR for $1.4B

  • GE's energy spinoff GE Vernova is exploring a sale of its Proficy industrial software unit, which could fetch between $900M-$1B

  • REIT Simon Property Group acquired the retail and parking portions of Miami's Brickell City Centre for ~$512M

  • South Korean conglomerate SK Group is considering selling its minority stake in Malaysian waste management company Cenviro at a ~$300M valuation

  • Banca CF+, an Italian financial services firm controlled by Elliott, is set to launch an offer for $190M-listed Banca Sistema 

  • European TV operator RTL Group agreed to acquire Comcast's Sky Deutschland for $176M upfront

  • Canadian PE firm TorQuest Partners acquired B. Riley Financial's financial advisory unit GlassRatner for $118M

  • French lender BNP Paribas will acquire HSBC's custody and depositary business in Germany

VC

  • Takanock, a provider of innovative digital and power infrastructure solutions, raised $500M in funding from ArcLight and DigitalBridge

  • ForSight Robotics, an Israeli startup using robotics for eye surgery, raised a $125M Series B led by Eclipse

  • Conquest Planning, an AI-powered financial planning software, raised an $80M Series B led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives

  • Insurance tech platform Ledgebrook raised a $65M Series C led by The Stephens Group

  • AI data foundry Centific raised a $60M Series A led by Granite Asia

  • Voice-based risk assessment technology company ClearSpeed raised a $60M Series D led by Align Private Capital

  • AI-powered fashion agent Gensmo raised a $60M seed round from angel investors

  • Elemental Advanced Materials, a startup turning hydrocarbon-rich waste into carbon nanomaterials and hydrogen, raised a $20M round led by Taranis

  • Elfie, a free digital health super-app, raised a $12M Series A led by White Star Capital

  • Dutch hydration startup Aquablu raised an $8.2M seed round led by ex-Philips CEO Frans van Houten

  • Pro Athlete Community, a global education and community platform for professional athletes, raised a $7.6M Series A led by GSV Ventures

  • Tibo Energy, a startup developing energy management systems for industrial and commercial sites, raised a $7M seed round led by KOMPAS VC

  • Gemist, a SaaS platform for custom jewelry sales, raised a $6M seed round led by Entrada Ventures

  • Foresight, a SaaS startup building a data and AI infrastructure layer for private markets, raised a $5.5M seed round led by NEA

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Italian bank Mediobanca pledged to return $5.75B to shareholders over three years, as to fend off a hostile bid from smaller rival BMPS

  • Meta is in talks to raise $3B in equity from Apollo, KKR, Brookfield, Carlyle, and PIMCO 

  • NIQ Global Intelligence, the KKR-backed former consumer intelligence unit of consumer intelligence firm Nielsen, filed for a US IPO aiming to raise up to ~$1.3B

  • Dell CEO Michael Dell sold $1.2B of shares, reducing his stake by ~3%

  • Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein will confidentially file for a Hong Kong IPO

  • Platinum Equity-backed education software provider McGraw Hill filed for an IPO

  • Language-learning app Babbel no longer plans to pursue an IPO

Debt

  • Meta is in talks to raise $26B in private credit from Apollo, KKR, Brookfield, Carlyle, and PIMCO

  • Citigroup is preparing a SRT tied to a portfolio of ~$8B in corporate loans

  • Banks are competing to arrange PE firm Advent's planned ~$2.8B debt package to finance its $5.4B acquisition of UK consumer goods giant Reckitt's homecare unit

  • Banks are reviving a $2.4B debt sale for Patient Square Capital's $4.1B LBO of dental products distributor Patterson

  • EQT-backed Korean cybersecurity firm SK Shieldus launched a $2.4B syndicated loan to refinance the debt used for its LBO

  • Indian conglomerate JSW Group is seeking to raise $468M in debt from global lenders to help finance its $1.6B acquisition of Dutch paint giant Akzo Nobel's India unit

  • Data center operator Princeton Digital Group will raise $400M in private credit from Allianz Global Investors, Keppel Credit, Canada's OMERS, and more

  • Zambia's central bank plans to raise ~$378M by having banks sell dollars and use proceeds to purchase local-currency bonds in an unorthodox debt sale

  • Zimbabwe's major power users are seeking up to $350M in financing for a large-scale floating solar project

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Fortress Investment Group may miss the July 15 deadline to refinance $2B in bonds backed by Amazon-leased warehouses

  • Department stores holding group Saks Global secured a $600M debt deal from existing lenders, forcing some creditors to take losses and subordinating their repayment priority

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • European sustainability investor Ambienta raised ~$645M for a new small-cap fund

  • Galaxy Digital, a crypto-focused financial services firm, raised over $175M for a debut VC fund

  • Sorenson Capital closed its third early-stage cybersecurity VC fund at $150M

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • London-listed companies are piling into Bitcoin

  • Ripple will drop cross appeal against SEC in crypto lawsuit

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

Exec’s Picks

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  • Knowing what we know from a purely historical lens, AI will not create unemployment. Adam M. Grossman writes an insightful piece on the same.

  • Kristin Houser published an incredible piece on what AI means for coders and developers. In other words, is "learn to code" still relevant advice?

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.

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