US stocks inched upwards yesterday on rising optimism for a US-Iran ceasefire

Bond yields of private credit funds were at one-year highs even before the redemption saga

Jefferies missed Q1 estimates as record results in IB and equities trading were eroded by credit woes at collapsed First Brands and MFS (BBG)

Beyond Meat delayed Q4 earnings (RT)

What we're watching this week:  

Full calendar here

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US insists talks are ongoing even as Iran rejects outreach (CNBC)

Fed posted smaller $19B operating loss last year (WSJ)

US import prices rose by the most in four years (RT)

China emerges as debt markets hub for foreigners amid Iran war (BBG)

Companies speed up debt raising plans amid market volatility (FT)

BofA launched a private capital M&A team to focus on PE exits (BBG)

Goldman M&A head sees 'massive' capital pools driving M&A (BBG)

An Ares private credit fund posted its worst monthly loss ever (BBG)

CitSec average pay hit $2M last year (EFC)

Investors pulled $11B from commodity ETFs in record exodus (BBG)

Hedge fund Caxton is down $1.3B this month (FT)

Trump named Zuckerberg, Huang, and others to new tech policy council (WSJ)

A jury found Meta and YouTube liable in social media addiction trial (CNBC)

Meta targets $9T valuation with new executive incentive program (WSJ)

Microsoft will rent a Texas data center dropped by Oracle and OpenAI (BBG)

Epic Games will cut over 1k jobs as 'Fortnite' usage falls (RT)

China banned Manus co-founders from leaving amid Meta deal review (FT)

California billionaires are spending big in wealth tax fight (WSJ)

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KKR, BlackRock-owned GIP, Ardian, and GIC-backed Vauban Infra Fibre are bidders for a controlling stake in telecom group Altice France's superfast broadband network XpFibre, which could fetch an over $10B valuation

Pharma giant Merck agreed to acquire leukemia-focused Terns Pharmaceuticals in a $6.7B cash deal at a 50% premium

Brookfield and Canada's La Caisse agreed to acquire Canadian renewable energy firm Boralex in a $6.5B cash deal, including debt, at a 32% premium

$6.5B-listed KKR and Fuchs family-backed German satellite maker OHB is weighing a 20% stake sale

KKR made a 15x MOIC from its $4.75B sale of data center cooling company CoolIT to water treatment firm Ecolab

Spanish gambling group Codere is exploring a ‌sale at $2.3B valuation

KKR agreed to acquire US bakery chain Nothing Bundt Cakes from Roark Capital for $2B, including debt

Activist ADW Capital built a 2.5% stake in $2B-listed Roark Capital-owned automotive services rollup Driven Brands and is pushing for a sale or break up

German chemical and consumer goods firm Henkel is in advanced talks to acquire hair-care brand OLAPLEX in a potential $1.3B deal

Firearms manufacturer Beretta offered to raise its stake in $700M-listed peer Ruger to 20% at a 20% premium

Indian IT consulting firm Infosys agreed to acquire healthcare consulting firm Optimum Healthcare IT for $465M cash

Infosys agreed to acquire insurtech company Stratus for $95M cash

Limestone Capital-backed HR firm Empowering People Group agreed to acquire UK lender NatWest's HR advisory business Mentor

Sherweb, a cloud distributor and marketplace, raised a $125M minority equity investment from Investissement Québec

Nvidia-backed Reflection AI is in talks to raise $2.5B at a $25B valuation from JPMorgan, Disruptive, and others

Granola raised a $125M Series C at a $1.5B valuation led by Index Ventures as it expands from meeting notetaker to enterprise AI app

Rocketlane, an AI-powered professional services automation company, raised a $60M Series C led by Insight Partners

Normal Computing, an AI-native semiconductor design and physics-based computing startup, raised $50M in strategic funding led by Samsung Catalyst Fund

ai&, a Japanese vertically integrated AI platform, raised a $50M seed round 

PAVE Space, a Swiss space infrastructure company, raised a $40M seed round led by Visionaries Club and Creandum

Subbyx, a European infrastructure platform for the subscription economy, raised a $35M Series A led by Systemiq Capital

Swedish EV boat maker Candela raised $35M from EQT Ventures, SEB Private Equity, CalPERS, and others

Eunice, a UK due diligence infrastructure startup, raised an $8M combined seed and pre-seed round led by Moonfire Ventures and Speedinvest 

Moda, an AI design platform, raised a $7.5M seed round led by General Catalyst

Spanish pharma giant Grifols is seeking to raise $5B at a $27B valuation, including debt, in a US listing of its US biopharma unit

Fosun-backed French resort chain Club Med is exploring a potential Hong Kong IPO

Chinese self-driving startup DeepRoute.ai is considering a Hong Kong IPO

Hong Kong's largest developer Sun Hung Kai Properties secured a $2.6B bank loan at the lowest YTM in years

Banks led by JPMorgan boosted a $2B junk loan sale to $2.6B to support Trian and General Catalyst's $7.4B LBO of asset manager Janus Henderson

TPG and TA Associates-backed software firm Planview reached out to private credit firms to help refinance $1.5B of debt maturing next year

Spanish renewables company Zelestra raised a $600M financing for a Texas solar portfolio to service Meta

Blackstone's flagship private credit fund sold a new $450M CLO

The hospitality unit of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup is seeking a $300M private credit loan for refinancing

Jefferies reported a new $10M loss tied to bankrupt auto parts supplier First Brands as it writes off exposure

Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana hired Rothschild to prepare for lender talks as debt pressures rise

PE firm Advent plans to invest another $1B in defense

Pictet Alternative Advisors, a unit of Swiss private bank Pictet Group, raised $465M for a debut PE fund

Soros-spinout TowerBrook raised a CV for accounting firm EisnerAmper led by Carlyle's AlpInvest and Hamilton Lane 

Falfurrias Management raised a CV for PE tech provider Crosslake led by Leonard Green & Partners

Revised CLARITY Act could hand stablecoin power back to banks

Franklin Templeton debuted ETFs that trade 24/7 in crypto wallets

NYSE lists Morgan Stanley spot Bitcoin ETF as launch nears

​Litquidity and Ramp are joining forces to start an exclusive padel club – a series of NYC and Miami socials and padel tournaments for the industries top founders, investors, and operators. The April 1st event will be a mix of social clinics with a small tournament.

All skill levels are invited to play. RSVP here.

Can't make it to this one? Check out our events on April 14, April 22, May 6, and May 20.

Ramp is bringing together San Francisco's most prolific founders on April 7 for an unfiltered conversation on what building actually looks like right now.

No slides, no scripts. Just real stories and hard lessons from the best tech founders. If you're in SF, you won't want to miss this. Save your seat here.