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Good Morning,

We've got you the best daily markets roundup as usual but an HR SaaS startup planting a spy at a rival who was then deleting evidence while hiding in a bathroom after being bait-trapped and caught is just not something we had on our bingo cards.

Bitcoin Depot, the biggest Bitcoin ATM network in North America, has its eyes set on global expansion and wants the key retail trader segment to stay involved. Check out their investor insights.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 3/17/2025 market close. Litquidity portfolios as of 3/14.

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

Markets

  • US stocks climbed for second day as traders digested economic data and trade uncertainty

  • German 30Y yield fell 11 bps to 3.1%, the most in six weeks

  • Japan 40Y yield hit an ATH of 3%

  • Gold hit a new ATH

  • Dollar is trading at a five-month low

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Wednesday: Five Below, Williams Sonoma, General Mills

    • Thursday: Micron, Nike, FedEx, Accenture, Darden Restaurants, Lennar

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Retail sales disappoint with biggest drop since 2021 (BBG)

  • Bank of America tightened oversight of junior bankers' hours (WSJ)

  • HR SaaS firm Rippling sued Deel for corporate espionage (CNBC)

  • Bridgewater's flagship macro fund is up 11.3% YTD (BBG)

  • Kirkland & Ellis partners earned over $9M last year (FT)

  • Trump named Fed governor Bowman as top bank cop (BBG)

  • Hedge funds regained appetite for US stocks (RT)

  • Foreign investors are piling into Chinese bank debt (RT)

  • Junk loan deals are getting pulled in both US and Europe (BBG)

  • Chinese corporate dollar bond sales jumped to the highest since 2022 (BBG)

  • Elite colleges are rushing to bond markets at record pace (BBG)

  • Hedge funds are getting dragged into US-Europe ESG tensions (BBG)

  • Women-founded VCs outperform but still lag in fundraising (II)

  • Santander eyes US expansion through Verizon partnership (WSJ)

  • White House is playing unprecedented role in TikTok sale (RT)

  • UK banned hedge fund titan Crispin Odey from finance industry (FT)

  • Audi will cut 7.5k jobs (RT)

  • Putin authorized US hedge funds to trade Russian securities (BBG)

A Message from Bitcoin Depot

The company putting Bitcoin on the map (literally)

The ups and downs of Bitcoin can be scary from an investment perspective. But have you heard of the company that is poised to capitalize on the expansion of cryptocurrency no matter the value of any coins?

Introducing Bitcoin Depot (Nasdaq: BTM). It is the world's largest provider of Bitcoin ATMs, already operating over 8,400+ worldwide. And they are just getting started. 

The company reported $585.28M in gross annual revenue as of Q3 2024 and are about to release their YE earnings. With strategic relationships with Circle K and other national chains, they are in full on expansion mode.

What's more? The company isn't well known by the masses even though it's been around since 2016! Now's your chance to get involved.

Check out the investor information!

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Alphabet re-started talks to acquire cloud-security startup Wiz for $33B

  • A consortium of KKR and Warburg Pincus submitted a $3.4B offer for pharma firm Gerresheimer

  • Indian insurance JV Bajaj Allianz will acquire German insurance giant Allianz's 26% stake in their partnership for $2.8B

  • PepsiCo will acquire soda brand Poppi in a $1.95B deal

  • Baltic Cable and Equitix acquired Greenlink, a subsea electricity interconnector in UK, from Swiss PE firm Partners Group for ~$1.1B

  • Philippine broadband operator Converge ICT Solutions is considering carving out and selling a 40% stake in its fiber business at a $1B valuation

  • UK drugmaker AstraZeneca agreed to acquire cell therapy biotech EsoBiotec in a $1B deal

  • Brand management firm WHP Global made a $669M take-private offer for clothing company Guess

  • A consortium led by Asian PE firm RRJ Capital will invest $600M in private jet firm Vista

  • Mastercard will acquire a minority stake worth $200M in MTN Group's fintech operations in Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda, as part of a spin-off plan by the South African telecom company

  • PE firm Investcorp agreed to acquire a majority stake in Germany's Miebach Logistik Holding for ~$163M, including debt

  • Singapore's Sembcorp Industries is carrying out a strategic review which may lead to going private or asset sales

  • Mining giant Glencore offered to acquire Canadian lithium battery recycling company Li-Cycle

  • German mass media firm ProSiebenSat.1 Media's supervisory board opposed a proposed deal that would grant PE firm General Atlantic an up to 10% stake

VC

  • Peregrine Energy Solutions, an integrated multi-technology clean energy platform with a focus on utility-scale storage, raised a $53M round led by Bildmore Clean Energy

  • DRUID AI, a Romanian conversational AI company, is raising a $50M Series C at a ~$300M valuation led by Cipio Partners

  • RedotPay, a Hong Kong-based crypto payment platform, raised a $40M Series A led by Lightspeed

  • Pet insurance company Dalma raised a $22M Series B led by Breega

  • Gradial, an AI startup developing AI marketing operations agents, raised a $13M Series A led by Madrona

  • AI-powered autonomous ship navigation startup Seadronix raised an $11.3M Series B from LB Investment, KB Investment, and Korea Development Bank

  • ABEX, a UK algorithmic execution solutions for digital asset markets, raised $6M in funding led by MMC Ventures

  • Occuspace, an occupancy intelligence platform for the built environment, raised a $6M Series A led by Lewis & Clark Ventures

  • ResiQuant, an autonomous property intelligence platform, raised a $4M seed round led by LDV Capital

  • Vestberry, a SaaS platform for VC fund management, raised a $2.4M round led by Seed Starter

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Bain Capital and Cinven delayed their $1.6B IPO of German pharma firm Stada to Q3

  • Chevron acquired a ~5% stake in energy giant Hess for $2.3B

  • The Philippines' biggest fintech GCash is targeting an over $8B valuation in a potential IPO this year

  • Swedish healthcare company Asker and its PE backers aim to raise $880M at a ~$2.6B valuation in Europe's largest IPO YTD

  • Asian defense giant Hanwha acquired a 9.9% stake in Australian shipbuilder Austal for $117M, a 16% premium over the previous close

  • PE firm Triton Partners acquired a 5% stake worth ~$55M stake in Germany-listed recycling firm Befesa

  • Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in five Japanese trading houses Mitsui & Co. Mitsubishi Corp, Sumitomo Corp, Itochu, and Marubeni to ~10%

  • The controlling shareholder of Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS and state-owned investment vehicle BNDESPar signed a deal to pursue a listing in US and Brazil

  • Chinese LCD panel maker CVTE is considering a second listing in Hong Kong

Debt

  • HSBC is marketing $8.3B of Australian mortgages amid its revamp

  • BMW sold $4B of US investment grade bonds

  • Chinese data center operator GDS is seeking a record $3.4B loan for its data center operations in Malaysia

  • Hyatt Hotels issued $1B in bonds to fund its $2.6B acquisition of Playa Hotels & Resorts

  • Kazakhstan's biggest fintech Kaspi plans to sell a $500M bond Bond Deal

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • UK utility Thames Water received court approval for a controversial $3.9B loan from creditors including activist Elliott that hurts junior creditors

  • Blockbuster film producer Village Roadshow Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

  • Some lenders to WeightWatchers entered into confidential talks to address debt

  • Hedge funds Arini and Canyon Partners sued packaging firm Ardagh and its billionaire owner Paul Coulson over a restructuring plan that siphons value from creditors

Fundraising

  • UK private credit firm Arcmont Asset Management raised $520M for its first private credit impact fund

  • Australian VC King River Capital is close to raising $100M for its sixth fund to invest in AI

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Crypto exchange OKX suspended DeFi service after EU scrutiny

  • SEC may axe proposed Biden-era crypto custody rule

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

Exec’s Picks

  • RacquetX is organizing the largest conference for all things racquet sports – tennis, padel, pickleball – literally any sport with a racquet. Clubs, tech startups, and players in the ecosystem are uniting in Miami Beach from March 22-24 to listen to panels, meet others in the space, and watch top players compete. I'm a judge for the startup competition they're hosting and would love for you to join!

    RSVP here and use code litquidityrx25 for 25% off!

  • March Madness is back! Litquidity is hosting the official Wall Street survivor pool this year, with an up to $50k prize. Put some skin in the game this season and spice up your watch parties.
    Register here!

  • Callie Cox wrote yet another insightful piece reminding us that market corrections happen more often than we remember.

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.