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ESG fund outflows hit a record, US is investigating Harvard for racial discrimination, another private credit-funded LBO hit the restructuring arena, India is emerging as a bright spot in the global trade war, and Goldman Sachs is advising countries on US trade talks.

One-time sales evolved to subscription-based models and subscription-based models are now evolving to usage-based pricing. With this constant evolution, Metronome CEO Scott Woody breaks down how to stay on top. A must read if you work in SaaS.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 4/28/2025 market close.

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Markets

  • US stocks inched slightly higher yesterday as investors braced for a slew of Q1 earnings and clues on economic sentiment

    • S&P rose for a fifth-straight day for its longest win streak since November

  • China copper market gauge hit a 16-month high on domestic demand flurry

  • Dollar is on track for its worst month in years

Earnings

  • Domino's beat Q1 profit estimates but missed on revenue on same-store sales declined and global macro headwinds dented consumer demand (CNBC)

  • Waste Management missed Q1 earnings and revenue estimates despite 16.7% YoY sales growth, citing cost discipline and progress on the Stericycle integration as it reaffirmed its FY outlook (BW)

  • Welltower beat Q1 FFO estimates and raised FY guidance on strong net operating income growth in its senior housing segment (SA)

  • Deutsche Bank posted its biggest profit in 14 years on record debt trading driven by market volatility (CNBC)

  • What we're watching this week:

    • Today: Visa, PayPal, Snap, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, UPS, Spotify, Pfizer Booking Holdings

    • Wednesday: Microsoft, Meta, Qualcomm, Robinhood, Caterpillar

    • Thursday: Apple, Amazon, McDonald's, Mastercard, CVS, Airbnb, Reddit, Eli Lilly

    • Friday: ExxonMobil, Chevron, Brookfield, Apollo

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • India markets are staging a comeback as it emerges relatively immune to the global trade war. Additionally, Bessent expects America's first trade deal to be with India this year.

  • 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

  • Goldman Sachs is advising countries on US trade talks (BBG)

  • US will reduce impact of auto tariffs (RT)

  • Norway's SWF CEO says fragmented world is biggest risk to markets (RT)

  • Team valuations are pushing pro sports into the arms of PE (BBG)

  • DOJ says antitrust enforcement is law enforcement, not regulation (RT)

  • Treasury may leave auction sizes unchanged for fifth-straight quarter (RT)

  • JPMorgan traders turned temporarily bullish on US stocks (BBG)

  • Global funds are returning to Indian stocks (BBG)

  • ESG fund outflows hit record amid growing backlash (FT)

  • Big Oil is bracing for its worst year since Covid as bumper profits fade (FT)

  • KKR and Capital Group partnered to offer private markets to retail investors (FT)

  • Proxy firm ISS urged investors to vote against BlackRock execs pay (RT)

  • Goldman named two heads of Asia M&A (RT)

  • Texas manufacturing fell to the lowest since Covid amid tariffs (BBG)

  • American Airlines ended partnership talks with JetBlue (BBG)

  • Emerging economies lead the way in AI trust (RT)

  • US is investigating Harvard for race-based discrimination (CNBC)

  • Alibaba launched a flagship AI model to rival DeepSeek (BBG)

  • Spain and Portugal faced a 12-hour power blackout (BBG)

A Message from Metronome

The proven playbook for adopting usage-based pricing

Shifting your SaaS pricing model is one of the most strategic moves you can make—but doing it right takes more than just tweaking price points. In this playbook, Metronome CEO Scott Woody breaks down the steps to implement usage-based pricing so it aligns with how customers actually experience product value. From choosing the right value metric to running effective pricing experiments and communicating with confidence, Scott outlines a step-by-step approach that's been used by leaders like New Relic, Autodesk, and Slack.

For exec teams looking to improve margins, retention, and long-term growth, this is the kind of tactical guidance that moves the needle.

Read the playbook today.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Austria's largest lender Erste Group Bank is in talks to acquire a 49% stake in Banco Santander's Polish unit, valued at ~$8B

  • Mediobanca, the Italian lender facing a hostile bid from peer BMPS, offered to acquire Generali-owned Italian wealth manager Banca Generali for $7B, which will be funded by exiting its own 13% stake in Generali

  • Silver Lake Management and P2 Capital Partners are weighing a sale or IPO of prepaid gift card provider Blackhawk Network for over $5B

  • German pharma giant Merck will acquire SpringWorks Therapeutics for $3.9B cash

  • Bain Capital is in talks to invest $2B in preferred equity in insurance broker Acrisure

  • PE firm TPG will acquire travel technology firm Sabre's hospitality software platform for $1.1B

  • Kuwait Petrochemical Industries, a unit of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp., agreed to acquire a 25% stake in China’s Wanhua Chemical Group for $638M

  • Marriott International will acquire global hotel brand CitizenM for $355M

  • PE firm Velocity Capital will investing over $100M in European soccer talent agency Unique Sports Group

  • Premier League team Aston Villa is considering selling a 10%-20% stake in its women's team Aston Villa WFC at a potential ~$80M valuation

  • Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration, the overseas unit of Kuwait Petroleum Corp., is in talks to acquire a stake in Woodside Energy's proposed US LNG export project

VC

  • AI infrastructure startup Nscale is in talks to raise $900M in equity and $1.8B in private credit led by Goldman Sachs

  • Thunes, a Singaporean payment platform to move money around the world, raised a $150M Series D led by Apis Partners and Vitruvian Partners

  • Veza, an identity security company, raised a $108M Series D at an $808M valuation led by NEA

  • Lightrun, an Israeli observability platform for code, raised a $70M Series B led by Accel and Insight Partners

  • B2B payments solutions startup Pliant raised a $40M Series B led by Illuminate Financial and Speedinvest

  • Travel tech startup Fora raised a $40M Series C led by Thrive and Insight Partners

  • ARX Robotics, a German autonomous unmanned ground systems (UGV) startup, raised a $35M Series A led by HV Capital

  • AI engineering startup P-1 AI raised a $23M seed round led by Radical Ventures

  • Early cancer detection startup Craif raised a $22M Series C led by X&KSK

  • OmniRetail, a Nigerian B2B commerce platform, raised a $20M Series A co-led by Norfund and Timon Capital

  • Robot recycling company Glacier raised a $16M Series A led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund

  • NetFoundry, a secure-by-design networking company, raised $12M in funding led by SYN Ventures

  • LayerX, a secure enterprise browser extension company, raised an $11M Series A extension led by Jump Capital

  • AI animation startup Cheehoo raised a $10M round led by Greycroft

  • Sprive, a UK fintech facilitating mortgage overpayments, raised a $7.3M round led by Ascension

  • Employee engagement and insights platform WorkBuzz raised a $5.3M round from YFM Equity Partners

  • Next Generation, a French payments ecosystem, raised a $5M seed round

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • KKR-backed Indian shadow lender InCred Financial Services is in talks for a $470M India IPO

  • Benin's state-owned International Bank for Industry and Commerce raised $173M in the country's biggest-ever IPO

  • Sony is considering spinning off its semiconductor unit Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp.

  • Accounting firm Andersen Group confidentially filed for a US IPO

SPAC

  • Biotech Vesicor Therapeutics will merge with Black Hawk Acquisition at a $70M pre-money equity valuation

Debt

  • Alphabet sold $5B in bonds in its first debt sale since Covid

  • Abu Dhabi's state-owned oil giant ADNOC raised $1.5B in a debut 10Y Shariah-compliant Sukuk bond offering at a 60 bps premium

  • Bahrain is preparing to raise $1.5B in international bond markets

  • Banks led by Morgan Stanley sold the final $1.23B of $13B debt tied to Elon Musk's $44B LBO of Twitter for a 9.5% YTM at 98¢

  • German pharma firm Stada Arzneimittel is selling $1.1B of junk notes to refinance debt ahead of a planned IPO

  • PE firm Carlyle is nearing a $464M bond sale backed by music rights for artists including Katy Perry and Benny Blanco

  • Nexamp, a developer of distributed solar and energy storage systems, raised $340M in a private credit refinancing from PGIM Private Capital

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • A group of private credit lenders including Goldman Sachs, Oak Hill Advisors, Cliffwater, Jefferies, and Blackstone agreed to convert some of their $1B debt into equity for Blackstone-backed market intelligence firm International Data Group

  • The sale of bankrupt DNA testing firm 23andMe is facing delays amid struggles to find a stalking horse bidder

  • Collapsed developer China Evergrande's chairman Hui Ka Yan is refusing to disclose assets to liquidators

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • Secondaries-focused tech VC G Squared plans to raise $2B for its seventh flagship fund

  • FPV Ventures raised $525M for its second fund

  • Lower MM industrials PE firm Allied Industrial Partners raised $300M for its debut fund

  • Chinese biotech-focused VC Dalton Venture plans to raise $130M for a new fund in Hong Kong

  • UK VC Volution raised a $100M fund to double down on fintech and AI

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Coinbase Asset Management launched a Bitcoin yield fund

  • UAE SWF ADQ, UAE's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank, and UAE conglomerate International Holding Co. are planning a stablecoin backed by UAE's currency

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

Exec’s Picks

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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.