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US announced tariffs on virtually every country in a move dubbed 'Liberation Day.' The name is quite fitting considering how portfolios everywhere are being liberated from capital gains…

Elsewhere, HR SaaS startup Deel's spy confessed and snitched on the CEO, PIMCO is offering private credit to governments, and Musk's merger of X and xAI is breaking major M&A norms.

Neutral is taking over multi-family real estate development by focusing on the booming health and wellness industry and they're currently raising funds across the capital structure. Schedule a call with their Director of Private Capital and explore an investment in Neutral. Read more below!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 4/2/2025 market close.

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

Markets

  • US stocks closed higher after a volatile trading session as investors awaited US tariff announcements

  • Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbled over 3% leading losses in Asia following US tariffs

  • US 10Y yield fell to lowest in six months

  • Gold hit another ATH

  • Dollar fell to its lowest in six months

Earnings

  • BlackBerry fell 9% despite beating Q4 earnings and revenue estimates as it forecast declining revenues from its Secure Communications division (INV)

    • Today: GUESS

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets – Recession Odds and Tariffs

Headline Roundup

  • US imposed broad 10% tariffs plus targeted reciprocal tariffs (CNBC)

  • Global governments respond to US tariffs (RT)

  • US tariffs pile stress on ailing global economy (RT)

  • China restricted companies from investing in US (BBG)

  • US firms added 155k jobs, higher than expected (CNBC)

  • Elon Musk's merger of X / Twitter and xAI breaks Wall Street's rulebook (WSJ)

  • Wall Street urges IPO hopefuls to trim valuations in weak market (BBG)

  • PIMCO steps up private credit for EM governments (RT)

  • Macro hedge fund EDL Capital gained a whopping 22% in Q1 (BBG)

  • Commodity traders snap up assets to tighten grip on supply chains (FT)

  • Consulting giants offered billions in cuts to federal contracts (WSJ)

  • Jefferies is moving to bigger Singapore office amid expansion push (BBG)

  • DeepSeek AI excitement spills over to Hong Kong's IPO market (CNBC)

  • Chinese Big Tech firms ordered $16B worth of Nvidia chips in Q1 (RT)

  • Zuckerberg lobbied Trump to avoid Meta antitrust trial (WSJ)

  • Google fired top AI exec Sissie Hsiao (RT)

  • HR SaaS startup Deel's spy confessed and snitched on CEO (TC)

A Message from Neutral

Invest in Wellness Multifamily Real Estate

Wellness real estate development is no longer just a hospitality trend—it's the future of multifamily living. With the market projected to reach $913 billion by 2028, growing at an impressive 15.8% annually, according to GWI, you can invest in this rapidly growing niche and contribute to building healthier communities.

Neutral is a multifamily developer leading the way in resident health and wellbeing, integrating sustainable building materials, on-staff doctors, personal training, and organic food deliveries into our multifamily communities. Fast Company named Neutral among the top 3 Most Innovative Real Estate Companies of 2025.

Explore Neutral's offerings across debt and equity on their website at your own pace. 

You can also schedule an introductory call with Storm Murphy, Neutral's Director of Private Capital.

Discover Neutral

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Amazon, developers app AppLovin, and OnlyFans-founder Tim Stokely and crypto foundation Hbar joined bid talks for TikTok US amid a looming sale or ban deadline

  • French lender Credit Agricole received regulatory approval to take a bigger stake in Italian lender Banco BPM, posing a hurdle to Italian lender UniCredit's forthcoming $15B hostile takeover bid for Banco BPM

  • Apollo, Ares, and Stonepeak are bidding for a ~15% stake inItalian energy group Eni's renewables arm Plenitude, which could fetch a $14B valuation, including debt

  • Deria, Ponder Trade, Radellor, and Scranton Enterprises, family offices with ties to Spanish blood plasma company Grifols, are in new talks with Brookfield over a potential takeover of Grifols, following a $7B bid last year

  • German engineering group Siemens is set to acquire Insight-backed R&D software maker Dotmatics for $5.1B

  • Infrastructure investor I Squared is considering selling its European trailer-leasing business TIP Group, which could be valued at over $3.2B

  • UK sports network DAZN acquired control of Rupert Murdoch's Australian cable-TV business Foxtel for ~$2.1B

  • The founders of Ben & Jerry's ice cream expressed interest in buying back their brand from UK consumer goods giant Unilever for several billion dollars

  • Irish food manufacturer Greencore agreed to acquire UK grocery supplier Bakkavor in a $1.5B cash-and-stock deal

  • Brookfield and Canada's CDPQ are nearing an acquisition of life sciences diagnostics firm Antylia Scientific from PE firm GTCR at a $1.4B valuation

  • APMH Invest, the family office behind logistics giant Maersk, proposed acquiring tugboat operator Svitzer for ~$1.3B

  • Energy giant ConocoPhillips is eyeing a sale of Oklahoma assets worth over $1B

  • Philippine lender Esquire Financing is considering a stake sale at a $1B valuation

  • EV hypercar maker Rimac is considering buying Porsche's $450M stake in their hypercar JV Bugatti Rimac at a ~$1B valuation

  • Australia's Galan Lithium rejected a $150M cash offer from Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Renault for its Argentina assets 

  • UK investments firm Pollen Street is in advanced talks to acquire an 84% stake in Spanish real estate firm Hipoges Iberia from KKR at a $129.5M valuation

  • Bottler Phoenix Beverages is acquiring UK alcohol distribution Diageo's 54.4% stake in Seychelles Breweries for ~$80M

  • Commodity trader Gunvor acquired a 42% stake in US shale gas producer Flywheel Energy

  • Maersk's port operator APM Terminals acquired the Panama Canal Railway from a JV between railway Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Lanco Group

  • Centerbridge Partners is seeking to terminate a deal to buy Italian lender Banca Progetto from Oaktree Capital amid mafia involvement

VC

  • AI-powered data security startup Cyberhaven raised a $100M Series D at a $1B valuation led by StepStone Group

  • Carbon composite recycling company Fairmat raised a $56M Series B led by Bpifrance and Slate VC

  • UK-based halal vehicle financing startup Ayan Capital raised a $33M seed round led by Partners for Growth

  • SchoolAI, a provider of an AI platform for teaching and learning, raised a $25M Series A led by Insight Partners

  • Semiconductor manufacturer IceMOS Technology raised a $22M Series E at a $110M valuation led by 57 Stars

  • Opsera, a startup helping companies build AI-powered DevOps platforms, raised a $20M Series B led by Prosperity7

  • Hi Auto, an AI-powered voice technology for the QSR industry, raised a $15M Series A led by Delek Motors, Zisapel Family, and Vasuki Tech Fund

  • Fourier, a startup building hydrogen electrolyzers the size of server racks, raised an $18.5M Series A led by General Catalyst and Paramark Ventures

  • Chinese travel and hotel supply chain platform Convergent raised a $13.8M Series B+ led by Fengyuan Capital

  • Roam, a startup providing access to 'thousands' of homes with assumable mortgages, raised an $11.5M Series A led by Khosla Ventures

  • Fyxer AI, a UK-based developer of productivity tools, raised a $10M Series A led by 20VC

  • UK AI optical processing startup Lumai raised $10M in funding led by Constructor Capital

  • Parasail, a startup providing on-demand GPUs, raised a $10M seed round led by Basis Set Ventures, Threshold Ventures, and more

  • Cambrian, a startup enabling developers to build AI agents, raised a $5.9M seed round from a16z crypto, Blockchain Builders, and angels

  • AI-based insurance assistant startup FurtherAI raised a $5M round led by Nexus Venture Partners

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • KKR, Cinven and Providence Equity Partners-backed Spanish telecoms group MasOrange is exploring a 2026 IPO at a potential $22B valuation

  • Thailand's Gulf Development, an enterprise created by merging Gulf Energy Development and telecoms firm Intouch, debuted in Thailand at a $21B market cap, 13% below the firms' combined valuations before they delisted last month

  • Donald Trump kicked off a sale of his $2.3B stake in Truth Social-parent Trump Media and Technology

  • Aston Martin may raise $162M from billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll and a stake sale in its Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team

  • Mining giant BHP considered spinning off its Australian iron ore and coal units

Debt

  • PE firm Clearlake Capital raised a $5.8B one-year bridge loan from a group of banks to finance its $7.7B LBO of business data analytics firm Dun & Bradstreet, amid time constraints for a traditional debt package

  • Vista Equity-backed UK financial software firm Finastra's bid to refinance $5B of private credit with bank debt collapsed amid pricing disputes

  • Coller Capital acquired a $1.6B direct lending portfolio from a unit of Brookfield in one of the biggest private credit secondary deals

  • Crypto miner Bitfarms raised $300M in private credit from Australia's Macquarie

  • Korea Zinc will sell $272M in bonds after a temporary halt since its takeover battle

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • WeightWatchers is in talks to restructure its $1.5B debt by swapping equity with lenders, potentially ceding control to lenders

Fundraising

  • Kotak Alternate Asset Managers, a unit of Indian financial services conglomerate Kotak, aims to raise $2B for a new India private credit fund

  • Europe's largest all-women led VC Revaia raised a $270M growth fund to invest in European and Israeli startups at Series B and beyond

  • Goldman Sachs launched G-PE, a new open-ended PE fund for HNIs to invest in LBOs, growth, secondary, and co-investments

  • PE FOF HarbourVest Partners launched an evergreen PE fund for US individual investors

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • $518M in crypto was liquidated as US tariffs rock global markets

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

Exec’s Picks

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    Model with Mosaic.

  • Litquidity is hosting a get-together on Saturday, April 12 @ Sensa Padel Nashville for the city's finance, tech and VC community. It's gonna be a fun evening with padel, live music, food and all things vibes to rejuvenate and enjoy fantastic company. Join us if you're in town!

  • What to know about the US trade imbalance, in charts.

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.