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Good Morning,

Megafunds are actively shopping for deals, Buffet will stay on as Berkshire's chairman, OpenAI backtracked on its for-profit plan, Skype officially shut down, and Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy for the second time in one year.

Planful's latest eBook discusses the best solutions to the top challenges that CFOs face today. If you work in a finance team, it's definitely worth the read.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 5/5/2025 market close.

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

Markets

  • US stocks fell yesterday as traders monitored developments on global trade

    • S&P snapped its historic nine-day win streak

  • Oil hit its lowest since February 2021 as OPEC+ plans to increase supply

  • Taiwan dollar jumped 6.5% in two days over US trade deal fears

Earnings

  • Palantir issued a Q1 beat and raise as strong US commercial growth and AI platform adoption drove a 21% YoY revenue increase, though shares fell 8% on lagging international growth and concerns over elevated valuations (CNBC)

  • Berkshire Hathaway missed Q1 operating earnings estimates as profits fell 14% on a 49% drop in insurance underwriting amid tariff and geopolitical uncertainty; their cash pile hit a record $347B after selling stocks for a tenth-straight quarter (CNBC)

  • Ares beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on 18% YoY growth in management fees and record private credit demand, with AUM up 27% to $546B; the firm deployed nearly 70% more capital YoY and reaffirmed its FY performance income target (BBG)

  • Ford beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates but suspended FY guidance amid a $2.5B tariff hit, potential supply chain disruptions, and further trade uncertainty (CNBC)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Brookfield, Celsius, Supermicro, Marriott, AMD, Rivian 

    • Wednesday: Uber, Applovin, Walt Disney, Carvana, DoorDash, Barrick Gold, LandBridge, Texas Pacific Land

    • Thursday: Shopify, Peloton, DraftKings, Coinbase, Warner Bros

    • Friday: Honda 

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • It's Fed decision week.

  • All eyes are on J Pow as pressure piles from Trump's ire.

  • 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

  • Milken crowd warms up to tariffs while condemning the chaos (BBG)

  • Wall Street execs see private markets coming to more investor portfolios (RT)

  • $30B in M&A deals was announced on May Merger Monday (BBG)

  • Systematic funds will buy stocks no matter which way market swings (BBG)

  • CFTC dropped its appeal against Kalshi (CNBC)

  • KKR is looking outside of US for investment opportunities (BBG)

  • Carlyle is actively looking for investments (RT)

  • Citigroup says most business clients can absorb 10% tariffs (RT)

  • Citigroup will restart lending business to PE and private credit funds (BBG)

  • Buffet will remain Berkshire chairman after Greg Abel takes over as CEO (RT)

  • UBS will pay $500M to settle Credit Suisse US tax probe (BBG)

  • PwC will cut 1.5k jobs (FT)

  • OpenAI backtracked on for-profit plan (CNBC)

  • Musk will keep lawsuit against OpenAI despite nonprofit control statement (RT)

  • Skype officially shut down (TC)

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Priorities to Remove Silos and Close Gaps in Strategic Analysis

The concept of finance being a 'team sport' is widely recognized among FP&A teams. This is a crucial mentality for FP&A leaders who need to make tough decisions and keep budgets on track, even in uncertain times. 

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Download our report, published in partnership with CFO Dive and written in collaboration with Industry Dive, which addresses the top challenges CFOs face today.

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • PE firm 3G Capital agreed to take-private footwear giant Skechers for $9.4B

  • Sunoco agreed to acquire Canada's Parkland for $9.1B to create the largest independent fuel distributor in America, despite criticism from Parkland's largest shareholder Simpson Oil

  • Growth investor General Atlantic acquired a minority stake in Blackstone-backed mobile app marketing platform Liftoff, at a $4.3B valuation

  • Peabody Energy may cancel its $3.8B deal to acquire Anglo American's steelmaking coal assets in Australia due to a recent fire

  • OpenAI agreed to acquire AI coding startup Windsurf, fka Codeium, for $3B, in its largest acquisition to date

  • Defense tech startup Anduril Industries agreed to acquire Irish tactical communications systems maker Klas

  • French-Canadian entrepreneur Stephan Tétrault acquired GameStop's 185 Canadian stores, which will be rebranded as EB Games Canada

VC

  • Atlas Data Storage, a startup building end-to-end DNA data storage solutions, raised a $155M seed round from ARCH Venture Partners, Deerfield Management, Bezos Expeditions, and others

  • Tax and accounting platform HubSync received a $100M+ growth investment from Thoma Bravo

  • Rainmaker Technology, a rain enhancement startup, raised a $25M Series A led by Lowercarbon Capital

  • Ace Aquatec, a welfare-first aquaculture tech startup, raised $13M in funding led by Stolt Ventures

  • Egyptian digital lender MoneyFellows raised a $13M pre-Series C led by Al Mada Ventures and DPI's Nclude Fund

  • Axibo, a robotics startup developing humanoid robots, raised $12M from prominent external investors

  • HistoIndex, a startup developing imaging solutions for biological tissues, raised a $7M round led by OCBC

  • IPercept, a Swedish predictive AI platform for industrial tech, raised a $5.6M seed round led by Luminar Ventures

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Chinese EV battery giant CATL is gauging investor interest for a potential $5B Hong Kong listing

  • Wall Street banks are steering clear of Chinese car maker Chery's $1.5B Hong Kong IPO

  • Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square increased its stake in real estate developer Howard Hughes Holdings to 47% by acquiring $900M of new shares at a 48% premium

  • Retail trading platform EToro plans to raise up to $500M at a $4B valuation in a US IPO

  • Saudi packaging manufacturer United Carton Industries saw over $20B in orders for its $160M IPO

  • Saudi low-cost carrier Flynas is proceeding with IPO plans to become the first Gulf airline listing in two decades

Debt

  • JPMorgan will lead a $6.5B debt package to finance 3G Capital's $9.4B LBO of Skechers

  • Apple sold $4.5B of bonds at 5 bps more than its existing securities in sign of higher risk expectations from investors

  • General Motors sold $2B of bonds at 18 bps more than its existing securities in sign of higher risk expectations from investors

  • CATL is seeking a $1B loan to fund CapEx in Indonesia

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in one year citing an inability to secure additional capital from lenders

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • PE firm Atlas Holdings raised over $6.4B for its fifth fund to back troubled companies

  • InvAscent, a healthcare-focused Indian PE firm, closed its fourth fund at $305M

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Trump crypto deals provoke Senate backlash and calls for investigation

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

Exec’s Picks

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.