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Good Morning,

Pope Francis passed away, Trump doubled down on his intent to sack J Pow, Techstars will mirror Y Combinator's funding terms, Yale is committed to new PE relationships despite secondaries sales, and Moody's and MSCI will start tracking private credit risk.

Plaid just released their 2025 Consumer Finance Trends Report, covering everything from consumer payment habits to preferences on banks versus fintechs. Read it for free.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 4/21/2025 market close.

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Markets

  • US stocks sunk yesterday as Trump's rhetoric to sack J Pow reignited investor fears

    • Dow is headed for its worst April since the Great Depression

  • India's Nifty 50 index rose for fifth-straight day to become the first EM index to erase all losses from 'Liberation Day'

  • US 10Y yield rose to highest since ‘Liberation Day’

  • Gold hit another ATH

  • Dollar hit a three-year low

    • Pound hit its highest versus dollar since September

  • EM FX index rose 0.8% last week, the most in six weeks

  • Europe, UK, Hong Kong, and Australia markets remained closed for Easter Monday

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:

    • Today: Tesla, Verizon, Lockheed Martin, RTX, Capital One, SAP

    • Wednesday: Boeing, IBM, AT&T, Chipotle, Newmont

    • Thursday: Alphabet, Intel, Southwest, T-Mobile, PepsiCo, Vale

    • Friday: AbbVie

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • Pope Francis' passing means its time for another round of succession battles.

  • 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

  • Trump called J Pow 'major loser' for not cutting rates 'now' (CNBC)

  • 40% of China Q1 GDP was exports (BBG)

  • Hedge funds cut 'Mag 7' exposure to a two-year low (RT)

  • China is pulling back from US PE investments (FT)

  • Hedge fund titans are eyeing Middle East cash (BBG)

  • Yale is committed to new PE relationships despite $6B LP stakes sale (SI)

  • Gulf issuers plan more debt sales, unfazed by market turmoil (RT)

  • Japan investors sold over $20B in international bonds in a record selloff (FT)

  • Investors pour into European equity funds while fleeing US (RT)

  • Gold and cash inflows jumped to highest since March 2023 (BBG)

  • Japan super-long bonds saw record foreign inflow last month (BBG)

  • US bond funds saw outflows for a fifth-straight week on tariff fears (RT)

  • Moody's and MSCI will launch a service to Gauge private credit risk (BBG)

  • 'Maple 8' pensions are cutting back on PE directs (FT)

  • Techstars raised startup funding to $220k to match YC structure (TC)

  • Walmart and Target execs will meet with Trump amid tariff angst (BBG)

  • Chipotle is expanding into Mexico (BBG)

  • Pope Francis died at 88 (WSJ)

A Message from Plaid

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You could spend weeks surveying 2,000+ consumers across the country. Or you could download the latest insights from Plaid and YouGov—no clipboard required.

We asked consumers how they view financial services today—and what they expect tomorrow. Inside, you'll find unbiased insights on:

Whether you're building for payments, personal finance, or the next big thing, this report is packed with insights to help you move fast and build right. Oh—and it's free.

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Helvetia agreed to merge with Baloise in a ~$22B stock deal to form Switzerland's second-biggest insurance group

  • Hellman & Friedman-backed Baker Tilly and Moss Adams will merge in a $7B deal to create America's sixth-largest accounting firm

  • Business man James Cameron offered $5B to acquire Kazakh rare earths mining giant Eurasian Resources Group

  • Japanese investment bank Nomura agreed to acquire Australian financial services firm Macquarie's US and European public investments unit for $1.8B cash

  • KKR offered to acquire Swedish biotech Biotage for $1.2B

  • Chinese miner CMOC agreed to buy Canada's Lumina Gold for $420M

  • Tech-focused PE firm Thoma Bravo is in advanced talks to acquire Boeing's Jeppesen navigation unit

  • Toyota's truck unit Hino Motors and Daimler's truck unit Mitsubishi Fuso are nearing a merger deal with plans to list in Tokyo by Q1 2026

  • PE firm TPG and Singapore SWF Temasek agreed to acquire a substantial minority stake in TA Associates-backed private markets investor Cliffwater

VC

  • Electra.aero, a startup building a hybrid-electric ultra short aircraft, raised a $115M Series B led by Prysm Capital

  • ROH, a payments management platform for the hospitality industry, raised a $9.2M round led by Highgate Technology Ventures and Acrew Capital

  • viAct, a Hong Kong-based sustainability-focused AI startup, raised a $7.3M funding round led by VentureWave Capital

  • Cluely, a cheating tool for literally everything, raised a $5.3M seed round from Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Apollo-backed German online auto parts retailer Autodoc, last valued at $2.6B in 2024, is preparing to IPO this summer

  • Affiliated Managers Group acquired a minority stake in $12B AUM multi-strat hedge fund Verition

Debt

  • Banks led by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs launched a $4B leveraged loan sale to finance building products distributor QXO's $11B acquisition of Beacon Roofing Supply

  • Barclays, Citigroup, and KKR Capital Markets underwrote a $1.7B debt package to finance KKR's $3.1B LBO of post-trade services firm OSTTRA

  • PE firm Pretium Partners, one of the most active issuers of MBSs, pulled a $778M bond refinancing deal being led by Goldman Sachs

  • IndusInd International Holdings raised $505M in a private bond placement from Allianz Global Investors, Broad Peak Investment Advisers, Varde Partners, banks and private credit funds to finance the $1.1B acquisition of troubled Indian shadow bank Reliance Capital 

  • Vietnam's Military Bank plans to issue up to $300M in international green bonds

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Ascend Performance Materials, a chemical company backed by SK Capital Partners, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with plans to restructure with lender support

  • A US judge confirmed Contrarian Funds affiliate Red Tree Investments' $3.7B offer as the starting bid in the auction of Venezuela-owned Citgo Petroleum to repay creditors and bondholders

  • Solar company Sunnova Energy is scrambling to avoid bankruptcy after missing an interest payment on its 2028 bonds

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • Five Arrows, the alternative assets arm of Rothschild & Co, raised $2.1B for its sixth secondaries fund

  • Sports investor Dave Checketts and Utah's Eccles family partnered to create Cynosure | Checketts Sports Capital Fund, a $1.2B sports-focused PE fund

  • Early-stage Italian VC P101 raised a $290M fund

  • The VC arm of electronics maker TDK is launching a $150M fund to back seed to Series B startups in robotics, agriculture, AI, data-center tech, manufacturing, and more

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Ecommerce brand aggregator Upexi becomes latest crypto treasury company, raising $100M to buy Solana

  • Stablecoin issuer Circle plans to launch a payment network to settle cross-border transactions in stablecoins

  • Circle, BitGo and other crypto firms plan to apply for bank charters or licenses

  • US Bitcoin ETFs saw the biggest inflows since January

  • 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.