Together with

Good Morning,

Citadel and Millennium extended losses in Q1, a16z is in talks to join the TikTok bid, another proxy firm advised against Goldman execs' pay, bond giants are looking abroad as US optimism fades, and US will announce highly-anticipated tariff plans at 4pm ET today.

Deal teams from CVC to Warburg Pincus leverage Mosaic to build LBO models in mere minutes. It's time that you do too.

Before we dive in, 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!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 4/1/2025 market close.

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

Markets

  • US stocks closed higher in a choppy trading day as investors braced for US tariff announcements today

  • US 2Y yield ticked down to 3.9% to its lowest since early-October

  • Uganda shilling is up 6% YTD as Africa's best-performing currency

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: BlackBerry

    • Thursday: GUESS

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • US will announce tariff plans at 4pm ET today (BBG)

  • Eurozone inflation dipped to 2.2% YoY (CNBC)

  • US jobs report was revised down for February (BBG)

  • US recession fear raises 'gray swan' risk for bond investors (BBG)

  • Europe IPO comeback sputters as market turmoil slows deals (BBG)

  • Europe private credit volumes reached a record $74B in 2024 (ACI) 

  • Investors are pouring into gold funds at the fastest pace since Covid (FT)

  • US investors poured a record $11B into Europe stock ETFs in Q1 (RT)

  • Chinese banks interest margins fall to record low as economy slows (FT)

  • European retail distress hit a decade high amid consumer gloom (BBG)

  • AQR gained 9% in Q1 (RT)

  • Citadel and Millennium lost 0.9% and 2% in Q1 respectively (BBG)

  • Bond king Jeff Gundlach sees shelter in LatAm bonds (BBG)

  • PIMCO looks abroad as US exceptionalism fades (RT)

  • Apollo offered private investors fee bonus to lock up capital (BBG)

  • Nigeria's SWF fund gained 59% last year (BBG)

  • Hong Kong is considering a new OTC stock market for delisted firms (BBG)

  • Proxy firm ISS also urged shareholders to reject Goldman execs' pay (BBG)

  • Warburg Pincus plans to open a Tokyo office in Japan push (BBG)

  • Visa offered $100M to Apple to replace Mastercard for credit cards (WSJ)

  • BNPL activity is beginning to show on credit reports (WSJ) 

  • Alibaba will launch its flagship AI model this month (BBG)

  • Meta's head of AI research will depart (RT)

  • Global billionaires topped 3k (FRB)

  • US froze funding for Princeton (BBG)

A Message from Mosaic

Model with Mosaic

By now, I'm sure you've heard of the buzz-worthy deal modeling platform, Mosaic.

Mosaic was recently featured in Bloomberg and FT for their next-gen technology that allows investment professionals to build LBO models in minutes.

The platform was built by PE veterans themselves, and its accuracy, complexity and practicality virtually eliminates the tediousness of modeling tasks that many of us face daily.

I wish I had this tool during my PE days and I'm not surprised that Mosaic is emerging as the new industry standard in deal modeling. 

Some of the biggest investors already use Mosaic to save hours on modeling workflows and it's something that you must try. 

Model with Mosaic

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • VC a16z is in talks to join Oracle's bid for TikTok US, with Blackstone also weighing an investment

  • Chinese automakers Dongfeng Motor and Changan Auto, with $4.9B and $15.7B market caps respectively, are in advanced talks to merge

  • CVC is exploring options for its majority stake in French diagnostics provider Sebia, which could be valued at ~$6.5B

  • Insurer Swiss Life, Canada's OMERS, KKR, BlackRock, Wren House Infrastructure, and Igneo Infrastructure Partners are potential bidders for Swiss data center operator Green, with owner InfraVia seeking a $2.2B-$2.7B valuation, including debt

  • KKR, the main shareholder in Italian fiber optic grid operator FiberCop, is studying a tie-up with Italy's Open Fiber, which may trigger a $2.7B payment to Telecom Italia as part of its sale of FiberCorp to KKR

  • Spain's Cellnex Telecom kicked off a sale of its majority stake in its Swiss business, which could fetch up to $2.2B

  • The US unit of South Korea's LG Energy Solutions will acquire the assets of its Michigan EV battery JV with General Motors for $2B

  • Colombia's state-owned Ecopetrol is considering buying SierraCol Energy from Carlyle for $1.5B

  • Qualcomm is weighing an offer for $815M UK-listed semiconductor firm Alphawave; SoftBank-owned semiconductor firm Arm also recently expressed interest

  • Brazil state-owned bank BRB will acquire key assets from peer Banco Master for $350M

  • Brokerage firm BGC Group acquired commodity brokerage OTC Global for $325M cash

  • Zurich Insurance agreed to acquire an almost 50% minority stake in UK-based M&A insurer Icen Risk at a $194M valuation

  • Brookfield acquired a 50.1% stake in mortgage lender Angel Oak

  • Investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald agreed to acquire peer Canaccord Genuity's US wholesale market-making business

VC

  • Finnish quantum computing startup IQM is in talks to raise an over $215M round

  • AI coding startup Replit is in talks to raise $200M at a $3B valuation

  • AttoTude, a THz interconnect technology company for AI and hyperscale data center applications, raised a $50M Series B led by Mayfield

  • Chef Robotics, an AI-enabled robotic systems for meal assembly, raised a $43M Series A led by Avataar Ventures

  • LightSource, a procurement intelligence startup, raised $33M in funding led by Bain Capital Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners

  • Venteur, a personalized health tech platform, raised a $20M Series A led by Informed Ventures and American Family Ventures

  • GS Microelectronics, a startup building an intelligent manufacturing dashboard solution, raised an $18M growth round from strategic partners and tech funds

  • Notable Systems, a revenue cycle automation platform for medical equipment providers, raised a $12M Series B led by Harbert Growth Partners and Grotech Ventures

  • Pet telehealth startup Airvet raised an $11M Series B-2 led by HighlandX

  • Atomic, a bank account primacy and enabling financial connectivity company, raised a $10M round led by Capital One Ventures, Citi Ventures, and F.N.B. Corporation

  • Orthodontic growth system startup orthobrain raised a $7.5M round led by CareCapital

  • Customer intelligence platform Sturdy raised a $6M seed round led by Voyager Capital

  • Long range drone startup Beagle raised a $5.4M seed round led by AENU and PT1

  • LTV.ai, an AI personalized & conversational email / SMS marketing platform, raised a $5.2M Series A led by Bling Capital, Protagonist, and Justin Yoshimura

  • Observability control platform ControlTheory raised a $5M seed round led by Silverton Partners

  • Fiberdom, a Finnish material startup specializing in sustainable plastic substitutes, raised a $3.8M round led by Heino Group

  • EVident Battery, a startup developing sustainable battery technology, raised a $3.2M seed round led by Ibex Investors

  • Ponte Labor, a startup using WhatsApp to match Hispanic immigrants with potential employers, raised a $3M seed round at a $15M valuation led by Harlem Capital

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Stablecoin issuer Circle, last valued at $7.7B in 2022, filed for an IPO

  • India will convert $4.3B of dues for airwaves of telecom Vodafone Idea into equity to raise its stake to 49%

  • SmartStop Self Storage REIT raised $810M in an IPO priced at the lower end of a marketed range

  • Surgical applications startup UltraGreen.ai is considering raising up to $300M in a Singapore IPO

  • Intel plans to spin off non-core units and develop custom semiconductors

  • South Africa government institution Industrial Development Corp. is seeking to increase its stake in steel giant ArcelorMittal's South Africa unit

  • South Korean cinema chain CJ CGV is considering an IPO of its CJ 4DPlex theater-technology affiliate

Debt

  • SoftBank raised $10B in debt from Mizuho to fund part of its $40B investment in OpenAI

  • Goldman Sachs and Citigroup sold $8.1B in leveraged loans and high-yield bonds to finance PE firm CD&R's acquisition of a stake in French pharma giant Sanofi's consumer health unit

  • Apollo and Citigroup's private credit venture is offering $3.5B in private credit at a 450 bps premium to fund any acquisition of Boeing's navigation unit Jeppesen; Blue Owl Capital and Ares are also lining up private credit packages

  • A group of banks including Citigroup and JPMorgan may need to self-fund a debt package to finance Apollo-backed Canadian auto parts maker ABC Technologies' acquisition of TI Fluid Systems amid low demand and delays to its $2.25B debt sale

  • China kicked off its first-ever green sovereign bond sale in London seeking to raise $825M

  • JPMorgan is discussing a higher yield and other sweeteners for the $660M junk bond offering for restaurant chain Chuck E. Cheese 

  • LA-based J. Paul Getty Trust is selling $500M in bonds for fire protection

  • Chile's state-run copper giant Codelco raised a $466M loan from Japan Bank for International Cooperation and a $200M loan co-financed with a commercial bank

  • Princeton University is considering selling $320M of bonds amid a federal funding freeze

  • BBVA México is planning an ESG bond sale for the first time since 2022

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Australia's Star Entertainment is exploring a lifeline from US casino group Bally's after a $590M refinancing proposal from investment group Salter Brothers Capital collapsed

  • Hedge fund Bracebridge Capital will provide a bankruptcy loan to Hooters to help fund its Chapter 11 process

  • Swedish EV battery maker Northvolt's bankruptcy trustee secured a deal for financial guarantees to continue scaled-down operations

Fundraising

  • Hedge fund Schonfeld raised $300M for a targeted $1B new quant fund

  • Barclays' private credit partner AGL Credit Management is struggling to raise funds despite a $1B anchor investment from SWF ADIA

  • Healthcare PE firm Linden Capital Partners raised $400M for a second structured capital fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • American Bitcoin Corp., the crypto mining venture backed by Trump, plans to eventually go public

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

Exec’s Picks

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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.