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Deel countersued Rippling, Point72 closed an EM trading pod, PE firms are warming up to defense assets, US bond funds saw the first weekly inflow in six weeks, and Pepsi's CEO took questions from a child analyst in a wholesome 'take your child to work' moment.

Bigdata.com's new AI research agents have unlocked a new era of financial research, covering everything from market intelligence, investing and risk management. It's something definitely worth checking out.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 4/25/2025 market close.

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

Markets

  • US stocks continued to rise on Friday as tariff jitters settled 

    • S&P posted its longest win streak since January and its second-best week YTD

    • All three major indexes posted their second positive week in three

    • Nasdaq turned positive YTD

    • US stocks are underperforming rest of the world YTD by the most in over three decades 

    • VIX hit its lowest since 'Liberation Day'

  • US Treasuries rallied for a second week, erasing MTD losses

    • 5Y and 30Y yields narrowed for the first time since February

  • Coconut oil jumped 77% YoY to a record high amid poor weather 

  • Dollar had its first weekly gain since mid-March

    • Dollar fell 9% in its worst first 100 days under a new US president since 1969

    • Swiss franc's surge to a decade-high versus dollar sparked bets on return to negative rates

Earnings

  • Lazard beat Q1 profit estimates on strong results in its asset management business but warned that economic uncertainty could hurt dealmaking (RT)

  • AbbVie issued a Q1 beat and raise despite investor concerns over tariffs, falling drug prices, and declining Humira sales (BRN)

  • Phillips 66 beat Q1 revenue estimates but missed on earnings in weaker refining margins and petroleum sales (NAS)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Domino's, Waste Management, Welltower

    • Tuesday: Visa, PayPal, Starbucks, UPS, Spotify, Booking Holdings

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

    • Thursday: Eli Lilly, Amazon, Mastercard, CVS, Airbnb, Reddit

    • Friday: ExxonMobil, Chevron

  • Full calendar here 

Prediction Markets

  • Canada's PM race seems to have taken a turn in the past month.

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Headline Roundup

  • Child analyst grills Pepsi CEO in earnings call in 'take your child to work' day (BBG)

  • ECB is preparing to lower rates further (BBG)

  • Wall Street expects US to hit debt ceiling around September (BBG)

  • Bond market's 'New World Order' brings fear of the long bond (BBG)

  • 'Magnificent 7' earnings estimates may be way too high (BBG)

  • 40% of private credit borrowers had negative FCF in 2024 (BBG)

  • PE firms target defense assets once seen as toxic (BBG)

  • Private credit take aim at ESG for holding back Europe defense funding (FT)

  • LPs are turning to credit funds betting on financing upheaval (MM)

  • Equity funds saw second week of inflows on easing US-China tensions (RT)

  • US bond funds saw first weekly inflow in six weeks (RT)

  • Foreign investors dumped $63B in US stocks since March (BBG)

  • Funds hold bullish corn, soybean bets in hopes for trade talk progress (RT)

  • Japan firms are reviving yen bond deals amid pressing funding needs (BBG)

  • Point72 closed an EM-focused trading pod (BBG) 

  • Vanguard ruled out China in big international push (FT)

  • Xi Jinping called for self-sufficiency in AI development amid US rivalry (RT)

  • China's Huawei developed a new AI chip to match Nvidia (WSJ)

  • Shein hiked US prices up to 377% ahead of tariffs (BBG)

  • HR startup Deel countersued Rippling for defamation but didn't deny spying allegations (TC)

  • TikTok will enter Japan e-commerce industry (RT)

  • Shopify tried to recruit Canadian PM Mark Carney in 2020 (BBG)

  • Paramount paid four CEOs $148M combined in 2024 (BBG)

  • AI could help workers save 122 hours / year (RT)

  • The hottest AI job of 2023 is already obsolete (WSJ)

  • SEC headcount is down 16% since last year (RT)

  • Republicans plan to shut down US audit regulator (FT)

  • Elite colleges formed a private collective to resist Trump (WSJ)

  • US students turn to UK as Trump takes aim at US universities (FT)

  • Credit card companies are bracing for a downturn (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Toyota's chairman Akio Toyoda proposed a record $42B MBO of its supplier Toyota Industries, a 40% premium; Toyota is also considering investing

  • DoorDash offered to acquire UK-based peer Deliveroo for $3.6B cash

  • German pharma giant Merck is in late-stage talks to acquire SpringWorks Therapeutics in a $3.5B cash deal

  • Investors approved French multinational retail distribution group Carrefour's $3.1B acquisition of Brazilian retailer Atacadao in a contentious vote

  • Tencent Music, a unit of Chinese tech giant Tencent, is in advanced talks to acquire Chinese podcasting startup Ximalaya for $2.4B in cash and stock

  • Bain Capital and KPS Capital are interested in acquiring truck-maker Iveco's defense unit, valued at $1.7B

  • PE firm GTCR is weighing sale of healthcare tech firm Cedar Gate Technologies at a ~$1B valuation, including debt

  • Engineering and inspection-services provider Acuren expressed takeover interest in $1B-listed rival NV5 Global

  • French shipping giant CMA acquired Turkish logistics firm Borusan Tedarik from Turkish conglomerate Borusan for $440M

  • Alibaba's fintech unit Ant Group agreed to acquire a controlling 50.55% stake in Hong Kong-listed brokerage Bright Smart for $362M

  • Swiss insurance group Helvetia's biggest shareholder Patria Genossenschaft acquired activist Cevian's 9.4% stake in rival Baloise to facilitate the Helvetia–Baloise merger

  • PE firm TA Associates is nearing a deal for a significant stake in $2.4B AUM secondaries investor Kline Hill Partners, which also saw interest from Sixth Street, Bridgepoint, First Eagle, and Tikehau Capital who were pursuing a deal at a $500M valuation

  • Mideast conglomerate Amwaj International acquired an 18% stake in UAE real estate developer Cledor at a $100M valuation

  • Italian tire-maker Pirelli is nearing deal to end China's state-owned chemicals giant Sinochem's 37% control amid Italy's regulator request

  • French media giant Banijay is exploring a takeover offer for British media group ITV 

VC

  • Elon Musk's OpenAI-rival xAI is in talks to raise a ~$20B round at a $120B valuation

  • Saudi tech firm iMENA Holding raised a $135M round from FJ Labs and PIF's VC arm Sanabil ahead of its planned Saudi IPO

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Activist hedge fund Third Point acquired a stake in J&J's $44B-listed consumer health spinoff Kenvue, which recently also came under pressure from activists Starboard and Toms Capital 

  • Robot vacuum maker Beijing Roborock is considering raising $500M in a Hong Kong IPO 

  • Ethiopia raised $24M from 10% stake sale in its first IPO of state-run Ethio Telecom

SPAC

  • Cantor Equity Partners surged 200% for a $12B market cap, after announcing a deal to become a publicly traded Bitcoin investment vehicle

Debt 

  • IMF paused a $8.1B credit line to Colombia 

  • Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Deutsche, JPMorgan, UBS, and Wells Fargo are preparing a $4.25B debt package to back Sycamore Partners' $10B LBO of UK pharmacy Boots, part of the $10B Walgreens Boots Alliance take-private

  • Department store owner Saks Global is considering raising $300M in debt after tariffs caused Saks-Neiman merger bonds to drop 35%

  • Banks including DBS and HSBC prepared a $136M debt package to finance Bain Capital's acquisition of a minority stake in Indian auto parts-maker Dhoot Transmission

  • Saudi Arabia and Qatar pledged to pay off Syria's $15M World Bank debt to unlock funds for economic recovery

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Knicks broadcaster MSG Networks restructured and raised $210M in debt to avert bankruptcy

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • Private markets investments firm StepStone Group raised $705M for its fourth tactical growth fund to back firms outside the traditional VC ecosystem

  • UK PE firm Palatine raised $340M for its fifth PE fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Arbitrum Foundation pulled out of accelerator program after Nvidia refused crypto association

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

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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.