👂 Hold Please
Funny how a familiar voice can open every door.
Also available:🇫🇷 Édition française
Good morning!
Someone rang Point72 claiming to be the help desk and asked an employee to hand over an authenticator code. Citadel, Millennium, Two Sigma and several private equity firms got the same treatment, the voice cloned well enough that an industry which prices every risk on earth spent the week emailing investors about phones. Point72 reports no sign that client data left the building, a claim with some history, coming from a firm that pleaded guilty to securities fraud in 2013 under the name SAC Capital, paid $1.8B and watched 8 of its people convicted for acquiring information nobody was entitled to hand over. The grievance in 2026 is that a stranger phoned and asked politely.
Extracting information from someone who should not be parting with it is no novelty here; it is a line item. Expert networks exist for precisely that: a fund pays four figures an hour to put an analyst on a call with someone employed by the supplier, with a compliance officer listening in to keep the conversation one inch short of the felony. The callers working the same seam have dropped the invoice and the chaperone. Cognizant ran the Clorox service desk for more than a decade until August 2023 when, on Clorox’s account, a caller said he was locked out and an agent obligingly supplied the password. Clorox puts the damage at $380M. Cognizant says it was hired to answer phones, not run security.
Two Sigma, which runs $75B, spotted the campaign and killed it, which will earn it no coverage. The defence has to hold on every call, every employee, every hour, and the attacker needs one person at 4pm who wants to close the ticket and go home. A campaign that once reached 50 firms now reaches an estimated 1,000, because cloning a voice costs nothing. Thalha Jubair, charged in the US over 120 intrusions at 47 victims and $115M of ransoms, was traced partly through gift cards and food deliveries bought with the proceeds. He was 20 at sentencing in July, alongside an 18-year-old, for an attack that took 148 Transport for London systems down, cost £29M to remedy and ended with 27,000 staff queueing at offices to have their passwords reset in person.
Both breaches began at a service desk, with someone whose job amounted to resolving the call and sparing a colleague the need to repeat himself. That quality has since been reclassified as an attack surface, and the remedy now spreading across finance is a programme teaching every employee to treat every familiar voice as a probable forgery. Point72 and Citadel will absorb this without noticing, having the balance sheets, the lawyers and, in one case, three decades of practice at explaining themselves. The person paid to answer the phone quickly and kindly gets a career of being told that the correct response to a colleague in trouble is to hang up.
Publicité
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🗞️ Top Story
- 🇩🇪 Drone Alone. After an explosive drone was found at Leipzig/Halle airport, Germany’s Greens demand an urgent National Security Council meeting to address the suspected hybrid attack. (Die Zeit)
- 🇮🇹 Route Cause. Italian police dismantled a smuggling ring moving migrants from Algeria to Sardinia and France, arresting eight Algerians who charged €2,500 per crossing. (Le Parisien)
- 🇪🇺 Borderline Tourism. Seven countries have asked Brussels for targeted aid to rescue tourism in eastern regions hit hard by the war in Ukraine, as visitor numbers plummet and local businesses struggle to survive near the conflict zone. (El Pais)
- 🇪🇺 Licence to Spy. The MI6 tops a new European intelligence agency ranking, leaving France’s DGSE in second place and the Dutch services in third. The British crown keeps its secrets. And its bragging rights. (Libé)
- 🇺🇸 Born Identity. Donald Trump signs a new executive order targeting « birth tourism, » aiming to limit citizenship for children born in the to foreign parents, despite the Supreme Court’s recent rejection of his broader attempt. (Ouest-France)
- 🇺🇸 Silent Treatment. Fauci repeatedly invokes the Fifth before a Republican Senate panel probing Covid’s origins, earning a contempt citation and a starring role in Rand Paul’s revenge plot. (Le Parisien)
- 🇺🇸 Discovery Channel. Donald Trump wins a last-minute court stay that blocks the BBC from accessing his business records in a $10B defamation lawsuit, for now. (Cnbc)
- 🇻🇪 State of Play. Caracas begins cautious discussions with the opposition about elections as Trump posts Venezuela under the US flag and claims local popularity. (Libé)
- 🇨🇳 Spy Fry. Researchers say Chinese-linked spyware LightSpy has spread to 13 countries, including the US, and now targets routers as well as phones and PCs. (TechCrunch)
- 🇰🇵 Rocket Science. North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea, as confirmed by South Korean and Japanese officials, keeping regional tensions on a steady boil. (Boursier)
- 🇮🇷 Current Affairs. Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz leaves Trump boxed in, unable to force a military win or claim a diplomatic victory. (Le Figaro)
- 🇧🇯 Upper House Call. Patrice Talon, former president, takes the helm of Benin’s brand-new Senate just months after leaving the country’s top job. (Le Monde)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Signal Failure. A power outage at Network Rail’s Manchester control centre stranded thousands of passengers across northern England, causing widespread train delays and cancellations for at least two days. (Bbc)
- 🇬🇧 Pretty Poverty. Cornwall and Devon may look like postcard escapes, but a new report says their students face some of England’s worst educational outcomes beneath the tourist gloss. (Bbc)
- 🇬🇧 Class Dismissed. Sir George Holmes is out as vice-chancellor of the University of Greater Manchester following allegations of financial mismanagement and other misconduct. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Primary Colors. Marsha Blackburn clinches the Republican nomination for Tennessee governor, setting up a likely historic win as the state’s first female leader. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Pool Fiction. A judge tossed felony charges against ex-Olympian David Hearn after prosecutors admitted the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool damage was due to botched renovations, not vandalism, embarrassing both the Justice Department and Trump’s narrative. (New York Times)
🏛️ Economy
- 🇬🇧 Risky Business. Analysis reveals e-scooter riders are far more likely to sustain traumatic brain injuries than bikers or cyclists, putting a spotlight on the hidden dangers of the electric commute. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇷 Credit Immunity. Greece’s two main parties, New Democracy and Pasok 🇬🇷, sit atop €1.16B in unpaid loans as banks politely look the other way. (Les Echos)
- 🇪🇺 Continental Drift. Brussels signals a major pivot by making banking competitiveness and market integration central, challenging decades of safety-first orthodoxy. (Financial Times)
- 🇪🇺 Dry Run. Europe faces record-low water levels on the Rhine and Danube, forcing governments to confront drought as a permanent, collective crisis. (Libé)
- 🇺🇸 Wall of Deceipts. The Government Accountability Office says Doge 🇺🇸 inflated its $110B savings claims, with most figures unsupported or outright incorrect according to the audit. (Bbc)
- 🇺🇸 Blind Spot. authorities intervened in currency markets by selling euros for yen, leaving European partners scrambling to catch up with the move. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Rate Expectations. St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem publicly backed a rate hike at July’s FOMC meeting, citing persistent inflation concerns and the need for restraint. (Bloomberg)
- 🇲🇽 Pit Stop. Avocado exports from Mexico hit a hard pause as the US halts shipments over safety concerns, prompting a rapid security overhaul. (Bloomberg)
- 🇨🇳 Gold Standard. China’s central bank is adding gold reserves in Hong Kong to boost the city’s role as a global trading hub, putting precious metal behind its ambitions. (Bloomberg)
- 🇸🇬 Visa Versa. Applications for Singapore’s top-tier talent visas have surged, with twice as many high earners welcomed since the program began. (Bloomberg)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Tentacle Rights. The GMB union is demanding official recognition at Octopus Energy 🇬🇧, arguing that a self-styled ethical giant should not dodge collective bargaining. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Green Light. As prepackaged salad sales drop 20% during the cyclospora scare, local farmers’ markets like Oliver’s see lettuce sales more than double, with demand far outstripping supply. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Still Standing. Weekly jobless claims in the U.S. edged up to 199,000, keeping the labor market’s “crisis” narrative on indefinite hold. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇲🇽 Still Waters. The Bank of Mexico opted for calm by holding its key rate steady at 6.5%, with no surprises for markets or borrowers. (Wall Street Journal)
🏢 Real Estate
- 🇬🇧 Jazz Migration. Blue Note brings its world-famous New York sound to London, debuting in Covent Garden with Robert Glasper on opening night. (The Guardian)
- 🇦🇷 Not for Sale. Javier Milei pulled his bill allowing non-Argentines to buy rural land after protests made it clear the public was not buying. (Libé)
- 🇯🇵 Office Space. HSBC 🇬🇧 is selling its Tokyo headquarters and relocating to a new building, proving even global banks occasionally need to downsize their desks. (Bloomberg)
- 🌏 Space Invaders. JLL’s Pamela Ambler outlines a cautious outlook for Asia Pacific commercial property, with Hong Kong facing particular headwinds as investors tread carefully. (Bloomberg)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Tower Defense. Residents of London’s iconic Barbican are fighting a planned 20-story office block next door, claiming it will cast a shadow over their prized Brutalist landmark. (New York Times)
- 🇬🇧 Port in a Storm. Plans to dredge and expand Falmouth’s docks for giant cruise ships threaten both fragile ecosystems and the town’s tranquil appeal. (The Guardian)
🔗 On-chain
- 🇩🇪 Coining It In. BISON, the crypto platform from Börse Stuttgart, adds eight new coins to its lineup, bringing its regulated German offering to over 70 tradable cryptocurrencies. (Startbase)
- 🇪🇺 Watchdog Day Afternoon. Scammers are impersonating both crypto companies and regulators to exploit confusion after new crypto rules, targeting customers during the regulatory shake-up. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Stable Genius. MoonPay 🇺🇸 unveils a new platform for businesses to issue, convert, and settle stablecoins globally, promising one-stop payments with fewer headaches. (FinExtra)
💱 Listed Markets
- 🇬🇧 Ad-Vantage Point. WPP 🇬🇧 shares jumped after CEO Cindy Rose’s turnaround plan slowed the company’s revenue decline, giving investors something to cheer about for once. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇬🇧 Sea Change. BP is selling its North Sea oil business after 60 years, leaving Aberdeen to face tough questions about Scotland’s energy future and competitiveness. (Financial Times)
- 🇩🇪 Ship Happens. Rheinmetall cut its annual sales forecast after Germany canceled a major frigate contract, leaving the defense giant with a hole in its order book. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Like and Dislike. A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta 🇺🇸 to pay $942M in penalties and upgrade its safety features for harming children with its social media platforms. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Gravity Check. SpaceX stock could face more downward pressure as the post-IPO lockup ends, unleashing 911M shares onto the market at once. (Cnbc)
- 🇺🇸 Heavy Favorite. Investors rewarded Eli Lilly 🇺🇸 with a rally after its blockbuster results, but punished Novo Nordisk 🇩🇰 for pipeline doubts, widening the gap between the obesity drug rivals. (Cnbc)
- 🇺🇸 Memory Lane. Sandisk 🇺🇸 reported Q4 revenue and net income of $6.9B as AI-driven demand for data storage turned last year’s loss into a windfall. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇯🇵 Chip Shot. SoftBank booked an $8B windfall from its Intel stake, letting Masayoshi Son beat earnings forecasts even as profits slipped 18 percent. (Financial Times)
- 🇯🇵 Vision Faded. SoftBank Group 🇯🇵 reported an 18% drop in quarterly net profit to $2.2B as Vision Fund gains shrank, though results still beat analyst forecasts. (Wall Street Journal)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Pour Decisions. Diageo’s new CEO Dave Lewis plans to nearly double Guinness output while axing thousands of jobs, proving « Drastic Dave » earned his nickname. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Order Up. Instacart shares surged following a revenue boost and upbeat guidance, as the company tries to keep its growth menu fresh. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Deep Discount. Ford unveils its new electric pickup, the Fathom, starting at $28,350, aiming to lure buyers back as EV demand stalls. (Cnbc)
🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)
- AstraZeneca 🇬🇧 and Bristol Myers Squibb 🇺🇸 are not in talks for a $400B merger.
- Compagnie des Alpes 🇫🇷 acquires a 33.9% stake in PadelCity 🇩🇪 for €20M (€12M via capital increase), a Munich-founded padel operator with 24 facilities and ~€50M projected revenue by end-2026.
- IDI 🇫🇷 sells Groupe Talis 🇫🇷 to its founder Serge Marcillaud, alongside the group’s management team.
- Vusion 🇫🇷, the $2.8B-listed retailers operations automation firm, is exploring a sale.
- Maurel & Prom 🇫🇷 agrees to acquire Gran Tierra Energy 🇨🇦’s Colombian and Ecuadorean oil operations for $1.33B including debt
- OVH Groupe 🇫🇷 acquires Gladia 🇫🇷 via a contribution in kind paid with 1,807,186 new OVH shares issued at €15.66 each (nominal €1).
- Allianz Global Investors 🇩🇪 agrees to buy United Overseas Bank asset management unit 🇸🇬 for $433M, asset management business.
- UniCredit 🇮🇹 moves toward acquiring Commerzbank 🇩🇪, holding ~44.37% (up to 47.59% with options) after a voluntary offer. Commerzbank posts Q2 profit €898M, H1 €1.8B, targets €3.4B for the year and plans up to €1.2B in buybacks.
- Banco BPM 🇮🇹 mulls a merger with Credit Agricole‘s Italian unit 🇮🇹; $30B-listed, after failing to strike a deal with BMPS.
- Fortino Capital 🇧🇪 invests in Operations1 🇩🇪, an AI-powered B2B SaaS digitizing shop-floor workflows.
- CVC 🇱🇺 and Veritas Capital 🇺🇸 submit $2.2B takeover bids for Bodycote Plc 🇬🇧.
- Partners Group 🇨🇭 to acquire Aroma-Zone 🇫🇷 from Eurazeo for $2.3B.
- Partners Group 🇨🇭 acquires Aroma-Zone 🇫🇷 in exclusive talks in a deal valuing the company at $2.3B including debt. The transaction would generate about €576M of gross proceeds to Eurazeo.
- Apollo 🇺🇸 acquires easyJet 🇬🇧 for €6.7B. Deal confirmed by both parties, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, expected to close Q1 2027.
- Hearst 🇺🇸 acquires A+E Global Media 🇺🇸 (Disney’s 50% stake) for $1.2B cash to take full ownership.
- Bain Capital 🇺🇸 acquires Gong cha 🇹🇼 for $635M, global boba tea chain.
- Spencer Spirit Holdings 🇺🇸 is in advanced talks to acquire teen retailer Hot Topic 🇺🇸 from Sycamore Partners for $350M.
- Toms Capital Investment Management 🇺🇸 pushes Voya Financial 🇺🇸 to explore a sale, after building roughly a 4.5% stake and planning an open letter to shareholders.
- Advanced Micro Devices 🇺🇸 acquires Taalas 🇨🇦, a Toronto-based startup that makes inference chips hard-wired for single AI models. Taalas has raised $219M.
- Nielsen Holdings 🇺🇸 acquires DoubleVerify 🇺🇸 for $2.15B enterprise value, paying $13.60 a share.
- Beedie Capital 🇨🇦 acquires half of Vistara Growth 🇨🇦 and commits $125M to a new fund.
- Appleby 🇧🇲 explores selling a stake to private equity.
- CSN 🇧🇷 seeks $2.9B for its cement unit.
- SJ Holdings 🇰🇷 launches a take-private offer for Golfzon 🇰🇷 at ~$210M valuation, facing pushback from minority shareholder Terton Capital.
- XTEND 🇮🇱 merges with JFB Construction Holdings 🇺🇸 in a $1.5B all-stock deal to form XTEND AI Robotics, to be listed on Nasdaq as XTND, focused on AI-powered autonomous defense and security robotics.
🇺🇸 United States
- Altair Industries 🇺🇸 acquires Central Wire Industries 🇺🇸 with Silver Point Capital’s Direct Lending unit leading a $500M term loan financing. Specialty wire manufacturer serving aerospace & defense and industrial markets.
- Veritas Capital 🇺🇸 acquires Saber Power Services 🇺🇸 from Greenbelt Capital Partners 🇺🇸. Mission-critical power infrastructure services provider, management retains a significant minority stake, expected to close Q4 2026, financial terms not disclosed.
- Civitas Capital Group 🇺🇸 closes a $33.6M senior construction loan for The Lucille 🇺🇸, a 240-unit Class A multifamily developed by Parkspring Multifamily 🇺🇸 with Realty Capital Partners 🇺🇸 as largest equity participant.
- FinDev Canada 🇨🇦 invests EUR 40M in NSIA Banque Côte d’Ivoire S.A. 🇨🇮 as part of a EUR 100M syndicated facility led by Citibank, earmarking 50% for SMEs, 30% for WSMEs and the remainder for climate/renewable energy finance (photovoltaic projects).
🧳 Private Markets & VC
- 🇪🇺 Value Proposition. Ares Management cut its planned €1B private credit continuation vehicle to €400M after investors demanded steeper loan discounts than Ares would accept. (Financial Times)
- 🇹🇼 Fund Delegation. Taiwan’s $212B pension fund will hand over some of its stock investing to third-party managers, outsourcing risk and responsibility in one move. (Bloomberg)
Fundraising
- Hadrian 🇺🇸 (Manufacturing): $1.37B (WCM Investment Management, Washington Harbour Partners, Valor Equity Partners, 137 Ventures, Baillie Gifford, JPMorgan Chase Strategic Investment Group, 1789 Capital, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Apollo, T. Rowe Price Associates, CapitalG, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Altimeter, Construct Capital, existing investors)
- Lumilens 🇺🇸 (Photonics): $700M+ (Atreides Management, Bain Capital Ventures, Meritech, Seligman Ventures, Spark Capital, Addition, Alkeon, Harbourvest, J.P. Morgan Private Capital, Mayfield, MVP Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Peak XV, Redpoint Ventures, Seifdune, Aiconic, EDBI, Lingotto, Thomvest Ventures)
- Adtek Technology 🇨🇳 (Optical): $300M (Temasek, Morgan Stanley PE, CPE)
- Iceye 🇫🇮 (Space): €300M (Scaleup Europe Fund)
- LifeMine Therapeutics 🇺🇸 (Biopharma): $263M (Milky Way Investments, Bezos Expeditions, Gates Frontier, RA Capital Management, GV, LoLa Capital Partners, GlaxoSmithKline, Invus, ARCH Venture Partners)
- Horizon3 🇺🇸 (Cybersecurity): $250M (NightDragon, NEA, Acrew, Blue Cloud Ventures, EDBI, Demeter Group, PSG, SAIC, Sapphire, Craft Ventures, Prosperity7 Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Ridge Ventures, SignalFire)
- HappyRobot 🇺🇸 (AI): $150M (Prysm Capital, Eurazeo)
- Decade 🇧🇷 (Wealth advisory): $85M (Greenoaks, Benchmark, Diffusion)
- Enigma (Robotics): $71M (Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital)
- Convex 🇺🇸 (Backend): $57M (Insight Partners, Etna Labs, a16z, Spark Capital)
- Ore Energy 🇳🇱 (Energy): $43M (Plural, HV Capital, Positron Ventures)
- Yellow Card 🇳🇬 (Fintech): $40M (SC Ventures by Standard Chartered, Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, additional strategic investors)
- WindBorne Systems 🇺🇸 (Weather): $37M (Khosla Ventures, Galvanize, TransLink Capital, Lux Capital, existing investors)
- Moss 🇩🇪 (Fintech): €30M (Portage, Cherry Ventures)
- Maximum 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $30M (CRV, Pear VC, Restive, Plug and Play Ventures, Anthemis)
- Agon 🇬🇧 (Defense): $30M (Lakestar)
- Naïve 🇺🇸 (AI): $28.5M (Nexus Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Zetta, Liquid 2, Gokul Rajaram, Tim Zheng, JD Sherman)
- HealthSnap 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $25M (Eastward Capital Partners, LLC)
- Ordway 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $20M (Harbert Growth Partners, Western Alliance Bank’s Innovation Banking Group)
- Assured 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $19M (Insight Partners, First Round Capital, Kindred Ventures)
- Neuraspace 🇵🇹 (Space): €15.6M (Lince Capital, Explorer Investments, Armilar Venture Partners, Portugal Recovery and Resilience Plan)
- Dronus 🇮🇹 (Aerospace): $15M (Algebris Investments, Azimut, CDPVenture Capital, SIMEST, Eni Next)
- Wordsmith AI 🇺🇸 (Legal): $14M (Intact Private Capital, FT Ventures, Highland Europe, Index Ventures)
- Endeavor Optical Networks 🇺🇸 (Space): $10.75M (General Catalyst, a16z)
- Malachyte 🇺🇸 (E-commerce): $10M (Bessemer Venture Partners, Gradient Ventures, Harpoon Ventures)
- SiteVue AI 🇺🇸 (Manufacturing): $7.5M (Penny Jar Capital, Overture, Silence, Spring Bank, Mana Ventures, Outset Capital, WaterStone, Untapped Ventures)
- conmeet 🇩🇪 (ConstructionTech): €6M (Reimann Investors Venture Capital, Smedvig Ventures, May Ventures)
- Proxy Foods AI 🇺🇸 (Foodtech): $6M (Ted Leonsis, Robert G. Hisaoka, SWaN & Legend Venture Partners, Ike Grigoropoulos, Ted Xenohristos, Dimitri Moshovitis, Richard Ware, Howard Eisenberg, Jeff Skoll, Roger W. Ferguson Jr., Michelle Freeman, Yiannis Gavrielides, Evee & Alexander Georgiadis, Chris Goulakos, George P. Stamas, Grant Verstandig)
- SkinBit 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $6M (Boost VC, Cleo Capital, Manna Ventures, Profluent Capital, Logan Green, nine board-certified dermatologists)
- Vexev 🇦🇺 (Medtech): $6M (Blackbird Ventures, Neotribe Ventures, Startmate, Horizon, TreeArc Investment Group, TEN13, Bioshore Ventures, Alumni Ventures)
- Meduloc 🇺🇸 (Medtech): $4M (GenHenn Capital, Life Sciences Greenhouse Investments, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Broad Street Angels, Andre Ethier)
- Shelfmark 🇺🇸 (Manufacturing): $3.5M (Armory Square Ventures, Grand Ventures, Hyde Park Angels, Argon Ventures, Cultivation Capital)
- FuVeX 🇪🇸 (Drones): €3M (SODENA, SEGO Venture, Izertis Ventures, family offices)
- Invecorum 🇩🇪 (TaxTech): six-figure sum (Dr. Gunter Dunkel, business angels from Hanover and surrounding region)
Fund Watch
- Apollo 🇺🇸: $12B+ (11th flagship private equity fund)
- Sequoia Capital 🇺🇸: $10B (new growth & expansion funds, first fundraising under new leadership)
- Energy Capital Partners (ECP) 🇺🇸: $8.1B (ECP VI, 6th flagship equity fund for energy transition infrastructure)
- Scaleup Europe Fund 🇪🇺: €1B (debut investment. Co‑led ICEYE Series F)
- GIC 🇸🇬: $1B (selling PE LP stakes in EQT, TPG Asia, and KKR)
- Willow Tree Credit Partners 🇺🇸: $730M (Willow Tree Fund II‑CV, private credit continuation vehicle)
- Monolith Management 🇨🇳: $500M (new fund for Chinese AI)
- Janus Henderson 🇬🇧: $350M (latest private ABF fund, with Victory Park Capital & Privacore Capital)
- Revenant Ventures 🇺🇸: $78.5M (debut fund, VC secondaries)
🔔IPO
- Attovia Therapeutics 🇺🇸 (Immunology): jumped 25% in its trading debut after raising $290M for a $905M market cap in an upsized IPO.
- Ethan Allen Interiors 🇺🇸 (Furniture): DGB Investments built a stake in the $620M-listed firm and is pushing to replace the entire board.
- Celestica 🇨🇦 (Data centers): seeking to raise $3B via a share sale priced at a 15% discount.
- Evoken 🇨🇳 (AI design): considering a Hong Kong IPO amid funding talks valuing it at $3B.
- Mitsubishi UBE Cement 🇯🇵 (Cement): planning a Japan IPO this year.
- Manipal Health 🇮🇳 (Healthcare): jumped 10% its trading debut after raising $960M India’s second-largest IPO this year.
- OfBusiness 🇮🇳 (Fintech): considering reviving plans for an $800M India IPO.
🧳 Debt
- BC Partners 🇬🇧: leading a group via its credit arm to back Saudi’s LIV Golf after PIF pulled funding.
- RENK Group 🇩🇪: refinanced €1.05B via a five‑year syndicated unsecured loan (€450M term, €225M RCF, €375M guarantee).
- Morgan Stanley 🇺🇸: led banks plan to offload $15B of debt tied to a Google-backed Texas data center leased to Anthropic.
- MedImpact 🇺🇸: raised $2.2B in private credit led by Ares to finance its purchase of Medical Card System.
- Jane Street 🇺🇸: in talks to shift $11B of debt to private investors including Pimco 🇺🇸.
- The Executive Centre 🇭🇰: seeks $500M loan.
- Techcombank 🇻🇳: seeking a $1B loan.
- Kazakhstan 🇰🇿: seeking to raise $500M in a panda bond sale.
🇺🇸 United States
- Achieve 🇺🇸: closed a $261.5M HELOC securitization.
- Vital Farms 🇺🇸: raised $125M in a term loan led by Silver Point Capital.
- Burnham Holdings 🇺🇸: closed a new $130M five-year revolving credit facility.
- UTMB 🇺🇸: received a $180M philanthropic commitment from the Sealy & Smith Foundation.
- Keller Investment Properties 🇺🇸: raised $718.5M via a SASB recapitalization for a 13-property multifamily portfolio.
- CleanPlanet 🇨🇦: secured a US$25M Hardware-as-a-Service financing facility from PaceZero and Export Development Canada.
❌ Failures
- Sono Motors 🇩🇪: ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy on July 31, 2026, with its Sono Solar business and IP now up for sale.
- Pfleiderer 🇩🇪: bondholders including Arini Capital and Silver Point are set to take over the Strategic Value Partners–backed wood-paneling company after it raised fresh debt eight months ago.
- Accell 🇳🇱: filed for insolvency four years after KKR’s $2B LBO.
🇺🇸 United States
- NutriScience 🇺🇸: Frontenac recapitalized the nutraceutical ingredient maker. Terms were not disclosed.
🎯 For a Few More Minutes…
- 🇺🇸 Tag of War. Virginia claims personalized license plates are government speech, but Curtis Whateley’s lawsuit insists his “FTP & ATF” tag deserves First Amendment protection. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Pop Life. The Backstreet Boys rewrote the boy band rulebook by surviving the trend’s crash and selling 100M records worldwide, making them the ultimate pop survivors. (Ouest-France)
- 🇯🇵 Petal to the Metal. With the average farmer now 73, Nishikawa’s cherry orchards are betting on robots to outlast Japan’s shrinking population. (New York Times)
- 🇦🇺 Code of Conduct. Two Iranian footballers, branded traitors for not singing the national anthem, now call Australia home after receiving citizenship this week. (Ouest-France)
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