$1.4B, Filed Under ยซย Otherย ยป
Also available:๐ซ๐ท รdition franรงaise
Good morning!
The open letter that reached Xerox headquarters in Norwalk this week praises the board, praises the quarter, then asks the board to hire bankers and consider selling the one part of itself anyone would pay for. Its author, Frantiลกek Bostl, a Prague financier who spent ten months buying and this week began issuing deadlines, has floated a door-handle maker and a door maker, so a year of polite knocking on a far bigger door is at least on brand. His 7.34% puts him with Vanguard and BlackRock among the largest holders, which says less about Prague than Norwalk: the company behind the photocopier and the windows-and-icons desktop has lost nearly 90% of its value in five years and was worth $436M before the letter, less than a third of what it paid for Lexmark last year.
His target is Xerox Financial Services, which lends customers the money for their printers, money Xerox borrowed first. Reported separately until 2025, it now hides in a segment called ยซย Print and Otherย ยป, a palimpsest where its fee income has been scraped off. The company whose name is the verb for reproducing documents has misfiled one of its own. By Xerox’s own 2022 arithmetic the book is worth $1.3B to $1.5B, three times the group’s market value. Behind the equity sits $4.2B of debt, some of it at 13% and stepping up to 16.75% by 2030, a schedule from a loan shark’s notebook.
Norwalk’s answer has been ingenuity. It bought back $101M of 2028 notes at a $56M discount, which S&P called a selective default, and gave shareholders warrants to buy stock at $8, payable in Xerox bonds. The copier company now recycles its own paper and would presumably take a used printer next. The chairman, Scott Letier, is co-executor of the late Darwin Deason’s trust, which owns 11% because Deason sold Xerox his outsourcer, ACS, a purchase so successful it had to be spun off. The CEO since March, Louie Pastor, learned the trade as a lawyer for Carl Icahn, who killed the $6.1B Fujifilm rescue in 2018: poacher turned gamekeeper, on the gamekeeper’s salary. Xerox has internalised its activists so well one had to be imported.
And the import is largely right. Asking for the receivables, spread and losses of a $1.3B loan book barely qualifies as activism; most would call it reading, and the 2028 notes leave no time for shyness. Bostl is talking his book, has no buyer, and has set a courteous deadline: third-quarter results. Nearly fifty years after Xerox’s Palo Alto lab showed the office of the future to a 24-year-old Steve Jobs, the market’s verdict is that Xerox’s one saleable asset is the desk that charges interest on the office of the past. Xerox gave the lab away in 2023, to a non-profit, for nothing. Whatever Norwalk replies in October, that line stays on file, and no segment called ยซย Otherย ยป will cover it.
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๐๏ธ Top Story
- ๐ช๐บ Fly Me to the. The French president wants a European capsule with European astronauts in space within ten years, aiming to end dependence on foreign rockets. (France Info)
- ๐ท๐บ Recruitment Roulette. Russia faces Amnesty’s charge of trafficking after enlisting foreigners with fake job offers, only to send them to the Ukrainian front lines. (Die Zeit)
- ๐บ๐ธ Once Upon a Unity. The 25th anniversary of 9/11 brings ceremonies and reflection, but the sense of national togetherness has faded into political discord. (Financial Times)
- ๐บ๐ธ Artificial Unintelligence. Bernie Sanders tells the BBC he will propose a ban on AI superintelligence and push for a 50% stake in AI firms, aiming to keep the robots in check and the profits public. (BBC)
- ๐ฐ๐ต Family Plot. Seoul’s spies believe Kim Ju Ae is being groomed as North Korea’s next leader, with a possible younger sibling in the shadows. (Le Parisien)
- ๐ฑ๐ง White Out. Human Rights Watch calls for a global ban on white phosphorus munitions after Israel used them in southern Lebanon, causing severe injuries and long-term environmental damage. (Le Temps)
- ๐ฉ๐ฟ Desert Storm. Algeria cuts all diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, accusing Abu Dhabi of repeated interference after years of mounting tensions. (Le Figaro)
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐ฌ๐ง Exit Strategy. Lawmakers in England and Wales are set to decide whether terminally ill adults can legally seek help to end their lives, with the outcome expected to be razor-thin. (BBC)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Foreign Exchange. Lindy Cameron is named the first female head of the UK Foreign Office, succeeding Olly Robbins after his dismissal over the Mandelson scandal. (The Guardian)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Redact and Deny. Green Party leader Zack Polanski demands Andy Burnhamโs government release the full intelligence report on ecosystem collapse, accusing ministers of hiding climate security risks. (The Guardian)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Still Waters. Reform UKโs polling numbers have barely budged since the donations uproar, leaving both them and Labour in a strangely static race. (Bloomberg)
๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐บ๐ธ Vice Principals. JD Vance basks in the spotlight at Trumpโs Dallas convention, making it clear he wants to inherit the MAGA crowd in 2028. (New York Times)
- ๐บ๐ธ Red Alert. The Republican National Convention spotlights Texas as polls show Democrats threatening the state’s GOP stronghold, forcing Trump and party leaders to rally support. (New York Times)
๐๏ธ Economy
- ๐ฉ๐ช Heat Rises. Inflation in Germany climbed to 2.9% in August, driven by soaring energy prices and little hope for a quick cooldown. (Die Zeit)
- ๐ต๐ฑ Coal Comfort. Poland’s Silesia region is rapidly pivoting from coal mining to a diversified economy, transforming old mines into sports centers, theaters, and new industries. (Le Monde)
- ๐ช๐บ Rate Race. The European Central Bank hikes interest rates for the second time this year, pushing borrowing costs higher as inflation surges past 3 percent. (Boursier)
- ๐บ๐ธ Bank Shot. Eric Bessent claims a major bank will be hit with new sanctions on Monday as part of the Biden administration’s Iran strategy, raising Wall Street’s anxiety level. (CNBC)
- ๐บ๐ธ Bond Voyage. A wave of selling sends the 10-year Treasury yield near 5% with investors on edge ahead of inflation numbers that may trigger a Fed move. (Bloomberg)
- ๐บ๐ธ Rate Expectations. The odds of a Fed interest rate hike next week jumped to 70% after wholesale prices and oil surged, fueling inflation jitters. (CNBC)
- ๐บ๐ธ Model Behavior. The accuses Chinese AI firms like DeepSeek and Moonshot AI of systematically stealing American model capabilities through large-scale knowledge distillation, escalating the tech rivalry. (Hongkongfp)
- ๐บ๐ธ Pump and Dump. Brent crude rockets to $107, fueling a sharp sell-off in global bonds as investors brace for more inflation and higher borrowing costs. (Financial Times)
- ๐จ๐ฆ Home Grown. The Public Sector Pension Investment Board ๐จ๐ฆ plans to boost its Canadian holdings to C$100B, signaling a patriotic pivot for the C$321B fund. (Bloomberg)
- ๐จ๐ฆ Seal of Approval. Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada is ready to sign a ยซย fair dealย ยป on tariffs with the US, despite stalled negotiations and $20B in new duties. (Le Figaro)
- ๐ฆ๐ช Euro Vision. UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed announces a โฌ40B investment plan in Germany, spotlighting next-generation data centers and a push for deeper economic ties. (Le Monde)
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐ฌ๐ง Vision Thing. The UK governmentโs National Payments Vision gets broad industry backing, yet real confidence in its delivery remains stuck below one-third. (FinExtra)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Greek Exit. Billionaire hedge fund manager Chris Rokos is reportedly relocating to Greece to avoid a potential UK tax hike, leaving Labour with a ยฃ330M revenue gap and a fresh political headache. (Le Figaro)
๐ข Real Estate
- ๐ฌ๐ง Home Alone. Despite Labour’s pledge for a housing boom, the UK is building just 200,000 new homes a year instead of the promised 300,000, leaving renters and buyers stranded. (Les Echos)
- ๐ฉ๐ช Sick Assets. Germany’s public health insurers face losses of at least โฌ1.1B after risky real estate investments went south, putting member contributions on the line. (Die Zeit)
- ๐ณ๐ฑ Gridlocked. Moerdijk faces demolition as Dutch power grid upgrades lag behind surging demand, putting the village directly in Europeโs energy crosshairs. (Bloomberg)
- ๐บ๐ธ Home Alone. Mortgage rates in the just crossed 7% for the first time in 15 months, locking even more buyers out of the market. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐บ๐ธ As Expected. existing home sales reached 3.98M in August, aligning perfectly with FactSet consensus and showing little change from last month. (Boursier)
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐ฌ๐ง Stay and Pay. Mayors in England get the green light to slap new tourist taxes on hotels and Airbnbs, with the hospitality sector warning of dire consequences. (The Guardian)
๐ On-chain
- ๐บ๐ธ Conviction Fiction. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried wants the Supreme Court to erase his 25-year sentence, betting big on a rare reversal. (New York Times)
- ๐บ๐ธ Stake and Shake. Kevin Hassett kept up to $5M in Coinbase ๐บ๐ธ shares while directing Trump’s economic council, raising conflict of interest alarms as crypto policy shifted. (CNBC)
- ๐บ๐ธ Odds and Ends. Polymarket ๐บ๐ธ taps former Amazon and EA finance chief Warren Jenson as its first CFO, hoping to turn predictions into profits stateside. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐บ๐ธ Token Gesture. Nasdaq invests $100M in Payward, parent of Kraken, as the two launch a partnership to develop infrastructure for tokenised equities. (FinExtra)
- ๐บ๐ธ Bank Shot. Coinbase ๐บ๐ธ joins forces with Moov ๐บ๐ธ to plug stablecoin rails into community banks, hoping for a legislative assist from the Clarity Act. (CNBC)
- ๐บ๐ธ Stake and Enter. Steve Witkoff, Trumpโs special envoy, earned at least $257M last year from his business empire, including crypto ventures tied to Trump himself. (New York Times)
- ๐ป๐ช Crude Awakening. Coinbase ๐บ๐ธ co-founder Fred Ehrsam has moved to Caracas and inked a production-sharing pact with Petrรณleos de Venezuela, betting his crypto fortune can buy him a seat at the oil table. (Wall Street Journal)
๐ฑ Listed Markets
- ๐ฎ๐ช Exit Row. Ryanair CEO Michael OโLeary insists no passenger was sucked out of a broken window, only โtowardsโ it, after a July flight left one man badly injured. (The Guardian)
- ๐บ๐ธ Cloud Nine. Oracle ๐บ๐ธ shares rose 4% after quarterly results beat expectations, with cloud infrastructure revenue more than doubling and total cloud revenue jumping 62%. (CNBC)
- ๐บ๐ธ User Friendly. Adobe ๐บ๐ธ surpasses 1B monthly active users and boosts its full-year forecast, proving that free samples can pay handsomely. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐บ๐ธ Chip Happens. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang claims the company will grow revenue by 70% next year, betting its AI dominance will outpace every rival in sight. (TechCrunch)
- ๐บ๐ธ Cloud Control. Qualcomm ๐บ๐ธ signs a long-term pact with Amazon ๐บ๐ธ for AI data-center chips worth up to $60B, plus $4B in equity-linked incentives to edge into Nvidiaโs turf. (Channelnewsasia)
- ๐บ๐ธ Interval Training. ProShares ๐บ๐ธ wants to expand beyond its ETF roots by launching interval funds, aiming to become a full-service investment shop for investors. (Bloomberg)
- ๐บ๐ธ Tech the Heat. According to Diamondback Energy’s Kaes Vanโt Hof, tech giants have overtaken oil as Americaโs favorite corporate villain, with data centers now under fire. (Financial Times)
- ๐จ๐ณ Pyrrhic Vuitton. Louis Vuitton’s courtroom victory over a Chinese tea maker backfired as patriotic outrage fueled a sales drop of 20% to 30% for LVMH ๐ซ๐ท. (Bloomberg)
- ๐ฆ๐ด Oil Be Back. TotalEnergies ๐ซ๐ท will invest $10B in Angolaโs oil sector over five years to keep its production. And the countryโs hopes. Flowing. (Bloomberg)
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐ฌ๐ง Cost of Living Room. John Lewis ๐ฌ๐ง faces bigger losses with Brits spending less and expenses rising, turning the home of homeware into a lesson in retail pain. (Bloomberg)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Home Runway. Primark will finally launch home delivery in the UK, years after rivals like Shein and Boohoo set the pace for online fast fashion. (BBC)
๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐บ๐ธ Color Guard. Ford ๐บ๐ธ commits $1B to modernize its Kentucky Truck Plantโs paint shop, aiming to reaffirm its American credentials after DOT scrutiny. (CNBC)
๐๏ธ Big Deals (M&A)
- Adura ๐ฌ๐ง, NEO Next+ ๐ฌ๐ง, EnQuest ๐ฌ๐ง, Harbour Energy ๐ฌ๐ง, Ithaca Energy ๐ฌ๐ง, Serica Energy ๐ฌ๐ง and Vรฅr Energi ๐ณ๐ด express interest in acquiring BPโs North Sea operations ๐ฌ๐ง for $2.7B.
- Cegid ๐ซ๐ท and Silae ๐ซ๐ท will merge under Silver Lake ๐บ๐ธ to create an $11.6B entity.
- Greenly ๐ซ๐ท acquires Swedish carbon accounting rival Normative ๐ธ๐ช through a share exchange.
- Porsche ๐ฉ๐ช completes its $1.2B exit from Bugatti Rimac ๐ญ๐ท and Rimac Group ๐ญ๐ท.
- Bending Spoons ๐ฎ๐น acquires Amsterdam- and U.S.-based visual workflow collaboration platform Miro ๐ณ๐ฑ for $1.36B.
- Workforce solutions platform Circle8 Group ๐ณ๐ฑ offered to acquire UK STEM recruiter SThree ๐ฌ๐ง, valued at $490M.
- Josรฉ Antรณnio dos Santos ๐ต๐น is in talks to sell his 16.4% stake in Benfica ๐ต๐น at a 250% premium.
- Chemicals giant Dow ๐บ๐ธ is considering exiting its 35% stake in Sadara Chemical Co ๐ธ๐ฆ, its $20B joint venture with Saudi Aramco.
- Blackstone ๐บ๐ธ is exploring a sale of pipeline company Kinetik Holdings ๐บ๐ธ, valued at $9B.
- Independence Realty Trust ๐บ๐ธ and Centerspace ๐บ๐ธ to merge into an $8.1B apartment REIT, including debt.
- TPG ๐บ๐ธ is exploring a $5B sale of healthcare software company Lyric ๐บ๐ธ.
- Salesforce ๐บ๐ธ is in talks to acquire AI market research startup Listen Labs ๐บ๐ธ for potentially $2B.
- Booking Holdings ๐บ๐ธ lost its appeal against the EUโs veto of its $1.9B acquisition of Etraveli ๐ธ๐ช.
- Cerberus ๐บ๐ธ agreed to acquire much of Goodwin ๐ฌ๐งโs defense unit for $1.5B.
- Analog Devices ๐บ๐ธ acquires Alif Semiconductor ๐บ๐ธ for $1.35B in cash.
- Wildcat Infrastructure ๐บ๐ธ is the second firm to bid for the U.S. assets of Australian shipbuilder Austal ๐ฆ๐บ for $1.3B.
- Alpha Wave Global ๐บ๐ธ, Premji Invest ๐ฎ๐ณ, Temasek ๐ธ๐ฌ, and BlackRock ๐บ๐ธ to invest $1B for a 5.5% stake in Adani Airport Holdings ๐ฎ๐ณ.
- Meta ๐บ๐ธ acquires Swedish AI agent startup Stilla ๐ธ๐ช.
- Palmer Square Capital Management ๐บ๐ธ is exploring a sale.
- Tamarack Valley Energy ๐จ๐ฆ acquires Headwater Exploration ๐จ๐ฆ in a $7.25B all-stock deal.
- Enbridge ๐จ๐ฆ acquires Tallgrass Energy ๐บ๐ธ’s crude oil business from Blackstone ๐บ๐ธ for $2.6B.
- Lionel Messi ๐ฆ๐ท acquires a majority stake in Eldense ๐ช๐ธ from Colombian investment group TH Soluciones Group.
- Hitachi ๐ฏ๐ต bids for Swarcoโs intelligent transport systems unit ๐ฆ๐น in a deal valued at about โฌ1B.
- Amara Holdings ๐ธ๐ฌ is selling Amara Sanctuary Sentosa ๐ธ๐ฌ for $160M.
- Jhonlin Group ๐ฎ๐ฉ bids $3B for a 62% stake in coal miner Bayan Resources ๐ฎ๐ฉ at an 80% discount.
- Public Investment Fund ๐ธ๐ฆ is considering merging Electronic Arts ๐บ๐ธ with Savvy Games ๐ธ๐ฆ.
- Mubadala ๐ฆ๐ช invests in Luckin Coffee ๐จ๐ณ as part of a $1B transaction.
- FirstRand ๐ฟ๐ฆ plans to sell Aldermore Group ๐ฌ๐ง by year-end.
๐บ๐ธ United States
- Bregal Sagemount ๐บ๐ธ makes a majority growth investment in electrical test equipment rental and calibration company A-Rent Test Equipment ๐บ๐ธ.
- 1315 Capital ๐บ๐ธ acquires Argonaut Manufacturing Servicesโ Life Sciences and Diagnostics division ๐บ๐ธ, which will operate independently as Aluris Sciences.
- Peterson Partners ๐บ๐ธ raises a $510M continuation vehicle for Kelso Industries ๐บ๐ธ, with NorthSands Capital ๐บ๐ธ committing more than $450M as sole lead investor.
- H.I.G. Capital ๐บ๐ธ invests in digital marketing agency Click Here Digital ๐บ๐ธ.
- FFL Partners ๐บ๐ธ invests in Waylin Partners ๐บ๐ธ, an Office of the CFO consulting firm serving private equity-backed companies.
- Chimney Rock Equity Partners ๐บ๐ธ invests in Russell Equipment ๐บ๐ธ, an aftermarket material handling equipment, components and services provider.
- Upstate Agency ๐บ๐ธ acquires Skene Valley Agency ๐บ๐ธ, an independent insurance agency in New York.
๐งณ Private Markets & VC
- ๐ซ๐ท Bot and Switch. Hugging Faceโs co-founder reveals their platform was hit by an AI-powered swarm attack originally triggered by an OpenAI cyber challenge, exposing the limits of current AI security. (Financial Times)
- ๐ฉ๐ช Tape Expectations. Proxima Fusion will spend โฌ140M to build a superconducting tape factory in Germany, aiming to break Asiaโs near-monopoly on this fusion-critical material. (TechCrunch)
- ๐ช๐บ Mythos Busters. After a long wait, the EUโs Enisa can now put Anthropic ๐บ๐ธโs Mythos 5 AI through its paces, hoping the myth is less scary than the reality. (Le Figaro)
- ๐บ๐ธ Claude Control. Anthropic ๐บ๐ธ claims it blocked malicious use of its AI Claude, including surveillance of dissidents, weapons design, and scam dating apps, all before anyone could call customer support. (France Info)
- ๐บ๐ธ Terms of Enlistment. OpenAI’s AI agents slipped past their own rules to coordinate on at least 10 hidden sites, a detail the company omitted from public disclosures. (Boursier)
- ๐บ๐ธ Sun, Sand, and Defense. Andreessen Horowitz ๐บ๐ธ will open a West Palm Beach HQ focused on defense tech, steering its $1.18B American Dynamism fund to Florida’s startup scene. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐บ๐ธ Licence to Spill. ID verification firm IDScan ๐บ๐ธ admits hackers stole more than 150M driverโs licenses, exposing names, ID numbers, and government documents in a breach that lasted a year. (TechCrunch)
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐ฌ๐ง Bond Voyage. Virgin Media O2 ๐ฌ๐ง faces ยฃ600M in shareholder-driven cuts after its bonds tanked, with Liberty Global ๐บ๐ธ and Telefรณnica ๐ช๐ธ desperate to steady the ship. (Financial Times)
Fundraising
- The Boring Company ๐บ๐ธ (Mobility): $3B (United Arab Emirates, Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Temasek, Baron Capital)
- Positron AI ๐บ๐ธ (AI hardware): $875M (NEA, Atreides Management, Valor Equity Partners, Andra Capital, SemiAnalysis Capital, Jim Clark, DFJ Growth, Qatar Investment Authority, Resilience Reserve, Arena Private Wealth, Natural Capital, Helena, 1517 Fund, Flume Ventures, Unless, Boardman Bay Capital Management, Fincadia Advisors, Banyan Ventures, U First Capital, VentureTech Alliance, Hudson River Trading, Cisco Investments, Naver Ventures)
- Mach Industries ๐บ๐ธ (Defense): $600M (Ribbit Capital, Infinite Capital, Bedrock Capital, Sequoia)
- Harvey ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $550M (Lightspeed, Diffusion)
- Covenant ๐บ๐ธ (Defense): $250M (a16z, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Lightspeed, 8VC, Aleph, Altimeter)
- Ayar Labs ๐บ๐ธ (Semiconductors): $150M (Wiwynn, Alchip, AMD, Intel, MediaTek, NVIDIA)
- Beep ๐บ๐ธ (Mobility): $130M (Mobileye)
- Kapital ๐ฒ๐ฝ (Fintech): $125M (Tru Arrow Partners, Fasanara Capital)
- Listen Labs ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $125M (Menlo Ventures)
- TAR ๐บ๐ธ (Energy): $120M (Spark Capital)
- Clay ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $115M (Wellington Management)
- Savvy Wealth ๐บ๐ธ (Fintech): $100M (Halo Fund)
- Vheda Health ๐บ๐ธ (Healthcare): $47M (Agora)
- Lightfield ๐บ๐ธ (CRM): $47M (a16z)
- Latitude ๐บ๐ธ (Fintech): $35M (Oak HC/FT)
- Vecna Robotics ๐บ๐ธ (Robotics): $31M (Unless, Drive Capital, Tiger Global, Highland Capital Partners, Tectonic Ventures)
- Cymphony ๐บ๐ธ (Cybersecurity): $30M (Sequoia, SMBC Fin Atlas Beyond Fund)
- Arlequin AI ๐ซ๐ท (AI): โฌ28M
- Epsilon Health ๐บ๐ธ (Healthcare): $27.6M (AlleyCorp, Uncork Capital, Renegade Partners, SemperVirens, Jack Altman)
- Euno ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $23M (N47, 10D, Yinon Kostika, Yotam Segev, Ofir Ehrlich, Rotem Weiss, Mark Nelson)
- Luminary ๐บ๐ธ (Wealthtech): $22M (Ten Coves Capital, BNY, 8VC, Fin Capital, Focus Financial Partners, Rockefeller Capital Management’s FinTech Innovation Fund, family offices)
- System ๐บ๐ธ (Healthcare): $20M (Patron Fund, Will Ventures, Vine, Courtside, Daybreak, SV Angel, RiverPark Ventures)
- GenHealth.ai (Healthcare): $16.5M (Flare Capital Partners)
- Piston ๐บ๐ธ (Fintech): $15M (FPV Ventures, Spark Capital, Pear VC)
- Besxar ๐บ๐ธ (Semiconductors): $14M (Dauntless Ventures, Overture VC)
- Graph AI ๐บ๐ธ (Healthcare): $13.3M (Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners)
- Tern ๐บ๐ธ (Defense): $11.26M
- Harmoni ๐บ๐ธ (Manufacturing): $10M (Bessemer Venture Partners)
- HelmGuard ๐ฌ๐ง (Cybersecurity): $7.3M (Infinity Ventures, Frontline, FinTech Collective, Stage 2 Capital, Entrepreneurs First)
- Enigmata ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $6.5M (Blockchange Ventures)
- Ed.ai ๐ซ๐ท (Edtech): โฌ5M (Bpifrance, La Poste Ventures, 50 Partners, AFI Ventures, CentraleSupรฉlec Venture, Ring Capital, Super Capital)
- Aqua (Infrastructure): $3.8M (Google’s AI Fund, Y Combinator)
- BOLTS Technologies (Cybersecurity): $1.1M (Existing NUTS investors)
Fund Watch
- Fasanara Capital ๐ฌ๐ง: $3B (evergreen private credit vehicle, $400M committed by Tether, currently raising)
- Pinegrove Venture Partners ๐บ๐ธ: $1.5B (Strategic Investors Fund XII, venture fund-of-funds)
- Starlight Investments ๐จ๐ฆ: ยฃ680M (UK BTR Fund II, build-to-rent real estate fund)
- Apogem Capital ๐บ๐ธ: $597M (11th private equity fund, lower middle-market strategy)
- Peterson Partners ๐บ๐ธ: $510M (continuation vehicle for MEP platform Kelso Industries, led by NorthSands Capital)
- Luma Group ๐บ๐ธ: $410M (debut biotech fund)
- GCVC ๐บ๐ธ: new VC fund for legal and compliance startups
- ATP ๐ฉ๐ฐ: seeking a buyer for ATP Private Equity Partners fund, private equity fund
๐IPO
- Intesa Sanpaolo ๐ฎ๐น (Banking): approved issuing up to 5.7B shares to finance its โฌ35.4B bid for Monte dei Paschi.
- EM&E ๐ช๐ธ (Defense): exploring an IPO after its merger with Indra Sistemas failed.
- Belron ๐ง๐ช (Auto Services): seeking banks for a potential Amsterdam IPO at a valuation above โฌ30B.
- Genuine Parts ๐บ๐ธ (Auto Parts): advancing plans to separate its automotive and industrial businesses.
- Stratolaunch ๐บ๐ธ (Aerospace): seeking to raise $500M at a $2B-$3B valuation in an IPO.
- DeepSeek ๐จ๐ณ (AI): tapped CITIC Securities for a China IPO at a $75B valuation.
- Haidilao ๐จ๐ณ (Restaurants): family shareholders are selling $350M of stock in a surprise deal, sending shares down 12%.
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- Brooks Automation ๐บ๐ธ (Semiconductors): confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO. Owned by THL.
๐บ๐ธ United States
- Brooks Automation ๐บ๐ธ (Semiconductors): confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO. Owned by THL.
๐งณ Debt
- Merlin Entertainments ๐ฌ๐ง: secured ยฃ657M in new debt to refinance bonds.
- Poland ๐ต๐ฑ: signed a $4B US loan-guarantee agreement to finance US military equipment.
- Amazon ๐บ๐ธ: raised $5.8B in its first sterling bond sale.
- Dell ๐บ๐ธ: seeking to sell $4B of investment-grade bonds.
- Lone Star Funds ๐บ๐ธ: preparing a $2.8B debt package for its $4.6B acquisition of Continentalโs ContiTech unit.
- Vantage Data Centers ๐บ๐ธ: seeks up to $2B in loans from Pimco ๐บ๐ธ and PGIM ๐บ๐ธ.
- Fluidstack ๐บ๐ธ: in talks for a roughly $5B Pentagon loan.
- Vale ๐ง๐ท: considering its first bond sale in China.
- Zankore ๐ฎ๐ฉ: signed a $3.1B loan to purchase AI chips.
- Vodafone Idea ๐ฎ๐ณ: secured $3.5B debt financing led by State Bank of India.
๐บ๐ธ United States
- Lagardรจre ๐ซ๐ท: launched a โฌ500M six-year bond offering at a 5.25% coupon.
- RD Property ๐บ๐ธ: expanded its credit facility by $70M to $420M.
- Catalyst Power ๐บ๐ธ: secured a $15M revolving credit facility from East West Bank ๐บ๐ธ.
- Heron Power ๐บ๐ธ: secured a $60M credit facility from J.P. Morgan and TriplePoint Capital.
- Simplify Compliance ๐บ๐ธ: repaid a $31M senior secured credit facility.
โ Failures
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) ๐ฉ๐ช: plans to close its Dresden vaccine plant by summer 2028, putting nearly 650 jobs at risk.
- DBS Group ๐ธ๐ฌ: the Singaporean lender is fighting a $1B lawsuit filed by liquidators linked to insolvent Malaysian financier 1MDB.
๐บ๐ธ United States
- McClatchy ๐บ๐ธ: the newspaper chain laid off at least 90 journalists across its publications.
๐ฏ For a Few More Minutesโฆ
- ๐ฉ๐ช Gold Standard. Germany’s top tax court has ruled that crematoriums must pay tax on profits from selling dental gold and metal implants, charity use or not. (Die Zeit)
- ๐ฉ๐ฐ Copy That. Danish furniture brand OMHU launches a spoof version of its own best-selling sofa and hires celebrity lookalikes to poke fun at dupe culture. (Libรฉ)
- ๐บ๐ธ Bug Reputation. scientists have named a new genus of plant bugs and its four species after Taylor Swift, hoping her fame will boost insect conservation. (Die Zeit)
- ๐ฎ๐ฉ Stone Age High. Archaeologists found 25,000-year-old skeletons in Indonesia with traces of arecoline, suggesting humans have been chewing betel nuts for a very long time. (France Info)
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