🏗️ Clerk's Special
Built by the lowest number, lived in by everyone else.
Good morning!
A block of flats handed over this autumn will still be standing when the last person who signed off on it has been dead for 30 years. Banks are stress-tested every year against recessions that never arrive. Buildings are tested against nothing at all. The jury that picks the winning scheme votes on a rendering, a price and a delivery date, in that order, against the climate in the chairman's school atlas. In late June, when Europe cooked, EuroMOMO, the continent's mortality monitor, counted 16,557 excess deaths in a single week across 22 countries. Roughly nine in ten of them were over 65.
Public works in most US states go by statute to the lowest responsible bidder, a phrase in which the adjective does all the work and none of the checking. British tenders dress the same reflex in a 60/40 quality-to-price split. The cheapest bid is the one whose bill arrives later, addressed to someone else. Construction is 20% to 40% of what a building costs over 30 years. The rest, the cooling, the repairs, the compressor bolted onto the façade in year eight, is committed in the first weeks of design by people who will never pay it. Design-bid-build, the anglosphere default, makes the divorce official: one firm draws, the lowest bidder builds, and whatever the site learns never travels back to the drawing board. At Grenfell Tower the client asked for "good costs" and got £293K off the cladding. The architect is invited at the end to make it look nice, and after a generation of being asked for pictures the profession has become rather good at pictures.
London learned this from a sheet of A4. A resident of a new-build in Tower Hamlets, east London, taped a note to the window: do not buy these flats, too hot. England only wrote an overheating rule for new homes, Part O, in 2022, it covers nothing already built, and 3M English homes, 12% of the occupied stock, could not be cooled in the summer of 2024. New York's evening grid peak ran 90% above its off-season level during the 2025 heat. Maricopa County, the Phoenix metro, has confirmed 230 heat deaths this year, and of those who died indoors last year, 94% had an air-conditioning unit and 72% of those units were broken. The US makes an architect log 3,740 supervised hours and pass six exams before signing a drawing, then hands the drawing to whoever bid lowest.
In fairness to the procurement officer with the spreadsheet: public money is scarce, and nobody has ever been sacked for picking the lowest bid. The architect's fee is a line everyone can see. The sudorific bedroom in 2071 is a line nobody can. The people who will sleep in those bedrooms at 30°C are not on the jury, and some are not born yet. Every other long-dated liability has an actuary pretending to worry about it. This one has a rendering and a ribbon.
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🗞️ Top Story
- 🇬🇧 Base Instincts. UK police have made a seventh arrest over the suspected terror plot targeting RAF Fairford, as officials scramble to explain the incident that prompted a US bomber withdrawal. (Financial Times)
- 🇬🇧 Spy Hard. Three Iranian men are on trial in London for allegedly surveilling journalists at Iran International for Tehran's intelligence services, with prosecutors claiming the operation aimed to silence critics abroad. (Boursier)
- 🇩🇪 Spy Hard. August Hanning, former head of Germany's foreign intelligence agency, has been arrested for allegedly paying for classified documents and preparing analysis for a foreign service, earning himself a high treason charge. (El Pais)
- 🇱🇹 Fallout Warning. The Kremlin threatens consequences after Lithuania's lawmakers back a plan to allow nuclear arms on their soil for the first time in decades. (Boursier)
- 🇪🇺 Union Admission. The European Union moves to fast-track membership talks with Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, and Montenegro, turning geopolitical urgency into an institutional challenge. (Le Figaro)
- 🇺🇦 Track and Fear. Russian drone attacks on Ukraine's railways have surged in 2026, forcing daily evacuations and delays as passengers scramble for safety instead of punctuality. (BBC)
- 🇽🇰 Close Call. Justina Shiroka Pula became Kosovo's new president by a single vote above the threshold, sparing lawmakers from facing early elections yet again. (Boursier)
- 🇷🇺 Black Box. Russian scientists are baffled after a lab employee’s suspected plague death, with the cause and transmission still a mystery. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 Election Fever. The political scene hits peak chaos ahead of the midterms, with Trump already raising the specter of challenging the outcome. (Le Temps)
- 🇨🇦 United We Fall. Quebec’s Parti Québécois storms back to power, reviving separatist hopes and putting Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plan for national unity to the test. (Financial Times)
- 🇮🇳 Roll Call Cancelled. India’s election commission has removed 130M names from the voter roll, triggering mass protests over disenfranchisement and accusations of political targeting. (New York Times)
- 🇦🇺 Coal Comfort. Australia will co-chair COP31 while expanding coal exports and mines, proving climate leadership is easier said than done. (Le Temps)
- 🇮🇱 Silence Is Golden. Israel marks three years since the October 7 attacks by Hamas with a nationwide minute of silence and public memorials for the victims. (France Info)
🏛️ Economy
- 🇪🇺 Dragon's Den. France and Germany are pushing the to take a tougher stance on China, sending Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic to Beijing with a more confrontational brief. (Bloomberg)
- 🇪🇺 Cut Me Not. The European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, refuses to trim its €2T budget plan despite fierce calls for cuts from Germany, Austria, and others. (Boursier)
- 🇺🇸 Alt Control. Despite a rocky year for private credit, a Goldman Sachs Asset Management survey finds high-net-worth investors are still piling into alternatives, proving risk appetite is alive and well. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 Wider by the Dozen. The trade gap surged to $105.6B in August, outpacing July’s $92.8B and confounding economists who expected a smaller shortfall. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Current Account. The House China committee chair presses the Fed to scrutinize Hong Kong’s access to dollar liquidity, as Beijing pushes the yuan’s global ambitions. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 Yield Signs. Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase flags persistent inflation and rising rates, calling recent bond market turmoil a clear warning to policymakers. (Bloomberg)
- 🇸🇬 Risky Business. Singapore's Temasek warns that the greatest threat to markets right now is persistent inflation, putting global investors on alert for turbulence ahead. (CNBC)
- 🇮🇳 Rate Awakening. The Reserve Bank of India hikes its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% after a three-year pause, blaming surging energy costs and inflation jitters. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇸🇦 Barrel Back. Oil exports from the Gulf have now surpassed pre-war levels, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE rerouting flows to dodge Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. (Le Monde)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Risky Business. Equinor’s CEO warns that blocking the Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea projects could make the UK “uninvestable” for oil and gas, putting Labour’s energy credibility on the line. (Financial Times)
- 🇬🇧 Back in Business. After years of shuttering locations, Barclays 🇬🇧 is now opening new branches, betting that face-to-face banking still has value. (Financial Times)
🏢 Real Estate
- 🇬🇧 Logging On. Environmental groups warn that the new Drax 🇬🇧 datacentre would burn 4.9M tonnes of wood annually, outpacing Gatwick's yearly flight emissions and redefining dirty computing. (The Guardian)
- 🇪🇸 Eviction Notice. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez issues urgent rental market decrees via a caretaker committee, sidestepping parliament after his housing package failed and snap elections were called. (Die Zeit)
- 🇬🇷 Star Power. Luxury five-star hotels in Greece have doubled in a decade, crowding out traditional family-run guesthouses as tourism chases high-end profits. (Le Monde)
- 🇫🇮 Cloud Cover. Google 🇺🇸 must halt construction of two Finnish data centers after authorities found 300 hectares of forest cleared without an environmental review. The cloud just got a little less green. (Libé)
- 🇭🇺 Lake Effect. Luxury developers rushed to Hungary’s Lake Balaton for its “Hamptons” promise, but now several high-end projects are stalling and locals are being priced out. (CNBC)
- 🇮🇱 Ground Zero Hour. As Israel marks the anniversary of the 7 October massacre, Nir Oz residents face a painful choice: preserve the scars or start over from scratch. (BBC)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Name Drop. O2 🇬🇧 will pay £200M to keep its name on London’s O2 arena for another 10 years, marking the UK’s biggest-ever venue renewal. (The Guardian)
🔗 On-chain
- 🇺🇸 Call Waiting. Edge Markets wants to let institutions set capital limits on prediction markets, hoping to keep AI trading bots from triggering costly liquidations when banks are closed. (CNBC)
- 🇸🇬 Perp Walk. Hyperliquid Labs, known for its high-risk perpetual futures, has set up shop in Singapore, forcing the Monetary Authority to distance itself from the crypto wild west it once courted. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Crystal Ballot. Kalshi unveils new transparency tools for its election contracts, including live trade feeds and Brier scores, hoping to boost trader confidence before the midterms. (CNBC)
💱 Listed Markets
- 🇫🇷 Cipher Speed. Thales introduces the IP9100, a next-generation encryptor targeting hyperspeed data center links and promising protection up to NATO and EU restricted levels. (Boursier)
- 🇪🇺 Soft Launch. BPCE tiptoes into Sabadell with a €1.2B stake and a board seat, proving European bank consolidation prefers polite introductions over bold moves. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Chip Happens. SpaceX plans to spend $40B on Nvidia AI chips, lining up loans and bonds for a purchase that would supercharge Elon Musk's ambitions and Nvidia's bottom line. (Die Zeit)
- 🇺🇸 Power Play. David Ellison outmaneuvers Netflix to take control of Warner Bros. Discovery, merging it with Skydance and triggering a new era of Hollywood consolidation. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Supply and AI Demand. AMD 🇺🇸 will increase its chip output and extend supply chain deals, as Lisa Su calls the AI hardware appetite "very, very high" for years to come. (Boursier)
- 🇺🇸 Force Multiplier. Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato calls artificial intelligence a "force multiplier" and insists the company must embrace AI to stay ahead. (Bloomberg)
- 🇯🇵 Draft Collusion. Shares of Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo, and Suntory dropped after Japan’s antitrust regulator launched a probe into suspected price-fixing among the big brewers. (Bloomberg)
- 🇰🇷 Short Circuit. LG Electronics 🇰🇷 shocked the market with preliminary earnings that missed forecasts, proving not every AI-era pivot comes with instant returns. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇸🇦 Crude Awakening. Oil prices climb as Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and tankers overshadow hopes for a supply rebound, making stability a distant memory. (CNBC)
- 🇳🇬 Pump and Circumstance. The Dangote refinery’s public offering aims for $1.6B, promising an “IPO for the people” and overwhelming Nigeria’s trading apps with demand. (Bloomberg)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Instant Regret. Ofcom is scrutinizing Meta for potentially skipping mandatory risk assessments on Instagram Instants, questioning if the feature could expose kids to illegal material. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Court Ordered. The Walt Disney Company takes the FCC to court over what it calls an unlawful review of its eight ABC broadcast licenses, claiming First Amendment violations are now a legal matter. (New York Times)
🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)
- Informa 🇬🇧 has agreed to acquire events organizer Clarion 🇬🇧 from Blackstone 🇺🇸 for £2.24B.
- Monzo Bank 🇬🇧 is courting private equity investors after takeover talks with Nubank 🇧🇷 collapsed over its $13.2B valuation.
- Ithaca Energy 🇬🇧 has agreed to acquire assets in Canada from Suncor Energy 🇨🇦 for up to $1.1B in cash.
- Sainsbury’s 🇬🇧 held merger talks with rival Morrisons 🇬🇧.
- Janus Henderson 🇬🇧 has completed its acquisition of Rantum Capital 🇩🇪 after obtaining all required regulatory approvals.
- BC Partners Credit 🇬🇧 has secured potential $300M financing for LIV Golf 🇺🇸, subject to bankruptcy court approval.
- Schneider Electric 🇫🇷 has agreed to acquire engineering software provider PTC 🇺🇸 for $22.6B in cash at a 40% premium.
- LV Overseas (LVO) 🇫🇷 has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Seatram 🇮🇹, a freight forwarding company with around €100M in revenue.
- BPCE 🇫🇷 has acquired a 7% stake in Sabadell 🇪🇸 for just under €1.2B, becoming a long-term shareholder and seeking a board seat.
- SAP 🇩🇪 has agreed to acquire Belgian AI startup TechWolf 🇧🇪.
- Intesa Sanpaolo 🇮🇹's improved $39B bid for BMPS 🇮🇹 wins support from Delfin 🇱🇺, BMPS's largest shareholder.
- Neinor Homes 🇪🇸 will form a $130M housing joint venture with its largest shareholder, Orion Capital Managers 🇬🇧.
- Carlsberg 🇩🇰 will acquire PepsiCo 🇺🇸’s bottling operations in Georgia 🇬🇪 and Armenia 🇦🇲.
- Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners 🇩🇰 has reached a final investment decision on Via Verde 🇮🇹, an Italian biomethane platform with a 20-project pipeline.
- Roche 🇨🇭 will pay up to $1.27B to license Alector 🇺🇸's experimental Parkinson’s treatment.
- Energy Transfer 🇺🇸 has agreed to acquire Vaquero Midstream 🇺🇸 for $2.63B in cash and stock.
- Ariel Investments 🇺🇸 is pushing $16B-listed toy maker Mattel 🇺🇸 to explore a sale.
- Centalion Group 🇺🇸 acquired upstream and midstream natural gas assets in Texas and Louisiana from Silver Hill Energy Partners 🇺🇸 for $1.5B.
- U.S. government 🇺🇸 acquires three California immigration detention facilities from GEO Group 🇺🇸 for $950M.
- GE HealthCare 🇺🇸 has agreed to acquire radiopharmaceutical company SOFIE Biosciences 🇺🇸 for $945M in cash.
- CVS 🇺🇸 has agreed to pay a $20.5M class-action settlement over allegations that customer data was shared with Criteo 🇫🇷.
- KKR 🇺🇸 has agreed to acquire private-capital fund administrator Gen II 🇺🇸 for approximately $5B including debt.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice 🇺🇸 and McKesson 🇺🇸 have agreed to acquire Option Care Health 🇺🇸 for $5.8B including debt. CD&R will hold 51% and McKesson will invest $1.4B for 49%.
- C.H. Robinson Worldwide 🇺🇸 is buying RXO 🇺🇸 in a stock-and-cash deal valued at $5.8B.
- Uber 🇺🇸 to acquire corporate catering platform ezCater 🇺🇸 for $2.3B in cash.
- Cenovus Energy 🇨🇦 has agreed to acquire Athabasca Oil 🇨🇦 in a $4.1B cash-and-stock deal.
- Emera 🇨🇦 has agreed to acquire Canadian Utilities 🇨🇦 in an all-stock deal valued at C$14.3B ($10B).
- Boyu Capital 🇨🇳 is considering a $1B sale of medical device maker Quasar Medical 🇺🇸.
- Mitsubishi Electric 🇯🇵 and Fujitec 🇯🇵 are studying bids for TK Elevator 🇩🇪’s European operations, valued at $5.6B.
- Shionogi 🇯🇵 has agreed to acquire U.S.-based drugmaker IntraBio 🇺🇸 for $2B.
🇺🇸 United States
- Bertram Capital 🇺🇸 completes investment in Percopo Coatings 🇺🇸, a commercial and industrial coatings and restoration services provider.
- Middle River Power 🇺🇸 has completed its acquisition of Panoche Energy Center 🇺🇸, a 427-MW natural gas generation facility, from an Ares Infrastructure Equity fund.
- Redhawk Federal Solutions 🇺🇸 secures financing from Regions Bank 🇺🇸 to support its acquisition of Geneva Software 🇺🇸.
- Beach Point Capital 🇺🇸 invests in Fullers Foods 🇬🇧, a UK outsourced buying partner for retailers, with Quilvest Capital Partners 🇱🇺 remaining a stakeholder.
- FVLCRUM Funds 🇺🇸 has completed the acquisition of Fidelity Technology Services 🇺🇸, a military simulation and training provider.
- Fotovat family 🇨🇦 repurchases Riverside Natural Foods 🇨🇦’s minority stake from Prelude Growth Partners 🇺🇸, returning the MadeGood parent to full family ownership.
🧳 Private Markets & VC
- 🇬🇧 Push and Shove. Thousands of Asos 🇬🇧 customers received a fake push alert claiming hackers had "fully compromised" the retailer's data, sending shares tumbling 14% while the company investigates if any breach actually happened. (The Guardian)
- 🇫🇷 Open Season. Mistral unveils its flagship AI model, boasting it can finally compete with China's top open-source offerings and heating up the US-China tech contest. (CNBC)
- 🇩🇪 Key Stake. The RAG Foundation could decide the fate of a major German chemicals merger, holding a pivotal stake that may shape the industry's future. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Nest Egg Hunt. Blue Owl plans a major expansion into insurance asset management, chasing long-term capital as rivals like Blackstone and KKR tighten their grip on the sector. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Artificial Attraction. OpenAI is reportedly seeking $30B in new funding, courting UAE sovereign wealth funds and BlackRock 🇺🇸 to bankroll its AI ambitions at a $1.4T valuation. (Boursier)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Tax in Play. HMRC launched a civil probe into Manchester City’s tax affairs in 2018 after leaked emails, years before the Premier League’s financial rule verdict. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Ship Happens. Donald Trump announces a $6.6B deal with Anduril Industries 🇺🇸 to speed up submarine production in Maryland, handing a tech darling its biggest traditional defense contract yet. (Washington Post)
Fundraising
- OpenAI 🇺🇸 (AI): $30B (Multiple UAE funds, BlackRock)
- Forbion 🇳🇱 (Biotech): €2.3B (MN, PGGM, KfW Capital, Eli Lilly)
- Axiom 🇺🇸 (Infrastructure): $2B (General Catalyst, Koch Equity Development)
- VoltaGrid 🇺🇸 (Energy): $775M (Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, Halliburton)
- Vinci 🇺🇸 (Engineering): $250M (Advent, Temasek, Xora, AMD Ventures, Eclipse, Khosla Ventures, Madrona)
- Mal 🇦🇪 (Fintech): $230M
- Capitolis 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $220M (Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, J.P. Morgan, Nomura, State Street, UBS, Tradeweb Markets, First Citizens Innovation Banking, Hercules Capital, Pinegrove Venture Partners)
- Valon Technologies 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $150M
- General Medicine 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $120M (Andreessen Horowitz, Matrix, VXI Capital, Eli Lilly and Company, Mercy Health, BoxGroup)
- Spiko 🇫🇷 (Fintech): $90M (New Enterprise Associates, Index Ventures, Bpifrance, Speedinvest, Qonto founders)
- KymaThera 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $80M (Alta Partners, Venrock, Foresite Capital, J. Wood Capital)
- Multiply Labs 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $75M (Patrick Soon-Shiong, NantWorks, AstraZeneca, Lingotto, Teradyne, Strange Ventures, Casdin Capital, Lux Capital, Fifty Years, Ora Global, Founders Fund)
- Namespace (Infrastructure): $42M (Scale Venture Partners)
- RobCo 🇩🇪 (Robotics): $40M (Sequoia, Lightspeed)
- Vates 🇫🇷 (Virtualization): €30M (IRIS, Bpifrance)
- Clockwork.io (AI): $31M (Premji Invest, Wing Venture Capital, Seligman Ventures)
- WhiteLab Genomics 🇫🇷 (Biotech): $26M (AVP, Yaday Health, Blast Club, Omnes Capital, Debiopharm Innovation Fund)
- Furientis 🇺🇸 (Defense): $25M (Benchmark)
- Pro Shop 🇺🇸 (Media): $24M (Arthur M. Blank Sports and Entertainment, Causeway Media Partners, Ares Sports, Media and Entertainment, PGA Tour, Powerhouse Capital, Phoenix Capital Ventures)
- Procuros 🇩🇪 (Supply chain): €20M (XAnge, Point Nine, Creandum, b2venture, angel investors)
- Turn2x 🇩🇪 (Climate tech): €20M (Antwerpen Ventures, LEA Partners, First Momentum Ventures, Verve Ventures)
- Vocca 🇫🇷 (Healthcare): $20M
- Living Optics 🇬🇧 (Imaging): $20M (BRV Capital Management)
- Melius 🇺🇸 (AI): $20M (CRV)
- finmid 🇩🇪 (Fintech): €17M (Big Pi Ventures, Mainset, Earlybird)
- Aventra Defense Systems 🇺🇸 (Defense): $17.5M (Konvoy, Lavrock Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures, Sands Capital, Langford Industries, Western Alliance Bank)
- Edonia 🇫🇷 (FoodTech): €15M (SWEN Blue Ocean 2, Asterion Ventures, EIT Food, Bpifrance)
- Avarra 🇺🇸 (AI): $17M (Duration Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Draper Associates, GTMfund, Alumni Ventures, Zoom)
- Mogul 🇺🇸 (Proptech): $15.5M (Draper)
- Santé 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $15M (FINTOP, Bonfire Ventures, Operator Collective, Y Combinator, Veridical Ventures)
- Safeworld 🇺🇸 (Robotics): $12M (Shine Capital, a16z Speedrun)
- Torch Systems 🇺🇸 (Infrastructure): $11.5M (Khosla Ventures, Abstract, Construct Capital, Starship Ventures, First Citizens Innovation Banking)
- Ghost 🇺🇸 (AI): $11M (a16z)
- UpSmith 🇺🇸 (AI): $10M (SemperVirens)
- Minerva Humanoids 🇺🇸 (Robotics): $10M (General Catalyst, Long Journey Ventures, Credo Ventures, Hugging Face, Codecademy, RunwayVC, Compound)
- Cleavr 🇫🇷 (Fintech): €8M (Varsity, Kima Ventures, Better Angle, Portfolio Ventures, Kerala, Financière Saint James)
- Hestus 🇺🇸 (AI): $7.4M (Insight Partners)
- Comparables.ai 🇫🇮 (AI): $6M (Pragmatech, Araya Ventures, Purple Ventures, Gorilla Capital, hi5 Ventures, Somersault Ventures)
- hexafarms 🇩🇪 (Agtech): €4.8M (Ananda Impact Ventures, Green Generation Fund, Grey Silo Ventures, better ventures, Speedinvest, Mudcake, Techstars)
- pubX 🇺🇸 (Adtech): $5M (Chicago Ventures)
- Fleuret AI 🇫🇷 (Cybersecurity): €4M
- Plesh 🇪🇸 (Foodtech): €3.75M (Ibai Llanos, Gerard Piqué)
- Indemni 🇨🇦 (Insurtech): $4M (Field Ventures, Diagram Ventures)
- SafeLoc Systems 🇪🇸 (Safety): €1.45M (Kutxa, BeAble Capital)
- SimpL 🇮🇹 (AI): €1.2M (Techshop Capital, Vento Ventures, business angels)
- C-Clerc 🇫🇷 (Legaltech): €1.2M (ADNEXUS)
Fund Watch
- Audax Private Debt 🇺🇸: $10B (3rd direct lending fund)
- LS Power 🇺🇸: $6B (Fund VI, energy infrastructure fund, closed)
- Princeton Equity Group 🇺🇸: $1.3B (3rd franchise investment fund)
- Niobrara Capital Partners 🇺🇸: $1.1B (debut middle-market private equity fund for B2B technology and tech-enabled services)
- Stonelake Capital Partners 🇺🇸: $1B (8th flagship industrial real estate fund)
- Stride Consumer Partners 🇺🇸: $550M+ (2nd growth equity fund)
- European VC Headline 🇪🇺: $400M (8th European fund, focused on AI)
- WISeSat.Space 🇨🇭: $230M (merger with Columbus Acquisition Corp. completed. Now trading at market cap)
- DIG Ventures 🇬🇧: $120M (3rd fund targeting European AI infrastructure startups)
🔔IPO
- Volare Shipping 🇳🇴 (Shipping): raised $500M at a $1.2B valuation in a debut private placement.
- TRex Bio 🇺🇸 (Biotech): seeking to raise $133M at a $440M valuation in a IPO.
- Lambda 🇺🇸 (Cloud): raising up to $4B ahead of a planned 2027 IPO.
- DeepSeek 🇨🇳 (AI): preparing a Shanghai IPO at a potential ¥500B valuation after an ¥80-100B funding round.
- DayOne Data Centers 🇸🇬 (Data centers): filed for a US IPO.
- Jio 🇮🇳 (Telecoms): facing a lower valuation ahead of its IPO.
- Firmus 🇦🇺 (Data centers): plans to allocate half of its record $5.5B Australian IPO to early backers.
🧳 Debt
- Air Liquide 🇫🇷: raised €2B in euro bonds at lower yields than French government debt.
- Anthropic 🇺🇸: securing a record $60B debt package for its Google TPU lease, guaranteed by Broadcom 🇺🇸.
- Bain Capital 🇺🇸: launched a $5.3B leveraged loan sale to finance its acquisition of a controlling stake in Everllence.
- Volta Infrastructure 🇺🇸: is pitching $5B in leveraged loans at an 11% yield.
- Stonebriar Commercial Finance 🇺🇸: selling $870M of ABS, partly backed by GPU loans.
- Wingspire Equipment Finance 🇺🇸: raised $407M in equipment loan and lease ABS.
- New World Development 🇭🇰: launched an exchange offer for $990M of outstanding dollar notes.
- Bharat Petroleum Corp. 🇮🇳: plans to raise $3B an international bond sale.
- QatarEnergy 🇶🇦: secured a $3B five-year loan from four Chinese banks.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- TalkTalk 🇬🇧: sold to BT out of insolvency, leaving Ares set to recover about 50% of its investment.
- Ion 🇮🇹: said won’t pursue aggressive restructuring of its $11B debt pile and has repurchased $250M at a discount.
🇺🇸 United States
- Benchmark Energy II 🇺🇸: raised up to $47.5M in senior secured financing from Cibolo.
❌ Failures
- BT Group 🇬🇧: acquired troubled rival TalkTalk from administration for $530M.
- HSBC 🇬🇧: plans to cut about 70% of financial adviser roles and half of management and specialist positions in its UK wealth business as it adopts AI.
- L’Oréal 🇫🇷: engaged restructuring advisers over rising US legal liabilities linked to talc.
- Electronic Arts 🇺🇸: bondholders alleged a $1.4B debt default after the company’s $55B leveraged buyout.
- LIV Golf 🇸🇦: BC Partners Credit plans to provide $300M in financing to help the league emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
🎯 For a Few More Minutes…
- 🇬🇧 Starter Pack. More than 1M people in the UK who have never smoked now vape, with young adults leading the charge and traditional smoking declining. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Block Busted. A jailed Lego collector’s fake theft claim is now the poster child for the UK’s £1.3B insurance fraud surge, with bogus claims up 14% last year. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Redrum Revenue. The infamous axe from The Shining goes under the hammer as part of Stanley Kubrick’s personal archive sale, offering horror fans a pricey slice of cinema lore. (The Guardian)
- 🇫🇷 Ocean's Oven. George Clooney will open a high-end Italian restaurant in Cotignac, just a short drive from his French estate, because retirement means never leaving the spotlight. (Le Parisien)
- 🇸🇪 Ghost Protocol. Professor Francis Halzen wins the Nobel Prize in Physics for his IceCube observatory, which detects elusive cosmic neutrinos in Antarctic ice and reveals the universe’s violent secrets. (BBC)
- 🇺🇸 Gold Standard. Former CIA agent David Rush pleads guilty to embezzling $194M, after agents found gold bars, luxury watches, and a fake résumé at his home. The agency now faces a PR headache with a distinctly golden hue. (Le Figaro)
- 🇺🇸 Truth or Dare. Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who shook Facebook 🇺🇸 with the "Facebook Files," publicly endorses the new film "The Social Reckoning" that dramatizes her leaks and their fallout. (Le Parisien)
- 🇮🇱 Breaking the News. AFP photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh was hospitalized after being beaten by Israeli settlers while covering an olive harvest in the occupied West Bank, as gunfire erupted nearby. The AFP calls it a grave attack and demands an investigation, noting this is not the first such incident. (France Info)
