🛏️ Mattress Money
When the watchdogs nap on padded subsidies.
Good morning!
France's two flagship business weeklies are on strike. Challenges, the magazine that publishes the annual billionaire ranking and lectures its readers on free-market discipline, is downing tools for the first time in its 43-year history. La Tribune has done so twice in a fortnight. Both titles routinely produce earnest cover stories about restructurings elsewhere; neither currently fancies running the numbers on itself. La Tribune posted an €11.08M loss on €16.26M in revenue last year, its worst result in over a decade. Editions Croque Futur, the Challenges parent with the unintentionally apt name, dug an €8.05M hole in 2024 after collecting €1.77M in direct press subsidies the year before, and has not booked a single profitable year since 2016.
Both titles sit on the thickest public-subsidy mattress in France. VAT at 2.1% instead of 20%, postal tariffs cut by the state, grants for distribution, modernisation, pluralism: €175M handed to 527 titles by the Culture Ministry in 2024. The sort of line item these publications would file as "structural rent" if it turned up on a steelworks.
Their two new owners appreciate the principle. Rodolphe Saadé's CMA CGM, which took over La Tribune in 2023, reported $55B in revenue last year and pays its corporation tax under the EU tonnage regime; the French Court of Auditors put the foregone receipts at €5.6B in 2023, roughly 32 times the entire press subsidy budget. Bernard Arnault, who closed his takeover of Challenges in December, runs a holding through which his family collected around €265M in monthly dividends last year. The Challenges ethics charter, which still commits the magazine to "the social market economy", is up for renegotiation in May 2027. LVMH would prefer "the liberal economy".
One line buried in La Tribune's 2024 accounts tells the story better than the picket signs. €634K was paid out to reporters who walked after the Saadé takeover, under the statutory "clause de cession" that lets French journalists leave a title with severance when ownership changes. The strikers on the pavement today are, quite literally, the replacements of the reporters who cashed out in 2023. The restructuring plan now on the table eliminates every economics-journalist post and recreates 32 of them under a "BFM La Tribune economics desk", a subsidiary of Saadé's other media arm. Same picture, second viewing.
The pattern is not peculiar to Paris. Jeff Bezos has spent the past year publicly steering the Washington Post opinion line toward "personal liberties and free markets". Patrick Soon-Shiong has run his version at the LA Times. The Telegraph spent two years in receivership while Gulf vehicles, hedge funds and ennobled entrepreneurs queued for the keys. The buyers always offer the same line: serious journalism needs a serious patron. What is new in France is the degree of candour, and the scale of the public cross-subsidy propping up the arrangement. Press aid has a defensible constitutional basis, and scrapping the system without an industrial model would simply hand the field to the patrons faster. The question being dodged in both Paris newsrooms is what business journalism is for, once it is paid by the state to be written under the watchful eye of the men whose accounts it claims to audit.
Past May 2027, France's most influential business magazine and its closest competitor will be edited, in practice, by employees of the country's two largest private fortunes, under a subsidy regime partly financed by the corporation tax those same fortunes have quietly optimised away. Strikes can save jobs. They cannot answer the harder question, which is whether anyone has noticed that the magazines defending the discipline of capital have, in the meantime, become its in-house bulletins. That is not a punchline. It is what is left of the trade.
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🗞️ Top Story
- 🇬🇧 Ash Tag. The UK votes in favor of a law that forbids cigarette sales to anyone born after 2008, putting a permanent age gap between teens and tobacco. (Le Temps)
- 🇷🇴 Exit Strategy. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan rejects a resignation ultimatum from Romania’s top coalition party and says he will run a minority government. (Bloomberg)
- 🇱🇹 Memory Lane. In Lithuania, students retrace the sites of Holocaust mass shootings, guided by survivors like Danuté, 95, who witnessed the killings in Kuliai as a child. (Le Monde)
- 🇪🇺 Heat of the Moment. Extreme heat is driving up death rates across Europe, while diseases like dengue and chikungunya are making unwelcome appearances in the new climate. (Le Monde)
- 🇪🇺 Law and Dis-Order. The European Court of Justice has ruled Hungary's anti-LGBTQI+ law violates rights, demanding Orbán’s 2021 ban on queer representation be scrapped or face penalties. (Die Zeit)
- 🇨🇭 Bureaucratic Burn. Three Italian families affected by the Crans-Montana fire were mistakenly billed over €70,000 by Hôpital du Valais, sparking fierce criticism from Italy’s Giorgia Meloni. (Le Figaro)
- 🇷🇺 Fear Factor. Victoria Bonya, a Monaco-based influencer with 13M followers, shocked Russia’s internet by telling Putin that Russians are afraid of him. (Le Temps)
- 🇺🇸 Stalemate Date. Trump keeps the US-Iran ceasefire running past the deadline, but new talks have already fallen through as the blockade holds. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Map Quest. With a Virginia redistricting victory, Democrats redraw their prospects for a House majority just months before the midterms. (Spiegel)
- 🇮🇱 Cross Purposes. The IDF hands 30-day sentences to two soldiers for vandalizing a crucifix, promising “deep regret” and a replacement statue for the Lebanese village. (BBC)
- 🇧🇫 Civil Disobedience. Burkina Faso's junta suspends nearly 360 associations using a new anti-terror law, shrinking civil society under the banner of security. (Le Monde)
- 🇺🇳 Chair Leaders. The four official candidates to become the next Secretary General face live interviews this week, each pitching their rescue plan for a struggling institution. (Boursier)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Shelter in Name. Temporary accommodation in England is linked to the deaths of 104 children in six years, as safety falls through the cracks of the system. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Screen Test. The UK will legally require schools in England to ban smartphones, as Labour reverses course under pressure from the Lords and Conservative MPs. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇲🇽 License to Spill. Two CIA agents lost their lives in a road accident in Mexico after a counternarcotics mission, underscoring the dangers behind the agency’s widened anti-drug campaign. (Washington Post)
🏛️ Economy
- 🇬🇧 Legal Tender. Sheffield's PM Law Ltd collapsed after a suspected £39.5M fraud, triggering a major SRA probe and leaving thousands of clients stranded. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Like and Denial. UK lawmakers press Meta, Roblox, and TikTok on social media addiction in children, but the companies insist their apps are not inherently addictive. (The Guardian)
- 🇪🇺 Loan Ranger. The is set to approve a €90B loan for Ukraine after Hungary finally drops its opposition, opening the financial floodgates Kyiv desperately needs. (Boursier)
- 🇪🇺 Deal or No Deal? Despite pressure from activists and some member states, ministers refused to freeze trade privileges for Israel, citing political complexity. (Le Parisien)
- 🇳🇴 Crude Awakening. Norway’s $2.2T oil fund swells as war boosts petroleum profits, but critics say Oslo is cashing in while Ukraine bleeds. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Legal Make-Believe. Sullivan & Cromwell blamed A.I. for fake case citations in a court filing, putting the “artificial” front and center in their intelligence. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Fed and Breakfast. Kevin Warsh faces Senate grilling as Trump’s pick for Fed chair, promising “regime change” and independence while the confirmation stalls in Washington gridlock. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Private Eyes. The SEC is keeping a close watch as the private credit sector faces increasing strains, making "trust us" a harder sell. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Fur Real. A trio in California got jail time after faking bear maulings on Rolls-Royce and Mercedes cars with a person in a bear suit to collect insurance payouts. (Libé)
- 🇧🇷 Current Affairs. Brazil’s so-called “lithium valley” promised to lift locals from poverty, but residents say mining brought more dust than prosperity so far. (Le Monde)
- 🇸🇦 Jet Lag. Saudi Arabia has pulled $1.5B in financing for Pakistan’s sale of fighter jets and weapons to Sudan, leaving the deal grounded at the last minute. (Le Parisien)
- 🇮🇷 Strait Jacket. Whether the Strait of Hormuz is open or closed, energy markets are bracing for permanent constraints and costly detours. (New York Times)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Study Break. Fewer students searching for work pulled the UK's unemployment rate lower, letting the numbers graduate without actually finding jobs. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Job Drop. The U.K.'s unemployment rate fell to 4.9% for the three months through February, its lowest since summer 2025, though lasting gains look uncertain. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇬🇧 Shell Game. Peers hear the UK-EU farm trade pact could help Scottish shellfish sales, yet most Brexit red tape is here to stay. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Gridlocked. Britain’s electricity prices remain tied to volatile gas markets, so the government is revamping pricing rules to shield consumers from global shocks. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Fine Print. The Supreme Court will decide if the FCC can keep slapping Verizon and AT&T with giant fines without a jury trial, or if telecoms get their day in court. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Bill Chill. Residents of Hawaii and Alaska face 20 to 30 percent higher electricity bills, feeling the global energy shock ahead of the rest of the. (Wall Street Journal)
🏢 Real Estate
- 🇺🇸 Refinance Dance Equifax posted its quickest revenue gains since 2021, thanks to a 38% spike in mortgage revenue before interest rates spoiled the party. (Bloomberg)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Sign Here, Please. The National Association of Realtors reports a 1.5% rise in pending-home sales for March, outpacing the 0.5% economists predicted. (Wall Street Journal)
🔗 On-chain
- 🇺🇸 Liberty and Justice. Justin Sun files suit against World Liberty Financial, alleging Trump’s crypto outfit tried to shake him down for his tokens. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Perpetual Motion. Polymarket is launching heavily leveraged perpetual futures contracts, letting users bet on predictions with no expiry (because why ever stop)? (Cnbc)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Tax and HODL. Stratiphy becomes the first UK platform to offer crypto ETNs within an Innovative Finance Isa, reopening a tax-efficient route for digital asset fans. (Financial Times)
💱 Listed Markets
- 🇫🇷 War Chest. Thales smashes Q1 expectations with €5.3B in sales and €4.7B in defense-fueled orders, proving conflict pays dividends. (Le Figaro)
- 🇪🇺 Security Blanket. JPMorgan Chase 🇺🇸 is expanding its $1.5T economic security initiative across Europe, aiming to shore up defense, energy, and tech resilience on both sides of the Atlantic. (Cnbc)
- 🇺🇸 Click Bait. Meta is now logging staff clicks and movements to generate training data for its AI, proving nothing is too small to monetize. (TechCrunch)
- 🇺🇸 Product Placement. With Tim Cook stepping down, Apple anoints hardware chief John Ternus as its next CEO, signaling a hands-on approach but no sudden moves. (BBC)
- 🇺🇸 Space Invaders. A wave of companies are rushing to go public before SpaceX launches its IPO, hoping to catch investor attention before Musk takes the spotlight. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Fast Buck Bill. Bill Ackman is offering a stake in Pershing Square USA to early investors, sweetening his $5B to $10B hedge fund IPO pitch. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Watt’s Hauling. Amazon taps Einride for 75 electric heavy-duty trucks on Relay routes, betting more battery power can electrify its middle-mile logistics. (Cnbc)
- 🇺🇸 Spirit Guide. Trump says he opposes a mega-merger between United and American but invites buyers for bankrupt Spirit Airlines and hints at possible government rescue. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Pink Slipstream. Wall Street banks like Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase cut 15,000 jobs while boosting profits, now openly crediting A.I. for the disappearing roles. (New York Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇪🇸 Beauty and the Bid. Estee Lauder is said to be working with JPMorgan on a $5.9B package to buy Puig, making the Spanish fragrance giant suddenly irresistible to investors. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Profit Prescription. UnitedHealth surprised Wall Street with strong Q1 results and boosted its guidance, giving investors a much-needed dose of optimism. (Wall Street Journal)
🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)
- Associated British Foods 🇬🇧 to spin off Primark 🇬🇧, listing both businesses in London.
- Hg 🇬🇧, TowerBrook 🇬🇧, Vitruvian Partners 🇬🇧, and Aquiline 🇺🇸 submit initial bids for Benchmark Capital 🇬🇧, part of UK asset manager Schroders 🇬🇧, which is being acquired by Nuveen 🇺🇸 in a $13B deal.
- Airbus 🇫🇷 to acquire Quarkslab 🇫🇷, a French cybersecurity company.
- Deutsche Telekom 🇩🇪 is considering a merger with its mobile arm T-Mobile US 🇺🇸, potentially creating one of the world's largest telecoms groups.
- Bally's Intralot 🇬🇷 offers to acquire Evoke 🇬🇧 in a $303M stock deal at a 30% premium.
- Premier Energy 🇭🇺 acquires Evryo Group 🇦🇺's power distribution network from Macquarie 🇦🇺 for $825M.
- United Talent Agency 🇺🇸 is among the early bidders for Casey Wasserman's Talent Agency 🇺🇸.
- Caesars Entertainment 🇺🇸 extends exclusive talks for an $18B LBO by hospitality billionaire Tilman Fertitta.
- Brown-Forman 🇺🇸 favors Pernod Ricard 🇫🇷's $14B takeover bid over Sazerac 🇺🇸.
- Lilly 🇺🇸 acquires Kelonia Therapeutics 🇺🇸 at a $3.25B valuation.
- Blue Owl Capital 🇺🇸 acquires Sila Realty Trust 🇺🇸 for $2.4B in a cash deal at a 20% premium.
- Brady Corp. 🇺🇸 acquires Honeywell International 🇺🇸's productivity solutions and services business for $1.4B.
- Apollo 🇺🇸 acquires a 13% stake in McKesson 🇺🇸's medical-surgical solutions unit for $1.25B ahead of its spinoff.
- TA Associates 🇺🇸 is in talks to acquire Advanced Medical Solutions 🇬🇧 for $777M.
- USA Rare Earth 🇺🇸 acquires Serra Verde Group 🇧🇷 in a $2.8B stock-and-cash deal.
- Cleveland-Cliffs 🇺🇸 is no longer in a hurry to close a deal with POSCO Holdings 🇰🇷.
- Agnico Eagle Mines 🇨🇦 acquires Rupert Resources 🇨🇦, Aurion Resources 🇨🇦, and a majority stake in a JV from B2Gold 🇨🇦 for a combined ~$2.8B.
- IOI Properties Group 🇲🇾 acquires Asia Square Tower 2 🇸🇬 from CapitaLand Investment 🇸🇬 for $1.9B.
- AirTrunk 🇦🇺 acquires Lumina CloudInfra 🇮🇳 for $5B in a strategic move to unlock development potential.
🧳 Private Markets & VC
- 🇬🇧 Signal Intercepted. Ofcom launches an investigation into Telegram over alleged child sexual abuse material, putting the messenger’s privacy-first model under the spotlight. (Financial Times)
- 🇸🇪 Open Secrets. After a viral post claimed Lovable exposed customer data, the company blames unclear settings and denies any actual breach. (Sifted)
- 🇺🇸 Prompt Suspect. OpenAI faces a federal probe after reports that its ChatGPT chatbot provided Phoenix Ikner with advice used in the Florida State University shooting. (Libé)
- 🇺🇸 Tool and Error. Anthropic probes allegations of unauthorized Mythos access, while maintaining that its core systems have not been affected. (TechCrunch)
- 🇺🇸 Rocket Money. SpaceX agrees to be acquired by Cursor in a $60B deal, adding AI firepower just as it eyes a public launch. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Prompt and Circumstance. Florida prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT after learning the FSU shooter interacted with the chatbot before his attack. (Le Figaro)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Truth or Consequences. Devin Nunes steps down as CEO of Trump Media after its Truth Social stock slumps, calling it the “appropriate time” for new leadership. (New York Times)
Fundraising
- Anthropic 🇺🇸 (Cloud): $25B
- Project Prometheus 🇺🇸 (AI): $10B (JPMorgan, BlackRock)
- Plata 🇧🇷 (Fintech): $405M
- Polymarket 🇺🇸 (Prediction market): $400M
- Blue Energy 🇺🇸 (Energy): $380M (VXI Capital, At One Ventures, Engine Ventures, Tamarack Global)
- Wasabi Technologies 🇺🇸 (Cloud Storage): $250M
- CuspAI 🇬🇧 (AI): $200M (NEA, Temasek, Hoxton Ventures, Lightspeed, Giant Ventures)
- Reliable Robotics 🇺🇸 (Aerospace): $160M
- ValpakClipp 🇺🇸 (Marketing): $140M (Wells Fargo, First Horizon Bank, UMB Bank)
- Ray Therapeutics 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $125M
- Tortugas Neuroscience 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $106M
- Slash 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $100M
- Salmon 🇵🇭 (E-commerce): $100M
- AcuityMD 🇺🇸 (MedTech): $80M
- Tava Health 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $40M
- NeoCognition 🇺🇸 (AI): $40M
- Rivan 🇬🇧 (Energy): $34M
- Afresh 🇺🇸 (AI): $34M (Just Climate, High Sage Ventures)
- Monk 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $25M (Footwork, Acrew Capital, BTV)
- Ratio 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $15.8M
- Paxos Labs 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $12M
- VisioLab 🇩🇪 (Retail): $11M (eCAPITAL, Simon Capital)
- Seapoint 🇮🇪 (Fintech): €7.5M (13books)
- Omeza 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $8.5M (Astanor, Blukap Ventures, Catalyst Investments)
- Firenze 🇬🇧 (Fintech): £6M
- Hata 🇺🇸 (Blockchain): $8M
- KAIO 🇦🇪 (Tokenization): $8M
- Qualitate 🇺🇸 (Finance): $7M
- Schematic 🇺🇸 (Software): $6.5M
- Deep Blue Medical 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $5.6M
- Point2 Technology 🇺🇸 (Tech): Amount not provided
- SpartanX 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): Seed amount not specified
- AXIA Time 🇺🇸 (Consumer): Amount not disclosed (Culper Capital Partners, Amity Supply)
- Nephronomics 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): Not disclosed
Fund Watch
- Partners Group 🇨🇭: $9B (8th PE secondaries fund)
- HarbourVest Partners 🇺🇸: $2.4B (13th U.S. flagship fund)
- Triple Private Equity 🇬🇧: $600M (debut fund, software-focused PE)
- Baird Capital 🇺🇸: $450M (3rd private equity fund)
- Hilltop Residential 🇺🇸: $288M (Hilltop Growth Fund VI, multifamily investment)
- Tigerless Health 🇺🇸: $280M (merging with Piermont Valley Acquisition Corp, D2C insurtech)
- Mera Investment Management 🇬🇧: $135M (JV with US credit megafund, real estate lender)
🔔IPO
- Savox Communications 🇫🇮 (Defense): in talks for a $120M IPO in Finland.
- Varjo Technologies 🇫🇮 (Defense): in discussions for a Finland IPO backed by Nvidia.
- National Healthcare Properties Inc. 🇺🇸 (REIT): raised $462M in an IPO priced below the marketed range.
- Yesway 🇺🇸 (Retail): raised $280M in a IPO priced at the bottom of the marketed range.
- Jersey Mike's Subs 🇺🇸 (Restaurants): filed for an IPO to raise over $1B at a $12B valuation.
- Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining 🇨🇦 (Mining): plans to raise $400M in a Canada IPO.
- Green & Smart Mobility JSC 🇻🇳 (Transport): plans to hold an IPO in the second half of 2028, according to its founder.
- Kaspi.kz 🇰🇿 (Fintech): Tencent acquires a 3.2% stake for $520M from Baring Fintech Venture Funds.
🧳 Debt
- Deutsche Bank 🇩🇪: marketing a $230M private credit deal for AirAsia Aviation.
- Blue Energy 🇺🇸: raised $380M to fund the world's first project-financeable nuclear plant.
- Newmark 🇺🇸: upsized its senior unsecured credit facility by 50% to $900M, extending maturity to April 17, 2030.
- DataBank 🇺🇸: secured $2.0B in construction financing for three data centers in South Dallas.
- Switch 🇺🇸: secured a landmark $2.6B syndicated letter of credit facility.
- Edged Compute 🇺🇸: seeking to raise $1.3B in a high-yield bond sale.
- Chord Music Partners 🇺🇸: selling $500M in ABSs backed by $830M of artist royalties.
- China 🇨🇳: plans to sell $12.5B of 30Y special bonds in the largest such offering ever.
- Dangote Fertiliser 🇳🇬: preparing a $750M private placement of bonds ahead of a planned IPO.
❌ Failures
- BlaBlaCar 🇫🇷: l'entreprise cesse son activité de bus en France d'ici fin 2026 en raison de pertes d'exploitation récurrentes.
- Sogranlotrans 🇫🇷: the transport company was liquidated on April 16, 2024, with a revenue of €18.3M and a loss of €952,000, resulting in over 110 job cuts.
- UGC 🇷🇺: Russia valued a 67% stake in the gold producer at $1.85B ahead of an auction sale.
- Gates Foundation 🇺🇸: plans to cut up to 500 jobs, representing a 20% reduction in staff by 2030.
- Redwood Materials 🇺🇸: the company laid off 10% of its workforce as part of a restructuring to focus on its energy storage business.
- Spirit Airlines 🇺🇸: the bankrupt airline is seeking an equity bailout from the to avoid imminent liquidation.
- JetBlue Airways 🇺🇸: the airline has ruled out a bankruptcy filing this year.
- The Onion 🇺🇸: the satirical website will lease Infowars for $81k/month after a bankruptcy judge blocked a sale.
- Braskem 🇧🇷: a controlling stake sale moved forward as Novonor agreed to sell its shares to a fund backed by IG4 Capital.
🎯 For a Few More Minutes…
- 🇩🇪 Safe Bet. A Bavarian man bought a used safe for €15 and found a €33,950 gold bar hidden inside, then split the windfall with the previous owner's family. (Le Figaro)
- 🇪🇸 Canary in the Cell. A 40-year-old Polish man wanted for 40 crimes and 485 years of prison was caught in Tenerife, mid-dog walk and mid-bermuda shorts. (Le Parisien)
- 🇷🇴 Human After All Lolita Cercel, an AI-generated virtual singer, has gone viral in Romania, reviving debates over anti-Roma racism as real Roma artists see their culture borrowed but not their talent recognized. (Le Figaro)
- 🇺🇸 Gone Critical. Several American scientists tied to nuclear and UFO research have gone missing, leaving investigators and the public searching for answers. (Le Parisien)
- 🇰🇷 Bang Bang Trouble. South Korean police seek the arrest of BTS's agency boss Bang Si-hyuk, accusing him of pocketing $115M through investor fraud at Hybe just as BTS’s global tour kicks off. (Le Monde)
