🥲 Nice Vesting Schedule

Nothing like a bonus in stock... worth even less.

A Free Lunch newsletter archive of June 24, 2026

Also available:🇫🇷 Édition française


🌍 All editions
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇺🇸 United States

Good morning!

In a Goldman Sachs spreadsheet, two numbers sit a few rows apart and pretend not to know each other. One values OpenAI at $1T when it lists this autumn, one of the largest tech debuts the markets have faced. The other pencils in $74B of operating losses for 2028 alone, with cash burn nearing $115B by decade’s end. Altman is building the most valuable company in history at the speed he is incinerating money, a feat even the Concorde never managed. The pitch promises $280B in revenue by 2030, up from $13B last year. Not impossible. It merely requires building a business the size of Microsoft in four years, while losing $12B a quarter along the way.

The trouble with sinking $500B into data centres, the sum behind the Stargate venture of OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle, is that someone keeps making the bricks cheaper after the walls go up. In March, Google published a method that cuts the memory a model burns during inference sixfold, no accuracy lost. The internet christened it after Pied Piper, the fictional startup from an HBO sitcom about Silicon Valley’s delusions, and memory-chip shares fell before lunch. A satire writers’ room imagined an algorithm that could break the industry’s economics. Google’s engineers built a working one. Amazon now stamps its own inference chips, and rivals arrive at a fraction of Nvidia’s price. A model that runs leaner next year does nothing for the data centre poured this year, and the discount lands on whoever bought last, not the firm that mortgaged the decade up front.

None of which proves the technology is vapour. The productivity gains are real in patches, the usage is real. What wobbles is the financing, and lately it wobbles in public. Meta and Microsoft have slid into bear-market territory, Microsoft a third off its high, and Nvidia, briefly worth $5T, is the weakest name in its own semiconductor index despite record sales. All three are wildly profitable and still being sold off. OpenAI is wildly unprofitable and still being bid up. Nvidia invests in OpenAI, OpenAI spends it back on Nvidia chips, and a slice of the demand underwriting the boom turns out to be the industry buying from itself.

Machines that write and reason will reshape how work gets done. They already are, unevenly, and the bill will land on someone. Amazon left 2001 alive not because its backers had priced the internet right, almost none had, but because it held enough cash to outlast better-rated firms. For OpenAI and the few in its weight class, the contest that settles the decade is not who builds the cleverest model but who can still pay the electricity bill in 2030. The people who invent the future, history keeps noting, are seldom the ones left owning it.

🥲 Nice Vesting Schedule

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🗞️ Top Story

  • 🇬🇧 Party Foul. Peter Murrell, former SNP chief and ex-husband of Nicola Sturgeon, gets five years in prison for embezzling £400K of party funds for personal luxuries. (Boursier)
  • 🇭🇺 Fund Release. Hungary’s parliament passes a sweeping anti-corruption law to unlock nearly €20B in frozen EU funds, hoping Brussels will finally unfreeze the cash. (Spiegel)
  • 🇪🇺 Heat of the Moment. Europe faces record-breaking temperatures from the UK to Switzerland, with red alerts and infrastructure failures marking a continent-wide heatwave. (Les Echos)
  • 🇪🇺 Return to Sender. officials and 15 member states met with Taliban envoys in Brussels to accelerate deportations of Afghan migrants, sparking outrage over legitimizing a regime notorious for human rights abuses. (El Pais)
  • 🇷🇺 Peace Out. Russia’s foreign minister accuses Europe of being the world’s top threat to peace due to its military support for Ukraine, shifting blame with signature flair. (France Info)
  • 🇺🇸 Power Play. Congress passes a war powers resolution instructing President Trump to halt military action in Iran or seek approval, but the measure has no legal force and Trump calls it meaningless. (Bbc)
  • 🇨🇦 Red Flagged. The Montreal shooter’s lengthy incel manifesto, laced with hate and fringe ideology, has put Canada’s growing masculinist terror threat back in the spotlight. (Libé)
  • 🇵🇪 Family Business. Keiko Fujimori claims victory in Peru’s presidential election with 50.12% of the vote, edging out Roberto Sanchez by just over 43,000 ballots as the count nears completion. (Le Temps)
  • 🇰🇵 Fleet Street. North Korea’s Kim Jong-un says his navy is getting nuclear weapons and new 10,000-ton ships, because deterrence apparently needs a bigger boat. (Le Temps)
  • 🇮🇷 Exit Strategy. The International Maritime Organization launches a coordinated operation to extract more than 11,000 crew members trapped by the Hormuz closure since the Middle East conflict began. (Le Monde)
  • 🇸🇩 Copy and Bleed. International leaders urge Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces to halt their advance on El-Obeid, fearing a repeat of last year’s El-Fasher massacre. (Le Monde)
  • 🇳🇪 Case Closed. Niger officially notifies the ICC it will withdraw from the court, joining Mali and Burkina Faso in rejecting international oversight. (Le Monde)
  • 🌍 Class Dismissed. The UN reports nearly 100M children worldwide are out of school due to war and climate disasters, with 60% concentrated in just nine countries. (France Info)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇬🇧 Cabinet Shuffle. If Andy Burnham becomes prime minister, he is expected to replace Rachel Reeves as chancellor and offer her a less senior cabinet post. (Bbc)
  • 🇬🇧 Back to the Future. Andy Burnham appoints ex-Blair minister James Purnell as his chief of staff, proving New Labour never really left Downing Street. (The Guardian)
  • 🇬🇧 Craig’s List. Bev Craig, Manchester city council leader, is chosen as Labour’s candidate to replace Andy Burnham as Greater Manchester mayor, setting up a showdown with Reform UK. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇺🇸 Primary Colors. Three progressive Democrats backed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani ousted two incumbents in House primaries, signaling a leftward shift in New York politics. (Cnbc)
  • 🇺🇸 Regret Key. The House Oversight Committee released Bill Gates’ testimony admitting he regrets meeting Jeffrey Epstein, insisting the meetings were only for Gates Foundation fundraising. (Cnbc)

🏛️ Economy

  • 🇩🇪 Capital Gains. The German government proposes mandatory pension fund contributions while pushing the retirement age higher, hoping to secure the system without breaking the bank. (Les Echos)
  • 🇪🇺 Rate Expectations. The ECB warns inflation may stay above its 2% target for some time, despite recent rate hikes and optimistic forecasts from Philip Lane. (Boursier)
  • 🇪🇺 Fed Up. The euro slid to its weakest in a year after Lagarde’s comments failed to keep pace with the Fed’s hawkish tone, and the market noticed. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇺🇦 Application Pending. Ukraine has submitted a revised application to join the OECD, with President Zelensky hoping for candidate status by autumn and a clear roadmap to membership. (Boursier)
  • 🇺🇸 Pump Fiction. Donald Trump claims the Justice Department is investigating gasoline prices, suggesting the White House wants to script its own ending for the pump. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇳🇿 Pure Gold. New Zealand fast-tracks gold mining projects and courts investors to double output by the 2030s, putting its « 100% Pure » image to the test as profits glitter and environmentalists bristle. (Boursier)
  • 🌍 Crude Awakening. Aliko Dangote’s $20B Lagos refinery is now Africa’s largest, turning Nigeria from a fuel importer into a regional supplier and boosting his fortune to $30.4B. (Financial Times)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇬🇧 Round and Round. Ten years after Brexit, the UK’s new prime minister faces the same EU dilemma: closer economic ties or another spin on the carousel. (Bbc)
🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇺🇸 Pink Slipstream. S&P Global reports factory job cuts in June hit their highest levels since the 2009 crisis and Covid, as demand and cost worries mount. (Cnbc)
  • 🇺🇸 Opt-In, Left Out. More than 6M Trump Accounts have been opened for children, yet the majority of eligible kids still have no access to the $1,000 starter funds. (Cnbc)
  • 🇺🇸 Pump Fiction. After the Iran war sent gas prices soaring, gasoline demand dropped 6.1 percent in May, with experts warning consumption may never fully bounce back. (New York Times)

🏢 Real Estate

🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇺🇸 Home Alone. KB Home 🇺🇸 posted Q2 revenue and profit drops, earning $27.3M as the tough housing market keeps buyers at bay. (Wall Street Journal)
  • 🇺🇸 Rent Free. Massachusetts lawmakers have rejected a proposal for strict rent control, keeping landlords and property owners in the driver’s seat for now. (Bloomberg)

🔗 On-chain

  • 🇪🇺 Current Affairs. The European Parliament’s economic committee approves talks on a digital euro, letting the ECB finally move its six-year project off the drawing board. (Le Figaro)
  • 🇺🇸 SPAC to Reality. After a 90% crash, the dream of using blank-check companies to amass crypto is unraveling as investors lose patience with the model. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇺🇸 VIX Picks. Cboe, owner of the VIX, launches binary prediction markets tied to the Mini-S&P 500 Index, betting on retail appetite for fast, outcome-based trades. (Cnbc)

💱 Listed Markets

  • 🇫🇷 Payback Time. Disgruntled Worldline 🇫🇷 investors are suing the company, alleging it hid bad news and inflated growth prospects before its market nosedive. (Le Figaro)
  • 🇪🇺 Wing and a Prayer. The Aviation Safety Agency orders urgent inspections of 16 Airbus A380s after cracks are found in critical wing structures, raising questions about long-haul confidence. (Wall Street Journal)
  • 🇪🇺 Critical Mass Effect. Airbus and Leonardo want approval to merge with Thales, arguing that only a consolidated European champion can challenge SpaceX’s global dominance. Rivals warn it could shrink competition faster than a satellite in low orbit. (Financial Times)
  • 🇺🇸 Space Invader. Tesla shareholders are betting that Elon Musk’s real plan is to merge Tesla with SpaceX, turning car dreams into rocket ambitions. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇺🇸 Margin Call. Cerebras shares dropped 10% after its first post-IPO earnings report revealed shrinking gross margins despite nearly doubling revenue. (Cnbc)
  • 🇺🇸 Quantum Leap. IBM 🇺🇸 is preparing to commercialize its quantum computing tech, hoping to turn years of research into something you can actually buy. (Wall Street Journal)
  • 🇺🇸 Blacklisted. Alibaba 🇨🇳 is suing the Pentagon to overturn its inclusion on a military blacklist, arguing there is no evidence it supports the Chinese army. (Financial Times)
  • 🇺🇸 Specs Appeal. Meta unveils new $299 smart glasses without Ray-Ban branding, as Mark Zuckerberg doubles down on wearables and the AI hardware race heats up. (Cnbc)
  • 🇰🇷 Sell Circuit. Korean chipmakers saw $6B in shares offloaded by leveraged ETFs on Tuesday, proving that panic can move faster than silicon. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇮🇱 Guns for Funds. Israel may list major defense companies on US exchanges, inviting Wall Street to invest directly in its military sector. (Bloomberg)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇬🇧 Cloud Nine. Apple faces a £3B class action in the UK after a tribunal allows Which? to sue over claims it trapped 40M iCloud users into pricey storage plans. (Bbc)

🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)

  • Gareth Bale 🇬🇧 and Juggernaut Capital Partners 🇺🇸 are eyeing a controlling stake in Cardiff City 🇬🇧 via a sports investment vehicle.
  • Southern Water 🇬🇧 raises $1.6B in equity from owners Asterion Industrial Partners 🇪🇸, Macquarie 🇦🇺 and others.
  • STMicroelectronics 🇫🇷 enters the capital of Oversonic Robotics 🇮🇹, joining existing industrial and financial partners.
  • HRK Lunis 🇩🇪 acquires Eyb & Wallwitz 🇩🇪, creating a group that manages about €11B (HRK Lunis previously managed €8.5B). Deal awaits regulatory approval.
  • Openlaw 🇩🇪 acquires Firma.de 🇩🇪 from insolvency. Two‑year‑old Munich legaltech grows to market leader for fully digital company formations, adds 30,000+ customers and 1,000+ notaries, with integration planned within two months.
  • Stada 🇩🇪 weighs a €6B takeover of CVC-backed Cooper Consumer Health 🇬🇧.
  • Maggioli Group 🇮🇹 acquires Collectives A.E. 🇬🇷, taking a 60% stake in a govtech deal completed 29 May 2026. Collectives is the tech provider behind many gov.gr services and major national digital projects.
  • Backbase 🇳🇱 acquires Kasisto 🇺🇸, an agentic banking AI specialist (founded 2013. 47 clients including JPMorgan Chase, TD Bank and Westpac. Raised tens of millions from investors such as FIS, Mastercard and Westpac).
  • CRH 🇮🇪 acquires Arcosa 🇺🇸 for $8.5B cash including debt, at a 10% premium.
  • Avolta (ex Dufry) 🇨🇭 acquires DFS Okinawa 🇯🇵 from LVMH 🇫🇷 and the Miller family. Closing expected in Q3, terms not disclosed, financed from available cash and expected to have limited impact on leverage while being immediately accretive to EBITDA margin, EPS, FCF and ROIC.
  • Walmart 🇺🇸 acquires Vibe.co 🇫🇷 for €1.2B, a deal in advertising/audience-selling space.
  • Brightstar Capital Partners 🇺🇸 acquires Erdman 🇺🇸, adding a nationally licensed healthcare and senior-living design specialist to its architecture & design platform.
  • Ari Emanuel 🇺🇸 is in talks to buy ATG Entertainment 🇬🇧, FT reports.
  • SPS Commerce 🇺🇸 explores a sale, working with Morgan Stanley 🇺🇸. Faces pressure from activists Anson Funds 🇺🇸 and Irenic Capital 🇺🇸. Market cap roughly $2B. Shares down >80%. Cloud-based supply-chain software provider serving 50,000+ customers.
  • Edgewell 🇺🇸 rejects an offer for the company. Shares leap following the rejected bid
  • Energy Fuels 🇺🇸 acquires Vacuumschmelze 🇩🇪 and Ara VAC TopCo 🇩🇪 for $1.9B, a mining company buying a German magnetics firm.
  • Pointillist Family Office 🇺🇸 pushes SEACOR 🇺🇸 to explore a sale at a 300% premium. SEACOR is a $200M-listed offshore energy services company.
  • Cargill 🇺🇸 sells metals unit 🇺🇸, aiming to complete the sale by August.
  • Qualcomm 🇺🇸 is in advanced talks to acquire Modular 🇺🇸 for about $4B. Modular was founded in 2022 by Chris Lattner and Tim Davis and has raised $380M (including $250M in Sept).
  • FirstCash 🇺🇸 acquires Ramsdens Holdings 🇬🇧 for 600p per share plus up to a 9p dividend. Total equity value ~£206M ($273M). Pawnbroker sector, adds 174 UK stores.
  • Superhuman 🇺🇸 acquires GPTZero 🇺🇸. GPTZero valued at $88M+, $30M ARR and 19M registered users. 30 employees and founders join Superhuman.
  • Bristow 🇺🇸 to acquire Berry Aviation 🇺🇸. Aviation services deal amid a government push.
  • SoftBank 🇯🇵 seeks a stake in Japan’s top utility 🇯🇵, in talks to acquire a minority position.
  • AIP 🇸🇬, BlackRock-backed, and KKR 🇺🇸 courts Stack Asia Data Centers 🇸🇬 in a potential data-center takeover.
  • Vedanta 🇮🇳 eyes $372M raise from Zambia Copper Mines 🇿🇲’s IPO.

🧳 Private Markets & VC

  • 🇩🇪 Swede Dreams. Germany plans to introduce a mandatory pension fund modeled on Sweden’s AP7, hoping to patch its aging pay-as-you-go system with a little Scandinavian flair. (Les Echos)
  • 🇪🇺 Billion Dollar Babies. Europe saw eight startups each close funding rounds of $1B or more in 2026, shattering previous records and expectations. (Sifted)
  • 🇺🇸 Mythos Busters. Anthropic’s Mythos AI model uncovered vulnerabilities in classified government systems within hours during a test, prompting fresh cybersecurity concerns and new restrictions from the Trump administration. (Cnbc)
  • 🇺🇸 Little League Fees. Private equity firms are buying up youth sports leagues across the, driving up costs for parents and sparking political backlash over $40B in annual spending. (Financial Times)
  • 🇺🇸 Redemption Song. Apollo limits exits from its flagship private credit fund to 5% after $2.4B in withdrawal requests flood in, putting the spotlight back on liquidity risks. (Cnbc)

Fundraising

  • Baseten 🇺🇸 (AI infrastructure): $1.5bn
  • AppsFlyer 🇮🇱 (Adtech): $1B (Moloco, Google, Meta)
  • Cred 🇮🇳 (Fintech): $900M
  • Stark Defence 🇩🇪 (Defense): €500M (Sequoia, NATO Innovation Fund, Döpfner Capital)
  • Nearfield Instruments 🇳🇱 (Semiconductor): $380M
  • Mach Industries 🇺🇸 (Aerospace): $300M
  • Peregrine Technologies 🇺🇸 (Govtech): $250M (Fifth Down Capital, Sequoia Capital, OG Venture Partners, Goldcrest Capital, XYZ Ventures, Godfrey Capital)
  • Osanni Bio 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $190M (Patient Square Capital, the Horowitz Group, Invus Opportunities, Retinal Degeneration Fund)
  • Upscale AI 🇮🇳 (AI infrastructure): $190M
  • Cadence 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $100M (Spark Capital, Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Coatue, B Capital, Corewell Health Ventures, Memorial Hermann, Duke Health)
  • Engram 🇺🇸 (AI): $98M (General Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, Andrej Karpathy)
  • Redo 🇺🇸 (Commerce): $81M (Smash Capital, Pelion Venture Partners, Cervin Ventures)
  • Fomo (Crypto): $75M
  • Niural 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $52M (FOG Ventures, NewView Capital, existing investors)
  • Partly 🇺🇸 (Automotive): $50M
  • HMNC Brain Health 🇩🇪 (Biotech): $50M (MEDICE – The Health Family, The Maschmeyer Group, Josef Ackermann, Toni Kroos, Matthias Schweighöfer, Wilhelm Beier)
  • TRIMTECH Therapeutics 🇬🇧 (Biotech): €41M (JJDC, BGF)
  • Allium 🇺🇸 (Blockchain): $40M (Amplify Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Theory Ventures)
  • Probook 🇺🇸 (Home services): $40M (Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital)
  • Tsuga 🇫🇷 (Observability): $35M
  • NorthLinks Bio 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $34M
  • Attention 🇺🇸 (AI): $30M (RTP Global, Aglaé Ventures, Eniac, Alven, Linea Ventures, Kirill Bigai, Sam Jacobs, executives from Engine, Abridge, Scale AI)
  • Ploy 🇺🇸 (Martech): $27M (First Round Capital, Y Combinator)
  • Astral Systems 🇬🇧 (Fusion): £23M (Mercia Ventures, Tees River, Daphni, Blast Club, Speedinvest, Playfair)
  • Superlight 🇬🇧 (Automotive): $21M (£15.9M)
  • Sportway Media Group 🇸🇪 (Sports tech): €20M (Gamma Waves, existing shareholders)
  • Rapalogix Health 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $20M (Woodline Partners, GordonMD Global Investments LP)
  • Cuprum Metals 🇺🇸 (Mining): $19.4M (Lundin Family Office, Woodline Partners, BHP Ventures)
  • equipal 🇬🇧 (Fintech): €18.84M
  • EarnOS 🇺🇸 (Adtech): $18.5M (1kx, Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, Social Graph Ventures, Verona)
  • Varm 🇩🇪 (ClimateTech): €17.5M (ABN Amro Sustainable Impact Fund, GET Fund, Aurum Impact, Emerge Partners, Pale Blue Dot, noa)
  • AlpSemi 🇫🇷 (Power semiconductors): €17M (Yotta Capital, SE Ventures, Navitas Semiconductor, Cycle Group)
  • JustAI 🇺🇸 (Marketing): $17M (Base10 Partners, Y Combinator, Peak XV Partners, Anthropic, Chime, Notion, CTO of HubSpot, founders of Eppo, Vapi)
  • Tetrix 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $15M (White Star Capital, Innovation Endeavors, angel investors)
  • JUPUS 🇩🇪 (Legaltech): €13M (Semapa Next, NRW.Venture (NRW.BANK), Acton Capital, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF))
  • Flease 🇫🇷 (Mobility): €13M (Partech Impact, Partech Growth Impact Fund)
  • Timefold 🇧🇪 (Logistics): $13M (Alstin Capital, Kompas VC, Lakestar, Smartfin)
  • Ubotica Technologies 🇮🇪 (Space): $11M (Act Venture Capital, Greencode Ventures, Atlantic Bridge)
  • Causa Prima 🇹🇷 (Fintech): $10M (Creandum, Borusan Ventures, Kfund, HelloWorld, Angel Invest, Qonto, Pennylane, SAP, ING, SoFi, LIDL, DeepMind)
  • LINC 🇫🇷 (Payroll): €8.5M
  • Wheere 🇫🇷 (Geolocation): €8.5M (Blast Club, Eric Larchevêque, Sofilaro, business angels)
  • TensorX 🇮🇪 (AI infrastructure): €8M
  • HaloBraid 🇺🇸 (Robotics): $7M
  • Ladder Health 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $7M (Nina Capital, Mairs & Power Venture Capital, South Dakota First Capital, 25madison Health, Hatteras Venture Partners, Create Health Ventures, Jumpstart Capital, White Oak Enterprises, Groove Capital, 7Rock Ventures)
  • SOND 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $7M (E14 Fund, Crosslink Capital, Ubiquity Ventures)
  • Sophia Space 🇺🇸 (Spacetech): $7M (EverGreen – The NVIDIA Alumni Investment Network, SparkLabs Group)
  • Halo 🇺🇸 (Beauty): $7M (Seven Seven Six, AlleyCorp, Bling Capital)

Fund Watch

  • MGX 🇦🇪: $50B (AI fund, already deploying)
  • Allianz Global Investors 🇩🇪: $744M (AAPSLF III, 3rd Asia‑Pacific middle‑market private credit fund)
  • Swen Capital Partners 🇫🇷: $570M
  • Palladio Partners 🇬🇧: $515M ($515M CV for Railpool, financing for Europe’s leading rail vehicle leasing firm)
  • Banner VC 🇺🇸: $225M
  • Marram Ventures 🇺🇸: $100M (debut healthcare VC fund, spun out of The 4100 Group)

🔔IPO

  • EG Group 🇬🇧 (Fuel retail): filed for a US IPO that could raise about $1B and value the business at more than $9B.
  • RWE 🇩🇪 (Energy): seeking to raise $4.75B in a share issuance to buy 30% of Amprion, boosting its stake to 55%.
  • ITG 🇺🇸 (Digital infrastructure): seeking to raise $430M at a $2.7B valuation in a IPO.
  • Agility Robotics 🇺🇸 (Robotics): set to go public in a SPAC deal valuing it at about $2.5B.
  • Sinda 🇲🇽 (Mining): seeking to raise $345M in a US IPO at a $2B valuation.
  • Momenta 🇨🇳 (Autonomy): set to raise $1B in a Hong Kong IPO at a $9B valuation.
  • Samsung Electronics 🇰🇷 (Semiconductors): plans a 90 trillion won ($58.6B) share buyback after agreeing stock bonuses for employees.
  • Luxshare 🇭🇰 (Electronics): gauging interest for a $3B Hong Kong listing.
  • Carro 🇸🇬 (Used cars): considering a confidential U.S. IPO that may raise up to $500M and could dual-list in Singapore.
  • VITRO REIT 🇵🇭 (Data centers): looking to raise $400M in the Philippines’ first IPO of the year.

🧳 Debt

  • Veolia Environnement 🇫🇷: raised €400M with 5.5‑year cash‑settled synthetic convertible bonds maturing 02 Jan 2032.
  • Clariane 🇫🇷: raised €333M in a successful offering of perpetual subordinated hybrid bonds.
  • Stonepeak 🇺🇸: banks are marketing $2.75B of leveraged loans to back its $10.1B acquisition of Castrol.
  • NNN REIT, Inc. 🇺🇸: exercised a $200M incremental term loan, boosting the facility to $500M.
  • Canada 🇨🇦: backs $504M loan to support an Indigenous stake in a nuclear project.
  • Pluspetrol 🇦🇷: planning a $500M bond sale.
  • Venezuela 🇻🇪: to restructure about $240bn of sovereign debt in the world’s largest debt restructuring.
  • ByteDance 🇨🇳: seeking $20B in its largest-ever offshore loan.
  • NTT 🇯🇵: plans a $10B bond, the largest from an Asian firm this year.
  • Libeara 🇸🇬: raised $14M in a strategic funding round led by GSR.
  • Vietnam Airlines 🇻🇳: secured an EXIM guarantee of over $2.9B for a loan to buy 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8.
  • Shapoorji Pallonji Group 🇮🇳: seeks fresh bond extension as refinancing drags.

❌ Failures

  • BT 🇬🇧: its pension scheme wrote off its Thames Water stake, recording a £300mn loss.
  • Hopium 🇫🇷: creditors and shareholders in most classes approved its modified recovery plan, to be reviewed by the Paris Commercial Court on 3 July 2026.
  • Playmobil 🇩🇪: 350 jobs lost as the Dietenhofen plant closes June 30, with production moved to Malta and Czechia.
  • Porsche 🇩🇪: negotiating unspecified job cuts as part of a broader streamlining plan to improve competitiveness.
  • Godiva 🇧🇪: MBK Partners is negotiating to extend repayment on $465M of leveraged loans for Godiva’s Japan unit.
  • Ethereum Foundation 🇨🇭: laid off 54 employees (≈20% of staff) as part of a restructuring.

🎯 For a Few More Minutes…

  • 🇫🇷 Ticket to Nowhere. Despite media alerts and a ticking clock, no one claimed the €13M Super Loto prize in Orne, so the jackpot returns to the pot. (Ouest-France)
  • 🇷🇺 Godfather Frost. Ilia Traber, once shielded by his relationship with Vladimir Putin, finds himself arrested and charged with murder, as Kremlin winds turn icy. (Le Monde)
  • 🇬🇦 Driven Assets. Fabrice Andjoua Bongo Ondimba, son of Gabon’s former president, quietly amassed luxury cars and Dubai real estate through secretive Luxembourg structures, raising questions about the origin of his wealth. (Le Monde)
🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇺🇸 Hair Force. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Damon Landor, a Rastafarian inmate, cannot sue Louisiana prison guards for forcibly shaving his dreadlocks, narrowing religious rights protections for prisoners. (New York Times)

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