🪟 Open Window Logic

Air in, savings out, all year round.

A Free Lunch newsletter archive of July 21, 2026

Also available:🇫🇷 Édition française

🌍 All editions
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇺🇸 United States

Good morning!

A tax cut comes wrapped in a promise that the saving reaches the customer, and confidence nobody checks whether it does. A French minister drops the VAT on air-to-air heat pumps from 20% to 5.5% mid-heatwave, and the press release pledges comfort across all four seasons, a phrase with the scent of an open-plan office chilled to 19°C while the country cooks at 40°C. Britain ran the identical manoeuvre in 2022, when Rishi Sunak zero-rated the very same units as a dividend of leaving Brussels, its savings advertised to households that could already afford them. A saving is whatever the seller consents not to keep.

Help to Buy ran the experiment first: a decade of taxpayer money for first-time buyers, after which new-build prices rose at twice the rate of everything else and developers grew rich. Persimmon’s profits climbed from £225M in 2012 to about £1.1B by 2018, half its sales riding the scheme. Jeff Fairburn, its chief executive, who left school at 17 and grasped leverage rather better than tact, took a bonus the papers christened « Mr £131 million », trimmed to £75M after a revolt, then marched off a BBC interview rather than answer for it. The scheme did precisely what it advertised. It moved an enormous sum, never toward the buyers on the label.

America turned the same failure into an academic discipline. The mechanism has a name: pass-through, the share of a tax break that survives a seller’s pricing power. On solar subsidies it tracks market power more than generosity, the buyer’s cut set by the installer’s competition, not Congress. The Inflation Reduction Act’s 30% credit bred prepaid leases in which the installer holds the break and decides, graciously, how much to pass down, before Washington scrapped it at the end of 2025, after years of subsidising the rises it called affordability. The figure waved at families only caps the seller’s charity; the lever nobody touches sits beneath it: land, permits, the cost of building. Supply stays bolted shut, so the money climbs the only rung left: the margin.

Back where this began, the government admits its energy label cannot register a home that overheats, then moves to keep the worst-rated flats rented on a promise of works someday. Not one of these schemes rates a dwelling for its power to kill in a heatwave; each files air-conditioning under decarbonisation, as though cooling a badly built box on the grid were ecology, a category error paid in bodies. In England, the summer of 2022, when the country first crossed 40°C, 2,803 more people over 65 died than an ordinary year takes, most of them at home, in rooms that had turned into ovens. That is the comfort the policy delivers, four seasons out of four: the comfort of the margin, the only thing here that never suffers a bad season.

🪟 Open Window Logic

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🗞️ Top Story

  • 🇬🇧 Seven Up. Andy Burnham becomes the UK’s seventh Prime Minister in a decade, receiving the royal nod and unveiling a bold ten-year vision for the country. (Spiegel)
  • 🇪🇸 Flame Game. The La Mierla fire continues out of control for a fifth day, encircling villages and driving over 1,000 residents from their homes as Spain swelters. (Boursier)
  • 🇺🇸 Big Apple Immunity. Donald Trump insists Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will not face arrest in New York, dismissing Mayor Mamdani’s suggestion that city officials are considering it. (Cnbc)
  • 🇨🇦 Blame Canada. With over 360 new wildfires in a week and smoke reaching New York, Trump threatens tariffs over Canada’s “dirty air” while Canada battles one of its worst fire seasons. (Les Echos)
  • 🇨🇴 Sworn Enemies. Abelardo de la Espriella, Colombia’s incoming hard-right leader, says guerrillas are offering $1M to kill him ahead of his August 7 swearing-in. (Le Figaro)
  • 🇻🇪 August Rush. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announces Venezuela’s democratic transition will kick off in early August, with Washington orchestrating talks between rival factions and backing a new unity government after this year’s deadly earthquakes. (El Pais)
  • 🇳🇮 No Contest. President Ortega rules out future elections in Nicaragua, making it clear that power transfers are off the table for good. (Spiegel)
  • 🇮🇳 Pest Control. Indian police cracked down on Gen Z-led “Cockroach Movement” protesters demanding exam reform, wielding tear gas and sticks to keep them from Parliament. (Spiegel)
  • 🇹🇷 Mayor Culpa. Fatma Kaplan Hürriyet, opposition mayor of Izmit, was arrested along with her husband in the latest sweep against CHP politicians, as Ankara insists it is just following the law. (Spiegel)
  • 🇮🇷 La pression s’accentue. Les États-Unis mènent une nouvelle série de frappes contre l’Iran et annoncent de nouveaux droits de douane, intensifiant ainsi la pression sur deux fronts sans relâche. (Bloomberg) (Bloomberg)
  • 🇾🇪 Port Authority. The Houthis warn they may block ships from reaching Saudi Arabia, escalating tensions and putting regional shipping lanes on high alert. (Financial Times)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇬🇧 Burnham Notice. Andy Burnham delivered his first Downing Street speech as prime minister, unveiling a “circuit breaker for Britain” and a 10-year plan for reform. (The Guardian)
  • 🇬🇧 Healey Unchained. Andy Burnham stuns Labour MPs by naming John Healey as chancellor, passing over the expected favorite Shabana Mahmood for the top Treasury job. (Financial Times)
  • 🇬🇧 Prime Suspect. Authorities have charged Joshua Kerry with murdering Ann Widdecombe, whose high-profile political and television career ended in tragedy this month. (New York Times)
🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇺🇸 Family Plan. The Trump-era DOJ subpoenaed phone records linked to relatives of New York Times reporters to trace leaks about Air Force One security. (Wall Street Journal)

🏛️ Economy

  • 🇬🇧 Gilt Trip. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s talk of “budget flexibility” sent gilts tumbling and the pound sliding as markets braced for more debt. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇬🇧 Cash Ceiling. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham moves to cap political donations, threatening to close the VIP entrance to British democracy. (Le Parisien)
  • 🇳🇱 Current Affairs. Rotterdam launches modest green initiatives like hydrogen and offshore wind, but its fossil fuel dominance keeps Europe plugged in for now. (Le Monde)
  • 🇪🇺 Rate Siesta. The ECB is expected to skip a July rate hike and hold steady until September, making this summer meeting the least essential event on its calendar. (Les Echos)
  • 🇪🇺 Fine Print. The will suspend methane emission fines for oil and gas companies until the end of 2029, citing energy security concerns over climate urgency. (Le Figaro)
  • 🇨🇭 Goal Standard. FIFA rakes in a record $9B from its expanded 2026 World Cup, proving that when it comes to football, profit always scores first. (Cnbc)
  • 🇺🇸 Stick Shift. The hits Canada with 50% tariffs on everyday goods, prompting Carney to announce a push for deeper trade talks before the duties bite. (Bbc)
  • 🇺🇸 Barrel Roll. Goldman Sachs signals Brent could hit $120 if Hormuz remains blocked, leaving traders spinning and consumers bracing for impact. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇺🇸 Silent Treatment. New Fed chair Kevin Warsh ditches forward guidance and vows to say less about interest rates, leaving markets to guess his next move. (Financial Times)
  • 🇨🇳 Stall of Fame. After a record 2025, China’s car sales have nosedived 20% in the first half of 2026, forcing a grim full-year outlook. (Cnbc)
  • 🇨🇳 Egg Flation. Egg prices in China have jumped over 40 percent in a year, sending families and street vendors scrambling for cheaper breakfasts as inflation finally cracks the market. (New York Times)
  • 🇸🇬 Talent Show. Singapore weighs new incentives for hedge funds, including tax breaks and easier hiring, in its ongoing quest for financial stardom. (Bloomberg)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇬🇧 Gift Wrapped. Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin brands the parliamentary probe into Nigel Farage’s undeclared gifts a “kangaroo court,” insisting the system is rigged against her party. (The Guardian)
  • 🇬🇧 Pension Tension. The UK government admits outsourcing its civil service pension scheme to Capita 🇬🇧 left retirees waiting up to a year for payments and facing hardship. (The Guardian)
  • 🇬🇧 Bot and Not. Despite rising adoption rates, UK companies are not deepening their AI usage, according to ONS figures that reveal limited transformative impact. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇺🇸 Empire Underwriting. authorities have subpoenaed Mark Walter’s Delaware Life and Clear Spring Life, questioning whether their private credit deals improperly favored his own network of companies within TWG Global. (Financial Times)
  • 🇺🇸 Truth Reactor. Mark Angelo of Yorkville Advisors is steering Trump Media into a nuclear fusion deal, transforming Truth Social from hot takes to hot plasma in record time. (Wall Street Journal)

🏢 Real Estate

  • 🇪🇺 Concrete Evidence. The European Commission accuses 10 construction chemical firms and 3 trade bodies of colluding to hike prices across France, Germany, and Spain after recent crises. (Wall Street Journal)
  • 🇺🇸 Lone Star Server. BlackRock 🇺🇸 fronts $12B to build massive data centers in Texas for Meta 🇺🇸, keeping most of the ownership for itself. (Wall Street Journal)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇬🇧 Bedtime Story. New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham makes ending rough sleeping his first pledge, promising £340M for housing and support for thousands across England. (Bbc)
  • 🇬🇧 Liquid Assets. UK datacentre expansion for AI is hitting a wall as the water industry declares there simply is not enough water to keep servers cool. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇺🇸 Home Alone. New York launches a new tax on luxury second homes worth $5M or more, targeting absentee owners to help fund public services. (New York Times)
  • 🇺🇸 Tag Relief. Los Angeles’ infamous $1.2B “Graffiti Towers” project has been cleared to exit bankruptcy, giving developers another shot at redemption. (Bloomberg)

🔗 On-chain

  • 🇺🇸 Coin Toss. Speculators bet Coinbase 🇺🇸 will miss Q2 trading volume expectations, with odds favoring a drop below $160B as bitcoin slumps drag activity down. (Cnbc)
  • 🌍 Fade to Noir. Aurora’s DeFi sector has lost 99% of its value since 2022, proving that even the brightest crypto lights can go dark in France. (Journalducoin)

💱 Listed Markets

  • 🇪🇺 Fuel’s Gold. Ryanair shares fell 6% after rising fuel costs and lower fares linked to the Iran war slashed first-quarter profit by 34%, with CEO Michael O’Leary warning of a tough winter ahead for struggling airlines. (Cnbc)
  • 🇺🇸 Helios Rising. AMD launches its Helios AI rack to challenge Nvidia, with Microsoft joining Meta, OpenAI, and Oracle as early adopters of the new system. (Cnbc)
  • 🇺🇸 Tech Wreck. Hedge funds dumped tech stocks at the fastest pace in over a decade, with Goldman Sachs reporting a 10% sector selloff in just two months. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇺🇸 Power Play. Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission rejected Oracle’s request to waive a $7B collateral demand for its new data centre, forcing the company to prove it can pay the bill before powering up for OpenAI. (Financial Times)
  • 🇺🇸 Merger Cliffhanger. A California judge has hit pause on the $81B Paramount 🇺🇸 and Warner Bros. Discovery 🇺🇸 deal, citing antitrust objections from a dozen states. (Wall Street Journal)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇬🇧 Legal Tender. Linklaters partners collect a record £2.5M each after booming profits in Asia and the US, proving the law can be lucrative when the world is your client. (Financial Times)
  • 🇬🇧 Clock Market. The LSE plans to open a night-time exchange next year, matching crypto platforms with 24-hour trading to win over restless retail investors. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇺🇸 Patriot Games. Lockheed Martin 🇺🇸 unveils a new budget-friendly Patriot missile, promising to replenish shrinking global stockpiles at less than half the usual price. (Wall Street Journal)
  • 🇺🇸 Lease and Release. Cracker Barrel 🇺🇸 lifts its guidance as it ditches Maple Street Biscuit Co. and pockets $77M from selling and leasing back 26 restaurants. (Wall Street Journal)

🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)

  • Railpen 🇬🇧 made a sweetened offer for IP Group 🇬🇧 for $767M, a UK-listed early-stage science investor.
  • Anglo American 🇬🇧 selects a group led by ex-De Beers CEO Gareth Penny as preferred bidder for its sale of diamond monopoly De Beers 🇿🇦. Botswana holds pre-emptive rights to acquire Anglo’s entire interest.
  • ZEISS 🇩🇪 acquires Edy Optic LTT 🇷🇴. Approved by the competition authority, via Carl Zeiss Instruments SRL, distributor of ZEISS Vision Care, 2025 revenue ~9.4M EUR, optics/optometry/ophthalmology products and services, 45 employees.
  • Poste Italiane 🇮🇹 acquires Telecom Italia 🇮🇹 in a €13B+ ($14.87B) bid to take full control.
  • Contents 🇮🇹 acquires Balio 🇪🇸. Milan-based enterprise execution platform snaps up Barcelona-based corporate financial wellbeing specialist in its sixth buy-and-build deal.
  • Delen 🇧🇪 acquires Van Lawick & Co. 🇳🇱. Part of Ackermans & van Haaren, it’s Delen’s eighth acquisition in the Netherlands in ten years.
  • Volenergy 🇦🇹 acquires BP 🇬🇧’s Austrian petrol-station and EV charging business, including 250 branded retail sites (around 115 company-owned/franchise-operated). Sites to continue operating under the BP brand via a licensing agreement.
  • EQT 🇸🇪 makes a $1.75B takeover offer for Perpetual 🇦🇺, which was rejected.
  • Eurofins 🇱🇺 acquires Element Materials Technology 🇬🇧’s North American life sciences testing services for $400M enterprise value, covering 27 labs
  • Prologis 🇺🇸 bids £13.5bn (993p/share; ~20% cash, mostly shares) for Segro 🇬🇧, with the FTSE 100 target rejecting the third offer.
  • Tempus 🇺🇸 to buy Personalis 🇺🇸 for $1.7B, a cancer-tech firm.
  • ACI Worldwide 🇺🇸 explores sale of billing division 🇺🇸 at a $1.5B valuation, generated $818M revenue and $141M adjusted EBITDA in 2025. In talks with bankers and potential private equity buyers.
  • Netflix 🇺🇸 kauft InterPositive 🇺🇸 für $587M, ein KI-Startup von Ben Affleck. Gesamtes Team wechselt zu Netflix und Affleck wird Senior Advisor, Technologie für Postproduktion und Nachbearbeitung.
  • Blackstone 🇺🇸 invests in Futronic 🇰🇷, a supplier of high-precision actuators for automotive and industrial robotics, valuing the firm at about 1 trillion won ($676.04M). Founder Jin‑ho Ko to remain chairman and CEO.
  • General Atlantic 🇺🇸 and Howden Group 🇬🇧 in talks to raise several $B at a $67B valuation as it prepares for an eventual IPO.
  • Advent 🇺🇸 and Stripe 🇺🇸 offer $53B leveraged buyout for PayPal 🇺🇸. PayPal rejects the bid as inadequate.
  • TPG 🇺🇸’s $2.8B acquisition of Greencross Pet 🇦🇺 collapses after Coles ends talks.
  • ACI Worldwide 🇺🇸 explores a $1.5B sale of its billing division 🇺🇸
  • ConocoPhillips 🇺🇸 acquires BP Energy Company of Kirkuk 🇮🇶, agreeing to buy a 42% stake from BP 🇬🇧.
  • Molex 🇺🇸 agrees to an up to $6.29B, 10-year data-center optical-fiber supply deal with Prysmian 🇮🇹. Prysmian eyes U.S. fiber capacity expansion and a potential listing.
  • KKR 🇺🇸 among final contenders to buy DStelecom 🇵🇹.
  • Brookfield Asset Management 🇨🇦 and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board 🇨🇦 acquire LXP Industrial Trust 🇺🇸 for $5.2B in an all-cash deal that will take the REIT private.
  • Grupo Carso 🇲🇽 acquires a 30% stake in a Gulf of America offshore field from TotalEnergies 🇫🇷
  • Panama 🇵🇦 buys the remaining 41% private stake in strategic oil terminal Petroterminal de Panama 🇵🇦.
  • FountainVest 🇨🇳 is said to consider selling Rokin 🇨🇳, a logistics firm.
  • Mitsubishi Electric 🇯🇵 eyes merger with Rohm 🇯🇵 and Toshiba 🇯🇵 to combine their power semiconductor operations, aiming to announce a joint venture by September.
  • Samsung Biologics 🇰🇷 acquires Polypeptide 🇨🇭 for CHF1.5B (CHF44.31/share). Board supports the offer, major shareholder Draupnir to sell ~56%.
  • Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) 🇭🇰 merges with Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI) 🇭🇰 in April 2026, producing hybrid AI + advanced materials technologies for robotics, sensing and cybersecurity showcased at LEAP East.
  • ThaiBev 🇹🇭 is considering a sale of KFC Thailand 🇹🇭.
🇺🇸 United States
  • Truelink Capital 🇺🇸 acquires Lyons Magnus 🇺🇸 from Paine Schwartz Partners 🇺🇸, deal closed July 20, 2026. Terms not disclosed (foodservice ingredients, beverage and healthcare nutrition manufacturer with revenue near $1B).
  • Mavis Tire Express Services 🇺🇸 acquires Pep Boys 🇺🇸 for $700M from Icahn Enterprises 🇺🇸.

🧳 Private Markets & VC

  • 🇬🇧 Prime Materials. CuspAI, backed by Jeff Bezos and now teamed with Nvidia, aims to use artificial intelligence to revolutionize semiconductor materials, collecting $450M in fresh funding. (Cnbc)
  • 🇪🇺 Toy Story. The has fined AliExpress 🇨🇳 €550M for letting illegal and dangerous goods flood its marketplace, including counterfeit clothes and hazardous toys. The platform now has three months to fix its act or face more penalties. (Le Figaro)
  • 🇺🇸 Jurassic Markup. Colossal Biosciences is reportedly seeking new funding at a $20B–$30B valuation, doubling down on its quest to resurrect extinct species and investors’ imaginations. (TechCrunch)
  • 🇲🇽 Peso Power. Mexico now leads Latin America in venture funding, with $944M raised in Q2 as global investors shift their focus from Brazil to Mexico City. (Crunchbase)
  • 🇨🇳 Great Wall of Code. Moonshot’s Kimi 3 debuts with 2.8T parameters and open access, putting US giants like Anthropic and OpenAI on notice as Nasdaq stumbles. (Le Monde)
  • 🇯🇵 Bond Voyage. Japanese insurers snapped up the largest amount of super-long government bonds in three years this June, signaling renewed appetite for duration risk. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇮🇳 Loan Star. Shapoorji Pallonji lands a record-breaking private credit deal, proving there is always room for a bigger balance sheet India. (Bloomberg)
  • 🇦🇺 Licence to Bill. Revolut 🇬🇧 secures a full Australian banking licence and pledges A$400M to challenge the Big Four, betting digital can finally break their grip. (Financial Times)

Fundraising

  • Etched 🇺🇸 (AI chip): $20B (Jane Street)
  • DeepSeek 🇨🇳 (AI): $7.4B
  • Databricks 🇺🇸 (Data intelligence): $3B (Coatue)
  • CuspAI 🇬🇧 (Materials): $450M (Kleiner Perkins, NEA, Bezos Expeditions, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Lux Capital, AMD Ventures, Sovereign AI Venture Fund, Invest-NL, John Doerr, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Northzone, Temasek)
  • Sereact 🇩🇪 (Robotics): $116M (Headline, Bullhound Capital, Daphni, Felix Capital, Air Street Capital, Creandum, Point Nine, Zalando)
  • Lumin Digital 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $115M (clients, Light Street Capital)
  • Lyzr AI (AI): $100M
  • Poolhouse 🇬🇧 (Sports): $55M (Bluestone Equity Partners, DMG Ventures, Bolt Ventures, Active Partners, Sharp Alpha, Emerging Fund)
  • Subra 🇩🇰 (Energy): €50M (Bayern Kapital, Novo Holdings, Maj Invest, SPRIND)
  • RapidPulse 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $48M (Medtronic, TechWald Next S.p.A., S3 Ventures, SBI Investment Company Ltd., Florida Opportunity Fund, Santé Ventures, Syntheon, Hatteras Venture Partners, Epidarex Capital)
  • Raghu Vamsi Aerospace Group 🇮🇳 (Aerospace): $40M (Norwest, Skegen Asset Management, Indus Bridge Ventures, GJNX Ventures, Ashish Kacholia)
  • Natural 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $30M (Forerunner, Human Capital, Abstract, Bridge, Brex, Mercury, Privy, Vercel, Notion, Increase, Unit, Figure)
  • Feathery 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $30M (Portage Ventures, Index Ventures, Allstate Strategic Ventures, Clocktower Ventures, Erie Strategic Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures)
  • Twenty 🇺🇸 (Cybersecurity): $30M (Khosla Ventures)
  • Thira 🇺🇸 (Enterprise AI): $21M (Madrona, FUSE)
  • Infinity 🇺🇸 (AI infrastructure): $15M (Touring Capital, Principal VC, researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic)
  • Cytronic (E-commerce): $13.5M (Slow Ventures)
  • Reo.Dev 🇮🇳 (SaaS): $11.3M (Elevation Capital)
  • Rege Nephro 🇯🇵 (Biotech): $10.6M (Arcus South East Asia, BA7 Venture Capital CORP, Chushin Venture)
  • Beyond Reach Labs (Aerospace): $10M (Interlagos, Y Combinator, and others)
  • SwarmBase (AI): $7M (Castrum Capital, M2M Capital)
  • Hyperion Robotics 🇫🇮 (Robotics): €6.4M
  • Apaluma 🇺🇸 (GovTech): $5.55M (Crosslink Capital, Kickstart, Haven Ventures, Overwater Ventures, Orange DAO, NM Vintage Fund)
  • Xentra 🇬🇧 (Cybersecurity): £2.7m
  • goNEON Agentic Systems 🇨🇭 (Infrastructure): €160K (Venture Kick)
  • ART Technologies 🇪🇸 (Foodtech): €200,000 (REDIT Ventures, Club de Inversión de REDIT)

Fund Watch

  • Coatue 🇺🇸: $8B (retail-only fund, raised in one year)
  • Silver Hill Energy Partners 🇺🇸: $1.277B (Silver Hill V, 5th fund. Private energy PE focused on U.S. shale oil & gas)
  • JPMorgan 🇺🇸: $500M (private credit, committed by Florida pension fund)
  • Lakestar 🇨🇭: $300M (debut « Resilience » fund, secure European tech sovereignty)
  • Gestión de Capital Riesgo del País Vasco (Grupo SPRI) 🇪🇸: €50M (EZTEN II, fondo de capital riesgo para inversiones transformacionales)
  • EHE Ventures 🇬🇧: £1.5M (SEIS AI Growth Fund, seed AI-first fund, £15M target)
  • EDF Small Business 🇬🇧: £25K (sustainability grant programme. Five £5,000 grants, with Enterprise Nation & Square)

🔔IPO

  • Kaufman and Broad 🇫🇷 (Real estate): launching a 12-month buyback to repurchase up to 8.81% of its share capital, shares trading at €25.85.
  • BASF 🇩🇪 (Chemicals): invited banks to pitch on a German IPO of its agri-chemical division that could fetch a $23B valuation.
  • GameStop 🇺🇸 (Retail): built a 10% stake in $50B-listed eBay.
  • Latigo Biotherapeutics 🇺🇸 (Biotech): filed for a IPO. Blue Owl-backed developer of non-opioid pain therapies.
  • Scribe Therapeutics 🇺🇸 (Biotech): seeking $107.2M in an IPO backed by Eli Lilly.
  • Reformation 🇺🇸 (Apparel): seeking to raise $239M in a IPO.
  • Cadillac Mines Corp. 🇨🇦 (Gold mining): seeking to raise C$363M (about $258M) in a Canada IPO, with C$190M from the offering and C$173M from selling shareholders.
  • Moonshot AI 🇨🇳 (AI): preparing a Hong Kong IPO by year-end after wrapping a funding round at a $30B valuation.
  • Eoptolink Technology 🇨🇳 (Optoelectronics): filed confidentially for a Hong Kong IPO targeting $4B-$5B.
  • JERA 🇯🇵 (Energy): studying a US listing.
  • AS Watson 🇭🇰 (Retail): considering delaying a $2B dual London and Hong Kong IPO.
  • Manipal Health 🇮🇳 (Healthcare): seeking a lower $8.3B valuation its planned India IPO, backed by TPG and Temasek.
  • Zepto 🇮🇳 (Rapid commerce): seeking to raise $850M at a $3.5B–$4.5B valuation.
  • NLC India 🇮🇳 (Renewables): hired banks for an IPO of its renewables unit, size undisclosed.
  • SBI Funds 🇮🇳 (Asset management): set to debut India after a $1B IPO.
  • Dangote 🇳🇬 (Energy): raised $2.5B in a private placement at a $40B valuation ahead of what could be Africa’s largest IPO.

🧳 Debt

  • Deutsche Bank 🇩🇪: preparing to sell $3B in leveraged loans for Baker Tilly to refinance private credit.
  • Nebius 🇳🇱: raised $775M in its first ABF deal.
  • Serentica 🇺🇸: eyes a $450M loan to fund its renewables push.
  • CoreWeave 🇺🇸: seeking $2.6B in leveraged loans backed by its Anthropic and Jane Street deals.
  • Netflix 🇺🇸: selling $1B of 2036 notes, initially at 0.95 percentage point over Treasuries.
🇺🇸 United States
  • Exus Renewables North America 🇺🇸: closed $356M in construction financing for two Pennsylvania wind projects.
  • Anchor Loans 🇺🇸: closed $132M in construction financing for a 440-unit Durham multifamily community.

❌ Failures

  • Aston Martin 🇬🇧: in talks for potential funding to boost liquidity.
  • Playmobil 🇩🇪: closed the Dietenhofen plant, cutting 350 jobs and summarily dismissing works council chair Michael Ulbrich.
  • Zalando 🇩🇪: plans to cut around 200 jobs in Berlin (after 450 cuts last year) and is closing Erfurt, affecting about 2,700 employees.
  • Foundever Group 🇺🇸: agreed to give up 35% equity to creditors in exchange for debt haircuts and a $250M cash paydown.
  • Alkegen 🇺🇸: plans a prepackaged bankruptcy to secure fresh financing.

🎯 For a Few More Minutes…

  • 🇨🇳 Order Up. Meal delivery driver Wang Jibing has served up a surprise by winning China’s most prestigious literary award for his poetry about working life. The menu now includes critical acclaim. (Le Figaro)
  • 🇦🇺 Four of a Kind. Jenitar Na’amoana gave birth to naturally conceived, identical quadruplet girls in Brisbane, defying odds of 1 in 15 million and stunning her doctors. (Bbc)
  • 🌍 Odor of Authority. Researchers find that naked mole-rat queens emit a molecule that blocks other females from reproducing, proving monarchy can really stink. (Libé)

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