🏦 Piggybank with a Padlock
Everybody wants in, but the coins never seem to move.
Good morning!
Alphabet raised its capital spending guidance to $205B on Wednesday. On Thursday, Brussels fined it €890M: €460M for burying rivals under its own flight and hotel widgets, €430M for stopping developers mentioning cheaper checkouts elsewhere. Two days of the building budget, give or take. The heaviest penalty ever handed down under the Digital Markets Act says less about the Commission's ferocity than about where its regulators set the ceiling of their nerve.
The Truth Social post landed on Friday with the load-bearing words in capitals: the practice of "ROBBING" American companies, the reminder that the United States is not a "PIGGYBANK" for Europe, the promise of total reversal. They will not be. A Section 301 investigation carries as much authority over a Commission decision as a Commission decision carries over a Nevada divorce court. Jamieson Greer, whose office will run the impartial inquiry, published its finding in advance: the fines endanger transatlantic stability. What it can do is forward the invoice to strangers: a Danish machine-tool exporter, an Italian tannery, consulted on neither the algorithm nor the bill.
On February 20 the Supreme Court held, 6 to 3, that emergency powers do not include a tariff, voiding some $90B already collected. Four days later Section 122 was used for the first time in 52 years on the books: 10% flat, capped at 15%, dead after 150 days by law. That clock ran out on July 24. Behind it, the 301 findings: no cap, no expiry, no Congress, and a June determination that all 60 economies examined were failing to police forced labour. Germany among them. Europe queued five months, emerged at 10% inside the Turnberry ceiling, exhaled on Friday, and rejoined the queue on Saturday.
The gatekeeper list runs to a handful of names, most incorporated in Delaware, and a regime landing almost exclusively on American firms will keep inviting the accusation. Washington's memory is selective: BNP Paribas paid $8.9B in 2014 over dollar transfers that broke no French law, nine times the Google fine for conduct lawful where it happened, with a French engineering executive arrested at a New York airport to speed things up. The position now advanced is that European statute stops at the perimeter of an American balance sheet: immunity dressed as a trade complaint. Google has 60 days from July 23 to rewrite its results pages or start paying up to 5% of Alphabet's daily worldwide turnover, the only firm date in any of this. If it slips, nothing will have been repealed and no court will have struck anything down; a regulation that 27 governments and an elected parliament put their names to will have gone unenforced because the defendant had a president willing to shout. States that stop applying their own statutes rarely issue a press release.
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🗞️ Top Story
- 🇫🇷 Fire and Fury. France faces a historic inferno near Bordeaux, with Macron declaring this the gravest wildfire emergency since the Second World War and more heat on the way. (El Pais)
- 🇪🇺 Cloud Control. A rare "fire thundercloud" wildfire has engulfed regions of France and Spain, burning over 290,000 acres and forcing 300,000 evacuations across Europe. (Cnbc)
- 🇦🇷 Diplomatic Immunity. Argentina's President Javier Milei publicly insults Brazil's President Lula and judiciary, sparking a diplomatic crisis as Brazil recalls its ambassador. (Die Zeit)
- 🇭🇹 Poll Position. Haiti's electoral council sets presidential and legislative elections for December, but the vote depends entirely on whether security improves by then. (Le Monde)
- 🇮🇩 Run Privilege. Entourage Bali, a club popular with digital nomads, faces backlash for allegedly excluding Indonesians from its events, leading to its Dutch founders being banned from the country. (Le Parisien)
- 🇮🇱 Bibi on the Brink. Facing elections and a stalled war in Iran, Netanyahu travels to Washington hoping Trump will lend him both credibility and cover. (El Pais)
- 🇮🇷 Interference Charge. Iran summoned France's envoy after detaining two French diplomats accused of meddling, while Paris condemned the incident as a deliberate act of intimidation. (France Info)
- 🇮🇷 Talk Blocked. Iran’s foreign ministry insists no negotiations are underway with the US, dismissing any claims of talks as pure invention by Washington. (Ouest-France)
- 🇹🇩 Court Out. Chad announces its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, citing US pressure and accusing the ICC of political bias against Africa. (Le Monde)
- 🌍 Storm Warning. Africa faces a possible $20B economic hit from an impending "super" El Niño, as the African Development Bank braces for droughts, floods, and mass migration. (Boursier)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Hot Streak. A fourth heatwave brings 35C forecasts to southern and eastern England, with the UKHSA issuing amber alerts while hosepipe bans continue to spread. (Bbc)
- 🇬🇧 Class Action. Andy Burnham announces a shake-up of England’s education system, offering teens the chance to mix core academics with job-focused courses tied to local industries. (Bbc)
- 🇬🇧 Left Field. Andy Burnham brings three Socialist Campaign Group MPs into government as ministerial aides, marking a first for Labour's leftmost wing. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Food for Thought. The Bite of Seattle festival ended in tragedy with three killed and four wounded in a gang-related shooting, raising questions about event security. (Wall Street Journal)
🏛️ Economy
- 🇮🇹 Canal Toll. Venice raked in more than €5M by charging short-term visitors up to €10 each, with plans to hike the fee even higher next year. (Die Zeit)
- 🇮🇹 Code Red. Under ECB direction, Bankitalia demands banks and fintechs submit detailed risk assessments for AI-driven cyber threats by December 31. The message: upgrade or get out-hacked. (Italian)
- 🇪🇺 Techxit. France is pushing back on UK participation in the EU’s €5B Scaleup Europe Fund, demanding tougher conditions despite Britain’s €150M buy-in offer. (Financial Times)
- 🇪🇺 Loan Steady. The ECB reports eurozone business loans grew 4% in June, unchanged from May, as household lending and money supply also ticked up. (Boursier)
- 🇺🇸 Crude Awakening. President Trump claims the has sold over $13B of seized Venezuelan oil since Maduro's capture, with proceeds held under control and audited by KPMG. (Cnbc)
- 🇺🇸 Sectioned Off. Trump’s latest tariff blitz covers 60 trading partners and nearly all imports, this time relying on Section 301 to avoid Supreme Court challenges and cement tariffs as a fixture of policy. (Cnbc)
- 🇦🇷 Cut Above. President Javier Milei boasts of historic spending cuts, but Argentina's tax revenue keeps falling, forcing even deeper austerity to meet IMF targets. (El Pais)
- 🇨🇱 Loan and Order. Chile’s right-wing president demands repayment from over 1.2M student borrowers, reviving a $600M debt that many thought would be quietly forgotten. (Le Monde)
- 🇮🇩 Bank Shot. Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo abruptly resigned, fueling fresh concerns about central bank independence under President Prabowo's new administration. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇴🇲 Strait Talk. Iran and Oman are negotiating a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for shipping, hoping a short-term fix might revive stalled peace talks. (Wall Street Journal)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Current Affairs. A widespread outage hit Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, Halifax, and Monzo, leaving UK customers unable to make online payments or access banking apps just in time for Monday’s rush. (FinExtra)
- 🇬🇧 Mind the Gap. NVIDIA 🇺🇸 unveiled its global AI alliance to promote safe automation, but UK firms are nowhere in sight, raising questions about Britain's tech ambitions. (Uktech)
- 🇬🇧 Capital Punishment. UK banks accuse the Bank of England of ignoring Wall Street’s regulatory advantage, claiming stricter capital rules and software deductions cost them billions in lending power. (Financial Times)
- 🇬🇧 Levy Jeopardy. Reform UK's proposed annual surcharge on employers of overseas staff could cripple the NHS, worsen teacher shortages, and threaten universities with bankruptcy, experts warn. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Default Setting. Student loan defaults are rising in the, with 9.5M borrowers owing $233B and many struggling to pay even on tight budgets. (Cnbc)
- 🇺🇸 Funds Unrailed. More than $7B in federal transit money sits unused as the Trump administration quietly freezes new grants for big city projects like New York’s subway. (New York Times)
🏢 Real Estate
- 🇺🇸 Data State. OpenAI may soon lease a $500B data center in Ohio, with Nvidia’s $250B support and SoftBank leading the charge for AI supremacy. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Cracking Up. New York City halted an office-to-residential conversion at the former Pfizer HQ after inspectors found structural cracks and unreported damage on site. (Wall Street Journal)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Heat Privilege. Residents at Britannia Point were told air conditioning was not included for them, leaving children sick in the summer while the units sat idle. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Band Aid. Andy Burnham pushes for council tax reform, warning Labour that patching up the old system will not fix fairness for UK households. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Terminal Loss. A government report warns that Heathrow's third runway would siphon thousands of jobs from other UK regions, with the West Midlands hit hardest. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇨🇦 Bridge Over Troubled Donald. The $4.5B Gordie Howe International Bridge between Canada and the US finally opened after Trump threatened to block it, with Canada celebrating solo and the US left off the guest list. (Washington Post)
🔗 On-chain
- 🇺🇸 Mining for Attention. Crypto shares rallied while AI chip stocks slumped, yet bitcoin miners lagged behind as investors chased new blockchain themes instead. (Cnbc)
💱 Listed Markets
- 🇫🇷 Test Drive. Renault 🇫🇷 will stand trial for aggravated deception in the Dieselgate scandal, accused of rigging emissions tests while promising to defend its honor in court. (France Info)
- 🇫🇷 Image Control. Bernard Arnault, famed for curating luxury brands, launched a rare personal offensive against French media with a public letter and social media push. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇮🇹 Rome Service. Poste Italiane’s takeover of TIM forms a national telecom powerhouse, as Italy chooses sovereignty over Brussels’ push for European champions. (Le Monde)
- 🇺🇸 iWin. Apple regained the global market cap crown from Nvidia, finishing Monday at $4.95T while Nvidia’s AI-fueled run lost a little steam. (Cnbc)
- 🇺🇸 Prime Directive. Amazon files to launch 5,000 satellites for global mobile service, taking aim at Elon Musk’s Starlink and the $20B space race for your phone. (Financial Times)
- 🇰🇷 Chip Slip. Shares of SK Hynix 🇰🇷 plunged 10% in Seoul as a global semiconductor sell-off deepened, dragging Samsung Electronics 🇰🇷 down over 8% and rattling Asia’s tech markets. (Cnbc)
- 🇰🇼 Barrel Chested. Kuwait’s oil sector signs a $16B lease with KKR, Blackstone, and Brookfield, letting private equity muscle into the Gulf’s energy riches. (Wall Street Journal)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 Baby Steps. Johnson & Johnson 🇺🇸 tries to put decades of talc litigation behind it by offering $5.5B to settle tens of thousands of cancer claims. (Bbc)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Baby Steps. Johnson & Johnson 🇺🇸 tries to put decades of talc litigation behind it by offering $5.5B to settle tens of thousands of cancer claims. (Bbc)
- 🇺🇸 Pouch Perfect. Philip Morris 🇺🇸 unveils a $1.2B manufacturing site in Colorado, betting big on Zyn as Americans swap cigarettes for nicotine pouches at record rates. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Buy American. Jefferies upgrades Ford 🇺🇸 and General Motors 🇺🇸 to buy, forecasting gains up to 22% as both automakers impress with earnings and outlook. (Cnbc)
- 🇺🇸 Logo Motion. Julie Masino exits as Cracker Barrel CEO following uproar over logo tweaks and mounting activist demands, leaving the brand's makeover unfinished. (Wall Street Journal)
🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)
- Qualitas Energy 🇬🇧 and Wren House 🇰🇼 in advanced talks to acquire Lightsource 🇬🇧, BP's solar business.
- ANNA Money 🇬🇧 acquires UK Business Forums 🇬🇧, a long-established community platform supporting over 160,000 small businesses. Acquirer is a London-based fintech offering a full suite of business financial services.
- Vusion 🇫🇷 acquires In-Store Media (ISM) 🇪🇸, a Barcelona-based retail media in-store specialist. ISM reported ~€120M revenue in 2025, operates in 9 countries across EMEA, the Americas and APAC, works with 90+ retailers and 1,600+ brands, and offers 50+ print and digital media solutions.
- Argan 🇫🇷 merges with WDP 🇧🇪 in an all-stock deal to form a $14.8B logistics real estate company.
- SoundCloud 🇩🇪 acquires Nina Protocol 🇺🇸, a decentralized Web3 music platform. Deal includes Nina’s editorial archive and Genre Map discovery tool, offers a migration tool for Nina users and free SoundCloud Artist subscriptions to Nina artists until year-end.
- Allianz 🇩🇪 acquires HSBC's Singapore life and health insurance business 🇬🇧 for $2.1B.
- CommerceClarity 🇮🇹 acquires Katalogo.ai 🇪🇸, first corporate deal 18 months after founding and six months after a €2.7M raise, AI-driven e‑commerce catalog technology.
- Objectway 🇮🇹 to acquire Slib 🇫🇷 from BNP Paribas and Natixis.
- UniCredit 🇮🇹 secures a 48% stake in Commerzbank 🇩🇪. Germany's $50B‑listed bank, leaving Commerzbank ready for takeover talks.
- InfoJobs 🇪🇸 adquiere viterbit 🇪🇸, una plataforma Hiring OS para selección, contratación y gestión de talento.
- Pontegadea Inversiones 🇪🇸 acquires Capital 8 business center 🇫🇷 from Invesco 🇺🇸 for $912M.
- Aiven 🇫🇮 acquires Flow AI 🇳🇱 to expand production AI infrastructure capabilities.
- Entegro 🇮🇪 acquires Acel Energy 🇮🇪, forming Entegro Energy and creating roughly 100 new jobs.
- Travelnode 🇨🇭 acquires Rentlio 🇭🇷.
- Arnest Management 🇷🇺 acquires Reckitt 🇬🇧's Russian hygiene business. Reckitt will take a $230M loss.
- KKR 🇺🇸 and Energy Capital Partners 🇺🇸 to acquire DCC 🇮🇪 for £5.75bn, a controversial takeover with founder and major shareholders opposing.
- IBM 🇺🇸 acquires HRL Laboratories 🇺🇸. Silicon-spin qubit engineering lab founded as Hughes Research Laboratories in 1948. Transaction details not disclosed, IBM has pledged $10B to quantum research and is developing Quantum Starling and Blue Jay.
- Hellman & Friedman 🇺🇸 explores sale of a minority stake in TeamSystem 🇮🇹 at a valuation topping €8bn. TeamSystem reports revenues of €1.15bn and a 3mn-strong customer base.
- Wynnchurch Capital 🇺🇸 acquires Luxfer 🇬🇧 for $463M.
- Circle 🇺🇸 acquires IBM 🇺🇸's blockchain patent portfolio, comprising 680+ patent families and nearly 1000 issued patents across blockchain, banking, financial services, insurance, enterprise infrastructure, supply chain verification and secure cloud operations.
- Ares Management 🇺🇸 has held talks to acquire Leonard Green & Partners 🇺🇸, a deal that would more than quadruple its private equity business. Ares manages $644B ($25B in PE), Leonard Green manages $85B and recently sold a company for $18B.
- Paramount 🇺🇸 pauses its $110B merger with Warner Bros 🇺🇸 until as late as June 2027 after twelve states sought to block the merger on antitrust grounds.
- United Airlines 🇺🇸 approached Delta 🇺🇸 about a potential $100B merger last year.
- Stripe 🇺🇸 is in talks to acquire OpenRouter 🇺🇸 for potentially $10B. The LLM API startup is valued at $1.3B.
- Jeff Bezos 🇺🇸 to join Amit Bhatia's consortium to acquire 30% of Liverpool FC 🇬🇧 from Fenway Sports Group 🇺🇸 at a $6B valuation.
- Bain Capital 🇺🇸 and LY Corp. 🇯🇵 make a joint $4.5B offer for Kakaku.com 🇯🇵 to challenge a tender offer from EQT.
- Devon Energy 🇺🇸 explores a sale of its Eagle Ford and Powder River shale assets which could fetch a combined $4B.
- Bain Capital 🇺🇸 acquires Vitabiotics 🇬🇧 for $1.2B from Tej Lalvani, a vitamins company.
- Blackstone 🇺🇸, Donerail 🇺🇸, and Centerbridge 🇺🇸 are the final bidders to acquire MarineMax 🇺🇸 for $1B.
- Midjourney 🇺🇸 acquires Co-Star 🇺🇸, an AI lab acquiring the popular astrology app.
- Carlyle 🇺🇸 and Bain Capital 🇺🇸 to acquire Wealth Enhancement 🇺🇸 from TA Associates 🇺🇸 and Onex 🇨🇦 for $7B, RIA rollup.
- WSP Global 🇨🇦 makes an improved $5.4B offer for Arcadis 🇳🇱, an engineering consulting peer, at a 30% premium.
- Seven & i Holdings 🇯🇵 ends talks to invest $1B in Zabka Group 🇵🇱
- SoftBank 🇯🇵 is considering acquiring Gravis Robotics 🇩🇪 for over $500M.
🇺🇸 United States
- InterVest capital partners 🇺🇸 acquires Kapitus 🇺🇸, a small-business lender and financing marketplace with $10B deployed to over 65,000 SMBs.
🧳 Private Markets & VC
- 🇬🇧 Private Practice. Revolut 🇬🇧 launches access to private market funds for retail clients, partnering with Apollo, Ares, Hamilton Lane, and Partners Group to democratize investment strategies once reserved for institutions. (Boursier)
- 🇫🇷 Power Play. Schneider Electric launches a €1B venture fund to back startups tackling AI’s hunger for energy, betting the real gold rush is in infrastructure, not just algorithms. (Crunchbase)
- 🇩🇪 Fund and Games. German bank NordLB plans to enter fund finance and CLO markets, betting that a little risk can liven up its balance sheet. (Bloomberg)
- 🇪🇺 AI of the Tiger. Clara Chappaz urges Europe to speed up its push for AI sovereignty after the US restricted Anthropic's Mythos model to American users only. (Les Echos)
- 🇺🇸 AI Owes It All. Nvidia 🇺🇸 may guarantee $250B in debt for OpenAI 🇺🇸, tying their fates even closer as investors fret about risk stacking in the AI gold rush. (Cnbc)
- 🇺🇸 Artificial Insecurity. The cost of insuring Big Tech debt, especially for Oracle 🇺🇸 and Meta 🇺🇸, is spiking as the AI spending spree leaves investors bracing for possible downgrades and defaults. (Financial Times)
- 🇨🇳 Licence to Code. Chinese start-up Moonshot unveils its Kimi K3 A.I. model and breaks with rivals by requiring licenses for large-scale use, sparking debate in tech circles worldwide. (New York Times)
Fundraising
- DeepSeek 🇨🇳 (AI): $70B
- The Boring Company 🇺🇸 (Infrastructure): $4B
- Atoms 🇺🇸 (Robotics): $1.7B (Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital, Fifth Wall, Uber)
- Multiverse Computing 🇪🇸 (AI): $570M (Forgepoint Capital International, BNPP SIVF, Bullhound Capital, Santander Alternative Investments, Tikehau Capital, Orange Ventures, Scania Invest)
- Antares 🇺🇸 (Nuclear): $470M (Paradigm, Caffeinated Capital, Point72 Ventures, Shine Capital, Industrious Ventures)
- Etched 🇺🇸 (AI): $300M (Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Jane Street, Diffusion, SK Hynix)
- Ominimo 🇷🇸 (Insurtech): $200M (Zurich Insurance)
- Augustus 🇩🇪 (Fintech): $180M (Tiger Global, Hummingbird, QED, founders from Nubank, Ramp, Circle, Deel, existing investors)
- Cathedral 🇺🇸 (Cybersecurity): $160M (Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital)
- Humanoid 🇬🇧 (Robotics): $152M (Prime Movers Lab, Schaeffler, Bosch, Fubon Financial Holding Venture Capital, Aglaé Ventures)
- Crystalys Therapeutics 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $130M (Frazier Life Sciences, Wellington Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Soleus Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Trails Edge Capital Partners, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, KCap Biotechnology Fund, Novo Holdings, SR One, Catalys Pacific, Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds, Lightstone Ventures, AN Venture Partners, funds managed by abrdn Inc., KB Investments, Pontifax, Longwood Fund, Alexandria Venture Investments, Wedbush Healthcare Partners, Prebys Ventures Fund)
- Enigma 🇮🇱 (Robotics): $71M (Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Sarah Guo (Conviction Partners))
- AegisAI 🇺🇸 (Cybersecurity): $36M (Battery Ventures, Accel, Foundation Capital)
- Underdog (Fantasy sports): $35M (BlackRock, Acies Investment)
- Arrakis 🇬🇧 (AI): $30M
- Moa Technology 🇬🇧 (Biotech): £22.2M (Oxford Science Enterprises, Supernova Invest)
- Nuclear Turbines 🇬🇧 (Nuclear): €17.5M (IQ Capital, Rhapsody Venture Partners, Zero Carbon Capital, Empirical Ventures)
- TidalSense 🇬🇧 (Healthtech): $19M (Cross-Border Impact Ventures, BGF, Airstream Capital, Foresight Group)
- Modo Energy 🇬🇧 (Energy): £12.7m (CIBC Innovation Banking)
- telli 🇩🇪 (AI): $15M (redalpine, Mutschler, Cherry Ventures, Y Combinator, angel investors)
- kausable 🇩🇪 (AI): €12M (UVC Partners, Entourage, HTGF, Mätch VC)
- Circular Materials 🇮🇹 (Materials): €11.8M (CDP Venture Capital, EIC, EIT RawMaterials, 360 Capital, Corbitese Lumar)
- Brenus Pharma 🇫🇷 (Biotech): €11M (Angelor, UI Investissement (managing FRAI), Crédit Agricole)
- Yope 🇬🇧 (Social media): $12.3M (£9.2M)
- Inference 🇺🇸 (AI): $11.8M (Multicoin Capital, a16z crypto)
- Onalabs 🇪🇸 (Healthcare): €9.3M (Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica - SETT)
- Wellumio 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $9.75M (Nuance Connected Capital)
- Pstryk 🇵🇱 (Energytech): €7M (Future Energy Ventures, Axpo, Montis VC, ff Venture Capital, Simpact Ventures, private investors)
- EQON 🇳🇴 (Energy): $6M
- Freight Hero 🇺🇸 (Logistics): $5M (Field Ventures, Flybridge Capital, Tip Top VC, Front Porch Venture Partners)
- Imagilabs 🇺🇸 (Edtech): $4.5M (Brighteye Ventures, Day One Capital, will.i.am, Feminvest, Fredrik Hjelm, Julia Elf)
- Pilot Protocol 🇺🇸 (AI infrastructure): $4.5M (Version One Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Night Capital, Todd & Rahul Capital, Lenny Rachitsky, Ben Tossell)
- Saible 🇬🇧 (Fintech): £2.9M (angel investors)
- Pollen 🇵🇹 (Mobility): €3.2M (Pale Blue Dot, Mustard Seed Maze, Kfund, Bynd Venture Capital, 4P Capital, Masia)
- Beelzebub 🇮🇹 (Cybersecurity): €3M (United Ventures)
- Scape 🇸🇪 (Email): $3.2M (General Catalyst, Y Combinator, Sophia Bendz, Sebastian Knutsson, Max Junestrand, Jacob Wallenberg Jr)
- Ossprey 🇬🇧 (Cybersecurity): £2M
- Ponda 🇬🇧 (Textiles): £1.8M
- PageMind 🇪🇸 (Software): €1.2M (4Founders Capital, David Martín, Javier Pérez-Tenessa)
Fund Watch
- GIC 🇸🇬: $30B (allocation to hedge funds over 3 years)
- Partners Group 🇨🇭: $5.5B (debut infrastructure secondaries fund)
- Meridiem Capital Partners 🇺🇸: $2B (equity L/S hedge fund, Schonfeld-backed)
- Consortium of UK pension providers (incl. Railpen, Nest) 🇬🇧: £1B (UK Scale-Up Fund, backing British tech scaleups, proposed)
- Fresenius Ventures 🇩🇪: €200M (corporate VC for healthtech, min. investment over 5 years)
- GEM Global Yield 🇺🇸: $15M (up to $15M share-purchase facility to finance Norofert's US & Brazil expansion)
- Odyssey Ventures 🇬🇧: £10M (Odyssey Discovery I, early-stage AI & deep tech fund)
- British Business Bank 🇬🇧: £10M (commitment to Odyssey Discovery I, $50M seed & pre-seed fund for UK AI and deeptech)
🔔IPO
- Apnimed Inc. 🇺🇸 (Biotech): seeking to raise $160M in a IPO by selling 10M shares at $14-$16 apiece.
- Scribe Therapeutics 🇺🇸 (Biotech): surged 44% in its debut after raising $130M in an upsized IPO that valued it at $380M.
- Brooks Automation 🇺🇸 (Robotics): backed by THL Partners and considering an IPO.
- Lyntris 🇺🇸 (Defense): backed by Trive Capital, filed for a IPO.
- Cadillac Mines 🇨🇦 (Gold): raised $273M in an upsized Canada IPO at a $4.2B valuation.
- ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) 🇨🇳 (Semiconducteurs): a levé 66,6 milliards de yuans (≈8,6B€) lors d'une IPO à Shanghai, ses actions bondissant de 470%.
- CXMT 🇨🇳 (Semiconductors): raised $9.8B in a historic China IPO to become the country's most valuable company.
- Innolight 🇭🇰 (Optics): said to price a Hong Kong listing at $6.8B, below its top range.
- Khazanah 🇲🇾 (Sovereign wealth): sold $340M of Tenaga Nasional shares at a 5% discount.
- Tablespace 🇮🇳 (Technology): said to file a $350M India IPO.
- Manipal Health 🇮🇳 (Healthcare): seeking to raise $960M an India IPO at a reduced $8B valuation.
🧳 Debt
- Autonom Services 🇷🇴: listed €30M of bonds (5.97% coupon) on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
- AT&T 🇺🇸: priced a five-part bond deal (amount not disclosed).
- BlackRock 🇺🇸: raised $12.5B of debt to finance Meta's data center.
- Nvidia 🇺🇸: in talks to backstop a $250B OpenAI data-center project.
🇺🇸 United States
- Target Hospitality 🇺🇸: closed a $660M asset-based revolving credit facility (5‑year) with a $190M accordion to potentially reach $850M.
- Thea Energy 🇺🇸: received $20M ARPA‑E grant to manufacture HTS magnets for fusion reactors.
- Somnigroup 🇺🇸: amended $2.9B senior secured credit facilities and secured $700M incremental liquidity.
❌ Failures
- Porsche 🇩🇪: will cut about 9,000 jobs by 2035 and pledged €2.1B in investments while securing sites until 2035.
- BuzzFeed 🇺🇸: sold for $120M, the company cut ~180 jobs (over a third) while carrying $58.4M in debt.
- BitMart 🇰🇾: after nine years the crypto exchange will wind down. Halting trading Aug 26 and ceasing operations Jan 31, 2027. Its BMX token plunged >80%, cutting market cap to $19.5M.
🎯 For a Few More Minutes…
- 🇬🇧 Tank and Disorder. Two drunk British soldiers stole a 15-ton Bulldog armored vehicle and plowed through parked cars in Perham Down, leaving a trail of wreckage but no injuries. (Le Figaro)
- 🇬🇷 Peak Performance. Mount Olympus has been added to UNESCO's World Heritage list, giving Greece official bragging rights for the home of the gods and a new layer of protection. (France Info)
- 🇺🇸 Pole Position. David Cifaldi, a Montana nurse, hiked 10 miles to safety after accidentally impaling himself on his own trekking pole near Granite Peak. (New York Times)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Signal Lost. The UK's legendary Jodrell Bank telescope may shut down by 2028 after UKRI pulled its funding, leaving British radio astronomy in the dark. (Bbc)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Dear Pandemic. Senator Rand Paul releases Dr. Anthony Fauci’s private diary, hoping for a Covid origins bombshell but finding only self-reflection and celebrity name-drops. (New York Times)
