🦺 Riot Weather
Damage report: cloudy, with a surcharge incoming.
Good morning!
Paris has the timing of a stand-up comic. Eurostat had just handed France back the EU gold medal for tax take, 45.4% of GDP in 2025, a clear point ahead of Denmark, when the government confirmed its newest levy. From January, every motor, home, business and town-hall insurance policy in the country is to carry a compulsory 0.8% surcharge, roughly €400M to stock a state-backed riot fund. Dreamt up after the 2023 riots and voted in principle in the 2026 budget, the scheme was first pitched at 5% before the outcry shaved it down. Two Saturdays of looting this month, more than €1B of damage and some 3,000 shops hit, revived it. Only the Conseil d'État, the government's legal watchdog, still stands between the draft decree and the invoice. Ministers insist it is mere solidarity among insurers, not a tax.
The template is CatNat, the natural-disaster scheme every French policyholder already feeds, at a surcharge the finance ministry hiked from 12% to 20% last year. Filing a looted phone shop next to a burst riverbank opens a whole new almanac: burglary as fog, pickpocketing as light drizzle. Hobbes sold the modern state on one clause: citizens hand over the right to violence, the sovereign hands back order. Paris now files its half of that bargain under weather. A riot becomes an act of God in a hoodie, and a government that owns the water cannon prices its own no-show like hail.
Any self-respecting racketeer would blush, since the mob at least keeps the windows intact. England has sent the riot bill to the police since 1886, and the 2016 law that replaced the Victorian original still lets insurers reclaim payouts from the local force. Lose the street, pay for the street. South Africa built a public riot insurer, SASRIA, whose models assumed officers would show up within 48 hours. In July 2021 they did not, and Pretoria had to pour R22B, some $1.4B, into the insurer to keep it solvent. France has found a third door: not the constabulary, not the treasury, but the customer, billed in advance for the next failure.
After 2023, several insurers quietly struck riot cover from shops and town halls, and the state is right to build a common pot for a risk no single insurer will carry. The scandal is the tap, not the pot. A fund fed from the police budget would be an admission of failure. One fed from premiums is a payment plan for the next one. Any Lyon shopkeeper who swept glass off the pavement the morning after the first Saturday will pay the surcharge from January on the policy covering that very window. The fund will not refund a shard of it, since October predates the scheme. The finance ministry is right about one thing: this is not a tax. It is a resignation letter, mailed out with every insurance renewal in the land.
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🗞️ Top Story
- 🇩🇪 Union Jacked. A new long-term study finds most Germans want a more independent Europe, even if it means higher costs and less reliance on the US. (Die Zeit)
- 🇮🇹 Bench Press. Meloni publicly attacks the magistrate who freed Youssef Siher, after the court ruled his alleged role in violent protests did not meet the bar for terrorism. (El Pais)
- 🇪🇸 Track Record. A high-speed train crash near Toledo killed at least 31 and injured 80, putting Spain’s rail safety promises back under the spotlight. (France Info)
- 🇸🇮 Ice Age Exit. Slovenia’s highest glacier on Mount Triglav has vanished after a scorching summer, leaving the country’s iconic peak bare for the first time in living memory. (Le Parisien)
- 🇺🇸 Access Denied. The Department of Homeland Security faces embarrassment as a data breach reveals private details of 41,000 officials, raising fresh questions about federal cybersecurity. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 Diplomacy Pending. As Vice President JD Vance sends a letter to Iran seeking negotiation terms, Washington quietly warns allies to brace for possible strikes after the midterms. (Spiegel)
- 🇺🇸 Visa Versa. The will grant visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family after his election defeat, offering sanctuary just as Brazilian investigators close in. (El Pais)
- 🇦🇺 Iron Will. Australian officials are eyeing Israel's Iron Dome technology to create a domestic missile defense system, aiming for deployment within a decade as drone incursions spike. (Le Figaro)
- 🇮🇱 Majority Report. Both Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot claim the right to form Israel's next government after an election that left neither with a clear majority. (Die Zeit)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Storm Budget. Chancellor John Healey unveils the 2026 UK budget, warning of “global economic storms” as fiscal headroom shrinks to £15B and growth forecasts remain weak. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Pound for Pound. Britain accelerates its defense budget goals and commits billions in aid to Ukraine, proving that timing and money are both weapons of war. (CNBC)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Trial and Error. Health Secretary RFK Jr plans to let compounding pharmacies mix six unapproved peptides, bypassing the FDA and inviting a wave of experimental medicine. (BBC)
- 🇺🇸 Name Drop. Mary Peltola’s team orchestrated a search for Alaskans named Dan Sullivan, landing a spoiler candidate to confuse voters and boost her Senate chances. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Trust Issues. The New York Times team questions how much faith readers should place in polls favoring Democrats, especially in Republican strongholds like Texas. (New York Times)
🏛️ Economy
- 🇬🇧 Fiscal Cliffhanger. The UK’s new budget raises some taxes but sidesteps the hardest choices, with John Healey promising real decisions only in 2025, not before. (Les Echos)
- 🇬🇧 Still Windfalling. Despite industry pleas, the UK keeps its 38% windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas, promising it will only end if prices truly tank. (Bloomberg)
- 🇫🇷 Return to Sender. France touts its crackdown on Chinese e-commerce as a success, with a 48 percent plunge in low-value parcel imports since the new €3 tax kicked in. (Les Echos)
- 🇮🇹 Bank Shot. Italy’s 2027 budget promises tax cuts for the self-employed and middle class, but banks and insurers will foot the bill with higher taxes and new levies. (Spiegel)
- 🇪🇺 Maple Deferred. Ursula von der Leyen's push to make Canada an "associated member" of the stalls as leaders drop the term from the Montreal summit statement. (Die Zeit)
- 🇪🇺 Rate Race. Goldman Sachs warns that rising European government debt and surging yields are making it more expensive for weaker companies to borrow, putting vulnerable firms in the spotlight. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 Rate Expectations. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady at 3.75% to 4% despite rising inflation and pressure from surging fuel prices, holding its ground just before the midterm elections. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Pay to Delay. Democrats claim Trump dangled tariff exemptions for donor benefits, with Raskin requesting evidence and hinting at investigations after the midterms. (CNBC)
- 🇻🇪 Frozen Assets. Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez demands the Bank of England return $1.9B in gold reserves frozen since 2019, declaring the excuses. And the patience. Are over. (Le Monde)
- 🇯🇵 Bond Appetite. Japan’s two-year government bond auction saw its strongest demand since June as investors piled in ahead of the Bank of Japan’s rate decision. (Bloomberg)
- 🌍 Capital Gains. World Bank President Ajay Banga insists that capital supply is not the real problem, even as AI-driven demand pushes borrowing costs higher for everyone else. (CNBC)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Pay as You Owe. Chancellor John Healey's budget will force the self-employed to pay taxes in installments throughout the year, aiming to raise £1.3B and close the tax gap faster than new bank surcharges. (Financial Times)
- 🇬🇧 Stormy Weather. Chancellor John Healey unveils a £100 payment for 20M UK households to offset rising energy bills, funded by a modest windfall tax on banks and higher taxes for landlords and savers, all while promising to steer Britain through what he calls “global economic storms.” (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Sticker Shocked. The FTC accuses Dollar General of overcharging millions by mismatching shelf prices and register totals, putting a $38B chain on the defensive as consumer trust erodes. (New York Times)
🏢 Real Estate
- 🇬🇧 Equity Shrink. Shares in UK homebuilders slid up to 6.5% as the new first-time buyer plan delivers far less than its predecessor. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Citizen Sold. Oheka Castle, backdrop to “Citizen Kane” and Taylor Swift alike, was auctioned off for $72M, proving prestige still commands a premium. (Le Parisien)
- 🇺🇸 Home Alone. Aspiring homeowners like Karla Guity find themselves locked out by high mortgage rates, forced to compete for rentals as prices climb again. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Towering Losses. Rockpoint just bought back its Boston office tower at auction for $260M, a staggering $546M less than it paid in 2019, proving gravity always wins. (Bloomberg)
- 🇭🇰 Yield Sign. Henderson Land’s CFO claims Hong Kong’s housing market can withstand high interest rates thanks to solid rental yields, because gravity apparently works differently in real estate. (Bloomberg)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Echo Chamber. The UK’s AI datacentre policy emerged after 137 business meetings and zero with environmental groups, because balance is apparently optional. (The Guardian)
🔗 On-chain
- 🇪🇺 Token Gesture. Clearstream, part of Deutsche Börse 🇩🇪, will let asset managers issue tokenised fund shares on a regulated blockchain, keeping old fund structures but adding a digital twist. (FinExtra)
- 🇺🇸 Vendor Vexation. Coinbase 🇺🇸 blames analytics partner Amplitude for leaking some user contact data, emphasizing that no Coinbase systems or funds were compromised. (FinExtra)
💱 Listed Markets
- 🇬🇧 Clear Skies. Safran commits to new UK investments after CEO Olivier Andriès praises Britain's straightforward aerospace support, calling it far more decisive than France's. (Le Monde)
- 🇫🇷 Culture Shock. Danone 🇫🇷 sees sales rise as its US dairy push pays off, with the company racing to fix supply bottlenecks and reclaim lost ground. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇩🇪 Chemical Reaction. BASF 🇩🇪 posts a 14% jump in quarterly sales as war-driven price hikes turn geopolitical chaos into a €16.4B windfall for the German giant. (Les Echos)
- 🇳🇱 Off-Road Rally. Stellantis 🇳🇱 delighted investors with a 14% share spike after confirming its outlook and promising a Jeep-led growth campaign. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Capex and the City. Microsoft 🇺🇸 undershot its quarterly data center spending by $6.5B due to delayed infrastructure, reminding investors that even the cloud has supply chain weather. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Burn Notice. Google parent Alphabet 🇺🇸 saw its shares plunge 10% after a $51B AI spending spree sent cash flow to a record negative $9.1B, leaving investors questioning if innovation is worth the incineration. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Touch and Go. Apple 🇺🇸 finally unveils a touchscreen MacBook, ending years of resistance and betting that finger smudges are the future of computing. (CNBC)
- 🇰🇷 Chip Happens. Samsung Electronics 🇰🇷 posts a record $72B profit on surging AI chip demand, but shares still drop as investors wanted even more magic. (Die Zeit)
- 🇰🇷 Memory Lane. SK Hynix rides the AI data center wave to record $79B in revenue and $63B in profit, making last year's numbers look quaint. (Boursier)
- 🇮🇳 Soap Opera. Hindustan Unilever 🇮🇳 outperformed profit expectations this quarter, with steady demand for its consumer goods even as prices climbed. (Bloomberg)
- 🇮🇳 Jio Rising. Jio Platforms, part of Mukesh Ambani’s empire, soared 27% on its IPO debut, instantly becoming India’s second-most-valuable public company and giving investors a rare reason to celebrate. (New York Times)
- 🇦🇺 IPOh No. The Australian regulator is questioning banks over the failed Firmus Grid IPO, but for now stops short of launching a formal investigation. (Bloomberg)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Guac to the Future. Chipotle 🇺🇸 shares jumped 7% after CEO Scott Boatwright promised that same-store sales growth will keep rolling through year-end. (CNBC)
🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)
- CVC 🇬🇧 is exploring the acquisition of Dutch ingredients maker Corbion 🇳🇱, valued at $1.7B.
- Shell 🇬🇧 and ExxonMobil 🇺🇸 are exploring an $8B sale of their UK-based chemicals joint venture Infineum 🇬🇧.
- London Stock Exchange Group 🇬🇧 has agreed to acquire global credit platform Octus 🇺🇸 from private equity firm Permira 🇬🇧 for $3.5B in cash.
- Groupe Premium 🇫🇷 has signed an agreement to acquire Sanso Longchamp AM 🇫🇷 and combine it with Flornoy Ferri 🇫🇷, subject to regulatory approvals and expected to close in Q1 2027.
- Viessmann Generations Group 🇩🇪 increases its stake in Bayern Munich 🇩🇪 from 1.7% to 6.7% at a $4.5B valuation.
- Ferring Pharmaceuticals 🇨🇭 will acquire egg-freezing startup Gameto 🇺🇸 for $1.4B.
- Alkagesta 🇨🇭 has agreed to acquire Turkish shipping-fuel company Energy Petrol 🇹🇷.
- GE Vernova 🇺🇸 has agreed to acquire Trench Group 🇩🇪 for $9B.
- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission 🇺🇸 will block Cintas 🇺🇸' proposed $5.5B acquisition of UniFirst 🇺🇸.
- Ares 🇺🇸 will acquire private credit fund MidCap Financial 🇺🇸 from Apollo 🇺🇸 for $2.6B in cash and stock and merge it with Ares Capital Corp. 🇺🇸.
- Guidewire 🇺🇸 has agreed to acquire UK insurance AI firm hyperexponential 🇬🇧 for up to $2.1B.
- Two Sigma 🇺🇸 is exploring a stake sale to resolve a dispute between its co-founders.
- Diamondback 🇺🇸, ConocoPhillips 🇺🇸, Chevron 🇺🇸, EOG Resources 🇺🇸 and ExxonMobil 🇺🇸 are potential buyers of Devon Energy 🇺🇸, valued at $55B and under activist pressure to sell itself.
- Kinder Morgan 🇺🇸 approved $4.7B in investments in its Southern Natural Gas 🇺🇸 and NGPL 🇺🇸 pipeline joint ventures.
- Elon Musk 🇺🇸 invested $1B in Skydance 🇺🇸.
- David Werner 🇺🇸 acquired a 49% stake in 605 Third Avenue 🇺🇸 from real estate firm Fisher Brothers 🇺🇸.
- The U.S. Department of Justice 🇺🇸 is investigating Nvidia 🇺🇸's $12.9B acquisition of Hugging Face 🇺🇸 and has requested information on its potential impact on competitors.
- MGM Resorts International 🇺🇸 says acquisition talks with People Incorporated 🇺🇸 have ended, including discussions for either company to acquire the other.
- La Caisse 🇨🇦 will acquire a 49.9% stake in BCE 🇨🇦's wireless towers for $1.7B.
- APA Group 🇦🇺 approved a $492M investment in the Bulloo Interlink Pipeline 🇦🇺.
- XRG 🇦🇪 is in talks to acquire a stake in Eni 🇮🇹's Libyan oil and gas business.
- Investcorp 🇧🇭 joins a consortium led by AlTouq Group 🇸🇦 and Thara Future Investments 🇸🇦 to acquire a significant minority stake in fire safety and equipment company REDA Gulf Holding 🇸🇦.
🧳 Private Markets & VC
- 🇫🇷 Ready Player One. Bleu Robotics claims its humanoid robots can start working in factories after only 20 minutes of training, following a €5M pre-seed round. (Sifted)
- 🇺🇸 Road to Nowhere. Despite launching in more cities and planning global moves, Waymo 🇺🇸 racks up $2B in losses while remaining a niche Alphabet side project. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 IPOcalypse Now. Senator Elizabeth Warren demands Anthropic answer for the “existential” risks flagged in its IPO filing, putting the AI unicorn’s Wall Street debut on the hot seat. (Wall Street Journal)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Palace Intrigue. Sovereign wealth funds from Gulf states and others will lose their UK property tax immunity, as the government seeks nearly £700M in new annual revenue and tests its own welcome mat. (Financial Times)
Fundraising
- FuriosaAI 🇰🇷 (AI): $620M (Infinitum Partners, National Growth Fund, Jericho Capital, Worldline Capital, QUDA Capital, NeoFort Holding)
- Apex 🇺🇸 (Space): $500M (Washington Harbour Partners)
- Upwind Security 🇺🇸 (Cybersecurity): $400M
- 22one 🇬🇧 (AI): $400M (Sequoia, Lux Capital, General Catalyst, Creandum)
- Warhound 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $200M (8VC, Sequoia)
- Today AI 🇨🇳 (AI): $200M (IDG Capital, Tencent, 5Y Capital, HSG)
- Helion 🇺🇸 (Energy): $175M (US government)
- Firehawk Defense 🇺🇸 (Defense): $150M+ (Advent, Rochefort Asset Management)
- General Compute (AI infrastructure): $100M (Blackbird Ventures, Abstract Ventures)
- Foundry Robotics 🇺🇸 (Robotics): $100M (Marlinspike Partners, Khosla Ventures, Red Glass Ventures, SE Ventures, Wing VC, Axiom Ventures, Hanabi, Zero Shot Fund)
- Aquiti 🇫🇷 (Venture capital): €60M (Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, MACSF, Crédit Agricole, BPCE, Société Nouvelle-Aquitaine Participations, National Seed Fund 3, regional business leaders)
- Lumaril (Industrial AI): $66M (Elad Gil)
- Qwello 🇩🇪 (Mobility): Up to €55M (ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund, Tiger Infrastructure Partners, existing shareholders)
- Argotec 🇮🇹 (Space): €50M (NUO)
- Casap 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $56M (Base10 Partners, Experian, Synchrony, Emergence Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners)
- Hyphenate 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $45M (Nexus Venture Partners)
- Infisical 🇺🇸 (Cybersecurity): $40M (Elad Gil)
- Machenta 🇬🇧 (Robotics): $40M (Creandum, Union Square Ventures)
- Hyperbolic 🇺🇸 (AI): $30M (Walden Catalyst)
- Easol 🇬🇧 (Experience commerce): $30M (Y Combinator, Tiger Global, Foundation Capital, FMZ Ventures, Notion Capital, Eight Roads, Viola Credit)
- Enact Intelligence 🇨🇭 (Robotics): $30M (Redalpine, Notion Capital, Firstminute Capital)
- Numeracle 🇺🇸 (Telecom): $28M (Edison Partners)
- Safer Human Medicine 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $28M (8VC)
- Circuit Mind 🇬🇧 (AI): $25M (Norwest, Third Prime, Differential, Blackhorn)
- CapitalOS 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $21.9M (LGVP)
- Rendezvous Robotics 🇺🇸 (Space): $20M (MaC Venture Capital, Toyota Ventures, University of Michigan Endowment, Astera, Industrious Ventures, Aurelia Foundry, ATX Venture Partners, Mana Ventures)
- Ravical 🇧🇪 (AI): $17M (MMC Ventures, Lakestar, Pitchdrive, Shapers)
- Plato 🇺🇸 (AI): $16M (Nava Ventures, Gradient Ventures, Transpose Platform, Mustafa Suleyman)
- Luxor Technology 🇺🇸 (Computing): $16M (CMT Digital)
- Simplismart 🇮🇳 (AI): $14M (Dallas Venture Capital)
- American Advanced Materials 🇺🇸 (Materials): $12.5M (Amity Ventures, Human Capital, Anti Fund, Powerset)
- Blue Arbor Technologies 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $10.5M (Ottobock)
- Sava 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $10M (Gradient Ventures, Y Combinator, SV Angel, Max Mullen, Orange Collective, SurgePoint Capital)
- MuRay 🇩🇪 (Deeptech): €7.1M
- 0xPredicate 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $8M (Blockchain Capital)
- Sunshine Buns (Food): $7M
- Autofixer 🇵🇱 (Automotive): €3M (Orbit Capital)
- Artiso 🇪🇸 (FashionTech): Over €3M (Criteria Venture Tech, Swanlaab Venture Factory, Bynd Venture Capital)
- Offe Market 🇺🇸 (Marketplace): $3M (Slauson & Co., InvestTN, Baukunst, Jill Fisher Bowen, Stephanie Kleinjan, Ruffin Mitchener)
- OAIZ 🇸🇪 (AI): €2M (node.vc, Icebreaker.vc, Karaoke Club, angel investors)
- Sib Solutions 🇸🇪 (AI): €1.7M
- paXos Solar 🇩🇪 (Cleantech): €1.5M
- Magic Vision 🇮🇹 (Healthcare): €600K (SixS, Italian business angels)
Fund Watch
- Advent 🇺🇸: $27B (11th flagship global PE fund) + $3B (new middle-market strategy)
- Formation Bio 🇺🇸: $600M (debut drug development fund, expanding clinical-stage portfolio)
- KKR 🇺🇸: $460M (1st private credit continuation vehicle, led by Allianz Global Investors)
- David's Bridal 🇺🇸: $350M (Pearl unit merger with K&F Growth Acquisition Corp. II)
- Investinor 🇳🇴: €200-300M (new LP fund backing early- and growth-stage VC funds, fundraising)
🔔IPO
- Syngenta 🇨🇭 (Agriculture): seeking to raise $10B at a $66B valuation in a revived Hong Kong IPO.
- Anthropic 🇺🇸 (AI): picked JPMorgan to lead the retail portion of its potential $100B IPO.
- Nvidia 🇺🇸 (Semiconductors): invested $3B in Meta’s $98B share sale.
- Noetix Robotics 🇨🇳 (Robotics): filed for a Hong Kong IPO, backed by CATL.
- SK Hynix 🇰🇷 (Semiconductors): scrapped plans for a $10B US IPO of its Solidigm flash memory unit.
- 360 One 🇮🇳 (Wealth management): UBS acquired a 4.8% stake for $200M.
- Banque du Caire 🇪🇬 (Banking): increased its planned IPO stake sale to 45%, potentially raising $680M.
- Kwa Nokeng Oil Holdings 🇧🇼 (Energy): expanded its IPO to $118M on strong demand.
🇺🇸 United States
- Bausch Health 🇨🇦 (Pharma): launched a share repurchase program of up to US$50M.
🧳 Debt
- Lovey 🇬🇧: secured a £250M credit facility from Pollen Street Capital.
- Hannover Re 🇩🇪: upsized its seventh catastrophe bond to $450M.
- Bending Spoons 🇮🇹: selling $1.5B of bonds to fund M&A.
- Bank of America 🇺🇸: refinancing $21B of Anthropic’s $63B AI chip financing with investment-grade bonds.
- Argentum AI 🇺🇸: in talks to raise $5B in private credit for chip financing.
- Constellation Energy 🇺🇸: offered $5B in financing to upgrade its nuclear reactors.
- Quorum Health 🇺🇸: plans a $1.3B municipal bond sale to fund its conversion to a nonprofit.
- U.S. Bancorp 🇺🇸: seeking to sell $713M of bonds in Canada.
- KDC 🇺🇸: seeking $3.5B in private financing for AT&T’s new headquarters.
- Trinity Health 🇺🇸: planning a $628M bond sale.
- Blackstone 🇺🇸: led a $300M debt package backing Arlington Capital Partners’ $462M LBO of Gooch & Housego.
- NextGear Capital 🇺🇸: closed a $350M ABS.
- Optimum Communications 🇺🇸: preparing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure $26B of debt.
- TWG Global 🇺🇸: will swap $3.8B in affiliated assets with Delaware Life Insurance Co.
- Eyecare Partners 🇺🇸: agreed to sell assets and repay part of its $2B debt at a discount.
- Blackstone 🇺🇸: $1.3B CMBS flagged for special servicing, with $518M outstanding.
- Scotiabank 🇨🇦: working on an SRT tied to $2B of loans.
- Mercer 🇨🇦: may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- Banco de América Central 🇳🇮: raised $500M in its first cross-border deal in three years.
- China Evergrande 🇨🇳: liquidators seek to recover part of its donation to Harvard.
- Samsung Life Insurance 🇰🇷: raised a record $1.5B in its debut overseas bond sale.
- Bank KB 🇮🇩: shelved its dollar bond sale amid Indonesia’s fallout with MSCI.
- Shapoorji Pallonji Group 🇮🇳: seeking $150M-$200M private credit to repay debt.
- Bank of India 🇮🇳 + PNB 🇮🇳 + Canara Bank 🇮🇳: shelved plans to raise part of a combined $2.5B dollar debt.
- AirTrunk 🇦🇺: secured a $3B green loan to fund a Sydney data center.
- Zorlu Enerji 🇹🇷: seeking to delay a coupon payment on a $1.1B bond due this week.
🇺🇸 United States
- Civitas Capital Group 🇺🇸: provided a $386M senior construction loan for InterContinental Orlando.
❌ Failures
- CONSTELLATION Academy Group 🇩🇪: raised a $112M continuation vehicle led by Committed Advisors.
- Konecta 🇪🇸: the customer-service outsourcing firm agreed to temporary creditor relief while restructuring $1.2B in debt.
- Seaya 🇪🇸: the Spanish VC raised $637M for a new fund focused on European startups.
- JetBlue Airways 🇺🇸: the airline is not in talks with creditors or planning to restructure its debt despite a bond selloff.
- Weil 🇺🇸: the law firm hired bankruptcy lawyers to explore options including a possible wind-down.
- Dropbox 🇺🇸: plans to cut 6% of its global workforce, incurring $27-33M in costs.
- Lingjun Investment 🇨🇳: its offshore arm raised $300M from overseas investors as it resumed fundraising.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Thames Water 🇬🇧: the debt-laden utility is seeking a £2.4bn emergency loan as its cash runs low.
🎯 For a Few More Minutes…
- 🇺🇸 Picture This. Life magazine is relaunching next month as a quarterly, hoping nostalgia and new media will revive its legendary visual storytelling in a digital-first era. (New York Times)
- 🇲🇾 Chip Happens. Malaysian customs intercepted $11M worth of Nvidia AI chips hidden in servers at Kuala Lumpur airport, foiling a smuggling scheme aimed at dodging export controls. (Le Parisien)
- 🇮🇷 Reel Time. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, fresh off a Cannes Palme d'Or, has been sentenced to five years in prison and asset seizure in a new case, with charges still undisclosed. (France Info)
