🤯 Schrödinger's Layoff
The numbers are up, down and sideways—take your pick.
Good morning!
The Fed's latest Beige Book, its canvass of business across 12 districts, found firms in 5 of them letting staff go unreplaced or putting off hiring after investing in AI. Case closed, apparently, until the same technology is read through a second instrument and returns the opposite verdict. Sorted by how much of their work AI could do, workers aged 22 to 25 in the most exposed jobs now trail their peers by almost a fifth. Sorted by what firms actually pay for it, the heaviest spenders hire faster than the timid. The economists who steer trillion-dollar policy by the decimal point cannot say whether the biggest shift in office work since the personal computer adds jobs or subtracts them.
The apparatus meant to settle it was built for typewriters and rolling steel. America's monthly jobs report still tips software publishers, newspapers and film studios into one bucket marked "information", as though an engineer at a software giant and a copy editor at a dying weekly were the same beast. That is precisely the bucket where AI's biggest buyers do most of their hiring. The household survey still rests on an exiguous 60,000 homes, the sample of 1981, so fewer than 50 answers can move the jobless rate by a tenth of a point. Britain is no better: its statisticians pulled their labour force figures in 2023, when fewer than one household in five still answered, and hope to replace the survey by late 2027.
Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta will spend more than $700B on the machines this year, roughly 75% more than last. Moving America's household survey online would cost about $60M a year, under an hour of that capex. Questions on AI would come later, in a redesign nobody has priced. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has lost a fifth of its real budget since 2010. Its previous head, confirmed by the Senate 86 to 8, was sacked last year after a soft jobs report Donald Trump called "rigged". Trump's first pick to replace her, a think-tank economist who had floated suspending the monthly jobs report, lasted weeks before a deleted X account surfaced. The seat stayed empty for a year. Nothing sharpens a dataset like firing the person who compiles it.
The profession will say both readings can hold at once, and it may be right. It is a restful conclusion for anyone who still has a job. Somewhere in that fog sits a 22-year-old with a fresh degree and an inbox of polite rejections, in a cohort whose unemployment, 5.6%, now runs above the national 4.2%. Whether an algorithm took his opening or a jumpy CFO did, the data cannot yet say. The graduate is not a mixed signal. He is unemployed. And the richest economy on earth, pouring $700B a year into these machines, would rather not spend $60M to find out what they cost.
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🗞️ Top Story
- 🇬🇧 Spy Hard. UK police have rearrested two men under the National Security Act for allegedly assisting Iranian intelligence near RAF Fairford, marking the clearest official link yet to Tehran. (Financial Times)
- 🇫🇷 Drone Alone. Several unauthorized drones flew over sensitive French military sites, including Toulon’s naval base, during a major exercise, prompting a criminal investigation and some nervous glances skyward. (France Info)
- 🇩🇪 Mail Storm. Hackers leaked what they claim are 421,000 internal emails from AfD politicians, exposing years of party correspondence and sparking questions about the party’s digital hygiene. (Die Zeit)
- 🇮🇹 Street Cred. Giorgia Meloni sends 500 more soldiers to Milan after violent protests and looting, betting that military boots will restore order faster than police. (Spiegel)
- 🇷🇴 Majority Rules. After four failed attempts, Romania finally installs Luca Niculescu as prime minister, ending a five-month stalemate with a pro-European cabinet and a sigh of parliamentary relief. (Le Figaro)
- 🇷🇸 Spy Hard. Rade Bajic, a Serbian prosecutor who investigated the $500M Trump hotel project in Belgrade, says he was targeted by commercial spyware after probing the controversial land deal. (Le Figaro)
- 🇦🇱 Luxury Backlash. Albania faces violent unrest as public anger boils over a controversial development deal involving Jared Kushner, with Edi Rama struggling to contain the fallout. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Poll Position. Trump hits an all-time low with just 31% approval, as Democrats surge 12 points ahead in the latest midterm poll and economic discontent grows. (Boursier)
- 🇺🇸 Pitch Perfect. Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy, will present proposed peace terms to Vladimir Putin after a round of Oslo discussions with Zelensky and European leaders. (Le Monde)
- 🇰🇵 Rumour Has It. North Korea released fresh photos of Kim Jong Un looking healthy, yet wild rumours of his death keep circulating in the absence of hard facts. (BBC)
- 🇮🇳 Unqualified Majority. Modi's government loses its grip as student-led protests over joblessness and exam fraud escalate, with the "Cockroach Party" turning satire into a movement. (Le Monde)
- 🇪🇬 Exit Strategy. President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi insists he will leave office in 2030, but his actions suggest Egypt’s military rule is built to last. (Le Monde)
- 🌍 Hot Take. The latest UN report says global efforts are so inadequate that breaching the 1.5°C climate goal is now inevitable, with 2.6°C looming by century's end. (France Info)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 State of the Art. Britain rolled out the red carpet for Sultan Haitham, blending royal spectacle with strategic talks as Oman’s mediation becomes more valuable than ever. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Free Fall. Support for the NHS being free at point of use, open to all, and tax-funded is slipping among UK residents, according to new data. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Gas Lighting. Andy Burnham gives the green light to the Jackdaw gasfield, reaffirming support for North Sea drilling while torching Labour’s eco-credentials. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Red State of Mind. James Talarico is polling ahead in the Texas Senate race, threatening to flip a seat Democrats have not held in nearly 40 years and making Republicans spend $200M to stop him. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Ad Vantage. MAGA Inc., Donald Trump's super PAC, spent over $1.1M in a single day on Facebook and Instagram ads to drive Republican turnout before the midterms, leaving rivals in the digital dust. (New York Times)
🏛️ Economy
- 🇬🇧 Gilt Trip. UK government bonds rebound from their spring sell-off as investors bet a low-key Budget will keep fiscal nerves under control for now. (Financial Times)
- 🇬🇧 Paywall Nation. Chancellor John Healey will not revive the investor visa in the UK Budget, leaving wealthy would-be arrivals and their £5M investments at the border. (Financial Times)
- 🇫🇷 Bond Voyage. Investors are dumping French debt while Macron’s government is too boxed in to spend or cut, fueling both populist momentum and market anxiety. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Grain Drain. Wheat futures dropped to an 11-week low as traders ditched risk premiums following pressure on Ukraine to pursue peace talks with Russia. (Bloomberg)
- 🇸🇦 Summit Deferred. Saudi Arabia has postponed its flagship investment summit to 2027 after a series of Houthi attacks, putting its global ambitions on hold for now. (Bloomberg)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Job Well Done. UK unemployment unexpectedly drops to 4.7%, handing Chancellor John Healey a timely boost just days before he unveils his budget. (Bloomberg)
- 🇬🇧 Target Practice. Katharine Braddick, the new head of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, will introduce performance targets and a five-year strategy to make the regulator more accountable and transparent for the first time. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Forecast Force. Max Tunnicliff, Fastenal’s CFO, is using AI to build a forward-looking finance team, moving the company from rearview reporting to actual strategy. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Field of Schemes. President Trump unveils an $8B bailout for farmers hit by rising diesel costs, just two weeks before midterms where rural votes matter most. (New York Times)
🏢 Real Estate
- 🇩🇪 Rate Race. Mortgage rates in Germany have hit 4.5 percent, their highest level since 2009, as inflation and Middle East tensions drive up borrowing costs for homebuyers and builders alike. (Die Zeit)
- 🇺🇸 Closing Time. pending home sales plunged 7.3% in September, blindsiding economists who expected a rise, as mortgage rates slam the door on buyers. (Boursier)
- 🇺🇸 Home Sick. The housing market slumps as building permits, starts, and sales all miss forecasts, just as the Fed considers another rate hike. (CNBC)
- 🇨🇱 Byte Club. Amazon Web Services 🇺🇸 gets the green light to build a $205M data center in Santiago’s outskirts, kicking off a $4B digital land grab in Chile. (Le Monde)
- 🇦🇺 Server Down. NextDC 🇦🇺 saw its stock nosedive 40% as it cut its earnings outlook, proving even data centers can experience a hard crash. (CNBC)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Wall to Wall. Sullivan & Cromwell plans to double its London footprint by leasing 150,000 sq ft at 75 London Wall, as US law firms muscle into the UK’s priciest legal turf. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Ice Age. Pending home sales plunged 7.3% in September as mortgage rates soared past 7.6%, leaving the housing market frozen in place. (CNBC)
💱 Listed Markets
- 🇩🇪 Cloud Nine. Amazon 🇺🇸 unveils a €16B investment spree in Germany, with AWS data centers and thousands of new jobs set to rain down on Berlin. (Boursier)
- 🇪🇺 Service Not Found. Google’s cloud hiccup in London left major banks and users in the dark, while the company scrambled to reroute and recover. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Cleared for Takeoff. After years of regulatory scrutiny and delays, Boeing's 737 MAX 10 is expected to get official FAA approval, reviving hopes for its commercial rollout. (Boursier)
- 🇺🇸 Bond Identity. CoreWeave’s $2B unsecured bonds are tanking, but analysts say this is no Silicon Valley Bank moment for the trillion-dollar AI build-out. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Ellison Wonderland. Larry Ellison skipped selling $7.5B in Oracle 🇺🇸 shares, choosing instead to borrow billions against his tech holdings to bankroll his son’s Warner Bros. Discovery bid. The buy-borrow-die playbook gets a Hollywood rewrite. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Plane and Simple. Boeing’s 737 MAX 10 finally gets the green light from regulators to carry passengers, after a brief software hiccup and years of anticipation. (Wall Street Journal)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Profit and Loss. The Bank of England is reviewing whether Barclays 🇬🇧 padded its bottom line by mishandling derivatives linked to private credit loans, thanks to a whistleblower tip. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Office Space Invaders. NatWest tells 30,000 staff to increase their in-office days from February, sparking union backlash as remote-first routines face extinction. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Well Played. Halliburton 🇺🇸 posts a $417M profit for the quarter as revenue surges, proving that drilling deeper can still strike gold. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Prime Numbers. Amazon 🇺🇸 will add more than 300,000 jobs for the holidays, making sure its deliveries. And payroll. Arrive right on schedule. (Wall Street Journal)
🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)
- Primary Health Properties 🇬🇧 forms a $933M venture with GIC 🇸🇬, receiving $663M to repay a bridge loan used to finance its takeover of Assura 🇬🇧.
- HSBC Asset Management 🇬🇧 is reviewing whether to exclude Palantir 🇺🇸 from its $9B Islamic Global Equity Index fund after Nest 🇬🇧 and People’s Pension 🇬🇧 raised concerns.
- Anne Boden 🇬🇧 sold her remaining stake in Starling Bank 🇬🇧 at a £1.7B valuation.
- Carrefour 🇫🇷 has agreed to acquire Codifrance 🇫🇷 from Colruyt 🇧🇪 for $170M.
- Fleury Michon 🇫🇷 acquires 100% of All Plants 🇬🇧, a plant-based food company, for a business generating approximately €5M in annual revenue.
- Merck 🇩🇪 has agreed to acquire Silence Therapeutics 🇬🇧 for $1.1B in cash, at a 130% premium.
- Rheinmetall 🇩🇪 and MSC 🇨🇭 have acquired Romanian shipyard Mangalia 🇷🇴 for $155M.
- UniCredit 🇮🇹 has reportedly agreed to reacquire its Italian securities-services business from Société Générale 🇫🇷. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Salesforce 🇺🇸 has agreed to acquire customer-engagement platform Braze 🇺🇸 for $5.66B including debt.
- Silgan Holdings 🇺🇸 has agreed to acquire Europe’s Trivium Packaging 🇱🇺 from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan 🇨🇦 and Ardagh 🇱🇺 for $3.4B, including debt.
- Ares 🇺🇸 will acquire railcar leasing company Infinity Transportation 🇺🇸 from KKR 🇺🇸 for $2.9B.
- H.B. Fuller 🇺🇸 rejected activist Ancora Holdings 🇺🇸’ improved unsolicited $1.2B-$1.4B cash bid for its building adhesives unit.
- Charlesbank Capital Partners 🇺🇸 agreed to acquire a stake in law firm WSHB 🇺🇸 at a $700M valuation.
- RedBird Capital 🇺🇸 is in talks to acquire a 70% stake in Al Nassr 🇸🇦 from PIF 🇸🇦 for $267M. PIF is racing to repay $213M in club debt, while Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to retain a 20% stake.
- Forward Consumer Partners 🇺🇸 will acquire Welly 🇬🇧, Unilever’s bandage brand.
- Tesla 🇺🇸 and SpaceX 🇺🇸 are considering a merger valued at roughly $3.5T, with special committees assessing the potential deal. Nothing has been agreed.
- OpenAI 🇺🇸 has acquired AI biotech software startup Orchestra Bio 🇺🇸.
- Hansoh Pharmaceutical 🇨🇳 has agreed to a $15B partnership and licensing deal with Roche 🇨🇭 for targeted cancer therapies.
- Foxconn 🇹🇼 to acquire a 50% stake in Mitsubishi Electric 🇯🇵's automotive components unit for $727M.
- Metis TechBio 🇭🇰 and Eli Lilly 🇺🇸 will collaborate on R&D for tissue-specific drug delivery technologies in a $1.1B deal.
- SG Fleet Management 🇦🇺, backed by Pacific Equity Partners 🇦🇺, has agreed to acquire FleetPartners Group 🇦🇺 for $790M at an 87% premium.
- New Hope Corp. 🇦🇺 will acquire the remaining stake in Malabar Resources 🇦🇺 in an all-stock deal valuing it at $1.25B.
🇺🇸 United States
- Platform Accounting Group 🇺🇸 announces $355M in strategic growth financing led by Treville Capital Group 🇺🇸, with participation from several institutional investors.
🧳 Private Markets & VC
- 🇬🇧 App and Flow. Revolut 🇬🇧 suffered a major outage that left customers worldwide unable to make payments, proving even fintech giants can hit pause. (Sifted)
- 🇬🇧 Paper Chase. Axel Springer gets the green light to buy The Telegraph for £575M, aiming to challenge the New York Times on its own turf. (Le Figaro)
- 🇬🇧 Case Closed. Starling 🇬🇧 unveils an AI-powered financial crime investigator that completes end-to-end transaction reviews in just 17 seconds, making compliance look almost too easy. (FinExtra)
- 🇫🇷 Stranger Than Fiction. Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue says Netflix’s “AI Gone Rogue” distorts the OpenAI hack story, accusing the documentary of prioritizing sci-fi drama over reality. (TechCrunch)
- 🇺🇸 Processing Fee. Anthropic eyes a $45B purchase of Nscale's AI horsepower, turning data center shopping into a pre-IPO spectacle for both sides. (Boursier)
- 🇺🇸 Catch of the Day. Investors throw $150M behind Eka Robotics, whose AI-powered gripper can pick up 1,500 objects an hour and impresses even the skeptics. (TechCrunch)
- 🌍 Thintech. Fintech startups raised $10.6B in Q3 2026, down sharply from last year as the market trims both funding and the number of deals on offer. (Crunchbase)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Risky Business. UK pension funds have committed £11.1B to unlisted domestic assets, yet industry insiders warn that barriers and slow progress could derail the government's private market push. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Factory Settings. Bob McGrew, a former OpenAI executive, has quietly launched Arda, a $1.5B startup aiming to use AI to boost manufacturing. (CNBC)
Fundraising
- Tenstorrent 🇨🇦 (AI): $1.5B (Trace Capital, Innovation X)
- Neolix 🇨🇳 (Mobility): $400M (Boyu Capital, AEF NextGen Fund, Monolith Management, Granite Asia Capital, Vertex, Stone Venture, Trustar Capital)
- ASI 🇺🇸 (AI): $325M (Spark Capital, Craft Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Citadel Securities affiliates)
- Otter.ai 🇺🇸 (AI): $320M (General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund)
- Pigment 🇫🇷 (AI): $250M (Scaleup Europe Fund, Nvidia, World Innovation Lab, Iconiq, IVP, Meritech)
- doubleAI (AI): $200M (Lightspeed, Bessemer)
- Town 🇺🇸 (AI): $108M (Forerunner Ventures, Menlo Ventures)
- Blackwall 🇬🇧 (Cybersecurity): $100M (AVP, Dawn Capital, MMC Ventures, Tera Ventures)
- Dream Labs 🇺🇸 (Robotics): $90M (B Capital, Kindred Ventures)
- Daytona 🇺🇸 (AI): $60M (FirstMark, Patrick Collison, Adam D’Angelo, Brendan Foody, Tobi Lütke, Olivier Pomel, Aravind Srinivas, Eric Yuan, Alumni Ventures, Evergreen Fund, Okta Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Samsung Next, Torch Capital, Pace Capital, Upfront Ventures, E2VC)
- Even 🇮🇳 (Healthcare): $50M (Khosla Ventures)
- Greptile 🇺🇸 (Developer tools): $50M (Menlo Ventures)
- Different 🇺🇸 (AI): $48M (General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Together Fund, Haystack Ventures, MXV Capital, Firebolt Ventures)
- Holyvolt 🇺🇸 (AI): $45M (Zone II, CC.VC)
- ZAP Surgical Systems 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $36M (Catalio Capital Management)
- Hyperlayer 🇬🇧 (Fintech): £19.5M (Flintlock Capital, Mouro Capital, Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, LLLP)
- Qualitate 🇺🇸 (Market research): $25M (Insight Partners, IA Ventures, Crew Capital)
- AuxoAI 🇺🇸 (AI): $20.7M (NTTVC, George Still Jr., Amit Zavery, Giacomo Sonnino)
- Prism Data 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $20M (Story Ventures)
- Atombeam 🇺🇸 (AI): $18.3M
- Mural 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $15M (Tether, North Island Ventures)
- POV Beauty (Beauty): $15M (Silas Capital)
- IMIO 🇺🇸 (Agtech): $12M (Sofinnova Partners, Cultivate Next, Starshot Capital, Grow Together Salinas, Earth Foundry, Serra Ventures)
- Photon Bridge 🇳🇱 (Photonics): €10M
- VECKTA 🇺🇸 (Energy): $11M (Origin Ventures, Tech Square Ventures, VoLo Earth Ventures, Cove Fund, Catalyst by Wellstar, Engage, Emerald Bay Ventures, She's Independent Investments, Mobilize AI x Energy Ventures)
- Skyfly Technologies 🇬🇧 (Aviation): $10M (HICO Investment Group, Archangel)
- XRlabs 🇬🇧 (Healthcare): €7.48M (Playground Global, Eka Ventures)
- Rosie 🇺🇸 (Childcare): $7M (Bling Capital, Reach Capital, Graham & Walker, Marketplace Capital, Ingeborg Investments, Precursor Ventures, Mother Ventures, Yonder Ventures, Evan Moore)
- Cellbox Solutions 🇩🇪 (Logistics): €5M
- Asymptote Labs 🇺🇸 (Cybersecurity): $5.5M (Tower Research Ventures)
- Fodere 🇬🇧 (Mining): US$5M
- Stellios Technologies 🇺🇸 (Defense): $5M (Sofreh Capital, Wave Function Ventures, Cubit Capital, Mana Ventures, Atoms & Bits, Output Capital, Erik Bruckner)
- Gradient 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $4M (VentureFriends, Acadian Ventures, TinyVC, Heartfelt, Kima Ventures)
- Plinto 🇩🇰 (Fintech): €2.9M (People Ventures, Emblem)
- Coherence Quantum (Quantum computing): €2.78M
- Delegance Brokerage 🇺🇸 (Insurtech): $3.1M (Grit Capital Partners, Core VC, Gilgamesh Ventures, Outside VC)
- Vectorial 🇺🇸 (AI): $3M
- Ganiga 🇮🇹 (AI): €2.5M (Vivenda, NextSTEP)
- Remolonas 🇪🇸 (Foodtech): €2.2M (Clave Capital, EONIQ, SEGO Venture)
- Emerald 🇬🇧 (Healthcare): €1.66M (Innovate UK)
- SMYCLES 🇩🇪 (AI): €1.5M (IBG funds, bmp Ventures AG, two private investors)
- Northstar Clean Technologies 🇨🇦 (Environmental): C$2.1384M (Allmine Paving, LLC)
- EstateMin 🇮🇪 (Legaltech): €1M (NDRC, First Port Syndicate, Mike Hanrahan, Moira McKenna, Conor Stanley, Enterprise Ireland)
- Paidax 🇰🇿 (Fintech): $1M (DOMiNO Ventures, Philip Capital, White Hill Capital, Aloqa Ventures)
- Jenz 🇳🇴 (AI): €540K (Antler, Ada Ventures)
Fund Watch
- Latigo Peak Partners 🇺🇸: $18.6B (new wealth management firm for UHNWIs)
- EnCap Investments 🇺🇸: $3.5B (continuation vehicle for Permian Basin mineral assets, anchored by Melange Capital Partners)
- Ara Partners 🇺🇸: $2.5B (Ara Energy Fund I, energy fund, final close)
- BBAM 🇺🇸: $1.7B (3rd flagship aviation fund)
- Graphite Capital 🇬🇧: $666M (10th flagship fund, currently raising)
- Monomoy Capital Partners 🇺🇸: $589M (inaugural Monomoy Family Fund, closed above $500M hard cap)
- Inspired Capital 🇺🇸: $450M (Fund IV, early-stage venture capital fund, closed)
- Banca March 🇪🇸: $267M (4th international private equity fund of funds, seeking to raise)
- Clara Vista Investment Partners 🇺🇸: $250M (sports investment fund, seeking to invest in soccer clubs in Europe and Latin America)
- Amundi 🇫🇷: €200M (Amundi Senior Private Debt V, 5th private debt fund, first closing)
- SEVA Growth 🇺🇸: $160M (2nd growth equity fund)
- Bison Ventures 🇺🇸: $160M (Fund 2, early-stage VC fund, closed)
- Marjo Koivisto 🇫🇮: launching her own private credit firm
- NeoGenesis Capital 🇺🇸: launched debut fund for Colossal Biosciences spinouts
🔔IPO
- Elice 🇰🇷 (Technology): raised $150M at a $500M valuation in a Korea IPO.
- DayOne Data Centers 🇸🇬 (Data centers): weighing a US IPO that could raise $5B at a $20B valuation, potentially reduced to $2.5B-$3B or delayed.
- Mynt 🇵🇭 (Fintech): debuted after the Philippines’ record IPO.
🧳 Debt
- Orano 🇫🇷: raised €500M through 7-year bonds to refinance debt.
- Optiver 🇳🇱: seeking to raise $900M in debt.
- Walmart 🇺🇸: set to raise $6B through U.S. and Canadian dollar bonds.
- Kimberly-Clark 🇺🇸: raised $4.9B in investment-grade bonds to fund its Kenvue acquisition.
- Las Vegas Valley Water District 🇺🇸: seeking to sell $580M in municipal bonds.
- The Villages 🇺🇸: seeking $180M in high-yield debt.
- 475 Fifth Avenue 🇺🇸: paused a $175M MBS sale amid rising yields.
- MTR 🇭🇰: borrowing $5B to build rail for the Northern Metropolis.
- PLS Group 🇦🇺: seeking to raise $700M through five-year bonds.
- Tomer 🇮🇱: preparing a $200M bond sale.
🇺🇸 United States
- Idea Financial 🇺🇸: launched a joint venture with up to $225M in lending capacity.
- Pivot Energy 🇺🇸: secured a $500M corporate facility from Nuveen.
❌ Failures
- B&M 🇬🇧: the discount retailer is seeking to acquire a small number of stores from struggling rival Poundland.
- BBC 🇬🇧: facing declining revenues, the broadcaster plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs and save £500M by 2028.
- Qualcomm 🇺🇸: the chipmaker will cut an undisclosed number of jobs worldwide in performance-focused layoffs.
- National Australia Bank (NAB) 🇦🇺: will cut 2,500 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, citing technological change, competition and economic challenges.
- Macquarie Group 🇦🇺: several oil traders left as the bank merged two commodity-trading units.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Flutter Entertainment 🇬🇧: the Paddy Power owner plans to cut up to 1,400 jobs and take a $90 million restructuring charge.
- Thames Water 🇬🇧: creditors are pursuing a £10bn rescue deal for the struggling water supplier.
🎯 For a Few More Minutes…
- 🇬🇧 Ticket to Ride. Liverpool will open a massive new Beatles museum in 2028, with Apple Corps taking over and Paul McCartney calling the project “extraordinary.” (The Guardian)
