๐ Straight to the Moon
Your pension just booked a window seat.
Also available:๐ซ๐ท รdition franรงaise
Good morning!
Humanity has been parking its gods in the sky since it stood upright. Babylon read the future there, Rome lodged Jupiter there, the America of 2026 parks reusable rockets there. SpaceX makes its Nasdaq debut this week under the ticker SPCX: a $1.75T valuation, $75B raised, two and a half times the Aramco record, and 555,555,555 shares priced at $135. Numerology is a house tradition: Twitter went for $54.20 a share, a cannabis joke worth $44B, signed by a man whose earlier rendition of the same gag, Tesla at $420, had already cost him a $20M SEC fine and the chairmanship of his own board. Six thousand years of spiritual elevation, concluding as a line in a brokerage account.
The theology sits in the index plumbing. Nasdaq has rewritten its canon law to order: a fast-entry procedure beatifies very large capitalisations after 15 trading sessions, effective 3 July, and an ad hoc rule triples the weighting of companies whose float stays below 20%. Some $600B of passive money tracks the Nasdaq 100 to the basis point. At a 1% weighting, $6B of buying lands mechanically on a 5% float, 7% of available shares hoovered up without a single human brain forming an opinion on the profitability of an orbital launcher that lists at 95x sales after a $4.9B net loss in 2025. Morningstar puts fair value at $780B, under half the asking price. Only S&P Dow Jones declined to amend the missal. Old churches have a slowness that occasionally passes for dignity.
The saver wiring ยฃ300 a month into an ETF believed the religious phase of investing was over. No more active-management gurus, no more certainty salesmen in signet rings, nothing but 0.2% fees and the market average. Come July, that saver will hold SpaceX without ever having formed the intention, or any other. Calvin had a name for the mechanism: irresistible grace, salvation descending on the elect without consultation. The collateral differs, a pension rather than a soul, assembled transfer by transfer over 20 years and now partly riding on a rocket its owner will only ever watch lift off in vertical video, between two adverts for protein powder.
Credit where it is owed: Musk’s rockets fly, which places him above the prophetic average, a profession that has been promising heaven since the Bronze Age without shipping a single prototype. The stroke of genius is not up there, though; it is in the pipe. Every church in history tripped over the same design flaw: the believer’s faith, a perishable commodity, expensive to maintain through sermons, miracles and Sunday collections. Indexation has fixed it. The retail tranche will gather the believers, the passive funds will gather everyone else. A cult with no preaching, congregants optional, and the tithe collected at source, by direct debit, on the 5th of the month.
๐๏ธ Top Story
- ๐ฌ๐ง Battle Fatigue. Al Carns resigns as armed forces minister, following John Healey out the door in protest over Sir Keir Starmerโs defence spending, leaving Labourโs leadership exposed. (BBC)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Major Departure. After Defence Secretary John Healey resigns over funding disputes, Keir Starmer appoints ex-paratrooper Dan Jarvis to calm a shaken ministry. (Le Figaro)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Night Shift. Belfast streets burn for a second night after a stabbing, as racist mobs ignore the injured manโs familyโs plea for calm. (Spiegel)
- ๐ซ๐ท Evian on the Rocks. Emmanuel Macron hosts a G7 summit in Evian overshadowed by Middle East conflict and Trumpโs unpredictability, as leaders scramble to find common ground. (Le Monde)
- ๐ฆ๐ฑ Dreams on the Rocks. Jared Kushnerโs Sazan Island resort plan faces resistance from Albanian officials, turning a real estate fantasy into a political headache. (Bloomberg)
- ๐บ๐ธ Deal or No Deal. Donald Trump claims a breakthrough agreement to end the Iran conflict is imminent, while Tehran insists nothing has actually been finalized yet. (BBC)
- ๐บ๐ธ Jet Lag. The will cut a third of its fighter jets and key warships from NATO operations in Europe, accelerating Trump’s push to shrink America’s security umbrella. (New York Times)
- ๐จ๐ด Jungle Law. At least 48 people died in a week of fighting between FARC dissidents in Colombia’s Guaviare region, as rival groups battle for Amazon smuggling routes. (Courrierinternational)
- ๐ต๐ช Margin Call. Keiko Fujimori leads Peruโs presidential runoff by just 650 votes with 98% counted, leaving the country suspended between recounts and recriminations. (Boursier)
- ๐ฏ๐ต Back in Orbit. After a failed 2023 attempt, Japan’s flagship H3 rocket puts six satellites in space, proving the program can still deliver liftoff. (Le Monde)
- ๐ฐ๐ท Drone Alone. Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sending military drones into North Korea to provoke tensions and justify martial law. (Le Monde)
- ๐ณ๐ช Law and Disorder. Niger’s military regime has enacted a new penal code criminalizing homosexuality and related identities, imposing prison terms of up to 20 years and hefty fines in a sweeping crackdown. (Le Temps)
- ๐ Hot Ticket. A new scientific study finds the world will hit the symbolic 1.5ยฐC warming threshold by 2030, decades earlier than climate negotiators once hoped. (Les Echos)
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐ฌ๐ง Fizz and Fury. Labourโs internal discord returns as John Healey quits in protest at Keir Starmerโs defence budget, leaving the partyโs unity on ice once again. (BBC)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Hate Street. Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn condemns violent anti-immigration protests in Belfast after 16 arrests and 12 police injuries in a second night of unrest. (The Guardian)
๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐บ๐ธ Spoiler Alert. President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth publicly announced upcoming strikes on Iran before they happened, abandoning all pretense of military secrecy. (New York Times)
- ๐บ๐ธ Hazmatinee. The Pentagon went into lockdown for nearly three hours after a hazardous materials scare, only to discover it was a false alarm and lift the order. (Wall Street Journal)
๐๏ธ Economy
- ๐ช๐บ Ahead of the Curve. The European Central Bank becomes the first major bank to hike rates, hoping to contain war-induced inflation before it spreads further. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐จ๐ญ Power Play. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino unveils a supersized World Cup in North America, chasing record profits while fans and players brace for the fallout. (Le Parisien)
- ๐บ๐ธ Goal Standard. Tickets for the 2026 World Cup final in the are hitting $10,000 as dynamic pricing and host costs send fans and budgets reeling. (Bloomberg)
- ๐บ๐ธ Crude Awakening. The Trump administration slaps sanctions on Cuba’s state oil company Cupet, barring citizens from doing business and threatening penalties for foreign partners. Washington accuses Havana of weaponizing energy while Cuba faces mounting blackouts. (Spiegel)
- ๐จ๐ณ Great Firewall of AI. China unveils a $295B investment plan to supercharge its AI industry, aiming to close the gap with the US once and for all. (Bloomberg)
- ๐น๐ท Turkish Delights. Opposition MP Gรถkhan Gรผnaydin exposes Turkish Airlines’ board salaries topping โฌ40K a month, sparking outrage online while Parliament shrugs in silence. (Le Monde)
- ๐ World Slow Bank. The World Bank slashes its 2026 global growth prediction to 2.5 percent, citing Middle East instability and rising oil prices as the main culprits. (Boursier)
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐ฌ๐ง Gilt Trip. UK bond traders brace for volatility as the election nears and Andy Burnham quietly positions himself as a potential rival to Keir Starmer. (Bloomberg)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Pay to Parent. The CMA is investigating Ryanair ๐ฎ๐ช for making parents pay extra to sit next to their own children, questioning whether the practice is unfair under consumer law. (BBC)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Audit and Error. The UKโs Financial Reporting Council has launched investigations into small firms Berkeley Finch, Silver Levene, and Magus over their audits of collapsed lender Market Financial Solutions, after ยฃ2B in creditor losses and fraud allegations. (Financial Times)
๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐บ๐ธ SECret Intelligence. Donald Trump plans to nominate former SEC chairman John Clayton as Director of National Intelligence, because nothing says spycraft like securities regulation. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐บ๐ธ Still Working On It. Jobless claims rose to 229,000 last week, a bump that economists say does not threaten the labor market’s resilience. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐บ๐ธ Pump Fiction. wholesale prices jumped 1.1% in May, outpacing forecasts as energy costs soared, putting annual producer inflation at 6.5% and fueling fresh Fed headaches. (Cnbc)
๐ข Real Estate
- ๐ช๐บ Home Alone. The ECBโs rate hike leaves French property buyers facing the prospect of higher mortgage costs and a market that feels less welcoming by the day. (Le Figaro)
- ๐บ๐ธ Park and Wreck. Frank Rolfe, once a mobile home billionaire, is now staring down bankruptcy as his business model finally hits a dead end. (Bloomberg)
๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐บ๐ธ Sister Act. Manhattan rents have driven young professionals like Katie Rettig to move into convents, where $5,000 apartments are swapped for nuns and curfews. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐บ๐ธ Home Truths. David Morales and a wave of young politicians are putting housing affordability front and center, arguing their age and rent bills prove the point. (New York Times)
๐ On-chain
- ๐บ๐ธ Rocket Club. SpaceX is set to debut on the Nasdaq with traders betting it will close above a $2T market cap, joining the ultra-exclusive $2T company club. (Cnbc)
- ๐บ๐ธ Bot and Sold. Coinbase ๐บ๐ธ unveils a tool letting AI agents like ChatGPT and Claude trade crypto and make payments for users, aiming to turn bots into the new financial middlemen. (Cnbc)
- ๐บ๐ธ Pitch Perfect Storm. With over $2B wagered on Kalshi and Polymarket before the first whistle, the World Cup is already a trading floor in disguise. (Cointribune)
๐ฑ Listed Markets
- ๐ฉ๐ช Silicon Curtain. Infineonโs new German chip plant marks another EU move to wall off critical tech production from global supply shocks. (Bloomberg)
- ๐ฉ๐ช Auto Pilot. Mercedes-Benz partners with Tytan Technologies to make anti-drone vehicles, steering its ailing car business straight into Europeโs booming defense sector. (Cnbc)
- ๐บ๐ธ To the Moon. SpaceX ๐บ๐ธ launches its IPO with a $75B raise and a $1.8T valuation, giving Musk more control than most countries grant their leaders. (BBC)
- ๐บ๐ธ Store Wars. Apple announces it will purge underperforming apps from the App Store, forcing developers to fight for user attention or face deletion. (Webrazzi)
- ๐บ๐ธ Capex and the City. Oracle ๐บ๐ธ spent $55.7B on data centers in one year, beating its own guidance by $5.7B and already eyeing a fresh $40B raise. (Thenextweb)
- ๐บ๐ธ All That Glitters. The gold rush fizzles as the metal drops to its lowest point since November, with investors chasing SpaceX and higher rates instead. (Financial Times)
- ๐ฏ๐ต Bubble Trouble. SoftBankโs $120B rally made it Japanโs top company for three days, echoing its dot-com era peak before Toyota took back the lead. (Thenextweb)
- ๐ฐ๐ท Data and Confused. Coupang ๐ฐ๐ท is hit with a record $409M fine after exposing data of 33M customers, blamed for lax security rather than hacking prowess. (Boursier)
๐๏ธ Big Deals (M&A)
- Frasers ๐ฌ๐ง offers to acquire the remaining 74% of Hugo Boss ๐ฉ๐ช for $2.3B cash at a 4% premium.
- Yorkshire Building Society ๐ฌ๐ง to acquire Atom Bank ๐ฌ๐ง for ยฃ600M+ (โโฌ693M).
- Akeneo ๐ซ๐ท acquires Pricing Hub ๐ซ๐ท, a pricing-management platform that links product data and price decisioning.
- CHR Group ๐ซ๐ท acquires Rmoni Digital Solutions B.V. ๐ณ๐ฑ, a specialist in connected monitoring, real-time sensor and temperature monitoring for foodservice and retail.
- LVM Versicherung ๐ฉ๐ช acquires a stake in traveltrรคger Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH ๐ฉ๐ช, expanding its mobility involvement.
- Barcelรณ ๐ช๐ธ acquires Atrรกpalo ๐ช๐ธ (100% stake) via รvoris, pending CNMC approval.
- Swapfiets ๐ณ๐ฑ acquires Dance ๐ฉ๐ช after Pon supported Swapfiets with โฌ140M.
- Kinepolis ๐ง๐ช acquires Showcase Cinemas ๐บ๐ธ for $30M, comprising 13 cinemas in the United States.
- Intralot ๐ฌ๐ท acquires Evoke ๐ฌ๐ฎ for ยฃ243.1M (52p/share).
- Adeline Sterner ๐ธ๐ช acquires Bonti ๐ธ๐ช.
- Industeam ๐ฑ๐บ acquires Normรฉca ๐ซ๐ท (โฌ131.8M group revenue (2023).
- Trump Media & Technology Group ๐บ๐ธ to merge with TAE Technologies ๐บ๐ธ in a $6B deal, cancels planned spinoff of Truth Social ๐บ๐ธ and other media assets.
- Salesforce ๐บ๐ธ acquires m3ter ๐ฌ๐ง, integrates consumption-based billing into Agentforce.
- Amazon ๐บ๐ธ signs a multi-year agreement with Corning ๐บ๐ธ to buy optical fibre for $B, creating about 1,000 jobs at Corningโs North Carolina factories.
- Cloudflare ๐บ๐ธ acquires Voidzero ๐บ๐ธ, the maker of Vite and its toolchain (Vite, Vitest, Rolldown, Oxc), and commits $1M to a Vite ecosystem fund.
- OpenAI ๐บ๐ธ acquires Ona ๐บ๐ธ to support its AI coding assistant, Codex.
- KKR ๐บ๐ธ acquires a majority stake in Crowe ๐บ๐ธ for nearly $3B, marking a private-equity investment in the accounting sector.
- Dana ๐บ๐ธ combines with Eatonโs Mobility business ๐บ๐ธ in a $5.1B deal, creating a supplier for commercial- and light-vehicle markets.
- Blackstone ๐บ๐ธ is in talks to buy H&R REIT ๐จ๐ฆ, a Canadian property firm.
- KKR ๐บ๐ธ and Energy Capital Partners ๐บ๐ธ to acquire DCC ๐ฎ๐ช for $7.6B cash, a 33% premium for the European energy distribution firm.
- Amwins Group ๐บ๐ธ and Dragoneer Investment Group ๐บ๐ธ are interested in acquiring Steadfast Group ๐ฆ๐บ at a $5.4B valuation including debt, a 52% premium.
- Starbucks ๐บ๐ธ considers a stake sale in Starbucks Japan ๐ฏ๐ต at a $3B valuation.
- Humana ๐บ๐ธ divests its minority stake in Gentiva ๐บ๐ธ for $900M, hospice care firm.
- Nuvei ๐จ๐ฆ in ยซย advancedย ยป talks to acquire Payoneer Global ๐บ๐ธ for $2.7bn, deal could be signed ยซย in the coming daysย ยป but may not materialise. Price (including cash) implies an EV of ~$2.3bn.
- Ant International ๐จ๐ณ considers raising $1B at a $10B valuation. Backed by General Atlantic and Silver Lake.
- TDK ๐ฏ๐ต acquires Fabric8Labs ๐บ๐ธ for $400M cash, a high-precision 3D printing pioneer.
- Bizlink Holding ๐น๐ผ acquires Interplex ๐บ๐ธ’s information and communications technology/data centre unit for $850M cash plus a $50M earnout, expected to close in H2 2026.
- Ennoconn ๐น๐ผ launches a $1.7B takeover bid for Kontron ๐ฆ๐น.
- Woodside ๐ฆ๐บ acquires Browse LNG Project ๐ฆ๐บ, buying a stake in the offshore LNG development.
- Northern Star Resources ๐ฆ๐บ rejects activist Elliott ๐บ๐ธ’s proposal to sell some smaller assets or pursue a full sale.
- Otokar ๐น๐ท acquires Automecanica Mediaศ ๐ท๐ด for โฌ85M, finalizing the purchase and preparing local production of Cobra II armored vehicles.
- Oyak ๐น๐ท launches talks to acquire a 43% stake in Tekfen ๐น๐ท from Can Kultur Sanat Egitim Kurumlari Isletmeciligi ๐น๐ท following fraud investigations.
๐งณ Private Markets & VC
- ๐ช๐บ Follow the Leader. As SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic prep $3.6T in US tech IPOs, BNP Paribas expects European startups to chase the same public listing spotlight. (Thenextweb)
- ๐บ๐ธ Rocket Returns. Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz are set to score record profits if SpaceX ๐บ๐ธ goes public, proving venture capital really is out of this world. (Bloomberg)
- ๐บ๐ธ Chip Happens. Apollo says the world faces a compute shortage as AI demand explodes, predicting trillions in private credit will flood data centers and infrastructure. (Bloomberg)
- ๐บ๐ธ Base Jump. Base10, the Black-led venture capital firm, has increased its assets under management to $2.6B, proving that scale is no longer just for the usual suspects. (Bloomberg)
- ๐จ๐ณ Fund and Games. Dreame Technologyโs rapid rise, fueled by government equity, has triggered Beijing to clamp down on Chinaโs chaotic tech funding model. (Cnbc)
- ๐ฐ๐ท Bond Voyage. The AI-fueled rally powering Samsung and SK Hynix has left South Korean government bonds with the worst performance among 44 tracked markets this year. (Thenextweb)
- ๐ญ๐ฐ Peak Interest. Odd Lots takes its global market curiosity to Hong Kong, dissecting what makes the cityโs financial ecosystem tick. (Bloomberg)
Fundraising
- Digital Asset ๐บ๐ธ (Blockchain): $355M (a16z crypto, 7RIDGE, ABN Amro, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Alumni Ventures, Apollo Funds, BNP Paribas, Broadridge, Citadel Securities, CME Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Greenwulf Asset Management, Hanwha Investment & Securities, HSBC, iCapital, Liberty City Ventures, Optiver, Polychain, R136 Ventures, S&P Global, SBI Group, Smash Capital, SoFi, Tradeweb, William Blair)
- Nesto ๐จ๐ฆ (Fintech): $302M
- Mujin ๐ฏ๐ต (Robotics): $233M
- Standard Bots ๐บ๐ธ (Robotics): $200M (General Catalyst, RoboStrategy)
- Twinco Capital ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ช๐ธ (Fintech): โฌ165M
- Inveready ๐ช๐ธ (Asset management): โฌ150M
- Koho ๐จ๐ฆ (Fintech): $130M
- Addverb Technologies ๐ฎ๐ณ (Robotics): >$100M
- Current ๐บ๐ธ (Fintech): $80M (Springcoast Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global Management, Avenir, Foundation Capital, Wellington Management, Sapphire Ventures, QED Investors, General Catalyst, Cross River)
- PhoenixAI ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $80M (Sky9 Capital, Atypical Ventures, Olive Technology Ventures)
- Hypha ๐บ๐ธ (Fintech): $50M (TriEdge Investments, Bankwell, Cammebyโs International, CFG Bank, Crescent Heights, Dwight Capital, MONTICELLOAM, LLC, Yakar Partners)
- CameraMatics ๐ฎ๐ช (Mobility): โฌ49M
- InCharge Energy ๐บ๐ธ (Energy): $46M (S2G Investments, QIC)
- Forage ๐บ๐ธ (Fintech): $40M (Mouro Capital, Nyca Partners, PayPal Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Intuit Ventures, NextLadder Ventures, Pivotal Ventures, FJ Labs)
- Pi ๐บ๐ธ (Cybersecurity): $35M (Brightmind Partners, Third Point Ventures, George Kurtz, Yevgeny Dibrov, Nadir Izrael)
- Turnout ๐บ๐ธ (Advocacy): $35M (HighPost Capital, Shine Capital, LGVP, Mangusta Capital, Honeystone Ventures, Omri Casspi)
- Coram AI ๐บ๐ธ (Physical security): $35M (Ansa Capital, Battery Ventures, UP.Partners, 8VC, Mosaic Ventures)
- Pogo ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $32M (Josh Buckley (Buckley Ventures), Mantis (The Chainsmokers), 20VC (Harry Stebbings), Village Global, Lenny Rachitsky, founders of Honey)
- Aryon Security ๐ฎ๐ฑ (Cybersecurity): $29M (Brightmind Partners, Skinos Ventures, Datadog, Blumberg Capital)
- Earlytrade ๐ฆ๐บ (Fintech): $25M (S3 Ventures, Brick & Mortar Ventures)
- รnima Kitchent ๐ช๐ธ (Animation): โฌ24.9M (DNEG, ReDefine Originals)
- Jedify ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $24M (Norwest, S Capital VC, Cerca Partners, Oceans Ventures, Snowflake)
- F2 ๐บ๐ธ (Fintech): $24M (HighlandX, Left Lane Capital, NFX, Y Combinator, Torch Capital)
- F2 AI (Private markets): $24M
- Minerva ๐ณ๏ธ (Unknown): $20M
- Capsa AI ๐ฌ๐ง (Fintech): $18M
- Rem3dy Health ๐ฌ๐ง (HealthTech): โฌ16M (Suntory, Estrella Galicia, Apollo Hospitals, UPSA)
- Upriver ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $14M (Valley Capital Partners, Hetz Ventures)
- Golden Analytics ๐บ๐ธ (Analytics): $14M (Insight Partners, NEA, Madrona)
- SyntheticFi ๐บ๐ธ (Wealth-tech): $13M (Y Combinator, Social Leverage, others)
- Mendo ๐ซ๐ท (AI): โฌ12M (Ventech, Educapital, Tomcat, OVNI)
- 01Health ๐ฌ๐ง (Healthcare): ยฃ11.2M (Gresham House Ventures, Balderton Capital, Eka Ventures, Wavemaker360, Nicolas Cary)
- Trustap ๐ฎ๐ช (Fintech): $10M (Aperture Capital, TX Ventures, existing investors)
- Rivvun AI ๐บ๐ธ (Enterprise): $7.55M (Sitara Capital, 3one4 Capital)
- Artis ๐บ๐ธ (Martech): $7.3M (LiveOak Ventures, mark vc, Capital Factory)
- Uncovr ๐ซ๐ท (Healthcare): $7M (Index Ventures, Seedcamp, Frst, No Label Ventures, Entrepreneurs First, Jean Nehme, Othman Laraki, Charlie Songhurst)
- Niteshift ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $7M (Greylock, Amplify Partners, BoxGroup, SV Angel)
- RELAI ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $6.9M (.406 Ventures, AITFund, Non sibi Ventures, TEDCO)
- ArchAstro ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $6.2M (20VC, Kyber Knight)
- Fearn ๐บ๐ธ (Legaltech): $5.5M (Kindred Ventures, a16z speedrun, Designer Fund, Essence VC)
- Chptr ๐บ๐ธ (Media): $5.5M (CityRock, Tribute Technology, iHeartMedia, Sinclair, Hearst)
- ENLAYE ๐ซ๐ท (Proptech): โฌ4.25M
- Promake ๐น๐ท (AI): $4M (212, Ak Portfรถy GSYF, Arya VC, Gelecek Etki Fonu, JIMCO, Maxis Ventures)
- Flipflow ๐ช๐ธ (Retail): โฌ3M (4Founders)
- Rosso ๐ฎ๐น (Healthcare): โฌ3M
- Zazume ๐ช๐ธ (Proptech): โฌ2.5M (Nordstar, GTV Capital)
- Volteum ๐ฌ๐ง (Mobility): โฌ2.5M (Movens Capital, WakeUp Capital, Aidiom, Day One Capital, Techstars, Nesprit)
- Opereit ๐ช๐ธ (Logistics): โฌ2.2M (Seedcamp, Yellow)
- Paymove ๐ต๐ฑ (Fintech): โฌ2.12M (4growth VC, Kogito Ventures, several business angels)
- Rotomate ๐ซ๐ฎ (Industrial AI): โฌ2.1M (Kvanted, Robin Capital, Angel Invest, Accelโs scout programme, Business Finland)
- OurMind ๐ณ๐ฑ (Healthcare): โฌ2.1M (4impact Capital, group of general practitioners and medical specialists)
- TurnUp ๐ง๐ช (Healthcare): โฌ2M (Newion, RDY Ventures)
- Record OS ๐ฌ๐ง (Fintech): $2M
Fund Watch
- Carlyle ๐บ๐ธ: $15B (9th flagship fund, currently raising)
- Ares ๐บ๐ธ: $8.5B (3rd ABF fund)
- Base10 Partners ๐บ๐ธ: $850M (Seed & Series A Fund IV. Series B Fund II. Early-stage and Series B funds for real-economy automation)
- Mycor Capital Management ๐บ๐ธ: $800M (credit-focused firm โ $800M from Millennium, AUM now $2.5B)
- Edge Focus ๐บ๐ธ: $500M (JV with large private credit manager to purchase consumer auto loans over 2.5 years)
- Neuberger Specialty Finance ๐บ๐ธ: $300M
- CAA & TPG Integrated Media Co. ๐บ๐ธ: $250M
- Sociรฉtรฉ Gรฉnรฉrale ๐ซ๐ท: โฌ100M (Article 9 infrastructure fund)
- Generation Tech Partners ๐ฉ๐ช: โฌ50M (AI roll-up fund targeting ~30 German ownerโmanaged service SMEs, AI transformation, 5โ7y hold)
- Bcas ๐ช๐ธ: โฌ18M (EIF guarantee to mobilize up to โฌ72M for student/education financing)
- InterCapital ๐ท๐ด: โฌ5M (InterCapital Poland WIG30TR UCITS ETF, WIG30 total-return Poland equity ETF)
- Carbon13 ๐ฌ๐ง: undisclosed (SEIS Fund X, 10th SEIS fund for climate startups)
- Star51 Capital ๐บ๐ธ: undisclosed (inaugural medtech venture fund. Operator-led ecosystem fund anchored by Abbott & Mayo Clinic)
๐IPO
- Thyssenkrupp ๐ฉ๐ช (Industrial): considering an investor vote on a potential spinoff of its materials trading unit tk accelis.
- Satispay ๐ฎ๐น (Fintech): reportedly planning to raise โฌ120M to expand beyond payments into stock/ETF trading, savings, investments and pensions.
- Einride ๐ธ๐ช (Trucking): listed on Nasdaq via a SPAC at a $1.35B pre-money valuation, down from $1.8B and well below ~$5B earlier talks.
- Parabilis Medicines ๐บ๐ธ (Biotech): raised $745M for a $3.8B market cap and surged 58% in its trading debut after pricing above the marketed range.
- ERock ๐บ๐ธ (Energy): raised $640M in its IPO at a $4.7B valuation.
- Trump Media and Technology & TAE Technologies ๐บ๐ธ (Media): will not spin off Truth Social and other media assets.
- Apotex Health ๐จ๐ฆ (Pharma): SK Capital-backed company raised $930M in Canada’s biggest IPO since 2021.
- Mujin ๐ฏ๐ต (Robotics): planning an IPO by 2030.
- ASICS ๐ฏ๐ต (Footwear): to spin off its high-end Onitsuka Tiger business.
- SK Hynix ๐ฐ๐ท (Semiconductors): planning a US listing that could raise up to $14B as soon as August via ADRs.
๐งณ Debt
- Aรฉroports de Paris ๐ซ๐ท: issued a โฌ600M 9โyear bond.
- OpenAI ๐บ๐ธ: exploring backing a $500B AI data center project.
- Apollo ๐บ๐ธ: backed a record $35B private credit deal to fund an AI infra platform with Blackstone and Broadcom to help Anthropic lease Google TPUs.
- Cypress Creek Energy ๐บ๐ธ: secured $3.5B to finance Phases 1 and 2 of the Steel River Energy Center.
- SoftBank ๐ฏ๐ต: talks to raise a $6B margin loan backed by OpenAI shares stalled.
- Nippon Steel ๐ฏ๐ต: raised $560M in its first straight-bond offering since acquiring United States Steel.
- Dangote Refinery ๐ณ๐ฌ: seeks to raise $1B in a private debt sale.
- Zambia ๐ฟ๐ฒ: completed a controversial buyback of GDP-linked bonds after raising its offer (amount undisclosed).
โ Failures
- Nรฉolithe ๐ซ๐ท: after raising โฌ80M, the industrial startup was placed in judicial reorganization to refound its technology.
- Hydronic ๐ซ๐ท: placed in redressement judiciaire in May 2026 and sold to LFB Group at the commercial court; โฌ21.5M revenue (2024), 140 employees.
- Uber ๐บ๐ธ: eliminated 23% of roles in its People and Places (HR) division as new president Jill Hazelbaker reshapes the company.
- Microsoft ๐บ๐ธ: cutting hundreds of Azure jobs in China, underscoring the splintering of the borderless cloud.
- Xbox ๐บ๐ธ: reportedly planning significant layoffs amid declining revenue after Microsoft poured >$20B into gaming and a nearly $500M drop.
๐ฏ For a Few More Minutesโฆ
- ๐ซ๐ท The Great Imitation. Paris prosecutors are trying six Georgians accused of stealing priceless Pushkin works from the BNF and replacing them with lookalike facsimiles, a first-of-its-kind operation that stunned Franceโs literary guardians. (Ouest-France)
- ๐ฉ๐ช Past Imperfect. A German impressionistโs cityscape hides swastikas, X-rayed decades later, showing how history can be painted over but not deleted. (Le Figaro)
- ๐บ๐ธ Code Lawn. The cryptic ยซย 86 47ย ยป etched into the Mall grass has authorities scrambling for answers, while Trumpโs team sees menace in every blade. (Le Temps)