Andreessen Dives Deeper into Politics

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Good Morning,

Another slow day on the news front ahead of the long weekend. Although one notable headline is that Marc Andreessen is joining the DoD's Defense Policy Board. Imagine pitching a Series C and your moat is simply "my backers control the government."

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks rallied yesterday on a recovery in tech

  • Dow hit a new ATH after Alphabet was added to the index

  • Microsoft stock is down 22% on track for its worst month since 2000

• MSCI China index is down 18% YTD, trailing global stocks by the most since 2001

• Dubai's DFMGI index is up 11% QTD on track for its best quarter in a year

• Japanese yen slid to a four-decade low

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Nike

  • Wednesday: General Mills

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Unlike Germany, USA will not fumble

• Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market

Headline Roundup

• SCOTUS blocked Trump from firing Fed governor Lisa Cook (WSJ)

• Sovereign investors with $29T pivot to energy assets amid dollar fears (RT)

• US share sales hit a record $250B in H1 (BBG)

• Leverage behind stock market rally is getting more expensive (RT)

• Europe's boldest tech startups are reaching for US SPACs again (BBG)

• Chinese AI and chip firms are driving an onshore IPO rebound (RT)

• Japan IPOs fall to 15-year low with no rebound in sight (FT)

• Samsung and SK Hynix will spend $520B on Korea capex (WSJ)

• Fossil fuel subsidies are set to hit $1.1T in 2026 (BBG)

• Proxy advisors notch third legal win against Republican 'anti-ESG' rules (RT)

• SIG lost over $70M on trades against insider traders (BBG)

• Supermicro's Taiwan offices were raided in a chip smuggling probe (FT)

• Pete Hegseth named Marc Andreessen to the Defense Policy Board (TI)

• The average British child gets £10 per week in pocket money (FT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

• Martin Marietta Materials agreed to merge with building materials supplier Lhoist North America in a $13.5B cash-and-stock deal, including debt

• Building products maker Carlisle made more than one unsolicited offer for roofing maker Owens Corning in what could result in an over $10B cash-and-stock deal

• Rocket Lab Corp. agreed to acquire Iridium Communications in an $8B cash-and-stock transaction

• Investors submitted first round bids for NFL team Seattle Seahawks, which could fetch an over $6B valuation

• French biotech company Ipsen will acquire US-based blood cancer-focused Kartos Therapeutics in a $1.75B deal

• German airline Lufthansa is interested in acquiring a minority stake in Portugal's flag carrier TAP as it readies ‌a rival bid to Air France-KLM as part of TAP's 49% $1.7B privatization effort

• UK PE firm Bridgepoint agreed to buy Florida-based Kayne Anderson Real Estate in a $1.4B cash-and-stock deal, excluding debt

• Canadian biotech Zymeworks will acquire respiratory-focused Theravance Biopharma for $930M cash

• CVC agreed to acquire Italian packaging company Clevertech for $912M

• Matador Resources' midstream JV San ​Mateo Midstream will acquire the operating units of Cardinal Midstream Partners for $752M cash

• Verizon and UK's BT Group agreed to merge their international businesses into a JV in a deal that includes Verizon making a $625M 'equalization payment'

• Swedish care provider Ambea made a recommended public ​offer for peer Humana at a $305M valuation

• Italian energy giant Eni and XRG, the investment unit of ADNOC, agreed to buy 32% stakes in a LNG production and export project in Argentina from YPF

• Bridge Football Group acquired Grasshopper Club Zurich from Los Angeles Football Club

• CVC agreed to buy ingredients business Irca from PE firm Advent

VC

• Dutch tech investor Prosus will invest in French AI healthcare platform Alan at a $6.25B valuation

• 8090, an AI-enabled Software Factory startup, raised a $135M Series A led by Salesforce Ventures

• Straiker, the agentic security company, raised a $64M Series A led by Marathon Management Partners, Citi Ventures, and others

• Omen AI, a fluid-systems monitoring startup, raised a $31M Series A led by Nava Ventures

• Nebex, the market infrastructure platform for the global space economy, raised a $30M seed round led by GV

• Six Robotics, an autonomy software company for unmanned systems, raised a $13.7M seed round led by DTCP

• Proception, a robotics company developing high-dexterity robotic hands and sensor gloves, raised an $11M seed round led by First Round Capital

• Pocket, an AI meeting-notetaker hardware and software company, raised $11M from Accel, Y Combinator, and ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Neos Partners-backed power distribution equipment maker Forgent Power Solutions are seeking to raise potentially $2B in their third stock sale this year

• Honeywell Aerospace spun off from Honeywell

• Comcast plans to spin off NBCUniversal and Sky into a new company

SPAC / SPV

• Immunology-focused biotech Talawar Therapeutics will merge with JATT II in a $285M deal

Debt

• India's Yes Bank will raise $1.7B in a debt and equity sale

• A Morgan Stanley private credit fund sold $350M of investment grade bonds

• Nigeria is preparing a eurobond sale

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• German private bank Berenberg and Brookfield are battling over the future of GoldenPeaks, a bankrupt energy company staring at collapse after borrowing $1.5B for European solar projects

• Ethiopia agreed to a deal to restructure a defaulted $1B international bond

• Siris Capital-backed technology solutions provider TPx Communications filed for Chapter 11 with plans to restructure and emerge unless it finds a buyer

• BBVA and Toscafund-backed UK digital bank Atom Bank is on the brink after to garner takeover bids at an $800M valuation

• Dish DBS, the satellite pay-TV provider of EchoStar, is set to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Funds / Secondaries

• French PE firm Ardian plans to invest over $3.4B to build data centers in the Nordics through portfolio company Verne

• Ares launched its second Asia private credit fund seeking over $1.7B

• Ibex Investors filed to raise a second secondaries fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Strategy's turnaround plan includes Bitcoin sales, stock buybacks, and more reserves

• UK regulator waters down landmark crypto rules

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

Exec's Picks

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• WSJ published a profile on Troy Rohrbaugh, the options trader who emerged as a surprise front-runner to succeed Jamie Dimon as JPMorgan's CEO.

• Also, what's behind the popularity of perpetual futures?

Financial Services Recruiting

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