There’s a New Chair in Town

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Good Morning,

The Fed held rates steady yesterday while giving hawkish commentary for the rate path ahead. But the main takeaway? A complete regime overhaul under new Fed chair Kevin Warsh. It's a new era at the Fed.

US markets will remain closed tomorrow for Juneteenth. Our newsletter team will be out taking advantage of the mini long weekend. Hopefully, you'll be too. We'll see you back on Monday

Plaid's latest ebook shares how leading companies are using modern financial infrastructure to solve real business challenges and improve outcomes. It's worth a read.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks fell yesterday as investors digested hawkish sentiment and a change in dynamics in the first rate decision under new Fed chair Kevin Warsh

  • Traders are pricing in one 25 bps rate hike by year-end

• MSCI China index is nearing a bear market

  • Hong Kong-listed Chinese stocks are down 9% YTD as traders favor AI winners elsewhere

• BOJ kept FX markets steady with yen volatility at the lowest since 2021

Earnings

• CarMax beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates and announced a major turnaround strategy for the next coming years (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Kroger

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• How long until Elon Musk announces talks with himself to merge his empires?

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

Headline Roundup

• US to release Iran's funds and ease sanctions when 'they behave' (FT)

• Trump says US will not invest in $300B fund for Iran (FT)

• Fed held rates steady at 3.5%-3.75% in new era under Warsh (CNBC)

• PBOC launched tool to boost yuan use by other central banks (BBG)

• Citadel Securities saw 'astronomical' retail flows on SpaceX debut day (BBG)

• Mega-IPO frenzy revives SPACs (RT)

• Investors pile into bullish dollar bets as 'US exceptionalism' trade returns (FT)

• Wave of SpaceX IPO arbitrage trades rattled ETFs including ARKK (BBG)

• Hong Kong IPOs spring back to life with over $4B of listings (BBG)

• China is seeking more IPOs from AI and Hong Kong listed firms (BBG)

• PE firms want software deals, but lenders don't want to fund them (YH)

• Convertibles market booms AI firms hunt for capital (WSJ)

• Vermont becomes latest state to limit PE in healthcare (WSJ)

• EU antitrust chief urges EU countries to back cross-border bank deals (RT)

• Green economy market cap hit a record $10T (BBG)

• Zuckerberg admits Meta made 'mistakes' in AI workforce shift (RT)

• SpaceX named South African Sequoia partner Roelof Botha to board (BBG)

A Message from Plaid

You only notice it when it breaks

Financial infrastructure is a lot like Wi-Fi. You don't think about it when it's working. You think about little else when it's not.

Every donation, account connection, fraud check, and payment depends on a stack of technology that most consumers will never see.

That's where Plaid comes in.

Companies like GoFundMe, H&R Block, HealthEquity, and Gemini use Plaid to help make those experiences faster, smoother, and more secure.

• GoFundMe reimagines charitable giving

• H&R Block shows the full financial picture

• HealthEquity protects customers from fraud

• Gemini opens the door to crypto, faster

Plaid's new Powered by Plaid ebook shares how leading companies are using modern financial infrastructure to solve real business challenges, improve customer experience, and spend less time fighting fires.

See how leading companies are building better financial products.

Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

• Activist TOMS Capital is pushing $50B-listed shale producer Devon to quicken asset sales or sell itself

• Saudi Aramco is considering a $7B stake sale in its sulphur business as part of a massive asset dumping spree

• Italian aerospace and defense company Leonardo and Abu Dhabi military conglomerate EDGE detailed ​plans for a $5B JV

• PE firm Lone Star Funds has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire Continental's industrial unit ContiTech, which could fetch $4B

• Jazz Pharmaceuticals signed an $875M research collaboration and licensing agreement with Canada's AbCellera

• Canadian midstream firm Keyera Corp acquired the remaining ‌50% stake in the KAPS LNG pipeline from ​Stonepeak for $860M

• Mill Pond Capital is urging $600M-listed fiber producer Rayonier Advanced Materials to pursue a full sale

• German investment firm Mutares is exploring a sale or IPO of Portuguese engineering group Efacec at a potential $350M-$500M valuation

• Outdoor retailer Bass Pro Shops will acquire the Cheeca Lodge & Spa in Islamorada (Florida Keys) from Northwood Investors for over $300M

• PE firm Arcline will acquire data visualization and printing tech company AstroNova for $272M at an 80% premium

• Flexstone Partners, the private markets affiliate of Natixis, will buy secondaries manager Glouston Capital Partners to form a $15B AUM platform

• Tech consulting firm Accenture will acquire the Alfahealth and Industries eXcellence units of Italian digital service ​company Engineering for $1B

• German media mogul Bernd Förtsch is seeking more details from BioNTech on the exit of its founders and the transfer of assets to their new venture

• Germany will not let French Energy giant TotalEnergies walk away from expensive offshore-wind projects despite rising costs and delays

VC

• Chinese video AI startup Kling AI is seeking to raise over $2B at an $18B post-money valuation led by General Atlantic

• AI startup CuspAI raised a $400M round at a $2.6B valuation from Jeff Bezos's family office Bezos Expeditions, Kleiner Perkins, and others

• Real world AI lab Odyssey raised a $310M Series B at a $1.45B valuation led by Natural Capital

• Karta, a fintech issuing US Visa credit cards to non-residents, raised $140M across a $15M Series A and a $125M credit facility co-led by Galaxy Ventures and Community Investment Management

• Chronograph, a portfolio monitoring and analytics platform for private capital, raised a $140M strategic minority growth equity investment led by Sixth Street Growth

• Twenty, America's first VC-backed cyber warfare startup, raised a $100M Series B at a $1B valuation led by Accel

• XDOF, a robotics training-data infrastructure startup, raised $70M from Thrive Capital, Spark Capital, a16z, Lux, and WndrCo

• Australian predictive healthcare startup Everlab raised $46M led by Airtree Ventures

• Convey, an enterprise operations AI startup, raised a $38M Series A led by a16z

• Trace Finance, a stablecoin-based cross-border payments infrastructure company, raised a $32M Series A led by CoinFund

• Pramaana Labs, a startup bringing formal verification to AI, raised a $27M seed round led by Khosla Ventures

• Solius, a light-therapy device startup, raised a $23M Series A led by Lauder Partners

• NeuralTrust, a platform to secure AI agents, raised a $20M seed round led by Alstin Capital

• Flagright, an AI OS for financial crime compliance, raised a $12.5M Series A led by Infinity Ventures

• HighGround, a defense and aerospace intelligence/data startup, raised a $6.5M seed round led by Next Frontier Capital

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• National Stock Exchange of India is seeking to sell 6% of existing shares for $2.5B in an India IPO

• Chinese electronics-components maker Lingyi iTech started taking investor orders for a $1.1B Hong Kong listing at a 44% discount to its China trading

• Mynt, the firm behind Philippines' top fintech GCash, will file for Philippine's biggest IPO ever targeting an $8B valuation

• Temasek-backed Indian hospital group Manipal Health Enterprises is set to launch a $1B IPO at a $10B valuation

• Brookfield-backed data center firm Csquare filed for an IPO

SPAC / SPV

• Quantum tech firm EigenQ will merge with Silicon Valley ​Acquisition in a $3B deal

Debt

• Heir Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio is exploring private debt options to help finance his $11.6B deal to increase his stake in family holding company Delfin, the ​top investor in eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica

• Spanish renewables giant Iberdrola issued ($1.75B of senior green bonds

• India's HDFC Bank secured its tightest-ever spread on a $750M dollar bond sale

• Athens International Airport raised $580M in a debut euro bond sale

• TAP Air Portugal is selling $350M of junk bonds ahead of its privatization of a 49.9% stake

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Creditors including Blackstone, Apollo, and FS KKR Capital will take over software firm Medallia from Thoma Bravo and invest $150M of new capital, wiping out all of Thoma Bravo's $5B investment

• Hong Kong's regulator will proceed with plans to compensate minority shareholders of collapsed developer China Evergrande for $130M, brushing aside a legal challenge by liquidators

• Automobile group Stellantis is in talks ​with two ‌partners for cooperation on its struggling ​luxury brand ​Maserati

Funds / Secondaries

• PE firm Clearlake raised $14.8B for its its eighth flagship fund

• KKR plans to commit $1.4B to a new round of aircraft leasing through a partnership with commercial aviation company Altavair

• Hedge fund Brevan Howard will start backing external equity L/S hedge funds

• Two Warburg Pincus London MDs will leave to launch their own PE firm

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Binance is committed to European users despite reports it could leave EU

• SEC is set to allow stock token trading in potential market shakeup

• Wyoming becomes first state to issue its own crypto

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

Exec's Picks

• SpaceX went public with OpenAI, Anthropic and Databricks lined up right behind for the deepest IPO pipeline in years. Outcomes like these print for funds that spotted them early, so getting in front of the next one is everything. At Litquidity Ventures, Fundable is how we do it, with custom alerts that flag companies fitting our thesis the second they launch or raise. Try 'em out and subscribe here.

DFIN x Litquidity World Cup Viewing Party⚽️

Thursday, June 25 - Midtown Manhattan

We're partnering with DFIN to bring the investment banking community together for a World Cup Watch Party next Thursday, June 25 in Midtown Manhattan. Come join us for an afternoon of drinks, networking, and gameday energy!

​June 25 game day schedule:

• 7:00 PM

  • Japan vs. Sweden

  • Tunisia vs. Netherlands

• ​10:00 PM

  • USA vs. Turkey

  • Paraguay vs. Australia

Take some time away from the office and come on out! RSVP here.

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.