More Jensen Juice

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Good Morning,

Tons of deal flow and stock market headlines following a drop in oil prices and a broad recovery rally. But it looks like all eyes are still on Jensen Huang.

We're hosting an elevated happy hour with our friends at DiligenceSquared next Tuesday for NYC's senior private equity community. It's a great excuse to spend time among great company as the early sunsets and cold weather kicks in. You should come through! RSVP here.

Mizuho published some interesting insights into a niche but growing asset class: trading cards.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks ripped yesterday as oil prices dropped and the tech selloff reversed

  • S&P had its best day since April

  • Dow recovered all post-election losses

• Oil hit a 10-week low after Trump called strikes on Iran 'highly unlikely'

• Cryptocurrencies slid to two-month lows after a Democrat sweep

Earnings

• KKR reported record Q3 profit on a strong ‌run of asset sales and higher management fees; the firm is being cautious with AI deals (WSJ)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: CoreWeave

  • Thursday: Cerebras, Nebius, Cisco, Applied Materials

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Where's Joe Biden??

• Get a $25 bonus with code LIT on sign up, only on the Polymarket app

Headline Roundup

• US unemployment fell to 4.1% on massive jobs gain (CNBC)

• FBI is investigating Jensen Huang (AP)

• Nvidia scandal creates risk for entire AI industry (BBG)

• Jensen Huang told Trump he didn't know mistress was a spy (NYT)

• Jensen Huang doesn't believe in succession planning (WSJ)

• Chinese spy Alice Huang is a former TV journalist (BBG)

• Commerce Department's investigation into Megaspeed was halted after Nvidia intervened (NYT)

• Investors see Nasdaq avoiding a bear market (BBG)

• Traders look to quant strategies to hedge next crash (BBG)

• Hedge funds dumped tech stocks at record pace last week (BBG)

• Hedge funds turn to appraisal arbitrage to fight LBO valuations (BBG)

• PE firms defend continuation funds against investor ire (BBG)

• Dwindling pay fuels high-profile exits from Blackstone real estate (WSJ)

• 12% of US hospitals are now owned by PE (HCD)

• Anthropic unveiled new models ahead of its IPO (RT)

• Canada Strong Fund named Bridgewater co-CIO as first CEO (RT)

• Norway halted power connections for new data centers (BBG)

• ExxonMobil is exploring a return to Venezuela (WSJ)

A Message from Mizuho

Investor interest in alternative asset classes continues to rise, and the trading card market is undergoing a major transition from a hobbyist hideout to a multibillion-dollar opportunity.

At Mizuho, we estimate the U.S. trading card market represents a $10B-$20B opportunity. Interest has expanded beyond baseball and other sports-related cards into Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Star Wars, and Disney character cards. We believe three key features, nostalgia, innovation and a diverse ecosystem, make this a unique opportunity for enthusiasts, hobbyists, and investors alike.

Innovative products, platforms, and real-time events have transformed collecting, while retailers, manufacturers, marketplaces, and authentication firms all participate. Still, risks remain, including speculative pricing, counterfeit cards, oversupply and changing consumer tastes. We expect momentum to continue into 2027 and beyond.

Read the full insight from David Bellinger, Senior Analyst, Consumer Hardlines & Consumer Internet.

Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

• Italian lender UniCredit is set to secure unconditional EU approval ​for its acquisition of $50B-listed German peer Commerzbank

• French lender Credit Agricole is in talks to merge its Italian unit with $25B-listed Italian peer Banco BPM

• PE firm CVC and Belgian investment ​group GBL secured more than ‌90% of Italian pharma group Recordati to pave way for their $12.3B take-private

• Japan's Mitsui Chemicals will acquire chipmaking materials ‌maker JSR from Japanese SWF JIC for $12B

• Bain Capital-backed surgical chain Surgery Partners rejected an unsolicited bid from UnitedHealth Group and will instead back a revised $6B deal with HealthSpan Partners

• LS Power will acquire six natural-gas fired power plans from power producer NRG Energy for $4B cash

• KPS Capital Partners will acquire a 70% stake in the packaging unit of Austria's MM Group at a $2.7B valuation, including debt

• Alberta oil sands producer Strathcona Resources agreed to buy Greenfire Resources in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $2B, including debt

• Dutch pharma company Argenx agreed to buy peptides-focused biotech Unnatural Products in a $1.15B deal

• Rollup billionaire Brad Jacobs will lead a $1B investment in land management company CKX Lands in an attempt to create a ninth billion-dollar business

• Botswana will double its stake in diamond monopoly De Beers to 30% as Global Diamond Consortium, a group led by the ex-CEO of De Beers, pursues a $1B acquisition from Anglo American

• A unit of Japan's Kobe Steel will acquire a 70% stake in the construction equipment business of CNH Industrial for $700M for Italian family office Exor

• A consortium backed by Charles River Laboratories will take-private Hong Kong-listed CRO Frontage Laboratories ​in a $616M deal at a 60% premium

• European industrials real estate manager CTP agreed to acquire all Vietnam ‌assets of Ares-backed South-East Asia Logistics Partners for $500M

• Walt Disney and Skydance are considering bids for the broadcast rights to France's top soccer league Ligue 1

VC

• Onodrim Industries, a European defense and industrial scale-up platform, raised a $300M Series A at a $1.3B valuation led by Lux Capital

• Mavria, a factory-built data center platform company, raised $130M across a pre-seed and seed round at a $1B valuation led by Paradigm

• Psychedelics biotech Delix Therapeutics raised a $100M round led by J&J

• Nuclear battery startup Project Omega raised an $80M Series A led by B Capital

• Spines, an agentic AI publishing platform, raised $64M in growth capital including a $29M Series A-1 led by Zeev Ventures

• Hone, a startup creating AI agents that can run a business, raised a $60M seed round at a $285M valuation

• Coframe, an autonomous AI platform for continuously generating and optimizing digital experiences, raised $35M including a $25M Series A co-led by Khosla Ventures and Hanabi Capital

• geniosAI, a financial intelligence platform, raised $19.1M in combined seed and Series A funding led by FactSet

• Astral, an AI lab building hyper-personalized education, raised $5.5M led by MapleVC

• Light Frame, a wealthtech core builder for wealth managers, raised a $5.1M seed round led by Fortino Ventures

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Anthropic is ‌seeking to raise just $69B at a $1.35T valuation ⁠in ​its IPO

• First Abu Dhabi Bank is exploring raising $5B in a rights issue

• Goodman Group and Digital Realty Trust jointly acquired a 9.9% stake in $5.5B-listed Aussie data center company NEXTDC after it plunged 50% then rallied 80%

• Novo-backed Swiss respiratory disease-focused biotech Windward Bio is targeting a $1B valuation in its US IPO

SPAC / SPV

• Lake Superior Acquisition Corp delayed its merger with Aussie trading fintech Openmarkets to Q1

Debt

• Fox Corp. is looking to sell $8B of investment grade bonds to fund its $22B acquisition of streaming platform Roku

• Banks led by JPMorgan are set to offer up to 15¢ discounts to offload part of a $5B debt package for Silver Lake-backed survey software firm Qualtrics' $6.5B acquisition of data analytics platform Press Ganey Forsta from Ares and Leonard Green

• Colombia's state-owned energy firm Ecopetrol is raising $2B in its first dollar bond sale in two years to prepay part of a bridge loan backing a stake acquisition in Brazil's Brava Energia

• SBA Communications raised a $2B senior unsecured term loan to refinance tower debt

• Indonesia is marketing its second Panda bond to raise $1.8B

• EV maker Lucid expanded its credit line from Saudi SWF PIF by $1.75B to $3.75B

• Alphabet held talks to raise $3B in debut Hong Kong and Singapore bond sales

• Peloton is seeking to raise $600M in a debut junk bond sale

• China priced a debut yuan-denominated green bond sale in Canada to raise $600M

• TPG-backed South African digital-commerce company Yoco Technologies raised a $100M private credit facility from Victory Park Capital

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Shareholders and creditors of Brazilian petrochemical firm Braskem are set to conclude out-of-court restructuring talks over $11B of debt

• Wing Fai Ng, a businessman leading talks to buy a stake in Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur from ousted chairman Daniel Levy, was declared bankrupt in Hong Kong last year over $4M in unpaid debts

• Children's apparel retailer Children's Place filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy due to impacts from tariffs and declining consumer sentiment

Funds / Secondaries

• Blackstone raised $14.5B for its fourth European private credit fund

• Igneo Infrastructure Partners raised $6.7B for its fourth European fund

• Infrastructure investor I Squared Capital raised $3B for its second infrastructure credit fund

• VC Altimeter Capital Management is seeking to raise $3.5B across a late-stage fund and early-stage fund

• Townie Wells, the head of fundamental equities at Jain Global, is in talks to raise billions of dollars from Millennium for his own equity L/S fund

• French PE firm Ardian raised $1.1B for a debut semiconductor fund

• European MM infrastructure investor Cube Infrastructure is seeking to raise $1.7B for its fourth flagship fund

• Nigerian pension funds launched a $750M infrastructure platform

• F&B-focused private credit firm Proterra Investment Partners raised $680M for its third fund

• Real estate investor Clarion Partners raised $620M for its third European sale-leaseback fund

• Finnish PE firm Intera Partners raised $505M for its fifth buyout fund and biggest PE fund in Sweden

• Cybersecurity-focused Ballistic Ventures is seeking to raise $490M across its third flagship fund and a separate vehicle

• European growth equity investor BlackPeak Capital raised $140M at first close for its second regional growth strategy

• Finnish private markets investor Certior Capital reached a first close for its third European small-cap PE fund

• Brian Long, the co-founder of $1.6B AUM European growth equity firm Atlantic Bridge, will depart to establish a new US tech fund

Lit's Picks

• Human-only dealmaking may now be a risk. Datasite's new report with FT Longitude reveals why 62% of senior dealmakers say human-only decision-making is no longer defensible in complex deals and how AI is helping teams move faster without replacing human judgment. Read more here.

• It's been only one day and we're already getting fresh perspectives on Jensen Huang's situation. Check out Kalley Huang and Tripp Mickle's take for the NYT on whether Jensen Huang is too powerful to be punished by Nvidia.

• No matter how you slice it, things are messy at Nvidia. Especially considering that his two children are on payroll.

Upcoming Events

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RSVP here

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Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Crypto's 'perpetual futures' sets off war against Wall Street

• North Korean hackers are using memecoins to launder crypto stolen from the $6B Binance hack

• Alaska turns to tokenization in bid to court data center deals

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

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