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Good Morning,

A sad day for America. On a totally unrelated note, US is considering sweeping sanctions and blanket tariffs on the entire Belgian economy

Spreadwise is revolutionizing liquidity for HNWIs by offering fixed-rate liquidity at sub-4% rates. This is a game-changer for investors who want to access credit without disrupting their portfolios. If you manage high net-worth wealth for yourself or your clients, you should check 'em out.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

• US stocks rallied yesterday to kick off H2 with a bang

  • Dow hit a second-straight ATH

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:

  • Wednesday: Levi's

  • Thursday: PepsiCo

  • Friday: Delta

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• There's nothing one phone call can't fix

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

Headline Roundup

• Top Fed official backs Kevin Warsh's rethink of forward guidance (FT)

• Trump is in talks for an investment/savings program for American adults (TH)

• William Blair's head of IB sees sports M&A on the rise (BBG)

• Activists take on more campaigns while avoiding proxy fights (BBG)

• Big investors commit billions to private credit despite turmoil (FT)

• Europe ECM bankers bet on capex wave to ride out IPO slump (BBG)

• AI cracks risk ruining Europe's goldilocks moment (BBG)

• China's biggest ETF is now a gold fund (BBG)

• CitSec requested to join SIG's insider trading suit (BBG)

• Samsung is set to post an 1,800% profit surge on AI memory demand (RT)

• Fifth Third and Comerica can't agree on a chili recipe following merger (WSJ)

• Hedge funds dumped chip stocks for a fourth-straight week (RT)

• Hedge funds are the most negative on yen since 2007 (BBG)

• Quant funds extend worst run since 2023 as momentum swings (BBG)

• Fundamental L/S hedge funds gained a record 18% in Q2 on short bets (RT)

• Two Millennium pods made $3.7B last month (BBG)

• Lone Pine gained 43% in H1 (BBG)

• David Tepper's Appaloosa gained 32% in H1 on AI chip stock bets (BBG)

• Investor groups say SEC should stick with quarterly reports (RT)

• UK regulator warns of 'arms race' to keep up with AI use in markets (FT)

• Davos founder Klaus Schwab plots a hostile return to WEF (WSJ)

• Microsoft's Xbox will cut 3.2k jobs and divest five studios (BBG)

• Biden-era illegal immigration triggered rise in home prices and rent (NYP)

A Message from Spreadwise

Borrow Against Your Portfolio - Smarter

Most investors use margin or portfolio lines of credit and end up paying 6%-12% interest with no tax benefit. Spreadwise lets you access the same liquidity at lower rates (under 4%) and treat the cost as capital losses, not interest expense.

Spreadwise works through a fully collateralized SPX box spread options strategy, giving you fixed-rate, fixed-term financing without selling your investments or making monthly interest payments.

The result: lower effective borrowing costs, more flexibility, and real tax advantages, all while keeping your portfolio exactly where it is.

If you're a high-net-worth investor or manage concentrated stock positions, Spreadwise can help you unlock cash without the usual drag.

Spreadwise: Smarter liquidity for sophisticated investors.

Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

• Honeywell spinoff Solstice Advanced Materials will acquire Element Solutions in a $14.5B cash-and-stock deal

• Vertex Pharmaceuticals will buy Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a cash deal at a $10B equity valuation

• Blue Owl's HomeCourt Partners acquired a reported 5%-10% stake in NBA team Cleveland Cavaliers from billionaire owner Dan Gilbert at a $5.5B valuation

• Australian gold miner Genesis Minerals launched a $3.9B cash and stock bid for Vault Minerals, trumping a deal it agreed earlier with rival Regis Resources

• Lockheed Martin agreed to acquire naval defense firm Ultra ​Maritime from PE firm Advent for $3.5B

• French defense group Thales beat out rival Safran to acquire submarine drone firm Exail Technologies at a $4.5B valuation for a 44% premium

• Rogers Communications will buy the remaining 25% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment from Larry Tanenbaum's Kilmer Group for $3.1B to take full ownership of the entire Raptors and Maple Leafs sports empire

• Comcast agreed to buy the broadcast channels and streaming service of UK's ITV for $2.13B

• Swiss pharma giant Novartis agreed to buy UK cancer biotech Myricx Bio in a $1.5B deal

• French PE firm InfraVia will acquire Mediterranean yacht marina group D-Marin from CVC for over $1.1B

• Vista Equity Partners and Quinti Capital teamed up on a bid for $1.1B-listed French advertising tech firm Criteo, offering an over 50% premium

• Defense firm Ondas agreed to buy autonomous drone maker DZYNE Technologies from Highlander Partners in an $875M cash-and stock deal

• Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri agreed to buy majority stakes in four underwater technology companies, including Next Geosolutions Europe, in a $685M deal

• EQT agreed to acquire Australian smart parking tech firm Orikan from Five V Capital for $330M

• Indigenous Canadian groups including Western Indigenous Pipeline Group and Project Reconciliation are preparing to acquire an equity stake in Canada's new Trans Mountain Corp. oil pipeline

• Norway's state-owned oil giant Equinor will acquire a 40% non-operated interest in Canada's Bay du Nord offshore oil project from BP

• Italian defense group Leonardo is preparing to raise its stake in Italian cloud ecosystem National Strategic Hub from 25% to 30% by acquiring an additional 10% from state-owned IT company Sogei; Poste Italiane is targeting a 65% stake

• UK ​clothing retailer Next is ‌preparing to launch a takeover bid for luxury department ​store chain Harvey ​Nichols

• Richard Heathcote, the ex-CIO of stablecoin giant Tether, is looking to sell part of his 1.26% stake

VC

• Keyfactor, a trust infrastructure for AI and machines, raised a $1B+ strategic growth investment led by Summit Partners

• Even Realities, a smart glasses maker, raised a $150M pre-Series B round at a $1B valuation led by Meituan and Tencent

• Bespoke Labs, an AI agent training platform, raised a $40M Series A led by Wing VC

• CurifyLabs, a health technology company transforming personalized medicines, raised a $14M Series A co-led by Sandwater and HealthCap

• Ravee Optics, a developer of ultra-compact laser communications terminals, raised a $6M seed round led by BIG Global Investment

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• $1T-Korean listed memory chip darling SK Hynix kicked off a $28B listing

• Blackstone's UK-based industrials REIT Indurent is in talks for a London IPO or sale at an over $8B valuation

• $74B-listed Chinese electronics manufacturer Luxshare Precision Industry is set to raise $3.1B in a Hong Kong listing priced at the top of a marketed range for a 13% discount

• Hellman & Friedman-backed insurance broker Hub International is seeking to raise $3B in an IPO

• National Stock Exchange of India is set to begin formal marketing for a $3B India IPO

• China's Tencent is seeking to raise $1.55B in a 7.5% stake sale of short-video app operator Kuaishou Technology at a 5% discount via a block trade

• Taiwanese chip supplier Unimicron Technology is seeking to raise $1.4B in a GDR sale

• Brookfield-backed data center company Csquare is seeking to raise $1.35B in an IPO

• Healthcare REIT Welltower raised $810M in a Canadian bond sale

• Swedish debt collector Intrum is looking to sell $600M of junk bonds

• Indian EV scooter maker Ather Energy is planning a $200M share placement

Debt

• Germany plans to borrow over $900B by 2030 in a rearmament race

• Tata Capital, the financial services unit of Indian conglomerate Tata, plans to raise $300M-$500M in its second dollar bond sale

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Leonard Green and Ares-backed dental chain rollup The Aspen Group dropped plans for a $300M sale of urgent care clinic chain WellNow despite debt woes

• A bankruptcy judge approved Brookfield's $150M bankruptcy loan to European solar energy company GoldenPeaks and named it the stalking horse bidder

Funds / Secondaries

• Abu Dhabi SWF Mubadala is opening up its largest investment business to outside investors for the first time, transferring a $25B credit portfolio to Mubadala Capital to allow for third-party fund raising

• Europe's CVC Capital Partners raised $3.4B for a third Europe-focused MM fund

• French PE group Eurazeo raised $2.6B for its fifth secondaries fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Trump endorsed the idea of Bitcoin in 'Trump Accounts' for children

• Saylor's Strategy posted an $8.3B loss on crypto in Q2

• Strategy sold $216M of Bitcoin as it begins overhaul

• Distressed debt funds explore swap of Strategy holdings amid rout

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

Exec's Picks

• FT published a insightful piece on how two hedge fund managers helped revolutionize US football soccer.

• Also, is this the end of the 'Magnificent 7' era?

Financial Services Recruiting

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

Meme Cleanser

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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.