Today's Investment Banking Pulse
SpaceX’s $1 trillion IPO filing faces scrutiny over AI‑compute lease claims
SpaceX filed a massive S‑1 targeting a $1 trillion IPO. Elon Musk’s recent X post described the company’s lease with Anthropic as a short‑term 180‑day arrangement, contradicting the prospectus that outlines a multi‑year $1.25 billion‑per‑month deal. The AI‑compute partnership cited could contribute up to $15 billion.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Credit Agricole raises $670M via Samurai bond
Investor Intentions: Fondo Pensione BNL Issues RFP for Evergreen Private Equity
Italian private pension fund Fondo Pensione BNL has issued a request for proposals to allocate roughly €10 million into evergreen private equity vehicles. The RFP focuses on both closed‑end and open‑end funds domiciled within the European Union, reflecting a strategic shift toward flexible, long‑duration capital structures. By targeting evergreen funds, the pension scheme aims to match its long‑term liabilities with investments that can provide continuous liquidity and growth. This move underscores growing institutional appetite for diversified private equity exposure in Europe.
As Claude Expands Into Finance, Outage Raises Risk Questions
Anthropic’s Claude suffered a widespread login outage early this week, while the API remained functional. The disruption arrived as Claude topped Apple’s App Store and the company amplified its "Claude for Financial Services" push, embedding the model in Excel, PowerPoint,...
IDB Invest Approves Financing for Genneia to Strengthen Argentina’s Energy Security
IDB Invest is committing up to $185 million to Genneia S.A. to develop four solar parks and 40 MW of battery storage across Argentina. The solar projects total 340 MW, with sites in Mendoza, San Juan and Buenos Aires, while the battery system will connect...
IDB Invest Approves Financing for Genneia to Strengthen Argentina’s Energy Security
IDB Invest is extending up to $185 million in financing to Argentine renewable leader Genneia to develop four solar parks and a 40 MW battery storage system. The solar projects total 340 MW across Mendoza, San Juan and Buenos Aires provinces, while the battery will...
A High Bar for Evergreen Valuations
Evergreen private equity funds are under increasing pressure to maintain rigorous, real‑time valuations. General partners’ internal marks now feed directly into faster net asset value (NAV) calculations, accelerating reporting cycles. These valuations are bound by heightened legal obligations, requiring strict...
Florida International University Upgraded to AA by Fitch
Fitch Ratings upgraded Florida International University's issuer default rating to AA, up from AA‑minus, and raised its parking‑revenue bonds to AA‑minus from A‑plus. The agency affirmed the dormitory‑revenue refunding bonds at A‑plus, while maintaining stable outlooks across all ratings. FIU’s...
Mondelēz CEO Says M&A Is Harder as Acquisition Targets Become ‘Too Expensive’
Food companies are increasingly turning to mergers and acquisitions to revive growth, pushing target valuations higher and making deals more expensive, Mondelēz International’s CEO warned. Mondelēz, which has completed about a dozen deals in the past decade, says reasonable pricing...
Pick the Right Sale Type for Your Exit Goals
How much of your business do you want to sell? Should you pursue a minority, majority, or full sale transaction? Founders looking to exit or raise capital have to decide which is the best path to achieve your goals, both...
Allocators Swap BCRED Redemptions for Discounted BXSL
Allocators are funding a logical switch trade: Redeeming BCRED at NAV to buy $BXSL at an -11% discount to NAV. Look for this dynamic to occur between every other private credit fund with both a non-traded and listed BDC.
CVs Now Established as Exit Route Alongside M&A and IPO: Moelis’s Hammer
Moelis & Co managing director Jeff Hammer announced at NEXUS 2026 that continuation vehicles (CVs) have become an established exit route for private equity general partners, alongside traditional M&A and IPO pathways. He attributed this shift to the growing specialization...
VITL's Low-Return Claim Clashes with $100M Buyback
A slide from the $VITL December 2025 Investor Day, which ranked capital returns as their lowest investment priority; two months later, announced a $100 million repurchase authorization, which would require debt issuance. https://t.co/IAg2QWKbrE
Arab Sovereign Funding Spurs Soft Power Concerns in $110B Deal
Paramount’s $110 Billion Warner Bros. Deal Backed by Arab Sovereign Funds Raises Soft Power Concerns https://t.co/YAzJc52Fgq
PayPay (PAYP) IPO Deck
PayPay announced its initial public offering, filing a prospectus under the ticker PAYP. The Japanese mobile‑payments leader plans to list on a U.S. exchange, seeking to raise significant capital for growth. Backed by SoftBank and Yahoo Japan, PayPay aims to...
Chart of the Week: Clearing the Backlog
The latest Dealogic and Bain & Company chart shows a noticeable uptick in corporate exit activity across the United States and Europe during 2025. This rise signals that the backlog of stalled mergers and acquisitions is finally being cleared. Higher...
Northern Trust: Illiquidity Is a Feature Not a Bug
Northern Trust’s Lynne Kostakis argues that illiquidity in private‑market investments is intentional, not a flaw, and can enhance long‑term returns. She outlines the investor profile best suited for such assets, emphasizing multi‑year horizons, high risk tolerance, and diversification. The firm...
Chancery Interprets LLC Agreement as Not Eliminating Fiduciary Duties
The Delaware Court of Chancery held that the LLC’s Protection Provision did not fully eliminate fiduciary duties, allowing Calumet’s breach claim against manager Luke Darkow to survive. The court adopted the fiduciary‑exception view, treating the claim under tort law rather...
Higher Tender Price Rewards Elliott, Not Governance
Toyota Fudosan (6201 JP) “The increase in the tender offer price is something of a win for stewardship as Elliott made a fair bit of money for its clients... But it’s not necessarily a big win for governance.” https://t.co/QEBKuTMAj4
China Rebounds to Become Asia’s Busiest Buyout Market – Deloitte
China has reclaimed its position as Asia’s busiest buyout market, according to Deloitte’s latest private‑equity report. A surge in domestic and regional fund activity offset a decline in Western capital, driving a 28% increase in deal volume year‑over‑year. The market...
TalkTalk to Get £115m Funding Injection From Ares Management
TalkTalk secured a £115 million cash injection from Ares Management, comprising £65 million of senior debt and a £50 million short‑term facility to replace a £47 million debt due in March. The funding follows earlier capital raises of £235 million in December 2024 and £120 million...
InsideArbitrage Event Driven Monitor – March 3, 2026
The March 3 2026 InsideArbitrage Event‑Driven Monitor reports a flurry of high‑profile M&A activity, including Global Infrastructure Partners and EQT’s $33.4 billion acquisition of AES at a 13.2% discount and a co‑founder‑led consortium’s $3.9 billion purchase of Select Medical at a 10% premium. Pending...
Pershing Square Down 11% as Ackman Eyes Management Company IPO
Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Holdings has fallen 11.1% year‑to‑date through February 24, underperforming the S&P 500’s modest gain. The London‑listed fund, which represents about $13 billion of the firm’s $20 billion AUM, is hit by weakness in key positions such as Fannie Mae,...
Co-Founder Robert Ortenzio-Led Consortium to Take Select Medical Private for $3.9 Billion
Select Medical Holdings agreed to be taken private for $3.9 billion by a consortium led by co‑founder Robert Ortenzio, senior executive Martin Jackson, and private‑equity firm WCAS. The deal offers $16.5 in cash per share, a 10% premium to the prior...
KBC Group: Publication of Transparancy Notification(s) Received by KBC Group NV
KBC Group announced that Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC (FMR) now holds a 3.00% voting‑rights stake in the bank, bringing its total exposure to 4.66% after an acquisition on 23 February 2026. The increase crosses KBC’s 3% shareholder‑notification threshold under Belgian...
ABL Group ASA: Initiation of Share Buyback Program
ABL Group ASA announced a share buyback program authorising the repurchase of up to 300,000 shares, roughly 0.2% of its outstanding capital, for a maximum of NOK 5 million. The programme runs from 3 March 2026 until the share limit is reached or 30 June 2026,...
Casino Group Communication
Casino Group announced it is negotiating with creditors to adapt and strengthen its financial structure, extending consent periods and discussing operational financing extensions. The company postponed its 2025 full‑year results to the end of March while statutory auditors engage with...
Renault S.A.: Disclosure of Trading in Own Shares From February 20 to February 25, 2026
Renault S.A. disclosed that it repurchased a total of 600,000 of its own shares between February 20 and February 25, 2026. The buyback was executed through an investment services provider on the Paris exchange (XPAR) at an average weighted price...
Japanese Healthcare Pioneer Opens Sophomore Fund to Global LPs
Japanese healthcare private‑equity pioneer NPMI announced the launch of its second vehicle, NPMI Fund II. The fund is being pitched to global limited partners and could be up to six times larger than the inaugural fund, according to Private Equity...
Full-Stack-Backing-for-Baltic-Ambition
The Baltic region is launching a full‑stack Significant Risk Transfer (SRT) platform that combines origination, structuring, and distribution under one roof. Backed by a coalition of local banks and global institutional investors, the solution targets renewable energy, infrastructure and other...
Blackstone’s Jon Gray Offers SaaS Loans at 98¢
it’s your promotion year at Blackstone and Jon Gray calls and asks if you wanna buy some SaaS loans at 98 cents: https://t.co/7xdf7c8YNt https://t.co/CvnV13BVpL
Investors Welcome Bradesco Healthcare Shakeup
Brazilian financial giant Bradesco announced it will consolidate all of its healthcare holdings into a single, publicly listed division. The restructuring creates a dedicated health platform that will house hospitals, insurance operations, and ancillary services under one corporate umbrella. Investors...
Munis Outperform UST Selloff Amid U.S.-Iran War
Municipal bonds outperformed a broad U.S. Treasury sell‑off on Monday as geopolitical tension over the U.S.–Iran conflict heightened oil prices above $70 a barrel. The two‑year muni‑UST ratio sat near 58‑61%, while Treasury yields rose 7‑11 basis points across the...
Anatomy Of A Modern Merger: A Step-By-Step Guide For GCs
The article outlines a step‑by‑step guide for general counsel (GCs) navigating pre‑merger logistics, emphasizing the need for accurate entity data and clear role definition. It highlights Mercator’s Entica platform as a tool for visualizing corporate structures, managing data access, and...
Geopolitical Shock From Operation Epic Fury Tests Muni Market Resilience
Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, is driving heightened volatility across global markets. Oil and natural‑gas prices have surged, prompting a risk‑off shift in equities and signaling inflation concerns in bond yields. Municipal bond investors face uncertain supply‑demand...
Databricks Files Audited GAAPs, Signals IPO Preparation
Databricks today disclosed audited GAAP financials. That's the sort of thing a company does when it's prepping to go public.
With New DealRoom Features for Roll-Ups, Corp Dev Teams Can Eliminate Manual and Repetitive Tasks that Get in the Way...
DealRoom launched a Roll‑Up Bundle aimed at private‑equity‑backed companies that run multiple acquisitions simultaneously. The bundle adds Enhanced Permissions, Multi‑Room Updates, Template Rooms, and a Project Management Suite to automate repetitive M&A tasks. By centralizing access controls, standardizing deal rooms,...
![How to Improve Your M&A Process Using Agile [Must Read]](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5a710020b54d350001949426/5e975c0ed4e0eadb8569babe_Artboard%201-100.avif)
How to Improve Your M&A Process Using Agile [Must Read]
Kison Patel’s new book *Agile M&A* proposes a project‑management framework that brings responsiveness, collaboration, and continuous improvement to the traditionally rigid M&A process. In a recent interview, Patel explains how techniques such as backlogs, short stand‑up meetings, and cross‑functional squads...
How DealRoom Pipeline Prevents Deals From Slipping Through the Cracks
DealRoom Pipeline introduces a unified platform for M&A deal management, consolidating emails, documents, notes, and task tracking in one view. The solution offers customizable Kanban or spreadsheet‑style pipelines, allowing teams to filter deals by priority, region, or financial metrics. Integrated...
Generate Biomedicines’ IPO Brings In $400M for Pivotal Tests of Severe Asthma Drug
Generate Biomedicines priced its IPO at $16 per share, raising $400 million to fund pivotal trials of its lead candidate GB‑0895. The antibody blocks the TSLP pathway and is engineered for six‑month dosing, a potential advantage over existing asthma biologics that...
Musk's X, XAI to Repay $
*ELON MUSK'S X, XAI PLAN TO PAY BACK $17.5 BILLION OF DEBT Looks like private credit* is good again *actually BSL but the media gets it wrong all the time so who cares
Brussels Regulatory Brief: November/December 2025–January 2026
The European Commission unveiled new guidelines on the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation, defining presumptions for targeted subsidies, a balancing test, and a prior‑notification regime for below‑threshold deals. In parallel, it levied hefty penalties: €72 million on automotive starter‑battery makers for a...
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When to Work With Private Sellers Versus Advisors in M&A
National Express has completed roughly 30 acquisitions of family‑owned transportation firms, largely by contacting private sellers directly. The company balances the benefits of broker‑mediated deals—more organized processes—with the flexibility of unrepresented negotiations, where early valuation ranges help manage inflated seller...
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Top 10 DealRoom Platform Tips to Elevate Your Dealmaking
DealRoom released a practical guide outlining ten actionable tips to streamline M&A deal management. The advice ranges from creating reusable template rooms and assigning stakeholder followers to leveraging dynamic work‑lists, audit logs, and automated dashboard reports. By optimizing document handling,...
Why You Should Focus Less on Cost Synergies During PMI
In a recent podcast, Anirvan Sen of Fifth Chrome argues that post‑merger integration should prioritize growth capabilities and revenue synergies over traditional cost‑cutting targets. He advocates a blueprint‑style integration plan that starts at the strategy stage, mapping key customer journeys...
NFMA's New Chair Highlights Initiatives Including Membership Survey, White Papers
Angela Kukoda, the 2026 chair of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA), announced a slate of initiatives aimed at modernizing the organization and deepening member value. NFMA will launch a comprehensive membership survey, release two white papers on collateral...
Fiber Network Provider Fidium's Latest Master Trust Issuance Raises $664.6 Million
Fiber provider Fidium launched a $664.6 million asset‑backed securities program, issuing three tranches (A‑2, B, C) slated to close on March 31. The trust holds conduits, cables, equipment and contracts covering about 351,000 subscribers across eight states, with Maine, New Hampshire and Texas...
Damon CEO, CFO, and Board Resign Following Prolonged Struggle on Public Markets
Vancouver‑based electric motorcycle maker Damon Motors announced the resignation of its entire board, including founder‑CEO Dom Kwong and CFO, following a tumultuous public‑market debut. After a 13‑month reverse‑merger that took the company public on NASDAQ in November 2024, its share...
L3Harris Appoints New CFO as Firm Prepares to Spin Off Missile Business
L3Harris announced that Kenneth Sharp, former Peraton finance chief, will assume the role of chief financial officer on March 16, succeeding Ken Bedingfield. Bedingfield will concentrate on the company’s Missile Solutions segment as it prepares for a late‑2026 spin‑off and...
New SPACs: RMG ML Sports Holdings (SHOTU), Mercator Acquisition Corp. (MRCOU) File for IPOs
RMG ML Sports Holdings and Mercator Acquisition Corp have each filed S‑1 registration statements to launch new special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). RMG ML Sports will trade under the ticker SHOTU and focuses on sports‑media and technology investments, while Mercator...
HGGC Leverages Strong Distributions for Oversubscribed Fund V
HGGC announced that its fifth fund, Fund V, was oversubscribed, driven by a strong track record of returning capital to investors. The firm highlighted that over the past two to three years it has distributed significant cash back to limited...