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
4th Annual Financial Restructuring MENA Conference (FRC 2026)
The International Securities Institute (ISI) unveiled a corporate debt platform that aggregates bonds from roughly 2,100 emerging‑market issuers, creating a one‑stop shop for investors. In Kenya, Kaleidofin completed a KES 276 million (≈ $1.8 million) agri‑finance securitisation, expanding funding options for farmers. Saudi Arabia saw Abhi partner with Qlub to deliver earned‑wage access to employees, addressing cash‑flow gaps. Meanwhile, Alipay AI Pay launched a delegated‑payment feature on Taobao, targeting its 100 million user base.
Mundane Businesses Can Become Multi‑billion Roll‑up Successes
Did you know that Chicago accountant Larry Gies bought his first company by maxing out 10 credit cards and borrowing $50,000 from a high school friend? He eventually built Madison Industries into a platform generating more than $5B in revenue by...
E.ON Takes over OVO for Undisclosed Figure to Create Giant Supplier
E.ON announced it will acquire UK retailer OVO, adding roughly four million customers to its existing 5.6 million UK accounts and creating a combined supplier of nearly ten million customers. The merger would give the new entity about seven million smart...
Columbia University, Moving Past Trump Administration Attacks, Sells Bonds
Columbia University is launching a $487 million bond program, split into a $200 million taxable series maturing in 2031‑33 and a $286.9 million tax‑exempt revenue series funding capital projects. The bonds are underwritten by Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities and J.P. Morgan, and the university...
Build Early Rapport with Sector‑Savvy Lenders
the lender relationship: – understand criteria early – clarify sector appetite – establish rapport before needing – present with preparation lenders who know your sector are valuable partners
Handelsblatt: VW Considering Scout Motors IPO
Volkswagen is weighing an initial public offering or strategic stake sale for its U.S. truck brand Scout Motors, CEO Scott Keogh confirmed. Scout, revived from a historic nameplate, has already secured more than 170,000 pre‑orders, with the majority choosing extended‑range...
High-Profile Virginia Winery to Be Acquired by Start-Up
Veritas Legacy Partners LLC, a newly formed investment vehicle led by health‑tech architect Kurt Wassenaar and real‑estate investor Eric Trebour, will acquire Veritas Vineyards & Winery in Nelson County, Virginia, with closing expected in early summer 2026. The winery’s British...
Lime Files for $2 Billion IPO, Facing $846 Million Debt Cliff
Lime Inc. filed an S‑1 on May 8, 2026, targeting a roughly $2 billion valuation on Nasdaq. The filing reveals $1 billion in current liabilities, with $846 million due within a year, forcing the company to seek public‑market capital. The move revives a high‑profile...
Exclusive: Centricity in Talks to Raise $30 Mn Round Led by MUFG and SIG
Wealth‑tech startup Centricity is negotiating a $30 million financing round led by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Susquehanna International Group. The deal would value the Gurugram‑based firm at roughly $250 million, doubling the $125 million valuation from its September 2024 seed round. Centricity plans...
Amazon Prepares Its First Swiss Franc Bond in Six-Part AI-Capex Push
Amazon is preparing its first Swiss franc bond issuance, a six‑tranche program spanning 3‑ to 25‑year maturities, marking its entry into the CHF market. The move follows a broader multi‑currency funding push, after a $37 bn dollar bond and €14.5 bn euro...
InsideArbitrage Event Driven Monitor – May 11, 2026
The May 11 InsideArbitrage roundup highlights several high‑profile merger arbitrage moves, including Two Harbors raising its cash offer to $12 per share for CrossCountry Mortgage and SkyWater shareholders approving a merger with quantum‑computing firm IonQ. Deal completions this week feature General...
Apollo Agriculture and Kaleidofin Close Kenya’s First Private-Sector Smallholder Agriculture Securitisation
Fintech platform Kaleidofin and agri‑lending firm Apollo Agriculture have completed Kenya’s first private‑sector, local‑currency securitisation of smallholder farmer loans. The deal packaged KES 370 million of receivables, mobilising KES 276 million (about $2.1 million) for 23,839 borrowers, half of whom are women. Agusto assigned a...
Amazon Prepares to Sell First Swiss Franc Bond in AI Push
Amazon.com Inc. is set to launch its first-ever bond offering denominated in Swiss francs. The company has hired BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase to manage a six‑part issuance covering maturities from three to 25 years. The proceeds are expected to...
RNWH's PWR-X Acquisition Boosts Dividend, Lowers P/E
#RNWH bought PWR-X Ltd for £1.1m, which does "specialist cable jointing services". ShareScope showing fwd p/e 12.9 falling to 12 and fwd Divvy 2.3% rising to 2.4%; decent Uptrend and worth looking at. I don't hold.
Loans in Focus: Maslow Helps Unlock Major Madrid Logistics Development, Standard Chartered Provides £250m for London PBSA, Pbb Issues €86m...
Maslow Capital has extended a €40 million ($44 million) facility to Dunas Capital Real Estate to accelerate a large logistics park in Madrid. Standard Chartered is providing a £250 million ($313 million) construction loan for a purpose‑built student accommodation (PBSA) project in London. pbb...
Goldman Sachs Private Credit BDC Reports 3.7% Q1 NAV Decline
Goldman Sachs’ listed business development company (BDC) reported a 3.7% drop in net asset value (NAV) to $12.17 per share for Q1, driven by higher unrealised losses and portfolio markdowns. Non‑accrual loans rose to 4.7% of the portfolio, up from...
KKR, HASI-Backed Sustainable Infrastructure Platform CarbonCount Raises Over $500 Million
KKR and HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital expanded their CarbonCount Holdings 1 platform by issuing $508 million in senior unsecured notes, raising total investment capacity to nearly $5 billion. Launched in 2024 with $1 billion commitments from each partner, the platform previously raised $592 million in...
Bologna’s Cellply Secures €7.15 Million to Develop Tools for Faster Immunotherapy and Cell Therapy Development
Italian deep‑tech startup Cellply has closed a €7.15 million ($7.8 million) funding round led by ENEA Tech e Biomedical. The capital will fund global rollout of its VivaCyte® single‑cell analysis platform and development of next‑generation ATMP quality‑control tools. The round also saw...
TWIA Lifts Alamo Re 2026-1 Cat Bond Target Size to Between $600m and $750m
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) has increased the target size of its Alamo Re Series 2026‑1 catastrophe bond to between $600 million and $750 million, up from the original $450 million goal. All three tranches – Class A, B and C –...
European Tech Weekly Recap: €1.4B in Deals and April's Highlights
European tech investors completed more than 65 funding deals last week, aggregating roughly €1.4 bn ($1.5 bn). In April, the region recorded 290 deals and €5.1 bn ($5.6 bn) raised, a decline from March’s €7.5 bn ($8.2 bn). The United Kingdom stayed the largest funding market,...
Florida Citizens Now Targets up to $600m of Reinsurance From Everglades Re II 2026-1 Cat Bond
Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp has increased its reinsurance target for the Everglades Re II Ltd. Series 2026‑1 catastrophe bond from $450 million to as much as $600 million. The three tranches—Class A, B and C—have been expanded in size and their...
Ericsson Boosts Capital Efficiency with Aggressive Share Buyback
"@Ericsson Optimises Capital Structure with Aggressive Share Buyback Maneuvers", get the full story via the Elnion news desk.. https://t.co/CNAHE2qmvJ https://t.co/0MbpDlXZgS
Naspers Unit Offloads Stake in Food Giant for R6.5-billion
Prosus, the consumer‑internet arm of Naspers, agreed to sell a 5% stake in German food‑delivery leader Delivery Hero to Aspex Management for roughly €335 million (about $369 million), equivalent to R6.5 billion. The deal prices the 15.2 million shares at €22 each, a 10% premium...
AI M&A Surges as Software Captures Nearly Three-Quarters of North American Deals
Artificial intelligence‑related mergers and acquisitions in North America surged to a record 1,634 deals between 2021 and 2025, with 2025 alone seeing 589 transactions—a 57% year‑over‑year jump. AI’s share of total M&A climbed from roughly 2% in 2021‑2022 to over...
Dangote Cement Reportedly Considering London Listing
Dangote Cement, Africa's largest cement producer, is reportedly weighing a partial listing in London to tap international capital markets. The move aims to broaden its investor base and potentially lift valuation multiples, leveraging its 55 Mta capacity across ten African nations....
Vodacom Paid Nearly Twice Book Value for Its Maziv Stake
Vodacom disclosed that it paid R12.64 billion (≈ $666 million) for a 30% stake in Maziv, the fibre‑optic platform behind Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa. The consideration comprised R7.93 billion in cash, R143 million in capitalised costs and R4.57 billion in fibre assets, valuing Maziv at...
Stock Trading App Sahi Founders Dilute over 60% Stake After Series B Round
Indian stock‑trading app Sahi completed a $33 million Series B, bringing total capital raised to about $50 million and pushing its post‑money valuation to roughly $200 million. The round, led by Accel India and Elevation Capital, diluted the founders’ combined holding to 38.5%, while...
SMBC Appoints Elaine He as Head of DCM Apac Ex-Japan
SMBC Group has appointed Elaine He as head of its debt capital markets (DCM) syndicate and co‑head of DCM for Asia Pacific ex‑Japan, effective May 11. He brings extensive experience in high‑yield syndications and cross‑border financing. The move reinforces SMBC’s...
RWI: Who Pays the Premium & Retention?
Gallagher’s latest RWI market study shows a clear shift in premium responsibility from sellers to buyers since 2018. By 2021 split‑premium deals vanished, and buyers now shoulder most premiums, with sellers paying only about 17 % of policies in 2025. The...
Top ECB Official Attacks German Opposition to UniCredit’s Bid for Commerzbank
The European Central Bank’s top official publicly rebuked German politicians who oppose UniCredit’s €12 billion (≈$13 billion) hostile bid for Commerzbank. The ECB argued that the resistance undermines market‑driven consolidation and could weaken the euro‑area banking sector. German parties cite national interest...
How the UK Can Use the Bond Markets’ ‘Kindness of Strangers’
The UK now spends over £100 bn (≈ $127 bn) a year on debt interest, roughly 1 in 12 pounds of government spending, despite a lower debt‑to‑GDP ratio than France and Italy. Yield differentials mean the UK pays about 5% on 10‑year gilts...
Acciona Hires Citi and Goldman Sachs to Assess OPA of Green Unit
Spanish infrastructure group Acciona has hired Citi and Goldman Sachs to evaluate a possible 100% takeover of its renewable subsidiary Acciona Energía. The advisory engagement underscores the growing M&A interest in green assets as the unit’s share price has surged...
Citigroup Launches $30 B Share Buyback at 2026 Investor Day
Citigroup unveiled a $30 billion share buyback at its 2026 Investor Day, tying the move to a new ROTCE target of 10‑11% for 2026 and higher near‑term goals. CEO Jane Fraser framed the program as proof the bank’s five‑year overhaul is...
Saudi PIF Launches $7 Bn Three‑tranche USD Bond Issue, Marking Return to U.S. Market
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) issued a $7 bn USD‑denominated bond program in three tranches on May 10, 2026, signaling its comeback to the U.S. sovereign‑style market. The order book suggested strong demand, underscoring renewed investor appetite for Middle‑East sovereign...
The IPO Buzz: AI Chipmaker Cerebras (CBRS Proposed) Leads $7.4 Billion Week
Cerebras Systems, the AI chipmaker known for its massive silicon‑wafer processor, is set to lead a $7.43 billion IPO week. The company plans to price its shares between $125 and $135, with market chatter suggesting a possible $150‑$160 range, which would...
AI Agents Are Entering Investment Banking, but Is the Industry Ready?
Artificial intelligence agents are moving from pilot projects to operational tools in investment banking and private equity, automating tasks such as financial due diligence, data‑room analysis, and valuation modeling. Early adopters report that AI can compress weeks‑long document reviews into...
Apollo Holds Talks to Sell $3 Billion Private Credit Fund
Apollo Global Management is in talks to sell its publicly listed business‑development company, MidCap Financial Investment Corp. (MFIC), a private‑credit fund valued at roughly $3 billion. MFIC recently reported a $61 million loss, adding pressure on Apollo’s BDC platform. The potential transaction...
Hong Kong’s New Listing Pipeline Remains Undeterred by Iran War Volatility
Hong Kong’s stock exchange is experiencing a listing boom driven by AI and hard‑tech firms despite geopolitical volatility from the Iran conflict. Lightelligence’s IPO raised about $319 million, was oversubscribed 5,700 times and its shares jumped to a 52‑week high of...
Roche to Pay $750 Million Upfront for AI Diagnostics Pioneer PathAI
Swiss drugmaker Roche agreed to acquire Boston‑based PathAI for $750 million in cash, plus up to $300 million in milestone payments. The deal, slated to close in the second half of 2026, aims to embed AI into Roche’s global diagnostic platform and...
Cryo‑EM CRO Baiaode Secures ¥200 Million Series B to Scale Drug Discovery Platform
Baiaode, a China‑based cryo‑EM structural CRO, closed a ¥200 million ($28 million) Series B financing led by Kangjun Capital and Junlian Capital. The funds will boost its cryo‑EM infrastructure and fast‑track the three‑year “千靶万苗®” target‑and‑lead‑compound program, positioning the firm for deeper global...
Bullish to Acquire Equiniti for $4.2 Billion, Building Tokenized Securities Infrastructure
Bullish (NYSE:BLSH) announced a $4.2 billion acquisition of Equiniti, a transfer‑agent serving over 2,500 public issuers. The deal, closing in January 2027, merges Bullish’s blockchain platform with Equiniti’s issuer network, positioning the combined firm to accelerate tokenized securities adoption.
Alphabet's CAD 8.5 B Canadian Bond Sets New Record for Corporate Issuances
Alphabet issued a CAD 8.5 billion (≈US$6.2 billion) four‑tranche bond in Canada, the biggest corporate bond ever sold in the country and the largest “maple” bond to date. The deal, led by RBC and other bookrunners, pushes the Canadian foreign‑issuer market to a...
Honeywell‑Backed Quantinuum Files for $20 B+ IPO as Fault‑Tolerant Quantum Machine Targets 2029
Quantinuum, the Honeywell‑owned quantum computing company, filed Thursday for a Nasdaq listing that could value it at more than $20 billion. The filing shows $30.9 million in 2025 revenue, a $192.6 million loss, and a roadmap to a fault‑tolerant quantum computer named Apollo...
The Bidding War Begins as Ooh Media Receives Second Takeover Offer
Australian outdoor advertising firm Ooh Media has received a second, higher takeover bid from infrastructure investor I Squared Capital, offering $1.45 per share and valuing the company at roughly $508 million USD, up from private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners’ $1.40...
SCI-In-Focus:-Morocco-Quietly-Emerges-as-Africa's-Synthetic-Securitisation-Pioneer
Morocco is quietly positioning itself as Africa’s first synthetic securitisation hub, rolling out privately funded transactions that recycle bank credit risk. The initiative, highlighted by Capital Relief Trades, leverages synthetic risk‑transfer (SRT) structures to free up capital for lenders. Early...
ENHA Soars Over 20% on First Trading Day
What a great start to life as a public company for $ENHA last Friday. Up more than 20%. But this was only day one - we’re just getting started. Our motto, displayed on the façade of the New York Stock Exchange, captures...
Start Slow, Find Fit, Then Accelerate Acquisitions
When you study the serial acquirers model and those who’ve invested in this model for decades, you see that companies that completed 1-2 acquisitions per year in the early years tended to outperform those that pursued a faster pace, such...
Bain Capital Provides $225 Million Credit Facility to Kids2
Bain Capital’s Private Credit Group acted as sole lender and administrative agent for a $225 million senior credit facility to Kids2, the Atlanta‑based infant‑product platform. The financing is earmarked for continued growth, category expansion and deeper global reach, highlighting private‑credit’s role...
SpaceX IPO Near $2T, 100 TW Power Claim Debunked
The @SpaceX IPO is expected to give the company a market cap of nearly $2T. But the idea that @SpaceX will deploy 100 TW of space-based power? That’s nonsense. Here's a graphic I published recently on another...
Amazon to Acquire Globalstar for $11.57 B, Boosting Satellite Cellular Reach
Amazon announced a binding agreement to acquire Globalstar for $11.57 billion, offering shareholders $90 cash per share or 0.3210 Amazon shares. The deal, slated to close in 2027, gives Amazon direct‑to‑cellular capabilities for its Leo satellite broadband service and expands its...