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
Genco Shipping in Fresh Rejection of Takeover Offer From Diana
Genco Shipping & Trading's board unanimously rejected Diana Shipping's $23.50‑per‑share takeover bid for the second time in two months. The offer, revived on May 4 as a direct tender to shareholders, mirrors the March proposal that was also turned down. Advising banks highlighted that the tender price falls well below Genco's estimated net asset value of over $26 per share. The board’s consistent refusal underscores a valuation gap between the two Greek owners.
IQM’s $1.8 B SPAC Deal Highlights Quantum’s Long Road to Commercial Scale
Finland‑based IQM Quantum Computers filed a Form F‑4 to merge with SPAC Real Asset Acquisition Corp., valuing the firm at roughly $1.8 billion and promising $465 million in cash. The move, alongside QSE’s launch of an enterprise post‑quantum migration platform, illustrates both the...
SpaceX Stock: Should You Buy the Biggest IPO Ever?
The global space economy is projected to reach roughly $1 trillion by 2034, according to market‑research firm Novaspace. SpaceX’s latest internal valuation sits between $1.75 trillion and $2 trillion, positioning it far above any recent public offering. At that valuation, an IPO could...
Trump Media CEO Launches Latin America-Focused SPAC
New CEO of Trump Media launches a SPAC focused on "Latin America and Venezuela." I'll just let that sit there... https://t.co/v67LqFZlqb
USA Rare Earth Posts $67 M Loss but Secures $1.6 B US Funding and Brazil Acquisition
USA Rare Earth (USAR) posted a $67 million net loss for Q1 2026 but ended the quarter with $1.75 billion in cash after a $1.5 billion private placement. The company also announced a $300 million acquisition of Brazil’s Serra Verde Group and a pending...
Patriot Acquisition Corp. (PTACU) Prices Downsized $160M IPO
Patriot Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:PTACU) priced a downsized $160 million initial public offering and will begin trading on Nasdaq under the ticker PTACU on May 15, 2026. The SPAC, led by CEO Jack Kopnisky and CFO Thomas Cestare, aims to merge with a specialty‑finance company. The...
Secondaries Volume Down Year-on-Year in Q1, but Remains ‘Resilient’: PJT Partners
Private secondaries market volume slipped 11% YoY to about $40 bn in Q1 2026, according to PJT Partners. Despite the dip, GP‑led transactions continued to dominate, accounting for roughly 55% of activity, while LP‑led deals held steady at $18 bn. Continuation vehicles...
Bullish to Acquire UK Payments Firm Equiniti in $4.2 B Deal
Bullish (BLSH) announced a $4.2 billion acquisition of UK payments and transfer‑agent specialist Equiniti, combining $2.35 billion of newly issued shares with $1.85 billion of assumed debt. The deal creates an end‑to‑end tokenization platform that could redefine how public‑company equity is issued and...
Byron Allen’s $120 M Takeover of BuzzFeed Aims to Build a Global Free Streaming Service
Byron Allen is paying $20 million in cash and a $100 million promissory note to acquire a 52% stake in BuzzFeed, becoming its chairman and CEO. He plans to fuse BuzzFeed and HuffPost with his Local Now platform to launch a free, ad‑supported...
Exclusive: Scripbox Plans Rs 170 Cr Debt and Equity Raise; Gears up for IPO
Bengaluru‑based wealth‑tech platform Scripbox announced plans to raise up to Rs 170 cr (≈$20 million) through a mix of equity and debt. The equity tranche of Rs 60 cr (≈$7.2 million) will come from friends‑and‑family investors, while Rs 110 cr (≈$13.3 million) of debt is earmarked to finance the...
American Express Acquires Expense Management Company Hyper
American Express has completed the acquisition of Hyper, a cloud‑based expense‑management platform known for automated receipt capture and policy‑driven workflows. The deal is positioned to fuse Hyper’s spend‑tracking capabilities with AmEx’s corporate‑card ecosystem, creating a unified end‑to‑end solution for enterprise...
PowerGEM Secures Growth Capital From General Atlantic and Acquires Telos Energy
PowerGEM, a 26‑year‑old grid‑simulation software firm, announced a strategic growth investment from General Atlantic’s BeyondNetZero fund and the purchase of engineering consultancy Telos Energy. The capital boost and acquisition aim to accelerate PowerGEM’s AI‑driven platform for grid reliability and market...
Rithm Capital Raises $500M via 8.5% Senior Notes to Fund Real Estate Expansion
Rithm Capital Corp. priced a $500 million senior unsecured note offering with an 8.5% coupon, due in 2031. The proceeds will support general corporate purposes, including debt repayment after a series of high‑profile real‑estate acquisitions. The deal underscores robust appetite for...
Aveanna Expects ‘Zero Impact’ From Home Health Moratorium
Aveanna Healthcare Holdings announced that the recent Medicare enrollment moratorium for home health and hospice will have "zero impact" on its operations and financial guidance. The company is progressing toward closing its $175.5 million acquisition of Family First Homecare in late...
Biogen Seals $5.3 B Deal for Apellis, Adds Two Blockbuster Drugs
Biogen closed a $5.3 billion cash acquisition of Apellis Pharmaceuticals on May 14, 2026, bringing the complement‑driven therapies EMPAVELI and SYFOVRE into its portfolio. The transaction was financed with a new $2 billion unsecured term loan and includes a contingent value right...
Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust Prices $1.75 B Data‑Center REIT IPO at $20 per Share
Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust, a newly formed REIT focused on hyperscale data centers, priced its initial public offering at $20 per share, raising $1.75 billion. The deal, backed by a slate of 18 joint bookrunners, includes a 1% bonus‑share incentive that...
SpaceX $75B Initial Public Offering (IPO) May Need Big Positive Impact From Starship Flight 12 : Analysis
SpaceX is positioning a $1.75‑$2 trillion IPO, with the upcoming Starship Flight 12 serving as a critical proof point. The test, scheduled for no earlier than May 19 from Texas’s Orbital Launch Pad 2, will be the first flight of the V3 Starship, featuring...
Cerebras Risked It All on Dinner Plate-Sized AI Accelerators a Decade Ago. Today It’s Worth $66 Billion
Cerebras Systems completed a blockbuster IPO on Thursday, raising $5.55 billion and debuting with a market valuation exceeding $66 billion. The company’s wafer‑scale engines—giant chips the size of a dinner plate—have evolved from the first‑gen WSE to the current WSE‑3, delivering up...
Cerebras Stock Nearly Doubles on Day One as AI Chipmaker Hits $100 Billion — What It Means for AI Infrastructure
Cerebras Systems went public on Nasdaq at $350 per share, nearly double its $185 IPO price, instantly achieving a $100 billion market value. The company sold 30 million shares, raising $5.55 billion, the largest U.S. tech IPO since Uber in 2019. Its wafer‑scale...
Sapphire Ventures Puts $70 M Into Netskope, Making Cloud‑Security Firm Its Top Holding
Sapphire Ventures acquired 5,672,579 Netskope shares for an estimated $70.4 million, making the cloud‑security provider its largest 13F holding. The investment comes as Netskope reports a 32% year‑over‑year revenue rise to $709 million, underscoring strong enterprise demand for zero‑trust solutions.
JPMorgan Names New EMEA Co-Heads and Global Trio to Lead Investment Banking
JPMorgan has installed Dwayne Lysaght and Alberto Piana as co‑heads of Investment Banking for EMEA and created a global three‑person leadership team—Dorothee Blessing, Kevin Foley and Jared Kaye—to run its worldwide IB franchise. The moves also see Cassander Verwey become...
Morningstar DBRS Confirms Credit Ratings on Capital Street Master Trust Series 2025-1
Morningstar DBRS confirmed an AAA (sf) rating for the $450 million Class A Series 2025‑1 Asset‑Backed Notes and an AA (sf) rating for the $25 million Class B notes issued by Capital Street Master Trust Series 2025‑1. The notes are collateralized by a revolving pool of...
Cerebras Opens at $385. IPO Price Was $185 Raising $5.5B at the IPO Price
Cerebras Systems debuted on Nasdaq at $385 per share, more than double its $185 IPO price, delivering a 108% first‑day gain. The offering raised $5.55 billion, valuing the AI‑chip maker at over $100 billion on a fully diluted basis. Cerebras’ wafer‑scale engine,...
Fervo Energy's $10 B Clean‑Energy IPO Marks Largest Geothermal Offering to Date
Fervo Energy completed a $1.89 billion upsized IPO, pricing 70 million shares at $27 each and closing at $36.54, which pushed its market value past $10 billion. The record‑size offering underscores investor appetite for geothermal power, especially as AI data centers seek reliable,...
Whitehawk Therapeutics Raises $87.5 Million in Private‑Placement, Stock Jumps 28%
Whitehawk Therapeutics announced a securities purchase agreement for an $87.5 million private‑placement equity financing on May 13, 2026. The announcement lifted the Nasdaq‑listed stock 28.04% to $4.98, undersc the market’s appetite for biotech capital via private‑equity‑style deals.
Discovery to Acquire Glencore's Kidd Operations in $1.2 B Deal, Boosting Canadian Gold Capacity
Discovery Corp. disclosed an agreement to purchase Glencore’s Kidd gold operations for roughly $1.2 billion, a move that could double its annual output and add strategic mineral assets. The deal follows strong Q1 earnings and comes as other Canadian miners, like...
EBay Rejects GameStop's $56 Billion Takeover Offer, Citing Credibility and Financing Risks
eBay's board rebuffed GameStop's unsolicited $56 bn takeover proposal, labeling the bid "neither credible nor attractive." The offer valued eBay at $125 per share, but financing uncertainties and debt load stalled the deal, keeping both stocks volatile.
Cerebras Files for $48 B IPO, Upsizing to $4.8 B Offering on Wafer‑Scale AI Chip
Cerebras Systems filed to go public with a $150‑$160 per‑share price range, valuing the wafer‑scale AI chip maker at about $48 billion and targeting a $4.8 billion raise. The company expanded the offering to 30 million shares after securing Amazon Web Services and...
Treasury Strategy Becomes Wall Street's Top Narrative, Redefining CFO and Investment‑Bank Priorities
Wall Street analysts now cite treasury strategy as the sector’s biggest story, forcing CFOs and investment banks to pivot toward balance‑sheet optimization. The shift reflects tighter liquidity, higher rates and a new view of treasury as a direct value driver.
Analysts Predict SpaceX Valuation Could Drop 84% to $320 Billion
Analysts warn that SpaceX's planned IPO at a $2 trillion valuation could lose up to 84%, falling to roughly $320 billion. The forecast hinges on doubts about the company's recent $250 million acquisition of xAI and its space‑based AI data‑center strategy.
New England Mutual Banks Partner but It’s ‘Not an Acquisition’
Mascoma Bank of New Hampshire and Androscoggin Bank of Maine announced they will merge their parent companies into a new mutual holding company called ClearNorth Financial. The partnership, not an acquisition, will combine roughly $4.8 billion in assets while each bank...
Alpaca Introduces US IPO Access via Broker API
Alpaca has launched US IPO access through its Broker API, enabling broker partners to let retail clients place conditional orders on upcoming American listings. The rollout arrives as 2025 US IPO activity surged to roughly $47.4 billion across 216 deals, a...
SpaceX Schedules Roadshow, Investor Day, Retail Share Allocation
FYI SpaceX Preliminary: • Roadshow launch: Week of June 8, 2026 — when executives and bankers will pitch to institutional investors. • Investor Day: June 11, 2026 — SpaceX plans a major event for ~1,500 retail investors (with up...
Ingredion Makes $3.7B Offer to Buy Ingredients Rival Tate & Lyle
Ingredion has tabled a £2.7 billion (≈ $3.7 billion) offer to acquire UK‑based Tate & Lyle, proposing up to 615 pence per share – a 64% premium to the previous close. The bid must be formalised by June 11 under UK takeover rules, after several prior...
BluSky AI Inc. Announces Launch of Regulation A+ Offering to Accelerate U.S. AI Infrastructure Expansion
BluSky AI Inc. announced a Regulation A+ offering that lets individual and accredited investors participate with as little as $1,000. The capital will fund the rollout of more than ten modular AI Factory sites across the United States, targeting a combined...
Bloomberg: Leveraged Lending Insights – 5/11/2026
U.S. leveraged loan issuances surged to $34.75 billion through April 13, marking the first week since February that launches topped $30 billion. The market, which had stalled amid Iran‑related geopolitical tension and AI‑driven volatility, saw weekly volumes spike to nearly $57 billion in mid‑January...
Fervo Energy’s $1.9B IPO Powers Geothermal Surge for AI Data Centers
Fervo Energy completed an upsized $1.89 billion IPO, pricing shares at $27 and sending the stock 33% higher to a $10 billion market cap. The debut underscores investor appetite for enhanced geothermal systems that can supply baseload electricity to AI‑driven data centers.
A Defining Moment for Central Asia
Uzbekistan’s National Investment Fund is set to launch an IPO that could reshape investor perception of Central Asia. The fund manages $2.4 billion in assets and is being valued at $1.95 billion, roughly a 20 % discount to book. Proceeds are expected to...
Anthropic in Early Talks for $30 B Funding Round Valued at $900 B
Anthropic is in early-stage discussions to raise at least $30 billion, which would place its valuation at roughly $900 billion. The prospective financing, described as the largest AI‑sector deal ever, is expected to involve major investment banks for structuring and placement, though...
Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa Refinances
The 215‑key Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, California, completed a competitive refinancing led by RobertDouglas for a Lowe‑sponsored joint venture. The property, which opened in late 2023 and underwent a major renovation in early 2025, features...
Elemental Royalty to Buy Vizsla Royalties in $239M Deal
Elemental Royalty announced a $239 million acquisition of Vizsla Royalties, offering a 31% premium and a mix of cash and Elemental shares. The deal secures a 2‑3.5% uncapped net smelter return royalty on Vizsla’s Panuco silver‑gold project in Jalisco, which is...
Akamai to Acquire AI and Browser Security Firm LayerX for $205 Million
Akamai announced an all‑cash acquisition of LayerX for roughly $205 million. LayerX, a startup focused on AI‑driven browser security, brings a platform that monitors user and agentic activity across browsers, apps, and IDEs. The deal, expected to close in Q3 2026, adds...
The Flattery Trap: Why Unsolicited Offers Rarely Deliver What Business Owners Deserve
The guest post from Aberdeen Advisors warns that unsolicited M&A offers often trap business owners by anchoring negotiations and limiting leverage. It explains that strategic buyers use direct outreach to control the process before owners can benchmark their value. A...
METiS TechBio Raises $270M in Record HKEX AI‑Biotech IPO
METiS TechBio listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, selling 201.23 million H‑shares for HK$2.11 billion ($270 million). The offering, underwritten by Jefferies, Deutsche Bank Securities Asia and CITIC Securities, was oversubscribed more than 6,900 times, setting a new benchmark for AI‑driven biotech...
METiS TechBio's $270 M AI‑Drug Delivery IPO Sets HKEX Record
METiS TechBio listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising HK$2.11 bn ($270 m) and becoming the world’s first publicly traded AI‑powered drug‑delivery company. The offering was oversubscribed more than 6,900 times, drawing $148 m from 18 cornerstone investors including BlackRock. The IPO...
Weiss Seizes Board, Sets Up Helloworld Takeover Play
$WJL.AX is moving fast. Weiss isn't just getting a board seat; he's taking over as interim Chairman. A former suitor now effectively controls the board. Plenty is going on behind the scenes. Bad news for Helloworld if they had any hopes of...
Record 24-Hour Gap Before 2x ETF Launch
ONE DAY: that's the new record for time between between an new IPO and 2x ETF tracking it. LeverageShares' 2x $CBRS launches tmrw, a mere 24hrs after the IPO today which saw it jump 75% on $10b in volume (more...
CSN Receives Non-Binding Bids for Cement Division Sale
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) has received non‑binding offers for its cement division, with the initial bid deadline passing on May 9. The unit is estimated to be worth more than BRL 10 bn (about US$2 bn), and Morgan Stanley is advising the sale. Domestic...
Offshore Wind vs Data Centres: Battle for Capital Is on, Says Key Bank
Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) warns that offshore wind is now facing stiff competition from data‑centre projects for the same pool of capital. The bank notes that Europe’s offshore wind sector must broaden its lender base and craft financing...
SPC Global Holdings Launches $100m Raising to Cut Debt and Reset Balance Sheet
SPC Global Holdings (ASX: SPG) announced a fully underwritten $100 million (≈US$66 million) equity raise, split between a $2.9 million placement and a $97.1 million entitlement offer. The proceeds will slash net leverage from 3.9× to about 1.1× by end‑2025 and fund debt reduction,...