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Briefing Notes
M&A
Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft combine to create world's fifth-largest law firm by revenue
At $3.6bn revenue, the combined firm can finally compete pitch-to-pitch against Kirkland and Latham for the largest transatlantic mandates.
Banking & Finance
Private credit BDCs trade at deepest NAV discounts in over five years as HNWI fundraising collapses 45% in Q1
BDC discounts at five-year wides signal the private credit stress cycle has arrived.
Disputes
Brazilian Supreme Court faces challenge to block USA Rare Earth's $2.8 billion acquisition of Serra Verde on national security grounds
National security judicial challenges are now a standalone deal risk in critical minerals M&A — sit alongside regulatory clearance on every CP checklist.
International
Canada's Cohere acquires Germany's Aleph Alpha in a transatlantic AI consolidation deal that reshapes the European sovereign AI landscape
Cohere buying Aleph Alpha proves that European sovereign AI cannot survive at frontier scale without North American capital — a structural problem the EU AI Act cannot fix.
Energy & Tech
EU Commission President von der Leyen proposes fast-tracking the IMEC energy corridor to bypass the Strait of Hormuz as Europe's energy crisis deepens
IMEC becoming an EU priority converts a geopolitical corridor into a live project finance and energy regulatory mandate pipeline spanning five jurisdictions.
AI & Law
US DOJ intervenes in xAI's constitutional challenge to Colorado's AI regulation law, escalating the battle over state versus federal AI governance
DOJ backing xAI against Colorado means US federal AI pre-emption is now live policy — the transatlantic regulatory divergence with the EU AI Act just became concrete.
Capital Markets
Cathay Pacific prices its first HK$2.08 billion Hong Kong dollar public bond at 3.78% in a landmark capital markets debut for the airline
A debut domestic-currency bond signals that corporates are actively hedging FX exposure on their liabilities as global rate volatility persists.