A quick overview of the main events of the day:

  • Sterling Infrastructure acquires Stone Ridge Contracting – expansion into data centers

  • AI company Robseek Intelligence to go public via SPAC QuasarEdge for $1 billion

  • Select Medical heading for private ownership – shareholders to vote on June 26

  • Tencent Music completes acquisition of Ximalaya for $2.6 billion

  • ECB to decide on interest rates tomorrow; markets expect an increase to 2.25%

  • Hormuz Strait: US strikes Iran after helicopter shot down

Overseas Investments

The American construction group Sterling Infrastructure completed the acquisition of Stone Ridge Contracting, an Idaho-based provider of construction and engineering services for data centers, mining, and industrial projects, on June 9. Stone Ridge will become part of the E-Infrastructure Solutions division and will expand Sterling's presence in the Pacific Northwest and Texas. Stone Ridge's expected revenue for 2026 is $180-200 million, with an EBITDA margin in the mid-teens; the transaction includes cash, stock, and a performance earn-out through the end of 2031.

The worlds of AI and capital markets converged with a deal announced on June 9: the Chinese-American company Robseek Intelligence will go public on the NYSE through the SPAC QuasarEdge Acquisition Corporation at a pre-money valuation of approximately $1 billion. Robseek is developing the NOVA AI ecosystem for digital advertising and is preparing the ALIF AI platform for smart devices. The transaction is pending approval by shareholders and regulators.

The healthcare group Select Medical Holdings, which operates more than 100 acute care hospitals and over 1,900 outpatient clinics in the US, is heading towards privatization. Shareholders will vote on June 26, 2026, on the sale to a consortium of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and the group's founders for $16.50 per share, or a total enterprise value of $3.9 billion.

In the Chinese digital sector, consolidation is underway: Tencent Music Entertainment completed the acquisition of the audio platform Ximalaya in May for a total value of approximately $2.6 billion. The Chinese regulator SAMR conditionally approved the transaction with five conditions, including a ban on exclusive licensing agreements. Ximalaya, with 303 million monthly active users, has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent Music.

Significant Events with Global Impact

The situation in the Persian Gulf has escalated again. The US has launched new airstrikes on Iran after Iranian forces shot down an American military Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman. The Hormuz Strait remains effectively closed to commercial shipping – commercial traffic has fallen by more than 90% since the conflict began at the end of February. The strait previously carried approximately 27% of the world's oil shipping and 20% of the world's LNG.

Negotiations between the United States and Iran, mediated by Pakistan in recent weeks, which were moving towards a preliminary agreement for a 60-day extension of the ceasefire and demining of the Strait, are now once again stalled. A tentative memorandum of understanding, which would require Iran to remove naval mines within 30 days and prohibit the collection of fees from ships, has not yet been signed by President Trump. Iranian state media do not consider the agreement to be concluded on their side either. Both sides continue to maintain mutual blockades: the United States is blocking access for ships to Iranian ports, while Iran is selectively regulating passage through the Strait. Markets are watching the situation day by day – any lasting resumption of free navigation would immediately lower oil prices and ease inflationary pressures in Europe and around the world.

Tomorrow, June 11, 2026, the Governing Council of the ECB will meet. Markets are pricing in a 25 basis point increase in the deposit rate to 2.25%, with a probability close to certainty – the main reason is the persistent inflation above the 2% target, driven in part by rising energy prices due to the conflict.