# Past the Headline

> A publication on the mechanics of capital markets. Every piece is a structural teardown of a single transaction: how it was built, how it was priced, who bore which risk, and what the documented terms reveal that the press release does not. Global coverage with a working focus on the GCC. Written by Elias Calfat.

Editorial standard: analysis is derived from primary sources (prospectuses, offering circulars, SPAs, 8-Ks, F-1s, term sheets) rather than secondary commentary. Each teardown identifies the specific structural feature that determines the economics of the deal, and states a view that is defensible against the documents.

Site: https://past-the-headline.com
Contact: eliascalfat@past-the-headline.com

Full plain-text corpus, generated live from the publication database:
https://past-the-headline.com/api/apps/6a04c28d1dad62beeb23abfa/functions/articleText

## Teardowns

- [Electronic Arts: The Buyout That Isn't One](https://past-the-headline.com/article/pif-lbo-electronic-arts): M&A, United States, deal Aug 2026, $55bn. The largest leveraged buyout ever recorded is, on the capital structure, two thirds equity. How PIF wrote $36bn, why one bank carried $20bn alone, and what the syndication revealed about the price. Structural focus: 93.4% PIF and 6.6% sponsor, $36bn equity against $18bn debt, leverage of 6.8x from under 1x, a $45bn book with a single underwriter. Full text: https://past-the-headline.com/api/apps/6a04c28d1dad62beeb23abfa/functions/articleText?slug=pif-lbo-electronic-arts

- [SpaceX: Escape Velocity and the Largest IPO in History](https://past-the-headline.com/article/spacex-ipo-largest-in-history): IPO, United States. Inside the structure, valuation, and timing of the public-market debut a decade in the making. Structural focus: IPO structure, mega-cap listing mechanics, Starlink segment economics, valuation methodology. Full text: https://past-the-headline.com/api/apps/6a04c28d1dad62beeb23abfa/functions/articleText?slug=spacex-ipo-largest-in-history

- [PIF Divests 70% Stake in Al Hilal FC](https://past-the-headline.com/article/pif-divests-al-hilal-fc): M&A, Saudi Arabia, deal Apr 2026, SAR 1.4bn enterprise value. PIF signs a binding SPA handing 70% of Al-Hilal to Kingdom Holding at a SAR 1.4bn enterprise value, a 1.1x revenue print, to a buyer PIF itself part-owns, and the first properly priced data point in the largest sovereign capital recycling programme on earth. Structural focus: SAR 840m secondary consideration, 1.1x revenue multiple, related-party circularity, sovereign capital recycling. Full text: https://past-the-headline.com/api/apps/6a04c28d1dad62beeb23abfa/functions/articleText?slug=pif-divests-al-hilal-fc

- [Cerebras: The Deal Beneath the Debut](https://past-the-headline.com/article/cerebras-ipo-wafer-scale-debut): IPO, United States, deal May 2026, $5.55bn. How a non-cash accounting gain, an Abu Dhabi customer base and an OpenAI handshake produced the largest US tech IPO since Uber, and what the tape said next. Structural focus: accounting gain rather than operating profit, 86% of revenue from the UAE, 80% of backlog from OpenAI, 99% founder voting control. Full text: https://past-the-headline.com/api/apps/6a04c28d1dad62beeb23abfa/functions/articleText?slug=cerebras-ipo-wafer-scale-debut

- [The Aramco Multi-Tranche Bond Architecture](https://past-the-headline.com/article/aramco-multi-tranche-bond): Financing, Saudi Arabia, deal Apr 2026, $6.0bn. Dissecting the pricing mechanics and investor allocation of a sovereign-adjacent issuance. Structural focus: 5Y/10Y/30Y tranching, pricing mechanics, credit spread analysis against the sovereign curve. Full text: https://past-the-headline.com/api/apps/6a04c28d1dad62beeb23abfa/functions/articleText?slug=aramco-multi-tranche-bond

- [ADNOC Logistics & Services IPO Teardown](https://past-the-headline.com/article/adnoc-logistics-ipo): IPO, United Arab Emirates, deal Mar 2026, $1.8bn. Cornerstone allocations, greenshoe mechanics, and the dual-class governance question. Structural focus: book-building process, cornerstone investor treatment, lock-up provisions. Full text: https://past-the-headline.com/api/apps/6a04c28d1dad62beeb23abfa/functions/articleText?slug=adnoc-logistics-ipo

## Coverage in progress

Announced but not yet released. Full text is not available for these and the endpoint returns 404 until publication.

- [JLL's Advisory Role in Camden's $1.625bn Sale to BlackRock](https://past-the-headline.com/article/jll-camden-blackrock): M&A, United States, deal Aug 2026, $1.625bn. How JLL advised Camden on its sale to BlackRock, and what the mandate reveals about advisory economics on large-format real estate transactions. Structural focus: sell-side advisory, large-format real estate, institutional capital, fee mechanics.

- [Savills' Acquisition of Eastdil Secured](https://past-the-headline.com/article/savills-eastdil-secured): M&A, United Kingdom, deal Jul 2026, $1.11bn enterprise value. How a $1.1bn enterprise value was settled largely in Savills' own paper, and what handing 16% of the enlarged group to Eastdil's owners says about who bought whom. Structural focus: share-based consideration, 16% dilution, cross-border advisory consolidation, lock-up provisions.

- [CMA CGM's Takeover of FedEx Supply Chain](https://past-the-headline.com/article/cma-cgm-fedex-supply-chain): M&A, United States, deal Jul 2026, $1.4bn. How a $1.4bn carve-out nearly triples CEVA Logistics in North America, and what the attached air and ocean freight agreements reveal about the real price. Structural focus: corporate carve-out, contract logistics, vertical integration, ancillary commercial agreements.

- [SK Hynix: The Memory Giant's IPO](https://past-the-headline.com/article/sk-hynix-ipo): IPO, South Korea. The world's second-largest memory chipmaker prepares to go public. Structural focus: IPO, semiconductors, memory.

## Site

- [Archive](https://past-the-headline.com/archive): All teardowns, filterable by category (IPO, M&A, Financing, Structural Analysis, GCC Focus) and region.
- [About](https://past-the-headline.com/about): Editorial method and the standard applied to each teardown.
- [Contact](https://past-the-headline.com/contact): Direct contact.
- [RSS feed](https://past-the-headline.com/rss.xml): Full feed of published teardowns.

## Notes for automated readers

- Canonical article URL pattern: https://past-the-headline.com/article/{slug}
- The article pages are client-rendered. Crawlers that do not execute JavaScript should read the full-text endpoint above, which returns text/markdown with YAML front matter and carries a Link rel="canonical" header pointing back to the article page.
- Append &lang=ar to the full-text endpoint for the Arabic version of a teardown where one exists.
- Only released teardowns are served. Drafts and pieces still marked as forthcoming return 404.
- Attribution, when citing: Past the Headline (past-the-headline.com), by Elias Calfat.