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Good Morning,

RBC fired its CFO, PIMCO slashed rate cut expectations, AustralianSuper is going big on private markets, Trafigura saw further high-profile leadership exits, big tech seemingly has a big cash problem, and Serena Williams’ VC fund now has 14 unicorns.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rebounded on Friday as investors digested a stronger-than-expected jobs report 

  • All three major US indexes ended the week in red, with the Nasdaq falling for a fourth week in five and Dow having its worst week YTD

• Natural gas prices turned negative in Texas

• This week, we'll receive crucial US inflation data and rate policy decisions from BoC and ECB 

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Wednesday: Delta Air Lines

  • Thursday: Constellation Brands

  • Friday: JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, BlackRock

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Serena Williams’ VC fund includes 14 unicorns (YH)

• Big tech has a big cash problem (WSJ)

• AustralianSuper said now is the time to buy private assets (BBG)

• US stocks rebound after jobs growth beats expectations (FT)

• Top UK banker warns of bleak outlook for London IPOs (FT)

• Tech stock inflows in Q1 were the third largest on record (RT)

• Global equity funds see outflows amid rate cut timing uncertainty (RT)

• PIMCO now expects two 2024 rate cuts (RT)

• US banks warn Paris cost of dismissing traders will harm financial hub ambitions (FT)

• Investors are unwinding 'buy India, sell China' stocks trade (BBG)

• Buffered ETFs make gains in retirement portfolios (FT)

• Goldman and BofA target Australian pensions for hedging business (BBG)

• Hedge funds are pouncing on struggling UK investment trusts (FT)

• HSBC seeks to expand wealth business in China and India (BBG)

• Musk defies Brazil order to block some X accounts (WSJ)

• RBC fired its CFO over undisclosed relationship (CNBC)

• ISS urged BofA to split CEO and chairman roles (RT)

• Morgan Stanley boosted executive pay by 13% (RT)

• Boeing awarded its outgoing CEO a 45% pay rise (FT)

• Trafigura's CFO and executive director will exit in second recent shake-up (FT)

• Remote Brits are snapping up US jobs (WSJ)

• UNIQLO is aiming for a US comeback (WSJ)

• PBOC to lend $69B to boost science and technology sectors (BBG)

• A Boeing plane suffered yet another accident (RT)

A Message From RYSE

Missed out on Ring and Nest? Don’t let RYSE slip away!

Ring 一 Acquired by Amazon for $1.2B

Nest 一 Acquired by Google for $3.2B

If you missed out on these spectacular early investments in the Smart Home space, here’s your chance to grab hold of the next one.

RYSE is a tech firm poised to dominate the Smart Shades market (growing at an astonishing 55% annually), and their public offering of shares priced at just $1.50 has opened. 

They have generated over 20X growth in share price for early shareholders, with significant upside remaining as they just launched in over 100 Best Buy stores.

Retail distribution was the main driver behind the acquisitions of both Ring and Nest, and their exclusive deal with Best Buy puts them in pole position to dominate this burgeoning industry.

Secure your stake before the offer closes.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• German railway Deutsche Bahn is asking a select group of bidders to submit another round of non-binding offers for its DB Schenker logistics unit, which could be valued at up to $16B (BBG) 

• Johnson & Johnson agreed to acquire medical device maker Shockwave Medical in a  ~$13.1B cash deal (BBG) 

• Blackstone is in talks to acquire sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s for ~$8B (WSJ) 

• Skydance Media's potential $26B merger with Paramount Global could involve a $2B cash payment to major Paramount shareholder National Amusements followed by a $5B all-stock merger of Paramount Global and Skydance  (WSJ) 

• Naturgy Energy Group shelved plans to sell $2.6B of Australian assets of its renewable energy unit Global Power Generation due to valuation concerns (BBG) 

• Israeli insurance software firm Sapiens International, which has a market value of ~$2B, is exploring options including a potential sale (RT) 

• Warner Music Group dropped plans to bid for French digital music company Believe for $1.8B (RT) 

• A consortium led by Macquarie Group agreed to acquire a part of Digi Communications’ fiber networks in Spain for $813M (BBG) 

• Australian PPE manufacturer Ansell wil acquire Kimberly-Clark's PPE business in a $640M cash-deal (WSJ)

• Arch Insurance North America will acquire some of Allianz’s US insurance business for $450M (BBG)

• Sweden's Pophouse Entertainment Group acquired the catalog of rock band KISS for over $300M (AP)

VC

• Varda Space, a startup building an orbital drug factory, raised a $90M Series B led by Caffeinated Capital (TC)

• Innoviti, a payments-centric retail SaaS platform, raised a $18.4M Series E led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Patni Family Office, and others (FN)

• Velox, an Israeli developer of industrial direct-to-shape digital decoration solutions, raised a $38M round led by Fortissimo Capital (FN)

• Archetype AI, a physical AI company, raised a $13M seed round led by Venrock (FN)

• Scrut Automation, an Indian provider of a GRC platform, raised a $10M round from Lightspeed, MassMutual Ventures, and Endiya Partners (FN)

• Leash Biosciences, an AI/ML-native biotech startup, raised a $9.3M seed round led by Springtide Ventures (VC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Spanish beauty and cosmetics company Puig Group is planning to file for an IPO to raise $2.2B-$3.2B as soon as today (BBG) 

• Vishal Mega Mart, an Indian supermarket chain owned by PE firms Partners Group and Kedaara Capital, selected Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank for a planned local IPO that could raise up to $1B (BBG)

• Indian telecom operator Bharti Hexacom received bids worth up to $8.4B for its $513M IPO (RT) 

• Cruise operator Viking Holdings’ IPO filing revealed a 50% revenue jump but a $1.9B net loss on one-time costs (RT) 

Debt

• Ares Management and Blue Owl Capital are leading a group of private credit lenders providing $4.8B of debt financing for Novo Holdings’ $16.5B acquisition of pharmaceuticals manufacturer Catalent in one of the biggest private-credit financings on record (BBG)

• Telecom Italia signed a $1.6B bridge loan to cover its refinancing needs until it closes the sale of its mobile network to KKR (BBG) 

• ViaPath Technologies, a provider of phone services to prison inmates, hired Texas Capital Bank to help refinance ~$1.4B of debt (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• China Construction Bank filed a liquidation petition against Chinese property developer Shimao in Hong Kong over a $202M financial obligation in a rare state-owned bank first (RT)

• American Home Fitness, a smaller peer to Peloton, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization (TS)

• Paris-based Butler Industries is joining a consortium to rescue distressed IT consulting firm Atos (RT)

Fundraising

• VC firm Maniv raised $140M for its third fund to invest in Seed and Series A startups (TC)

Crypto Corner

• Terraform Labs and co-founder Do Kwon were found liable for fraud over the firm’s 2022 collapse (BBG) 

• Pantera Capital’s crypto fund surged 66% in Q1 (CT)

Exec’s Picks

• Wedding szn is around the corner. Don't show up wearing some square toed, thick rubber soled dress shoes you bought 15 years ago. Check out Del Toro's sleek shoes perfect for weddings and even classy nights out.

• Financial Times wrote a profile on the ex-rugby lawyer shaking up the world of private credit.

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