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Good Morning,

AI may make IB analysts redundant, Norway’s wealth fund will not invest in PE, credit card delinquency is the highest on record, China capital markets activity is at a multi-decade low, crypto dived on Iran-Israel tensions, and bank outlooks weighed as markets saw a major selloff.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks tumbled on Friday as investors reacted to tame bank outlooks, persistent inflation and escalating Middle East tensions

  • The S&P suffered its worst day since January and worst week since October

  • All three major US indexes notched weekly losses

• UK's FTSE 100 rose to a near-record closing high as soaring commodity prices lifted mining and oil stocks

• Gold fell after hitting another ATH

• US dollar rose to its highest since November after posting its largest weekly gain since September 2022

• Cryptos lost ~$500B in market value on news of Iran's attack on Israel (apparently there's a correlation)

Earnings

• JPMorgan slumped ~6% despite beating Q1 earnings estimates due to underwhelming 2024 NII guidance (CNBC) 

• Citigroup beat Q1 estimates on better-than-expected results from IB and trading, while citing higher expenses, credit costs and overseas business sales for driving YoY declines (CNBC) 

• Wells Fargo topped Q1 earnings and revenue estimates despite a decline in NII citing progress in diversification of financial performance (CNBC)

• BlackRock reported a 15% YoY gain in AUM to hit $10.5T and a 36% jump in Q1 profit as rising global equity markets boosted its investment advisory and fees (RT) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab 

  • Tuesday: Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, J&J, UnitedHealth Group, United Airlines

  • Wednesday: ASML

  • Thursday: TSMC, Netflix, Blackstone

  • Friday: American Express, P&G

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• AI may make IB analyst roles redundant (NYT)

• Credit card delinquency rates were the highest ever in Q4 (BBG)

• More companies are defaulting over and over again (BBG)

• Bull case fizzles for big banks to earn more on lending (BBG)

• Norway's $1.3T wealth fund will not invest in PE (RT)

• Banks are striking back against private credit (WSJ)

• China capital markets activity is at a multi-decade low (FT)

• US large caps see biggest weekly outflow in 16 months (RT)

• US/global equity funds see second consecutive week of outflows (RT)

• US Treasury auctions are getting weaker (WSJ)

• Singapore’s Temasek plans to boost Europe investments (WSJ)

• Private investors are piling into UK bonds (FT)

• US and India stoke hopes of global growth in 2024 (FT)

• Biden hits US oil drillers with first royalty rate increase in a century (FT)

• SSGA cut European ETF listings to boost liquidity (FT)

• Less than half of US banks ready to borrow from Fed in emergency (RT)

• Sam Altman pitched ChatGPT Enterprise to hundreds of Fortune 500 execs (RT)

• SCOTUS rules corporate silence not necessarily securities fraud (RT)

• Hedge fund Ruffer to axe jobs after poor investment performance (FT)

• China drafts rules on tighter stock trading, listing regulations (RT)

• NYCB named Craig Gifford as CFO (RT)

• Iran attacked Israel over the weekend (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Salesforce is in advanced talks to acquire data-management software provider Informatica, which has an ~$11.4B market cap (WSJ) 

• Investment firm Platinum Equity is considering a potential sale of Urbaser that could value the Spanish waste management company at over $6.4B, including debt (BBG) 

• South Korea’s CJ CheilJedang is considering reviving a sale of its $2B animal feed business CJ Feed&Care (BBG) 

• Mitsubishi UFJ is in talks to acquire a ~20% stake HDFC Bank's consumer lending unit for ~$1.7B (BBG) 

• PE firm TA Associates is exploring a sale of French software company Orisha that may value the business at over $1.1B (BBG)

• Thai retailer Central Group acquired the landmark KaDeWe property in Berlin from insolvent Austrian real estate group Signa for roughly ~$1.1B as it moves closer to acquiring the entire KaDeWe Group (RT) 

• A newly formed JV acquired a majority stake of five Utah hospitals from hospital REIT Medical Properties Trust for $886M (RT) 

• BNP Paribas agreed to acquire Fosun Group’s ~9% stake in Belgian insurer Ageas for $777M (RT) 

• Cloud computing company Akamai Technologies is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Noname Security for $500M (TC) 

• UAE-backed RedBird IMI is in talks with the UK regarding the possibility of a separate sale of The Telegraph and Spectator titles (BBG) 

VC

• Spiber, a Japanese biomanufacturing startup, raised $86.5M in funding from existing shareholders (BW)

• Captura, a direct ocean capture company, raised a $5.3M Series A extension from National Grid Partners and Japan Airlines Innovation Fund (FN)

• Sustainable insulation startup CleanFiber raised a $28M Series B led by Spring Lane Capital (TC)

• Onum, a Spanish control data and performance company, raised a $28M Series A led by Dawn Capital (FN)

• Akad Seguros, a digital insurance company, raised a $22.5M Series A led by Valor Capital Group (FN)

• Bored Slot, a real live slots gaming venture, raised a $10M round from Plutus VC and LD Capital (FN)

• Knostic, a startup providing 'need to know' access controls for Gen AI, raised a $3.3M pre-seed round from Shield Capital, Pitango First, DNX Ventures, and more (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• CVC Capital Partners will revive plans for an Amsterdam IPO that could raise $1.1B-$1.6B at a $16B valuation (BBG) 

• Carlyle chose JPMorgan and Kotak Mahindra Bank for a local IPO of Indian IT firm Hexaware Technologies, which could be valued at up to $6B (BBG) 

• Safety firm UL Solutions’ shares jumped ~25% in its trading debut after its $946M IPO (BBG) 

• Investment firm GQG Partners and SBI Mutual Fund are considering investing up to $800M in a $2.16B share offering of Indian telecom firm Vodafone Idea (RT)

• Indian telecom service provider Bharti Hexacom shares jumped ~43% in its Mumbai trading debut after its $511M IPO (BBG) 

• OMERS is exploring an IPO of Kenan Advantage Group, one of North America’s biggest tank truck transporter and logistics providers, that may raise ~$400M (BBG) 

• Nepalese conglomerate Chaudhary Group plans to list its India food unit by 2026 (BBG)

SPAC

• Lionsgate Studio raised its PIPE amount to $225M ahead of its merger with Screaming Eagle Acquisition (RT)

Debt

• Blackstone led a ~$2B private loan to data center firm Park Place Technologies, which will be used to refinance debt and pay a dividend recap (BBG) 

• Organic food provider United Natural Foods is seeking to refinance upcoming debt maturities with over ~$600M in new debt (BBG) 

• Investment firm 777 Partners held talks with lender Blue Owl Capital for a $452M loan to help fund its takeover of Premier League team Everton FC (BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Brazilian utility Light reached an agreement with creditors that includes a $200M equity injection, moving a step closer to leaving bankruptcy protection (BBG) 

Fundraising

• Growth-oriented PE firm Lone View Capital raised $815M for its inaugural fund (FN)

Crypto Corner

• Hong Kong may approve Bitcoin and Ether ETFs as soon as today (BBG) 

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