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Good Morning,

Netflix stock fell by more than 25% on a decline in subscribers, Uber and Lyft removed mask mandates, Musk is willing to invest up to $15B of his own money in Twitter, Chipotle launched a venture fund, and Goldman is finally raising banker dining allowances by $5.

Big Swinging Decks is back, and Lit & Mark spend today's episode exploring a broad array of questions from listeners. As always, this episode of the Big Swinging Decks podcast is presented by CoinFLEX.US, and it's available on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube 🤝 

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• All three major averages closed in the green yesterday, as investors have digested a flurry of corporate earnings over the last two weeks

  • Bank stocks performed well as rates moved higher and travel stocks also received a boost from the end of the mask mandate for airlines

• The 10Y Treasury hit 2.97%, its highest level since 2018

Earnings

• Johnson & Johnson reported slightly better-than-expected Q1 numbers but lowered its FY sales and earnings outlook due to vaccine supply surplus and rising costs across-the-board (CNBC)

• Lockheed Martin shares fell slightly after a Q1 YoY revenue and earnings decrease, but the firm reported cash flow margin expansion that beat expectations to accompany confident FY guidance (YHOO)

• Netflix shares fell more than 25% yesterday after reporting their first decline in paid users in over a decade and warned of continued trouble going forward (CNBC)

• IBM posted better-than-expected top- and bottom-line Q1 numbers as demand for technology and higher contract prices continue to help their strong growth (CNBC)

• What we’re watching today: Procter & Gamble, Nasdaq, United Airlines, Tesla

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Goldman Sachs raises daily dinner allowance by $5 after bankers complain (NYP)

• Uber and Lyft end mask mandates for drivers and riders (NYT)

• US housing starts unexpectedly rise to fastest pace since 2006 (BBG)

• Ron DeSantis threatens Disney’s special status in Florida (BBG)

• Walmart will run forklifts on ‘green’ hydrogen in Plug Power deal (BBG)

• Elon Musk willing to invest up to $15B of own money to buy Twitter (RT)

• Goldman’s CEO is paying himself like a PE chief (WSJ)

• Lockheed Martin in talks with Pentagon on Ukraine weapons (WSJ)

• Billionaire Trade Desk CEO gets $830M in pay to fight Google (BBG)

• DeSantis weighs action against Twitter board over Musk rebuff (BBG)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Blackstone agreed to buy student-housing owner American Campus Communities in a $12.8B deal (WSJ)

• Dufry, the world’s biggest duty-free operator, and travel retail company Autogrill are exploring a combination that could create a $6.6B company (BBG)

• Brazilian mall operator Aliansce Sonae raised their offer for competitor BR Malls to $2.6B, and now the two have entered tie-up talks (RT)

• Software company Zendesk is exploring a potential sale and has reached out to potential buyers including software companies and PE firms (BBG)

• Edotco Group and EdgePoint agreed to buy half of Philippines telecom firm PLDT’s telecom towers for $1.47B, marking the largest ever acquisition of assets in the country by foreign investors (BBG)

• Five prospective buyers have submitted non-binding bids for the NFL’s Denver Broncos (BBG)

• Robinhood agreed to buy UK crypto and payments company Ziglu (BBG)

• Arcline Investment Management agreed to buy testing equipment maker Spectris’ US process measurement and control unit Omega Engineering for $525M (BBG)

• Motorola Solutions, which is focused on public safety and enterprise security products and services, agreed to buy video-AI startup Calipsa (RT)

• Navis Capital Partners has selected Rothschild to help with a potential sale of its premium supermarket chains in Malaysia which could be worth $235M+ (BBG)

• HomeTown Ticketing, a provider of digital ticketing and event software for schools, received a $75M growth investment from Nexa Equity (PRN)

VC

• The Sandbox, a platform that allows users to trade and monetize virtual assets on the Ethereum blockchain, is considering raising ~$400M at a $4B valuation in an upcoming round (BBG)

• Tessera Therapeutics, a biotech company developing a method to write therapeutic messages into human genes, raised a $300M+ Series C from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Altitude Life Science Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund II, and more (BW)

• Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX raised a $135M Series D at a $2.15B valuation led by Steadview and Pantera (TC)

• ThreatLocker, a cybersecurity startup that offers a zero trust endpoint security solution, raised a $100M Series C led by General Atlantic (BW)

• Anti-fraud platform SEON raised a $94M Series B led by IVP (TC)

• Chinese work automation startup Laiye raised $70M led by Hopu Magnolia bringing its Series C to $160M (TC)

• Unlearn.AI, a startup developing digital representations of humans for clinical trials, raised a $50M Series B led by Insight Partners (TC)

• MSME fintech startup Kinara Capital raised a $50M round led by Nuveen (BW)

• Video editing platform VideoVerse raised a $46.8M Series B led by A91 Partners and Alpha Wave Global (BW)

• Enterprise ‘Blockchain-as-a-Service’ startup BlockApps raised a $41M round led by Liberty City Ventures (TC)

• FundGuard, an investment management and asset servicing platform, raised a $40M Series B led by Citi and State Street (PRN)

• SaaS demo platform Demostack raised a $34M Series B led by Tiger Global (TC)

• 3D object creation / collaboration platform Gravity Sketch raised a $33M Series A led by Accel (TC)

• Air Company, a startup creating carbon-negative alcohol and consumer products from carbon dioxide, raised a $30M Series A led by Carbon Direct Capital Management (PRN)

• Pet care marketplace Vetster raised a $30M Series B led by Kensington Capital Partners (BW)

• Spine surgery startup Carlsmed raised a $30M Series B led by B Capital Group (BW)

• Nue Life Health, a mental wellness startup, raised $23M in funding: a Series A led by Obvious Ventures and venture debt from Western Technology Investment (PRN)

• One More Game, a new game studio built by developers behind the games Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo, raised a $22M Series A led by Lightspeed Ventures (PRN)

• BaaS startup NovoPayment raised a $19M Series A led by Fuel Venture Capital and IDC Ventures (TC)

• Playbook, a startup describing itself as a ‘creative file manager for designers’, raised an $18M Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures (TC)

• SaaS management platform Beamy raised a $9M round consisting of $6M in equity and $3M in debt led by Aglae Ventures and ISAI (TC)

• BioFlyte, a biodetection company, raised a $6.1M round led by Cottonwood Technology Fund (BW)

• Glacier, an AI-powered robotic waste technology startup, raised a $4.5M seed round led by NEA (PRN)

• Egyptian cloud kitchen provider The Food Lab raised a $4.5M pre-seed round led by 4DX Ventures, Nuwa Capital, and Shorooq Partners (TC)

• Experify, a platform connecting prospective buyers with trusted authentic product reviewers, raised a $4M seed round led by Vertex Ventures US (PRN)

• Armadillo, a home warranty startup, raised a $3.5M seed round led by Distributed Ventures (BW)

• Blockchain data startup Transpose raised a $3M seed round led by MaC Venture Capital (PRN)

• Encore, a startup building a distributed system development engine, raised a $3M seed round led by Crane Venture Partners (PRN)

• Nigerian insurtech startup Etap raised a $1.5M pre-seed round led by Mobility 54 (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Banks including Citigroup, HSBC, and Emirates NBD Bank are set to share up to $97M in fees for the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority IPO (BBG)

• Cryptocurrency startup Blockchain.com is interviewing banks for an IPO that could take place as soon as this year (BBG)

Fundraising

• Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm focused on rapidly growing & bootstrapped software companies, raised $915M for its sixth fund (BW)

• Framework Ventures raised a $400M third fund to focus on early-stage blockchain gaming and Web3 startups (BW)

• Conductive Ventures raised a $200M third fund to invest in early efficient growth companies led by non-traditional founders (PRN)

• KuCoin, a crypto trading platform, launched a $100M fund to support early and late-stage NFT projects (BW)

• Chipotle launched a $50M venture fund to foster new restaurant tech (TC)

• Gold House, a collective of Asian-American founders, closed a $30M venture fund (TC)

Crypto Corner

• Secret Service seizes more than $102M in crypto assets (CNBC)

• Framework Ventures to invest half of new $400M fund in blockchain gaming (DC)

• Talent agency UTA to represent NFT project DeadFellaz (TBC)

• Binance.US obtains money transmitter license in Puerto Rico (TBC)

Exec's Picks

• The Depreciation Tax Shield concept is frequently tested in IB Interviews. Master the concept with Finance|able's illustrated, deep-dive article on this tricky topic.

Big Swinging Decks Podcast

🚨 BIG SWINGING DECKS IS BACK 🚨

Lit & Mark spend today's episode exploring a broad array of questions from y’all. The duo covers everything from inflation to “Can non-targets still make it?” This is one hour of prime information that HR doesn't want you to know. Grab a seat, become a shareholder, and listen to the latest BSD!

As always, this episode of the Big Swinging Decks podcast is presented by CoinFLEX.US  and available on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube 🤝 

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 40+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

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Catch the latest episode of our Big Swinging Decks podcast, presented by CoinFLEX.US, on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube 🤝