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Good Morning,

PacWest is the latest potential regional bank fatality, the Fed raised rates by 25 bps, tensions are rising in Russia after a projectile hit the Kremlin, Ackman warns that the US regional banking system is at risk, sovereign debt costs could double in two years as rates rise, and US private funds will face more disclosures.

Looking for a resilient asset class to diversify your portfolio? You can invest directly in farmland through today’s sponsor, AcreTrader.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• Major indexes finished lower as investors digested the Fed’s decision to raise rates by 25 bps

  • ​​The Fed is considering pausing rate hikes, but no decision has been made

• Regional bank stocks were down across the board, led by PacWest’s 60% decline

Earnings

• CVS Health beat Q1 expectations fueled by an increase in CVS medical plans, but cut FY earnings projections due to recent acquisitions (WSJ)

• Qualcomm met Q2 expectations but sales from handset chips, a core business for the company, dropped by 17% from a year earlier; their stock slid 10% (CNBC)

• Zillow beat Q1 estimates as its core Premier Agent business and website traffic held strong despite a slowdown in the US housing market (BBG)

• Starbucks beat Q1 estimates on better-than-expected sales globally and a recovering China market; the firm stuck to its FY forecast despite earnings growth causing its stock to fall 9% (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Apple, DoorDash, Shopify, Block, Coinbase, Lyft, Bumble

  • Friday: AMC, Warner Bros Discovery

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• The Fed raised rates by 25 bps, may soon pause monetary tightening (FT)

• Regional bank stocks sank, led by PacWest’s 60% drop following a report that it was weighing strategic options including a sale (BBG)

• US private funds face more disclosures under new SEC rule (FT)

• UK plans to loosen IPO rules amid drop in new listings (BBG)

• Sovereign debt costs to double by 2025 as rates rise, per Janus (BBG)

• The Kremlin claims that Ukraine tried to assassinate Putin with a drone (RT)

• China’s holiday tourism rebounds to pre-Covid levels (RT)

• Bill Ackman warns US regional banking system is at risk (BBG)

• Banking jobs remain plentiful and salaries are surging in Saudi Arabia (BBG)

• Ford CEO called electric vehicle market price cuts a ‘worrying trend’ (RT)

• Twitter won’t make government agencies and public services pay for automated tweets (AX)

• The US Senate voted to repeal the suspension of tariffs on solar panels from Southeast Asia (RT)

• Carl Icahn’s IEP dropped another 20% yesterday, bringing the total valuation drop to over $6B (RT)

• The Hong Kong Monetary authority raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 bps from 5.25% to 5.5% in possible final rate hike (BBG)

A Message From AcreTrader

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Real, tangible assets such as farmland have shown greater resilience in the face of economic headwinds. Farmland* has an impressive track record:

• 3 decades of historically consistent positive returns (ending in 2022)

• Low volatility

• Low to negative correlation to equities

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*According to data from NCREIF Total Farmland Index. You cannot invest directly in an index.

*AcreTrader Financial, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Farmland investing is speculative and involves high degree of risk, including complete loss of principal and not suitable for all investors. Past performance does not guarantee future results and there is no guarantee this trend will continue.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• The UK is investigating Adobe’s $20B acquisition of cloud-based designer platform Figma (RT)

• Newcrest Mining’s board backed the $19.5B acquisition of Newmont after conducting due diligence on company (BBG)

• TD Bank and First Horizon agreed to terminate their $13B merger amid regulatory timetable uncertainty (BBG)

• Olive Garden-owner Darden Restaurants bought Ruth’s Chris Steak House for $715M in an all-cash deal (CNBC)

• Texas-based Ridgemar Energy agreed to buy all of peer Callon Petroleum's Eagle Ford assets for $655M in cash (RT)

• Callon Petroleum agreed to buy Permian basin-based Percussion Petroleum in a $475M cash-and-stock deal (RT)

• UBS aims to close Credit Suisse deal by May-end/early-June (RT)

• Regional lender PacWest hired Piper Sandler to explore strategic options, including a potential sale (FT)

• French oilseed and protein group Avril is in talks to buy grain cooperative Axereal’s animal nutrition activities (RT)

VC

• Avaada Group, an Indian renewable energy, energy storage, and solar PV manufacturing firm, raised $1.07B in funding from Brookfield Renewable, Global Power Synergy, and more (PRN)

• Biotech company Convergent Therapeutics raised a $90M Series A led by OrbiMed and RA Capital Management (FN)

• IT services and cybersecurity provider Sourcepass raised $65M in funding led by Metropolitan Partners Group (FN)

• Magenta Medical, an Israeli startup developing miniaturized blood pumps, raised a $55M round led by OrbiMed (FN)

• Redaptive, a provider of energy-as-a-service solutions, added a $50M investment from Linse Capital to their Series E Round (TC)

• Healthy.io, a startup building a smartphone-powered at-home kidney test, raised a $50M Series D led by Schusterman Family Investments (PRN)

• Novidea, a data-driven insurance policy optimization startup, raised a $50M Series C led by Battery Ventures (PRN)

• ARTHEx Biotech, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on microRNA therapeutics, raised a $46.5M Series B led by Columbus Venture Partners (FN)

• Embr Labs, a startup building a wearable to treat symptoms of menopause, raised $35M in IP-debt financing led by GT Investment Partners (FN)

• Duetti, a music financing startup, raised $32M in funding from Viola Ventures and Viola Credit, Roc Nation, and others (PRN)

• MayMaan Research, a clean energy technology company, raised a $30M Series A from Wave Equity Partners (FN)

• AI-powered supply chain startup Pando raised a $30M Series B led by Iron Pillar and Uncorrelated Ventures (TC)

• hackajob, a technical hiring platform, raised a $25M Series B led by Volition Capital (FN)

• Fedi, a developer of community-empowering financial and data technology, raised a $17M Series A led by Ego Death Capital (PRN)

• Spread, a Berlin-based engineering intelligence startup for complex mechatronic products, raised a $16M Series A led by HV Capital (FN)

• OpenEnvoy, an AI-based solution for accounts payable automation, raised a $15M Series A led by RRE Ventures (PRN)

• Omni-channel consumer health startup Intrinsic raised a $15M round led by Yadin Shemmer (FN)

• AI wealth management platform Range raised a $12M round led by Gradient Ventures (PRN)

• CultureAI, a startup helping companies move beyond security awareness training, raised an $8.8M seed round led by Conviction VC, Passion Capital, and more (FN)

• Frontline Wildfire Defense, a wildfire defense company for homes and commercial structures, raised a $6.4M seed round led by Echelon (FN)

• Aiden Technologies, a provider of intelligent software packaging and deployment for Microsoft Windows, raised a $4.5M seed round led by Right Side Capital Management and Blu Venture Investors (PRN)

• Fraud prevention startup Moonsense raised a $4.2M seed round led by XYZ Ventures and Race Capital (BW)

• Autonomize AI, an AI company for healthcare and life sciences, raised a $4M seed round led by Asset Management Ventures (FN)

• Essenvia, a startup for regulatory submission management for MedTech, raised a $4M pre-Series A led by Benhamou Global Ventures and Wavemaker360 (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Johnson & Johnson’s consumer health business Kenvue priced its offering at $22 per share to raise $3.8B at a $40B+ valuation, the biggest IPO in 2023 (BBG)

• Alibaba’s global e-commerce arm is weighing a US IPO which could fetch a ~$39B valuation (BBG)

• PE firm EQT is weighing a possible IPO for LimaCorporate, an Italian medical devices group acquired in 2016 (RT)

SPAC

• Avertix Medical, a heart implant maker for high-risk coronary disease patients, plans to merge with Bios Acquisition Corp. at an EV of $195M (BBG)

• Regentis Biomaterials, a regenerative tissue repair company, to merge with OceanTech Acquisitions I Corp. in a $95M deal (BW)

• Peter Thiel-backed SPAC Bridgetown Holdings is nearing a merger with fintech firm Hyphen Group (BBG)

Fundraising

• Origin Investments, a real estate fund manager, closed its Origin Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund II at ~$300M (BW)

• Claret Capital Partners, a UK-based pan-European growth capital advisor, launched its first opportunity fund, the Claret Growth Opportunities Annex Fund I, with a total size of $80M (FN)

Crypto Corner

• SEC omitted definition of 'digital asset' from latest rules (CD)

• Registered UK crypto firms can soon approve their own ads (CD)

• Crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group posted a 63% YoY increase in Q1 revenue (CN)

• Dubai is scrutinizing the founders of bankrupt crypto HF 3AC over their new unregulated exchange OPNX (CN)

• Crypto.com launched ChatGPT-based AI user assistant “Amy” (CT)

Exec’s Picks

• Adam Ryan shared a good thread on how Formula One leveraged Drive to Survive to create a content empire and build a massive US following

• The Atlantic’s David Frum covered why Britain is now paying the price of leaving the EU

• If any of y’all are in the market for some premium coffee, Cometeer is a brand I’ve exclusively been drinking lately. They come in flash frozen pods to protect the rich flavors of the beans and they’ll have you ready to run through a brick wall. You can check them out here.

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