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G-7 leaders are grappling with bank risks, the Metaverse could be a big player in the US economy in a decade, the US trade chief is meeting with China, wages are rising across England, the NYT signed a $100M deal with Google, and White House debt meetings failed to yield a breakthrough.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks fell as investors shifted focus to debt ceiling and upcoming inflation data

• US 1 Month T-Bill yields surged 23.8 bps to a 5.689% high and 2 Month T-Bill yields climbed to 5.283% amid debt ceiling jitters

Earnings

• Airbnb beat Q1 estimates but warned of tough comps for Q2 as the company previously benefited from pent-up 2022 demand following the COVID-Omicron variant; their stock fell 10% (CNBC)

• PayPal beat Q1 estimates, but shares plunged 12.7% as its raised FY guidance failed to distract investors from its weak Q2 forecasts (IS)

• Electronic Arts smashed Q4 estimates after record live services performance and increased engagement, particularly from the EA SPORTS FIFA franchise (IBD)

• Under Armour barely outperformed 2023 Q4 earnings expectations while forecasting flat revenue for 2024 (YF)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Walt Disney, Beyond Meat, Robinhood Markets, Wendy’s

  • Thursday: Krispy Kreme

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US small business sentiment slumped to its lowest since 2013 (RT)

• White House debt meeting failed to yield breakthrough (WSJ)

• G-7 finance leaders set to grapple with bank risks, debt impasse (BBG)

• US banks generated record Q1 profits despite turmoil (FT)

• Metaverse could contribute up to 2.4% of US GDP by 2035 (RT)

• China's shrinking imports and slower exports growth darken its economic outlook (RT)

• Lackluster results, production target cuts deepen EV start-up gloom (RT)

• Bank of America opened an office in Luxembourg in Europe push (RT)

• Brits are being offered no-deposit 100% mortgage loans for the first time since 2008 (CNBC)

• Boeing struck a deal to sell as much as $40B in 737 MAX jets to Ryanair (WSJ)

• US trade chief set to meet with China minister in signs of warmer ties (BBG)

• Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman holds off donating to Ron DeSantis’ campaign after meeting with him in Florida (BBG)

• US corporate bankruptcies at highest level since 2010 (RT)

• Wages are rising across England, finally catching inflation (BBG)

• New York Times to get ~$100M from Google over three years (RT)

• China finally has a rival as the world's factory floor (WSJ)

• Home prices drop in a third of the US markets (WSJ)

• Factory boom in the US boosts sales of excavators, steel, and trucks (WSJ)

• Donald Trump was found liable for sex abuse (BBG)

• NY Republican representative George Santos is facing criminal charges (BBG)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Australian lithium miner Allkem will merge with US-based chemical manufacturing firm Livent to create a $10.6B entity (RT)

• An Investment consortium comprised of Elliot Investment Management, Patient Square Capital and Veritas Capital is nearing a deal to acquire Syneos Health, a provider of clinical research to drug developers with a market value of $4B (RT)

• Mattress firm Tempur Sealy agreed to buy smaller peer Mattress Firm in a ~$4B cash and stock deal (RT)

• Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, is nearing a deal to acquire asset manager Fortress Investment Group from SoftBank in a ~$3B deal (FT)

• Macquarie Group is looking to sell its North American port facilities business Ceres Terminals for ~$1B (RT)

• Tech investor Prosus is working with Bank of America to explore a potential divestment of fintech company PayU at a valuation of up to $800M (BBG)

• JD Sports Fashion proposed to buy France’s Groupe Courir for an EV of $572M (RT)

• KKR and Macquarie Group are potential bidders for Singaporean energy group Sembcorp’s waste and recycling management arm in a possible ~$500M deal (RT)

• Finnish wearable technology maker Oura Health is acquiring Proxy, a maker of digital identification tools, in an all-equity deal valuing the company at $165M (BBG)

• Advertising and marketing firm Stagwell is buying back $150M of its shares from AlpInvest Partners, the PE firm owned by Carlyle Group (BBG)

• Hedge fund manager Wagner is set to acquire 45.6% of Birmingham City Football Club, which has a current market value of $68.8M (BBG)

• South African logistics property firm Equites plans to sell its UK logistics business (RT)

VC

• Mercedes-backed battery-maker ProLogium is seeking up to $300M at a $2B valuation to ramp up growth and investments (BBG)

• Austrian supply chain risk platform Prewave raised a $20M Series A+ led by Creandum (TC)

• 1touch.io, a New York-based provider of Inventa, a sensitive data intelligence solution, raised a $14M Series B led by Neotribe Ventures (FN)

• Crypto media firm Blockworks raised $12M at a $135M valuation (AX)

• Firmbase, a financial planning and analysis platform, raised a $12M round led by S Capital (FN)

• Optain, an AI startup using photos of the eye to detect and prevent early-stage disease, raised a $12M seed round from Ascertain (FN)

• Sensydia, a cardiac assessment platform, raised an ~$8M round led by Orlando Health Ventures (BW)

• Lucem Health, a provider of transformational clinical AI technology, raised a $7.7M Series A led by Mayo Clinic and Granger Management (PRN)

• Stella, a mental health startup, raised a $7M round led by Sterling Partners (FN)

• Cloud cost optimization platform Antimetal raised a $4.3M seed round led by Framework Ventures (FN)

• Marble, a startup making it rewarding to take control of all users’ insurance in one place, raised a $4.2M seed round led by Distributed Ventures (FN)

• Climate tech startup Improvin raised a $3.6M seed round led by Pale blue dot and Dynamo Ventures (FN)

• Data platform for the private equity industry Filament raised $3.6M led by Wealth Club through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (FN)

• Keybotic, a Barcelona-based creator of autonomous robot dogs for industrial inspections, raised $3.29M in funding led by family offices in Spain (FN)

• Swan Innovations, a virtual power plant startup, raised a $3.25M seed round (PRN)

• Kanabo Group, a UK-based health tech company focused on cannabis treatment, raised a $3.16M minimum round from an institutional investor, company management and Ian Mattioli, the company's new chairman (BW)

• Tenon, an enterprise marketing workflow company, raised a $3M seed round led by High Alpha and ServiceNow Ventures (BW)

• AI music startup AudioShake raised a $2.7M seed round led by Indicator Ventures (FN)

• Startup asset-based lender Legacy Corporate Lending received a “significant equity investment” from Bain Capital Credit (BBG)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Agri-food giant Olam Group aims to launch a dual IPO of its agricultural unit in June in Singapore and Saudi Arabia to raise up to $1B (RT)

• Shares of condom maker Mankind Pharma jumped 32% on its first day of trading in Mumbai after raising $529M from its IPO (BBG)

• Chinese ChatGPT rival Mobvoi will work with banks China International Capital and China Merchants Bank to raise $300M in a Hong Kong IPO (BBG)

• Dutch chemical company OCI is considering the Middle East and US as alternative listing venues as the company looks to assuage concerns from shareholders about its stock price (BBG)

• Abu Dhabi National Oil Co will sell a 15% stake in its Adnoc Logistics & Services business in a 2023 IPO (BBG)

• Virgin Australia is in advanced stages of planning an upcoming IPO (RT)

Debt

• India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, a group company of Adani Group, will pay $130M of its debt early (RT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• KKR-backed Envision Healthcare is planning to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (WSJ)

• India’s Go Airlines was granted bankruptcy protection (RT)

Fundraising

• Fortitude Capital, founded by former Goldman Sachs partner Antonio Esteves, Brazilian Bank BTG Pactual, and Portuguese asset manager Atrium, launched its first fund with a target size of $550M (RT)

• Late-stage tech backer Liquidity and MUFG launched a $250M debt fund to provide growth financing specifically to late-stage European tech companies and mid-market companies (TC)

• RX3, a VC firm cofounded by Aaron Rodgers, Nate Raabe, and Byron Roth, raised $150M for its second consumer-focused growth equity fund (BBG)

• Eli Lilly added $50M to its now $300M Social Impact Venture Capital Portfolio to invest in VC firms that specialize in near- and long-term healthcare solutions for patients in low- and middle-income countries (PRN)

• Seattle-based VC Ascend raised $25M to invest in pre-seed AI/ML companies largely based in the Pacific Northwest (TC)

Crypto Corner

• Sam Bankman-Fried is seeking to throw out 10 of 13 criminal charges against him (RT)

• The IMF cautioned Zimbabwe against its plan to adopt digital currency backed by gold (BBG)

• SEC drew criticism from JPMorgan, crypto firms and the Small Business Administration after proposing to require investment advisors to keep customers’ crypto assets with “qualified custodians” (CD)

• Jane Street and Jump Trading, two top market-making firms, are pulling back from trading digital assets due to regulatory uncertainty (BBG)

• PayPal disclosed a ~$1B cryptocurrency position in its latest quarterly earnings report (CT)

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• Ed Zitron wrote a detailed obituary to “The Metaverse” in Business Insider.

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