Together with

Good Morning,

Google is paying a high price to remain the default search browser on Safari, Walmart and Target earnings offer clues to crucial holiday season, Biden and Xi announced a deal for China to crack down on fentanyl, Pfizer wants in on the weight loss drug gold rush, and United will not resume flights to Israel.

If you are a controller looking to upgrade your business’s financial operations, book a demo with today’s sponsor, BILL, and you can get a free Apple Watch for your time.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed relatively unchanged as investors await October’s CPI report 

  • The Nasdaq closed 0.22% lower, while the Dow gained 0.16%

• European stocks closed higher as investors looked to high-stake US-China talks

Earnings

• Tyson Foods beat analyst expectations for Q4 adjusted profit but missed on revenue due to falling chicken and pork prices; Tyson forecast revenue for its next fiscal year below expectations (RT)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Home Depot, Sea Limited

  • Wednesday: Target, Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, JD.com, 

  • Thursday: Walmart, Alibaba, Applied Materials, Macy’s

  • Friday: BJ’s

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Apple gets 36% of Google revenue in search deal, expert says (BBG)

• Walmart, Target earnings to offer clues on crucial holiday season (RT)

• Biden, Xi to announce deal for China to crack down on fentanyl (BBG)

• Moody’s warning on the massive US debt burden has turned into a nonevent (CNBC)

• Ban on surprise medical bills pushes more health bonds to brink (BBG)

• Pfizer wants in on the weight loss drug market (CNBC)

• Fidelity rolls out suite of new ETFs, slashes fees (RT)

• United Airlines will not resume flights to Israel (RT)

• Exxon makes lithium play in long-term bet on EV demand (WSJ)

• Bank of America’s $1.5B natural gas bond sale for BP casts doubt on Texas energy ‘boycott’ label (BBG)

• Amazon cuts more than 180 jobs in gaming division (CNBC)

• Dubai faces down airline rivals with $50B jet orders (RT)

• Supreme Court adopts ethics code as justices face criticism over financial disclosures (CNBC)

• Stellantis offering buyouts to about half its US salaried employees (RT)

• Germany warns more commercial real estate pain ahead (BBG)

• McDonald’s and Crocs are releasing a line of $75 shoes inspired by Grimace and the Hamburglar (CNBC)

A Message From BILL

Take a demo, get an Apple Watch

It’s International Accounting Day—and we’re celebrating with an exclusive offer for controllers like yourself: book a BILL demo, and we’ll give you an Apple Watch, just for your time.

Save time and spend smarter with BILL. In our demo, you’ll discover how BILL helps you:

• Streamline and manage your AP, AR, spend, and expense in one place

• Receive payments directly in your bank account via ACH or credit card

• Access scalable credit to grow your business**

• Easily request funds, set budgets, and track real-time spend

Demo BILL, and we’ll give you an Apple Watch*. It’s that easy.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Bain Capital is exploring a potential sale or IPO of Varsity Brands that could value the US maker of sports uniforms and school yearbooks at over $6B, including debt (RT)

• Australian data services company Vocus Group abandoned a $4B deal to acquire the fiber network of TPG Telecom (BBG)

• Asia Pulp & Paper, one of the world’s biggest pulp producers, recently made a preliminary proposal to buy a significant stake in $3B tissue brand Vinda International Holdings, but it is facing competition from Indonesian tycoon Sukanto Tanoto’s RGE (BBG) 

•  British shopping center owner Hammerson is in talks to sell its stake in luxury shopping outlet operator Value Retail for ~$1.2B (RT)

• Spanish construction group ACS is looking to sell its services unit Clece, which would be worth $749M-$856M (RT) 

• Mach Natural Resources will acquire certain oil and gas assets in the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma from privately-held Paloma Partners for ~$815M cash (RT)

• TotalEnergies agreed to buy three natural gas-fired power plants in Texas from TexGen Power for $635M (BBG)

• Japanese food and biotech company Ajinomoto will acquire Forge Biologics, a manufacturer of genetic medicines, for $620M (BW)

• PE firm General Atlantic will acquire a controlling stake in Joe & the Juice in a deal that values the Danish sandwich chain at ~$600M (FT)

• Canadian legal software provider Dye & Durham is looking to potentially sell its non-core assets, including its financial services division (BBG)

• Absa Group will acquire HSBC Holdings’ wealth offerings and retail and business banking businesses in Mauritius (BBG)

• South Korea’s largest music label Hybe, which is behind BTS, acquired the music label of Spanish-language media company Exile Content (RT)

• Brazilian poultry producer BRF scrapped the sale of its pet food business after failing to find a buyer after 9 months (BBG)

• Kayne Anderson Private Credit, a middle-market direct lending platform, sold a passive minority stake in itself to Bonaccord Capital Partners, a subsidiary of asset manager P10 (BBG)

VC

• Digital industrial manufacturing systems startup Divergent Technologies raised a $230M Series D led by Hexagon (FN)

• VectorY, a biotech company developing vectorized antibody therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, raised a $138M Series A led by EQT Life Sciences and the Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund (BW)

• Imprint, an NYC-based provider of co-branded credit cards for brands, raised a $75M Series B led by Ribbit Capital (FN)

• Nanomedicine startup ViaNautis raised a $25M Series A led by 4BIO Capital, BGF, and UCB Ventures (FN)

• Solvimon, a startup helping businesses operationalize usage-based pricing, raised a $9.9M seed round led by Northzone (EU)

• Lemurian Labs, a Toronto-based AI computing solutions provider, raised a $9M seed round led by Oval Park Capital (FN)

• Aether Biomedical, a biotech company creating bionic prosthetics, raised a $5.8M Series A led by J2 Ventures and Story Ventures (BW)

• Otto, a financial tech company, raised a $4.5M round led by Kindred Ventures, 645 Ventures, Canaan Partners, and more (FN)

• Nema Health, a provider of a virtual treatment program for PTSD, raised a $4.1M seed round led by Optum Ventures and .406 Ventures (FN)

• BrightGo, a janitorial software startup, raised a $3M seed round led by Costanoa Ventures and Index Ventures (FN)

• Bioengineered corneal implant startup KeraLink International raised a $2.5M seed round led by Pantheon Vision (BW)

• Fyma, an Estonian startup building a real-time occupancy and mobility data insights platform, raised a $2.1M round led by Quadri Ventures (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

•  Dubai plans to offer 25% of shares in its taxi business, Dubai Taxi Company, through an IPO (RT)

SPAC

• Quartz silica producer Sio Silica is merging with and Pyrophyte Acquisition Corp. in a $708M deal (BW)

Debt

• ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, is in talks with several lenders for a potential $321M loan to expand its fleet (BBG)

Fundraising

• French PE firm PAI Partners raised $7.6B for its PAI Partners VIII, which will invest in “real-economy” companies in Europe and North America (BBG) 

• Seed-stage VC Founder Collective raised $95M for its latest fund, which will invest in technology-driven companies (FN)

Crypto Corner

• BlackRock announced that it was not intending to launch an XRP ETF after a fake regulatory filing began circulating on social media, sending XRP prices up 10% (CD)

• Taiwanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitgin is under investigation by local authorities for money laundering (CT)

Exec’s Picks

• The Information explained the tale of two startup worlds: Artificial intelligence vs everything else.

• Shortseller Hindenburg Research shared a detailed short report on the newest ‘China Hustle,’ Golden Heaven Group.

Litney Partners - Financial Recruiting 💼💼

If you're currently a junior investment banker looking to break into the buy side, considering lateraling to another investment bank, or have recently been impacted by widespread layoffs, it's time you check out Litney Partners, a partnership between Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates at leading private equity, hedge fund, venture capital, growth equity, and credit funds, as well as investment banks.

To get started, simply head over to the Litney website and create your profile by dropping your resume / filling out the form:

Meme Cleanser

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures // Book a call with Lit // Launch your own newsletter