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BofA is overworking its bankers

Markets remained relatively calm on an information-light trading day. Meanwhile, BofA is dangerously overworking junior bankers, Elon Musk interviewed Trump on X, private credit is gambling on consumers, and the Olympics memes keep rolling in.

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Good Morning,

Markets remained relatively calm on an information-light trading day. Meanwhile, BofA is dangerously overworking junior bankers, Elon Musk interviewed Trump on X, private credit is gambling on consumers, and the Olympics memes keep rolling in.

Invest in exclusive private market deals with 10 East, a membership-based investment firm comprising prominent Wall Street veterans.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 08/12/2024 market close.

Markets

  • US stocks close relatively unchanged ahead of Wednesday's CPI release

  • China 10Y futures dropped 0.6% in their worst day since March 2023, with yields jumping 4 bps from record lows on central bank intervention

  • Gold steadied near its record high

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Home Depot

    • Wednesday: UBS, Cisco

    • Thursday: Walmart, Alibaba, Applied Materials

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • BofA ignores its own rules to dangerously overwork junior bankers (WSJ)

  • Automation is coming for junior PE roles (FT)

  • Wall Street giants are flocking to Texas (WSJ)

  • Hedge funds reduce risky positions on volatility fears (RT)

  • Yen-hedged ETF suffered worst outflows in six years from carry trade fiasco (BBG)

  • Middle East trillions force new concessions from PE giants (BBG)

  • Private credit enters risky terrain with huge bets on consumers (BBG)

  • Fed's reverse repo facility could stagnate at $300B (BBG)

  • Investment bank B. Riley shares tanked on widened SEC probe (BBG)

  • Australian financials are outperforming miners (RT)

  • Activist Saba Capital's BlackRock-targeted fund is up 22% YTD (BBG)

  • Elliott is seeking to add Jesse Cohn to Starbucks' board (CNBC)

  • US ends investigation into short-seller Carson Block (RT)

  • RBC's ex-CFO sued for wrongful gender-based termination (RT)

  • Standard Chartered folded coverage groups into its M&A advisory (RT)

  • Trump returned to X / Twitter (CNBC)

  • Travel boom begins to slow down (WSJ)

  • Ukraine invaded Russia (FT)

A Message From 10 East

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  • Flexibility – members have full discretion over whether to invest on an offering-by-offering basis. 

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There are no upfront costs or commitments associated with joining 10 East.

Exec Sum readers can join 10 East with complimentary access here.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises agreed to buy a 24.5% stake in BT worth ~$4.1B from Patrick Drahi's troubled telecom Altice (FT

  • Carlyle is exploring a $3.3B sale of Dutch chemicals producer Nobia (FT)

  • Media firm Hearst will buy healthcare workforce management software firm QGenda from Francisco Partners at a $2B-$3B valuation (WSJ)

  • Canada's Scotiabank will acquire a 14.8% stake in US regional lender KeyCorp for $2.8B (RT

  • Engineering firm WSP will buy energy-focused rival Power Engineers for $1.8B (BBG)

  • Global gold miner Gold Fields will acquire Canadian peer Osisko Mining in a $1.6B cash deal (RT

  • Canada's Tourmaline Oil will acquire Crew Energy in a $948M all-stock deal, which includes debt (RT

  • Biotech Crown Laboratories will take private anti-wrinkle injection maker Revance Therapeutics for $924M, including debt (RT

  • Asset manager Janus Henderson will acquire a 55% stake in private credit firm Victory Park Capital in a cash-and-stock deal (FT

  • Vivendi's TV unit Canal+ will double its stake in digital pay-TV company MC Vision to 75% (BBG

  • Blackstone acquired a majority stake in engineering firm Westwood (WSJ)

  • Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor is interested in acquiring a majority stake in Premier League rival Everton (RT

  • Citigroup's wealth unit is selling its trust & fiduciary services business (RT)

VC

  • UptimeAI, an AI-based plant monitoring software, raised a $14M Series A led by WestBridge Capital (PRN)

  • Battery performance tech startup Gaussion raised a $12M Series A led by Autotech Ventures (EU)

  • Indian EV charging startup Kazam raised an $8M Series A3 led by Vertex Ventures (TC)

  • Cross-border payments platform Conduit raised a $6M seed extension from Helios Digital Ventures (TC)

  • Ragie.ai, a fully managed RAG-as-a-Service, raised a $5.5M seed round led by Craft Ventures, Saga VC, and more (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Swiss PE firm Partners Group is weighing a September IPO of German metering company Techem at a ~$7.6B valuation (BBG

  • CrownRock is seeking to raise $1.7B from a stake sale in Occidental Petroleum (BBG)

Debt

  • Eli Lilly sold $5B in bonds to fund its $3.2B acquisition of gut-drug maker Morphic (BBG

  • JetBlue Airways kicked off a $2.8B ABS sale backed by its loyalty program (BBG

  • Distressed Chinese developers Logan and KWG secured a $1B private loan from JPMorgan to refinance debt (BBG

  • Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital will sell $250M of convertible senior notes to acquire more crypto (BBG

  • PE-owned prison-food vendor TKC is seeking to reprice a $500M loan (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Crypto hedge fund 3AC's liquidators are seeking $1.3B from TerraForm Labs (BBG

  • Flooring retailer LL Flooring filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and intends to close or sell its retail stores (BBG

  • Equinox-owned Blink Fitness filed for bankruptcy with intentions to sell (RT

  • Swedish landlord Oscar Properties averted insolvency after settling with a creditor seeking a bankruptcy claim (BBG

  • Troubled Chinese developer Kaisa plans to finalize restructuring terms before it faces a liquidation petition in one month (BBG

Fundraising

  • European VC Balderton raised $1.3B across a ninth early stage fund and a second growth fund (TC

  • CRE lender BridgeInvest raised over $670M for its fourth private credit fund (WSJ

  • Brazilian insurer / asset manager SulAmerica is planning its first private credit fund (BBG)

Crypto Corner

  • SEC charged NovaTech over a $650M global crypto ponzi fraud (CT)

  • El Salvador’s ‘Bitcoin City’ gets $1.6B boost with Port Seaport investment (DC)

Exec’s Picks

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