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Good Morning,

Bill Ackman is going all-in on investigating Ivy League plagiarism after his wife was accused, Boeing can’t catch a break after their latest 737 MAX mishap, the nation’s top economists are short-term happy, long-term gloomy, and JPMorgan sees the treasury rally resuming.

Padel is the hottest sport in the world right now. If you want to keep up with the biggest stories in this industry, check out today’s sponsor, The Padel Press.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks slightly rose on Friday, but all three major indices snapped a nine-week winning streak

  • The S&P led indices with a 0.18% gain

• Traders will be watching this week’s CPI, PPI, and unemployment claims for clues to the Fed’s next possible moves

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Jefferies

  • Tuesday: Albertsons, Tilray

  • Thursday: Infosys

  • Friday: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, United Health, BlackRock, Delta Air Lines

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Bill Ackman vows retribution: accuses media of breaking ‘sacred code’ after plagiarism allegegations against wife published (F)

• Boeing CEO’s comeback plan for 2024 takes a blow five days in (BBG)

• Chastened economists hopeful for US soft landing, Fed rate cuts (BBG)

• Nation’s top economists are short-term happy, long-term glum (WSJ)

• Elon Musk has used illegal drugs, worrying leaders at Tesla and SpaceX (WSJ)

• JPMorgan strategists see treasuries’ rally resuming after ‘rest’ (BBG)

• Congressional negotiators reach agreement on $1.6T government spending level for 2024 (WSJ)

• US probes Alaska Airlines door panel in Boeing blowout (WSJ)

• Xi’s solution for China’s economy risks triggering new trade war (BBG)

• Short sellers see distress emerging in apartments as borrowing costs surge (BBG)

• Vietnam EV maker VinFast names parent founder Vuong as CEO (BBG)

• Job gains picked up in December, capping year of healthy hiring (WSJ)

• NASA, UAE partner on space station that orbit the moon (BBG)

• Hedge fund D1 Capital Parters stung by venture bets for second straight year (BBG)

• ‘Derisking’ China-reliant supply chains is creating new risks (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Software company Synopsys is in advanced talks to acquire engineering software provider Ansys for ~$35B (BBG) 

• US natural gas companies Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy are nearing a deal to create the single largest US gas producer with a market cap of $17B (FT) 

• Bain Capital’s pursuit of SoftwareOne Holding stalled after a fresh offer of ~$3.5B failed to win support (BBG) 

• An affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management acquired US networking company American Tower’s Indian operations in a $2.5B deal (BBG)  

• A consortium of investors including Macquarie Capital and TA Associates made a takeover offer for Byggfakta Group Nordic that values the Swedish construction software company at ~$985M (BBG) 

• CVC Capital Partners is nearing an acquisition of Italian restaurant chain Gruppo La Piadineria from Permira in a deal worth over $329M, including debt (BBG) 

• Chinese fintech group Ant Group is nearing a deal to buy Dutch payments firm MultiSafepay at a ~$200M valuation (RT)

VC

• Psychedelic-focused mental health startup Lykos Therapeutics raised a $100M Series A led by Helena (VC)

• Vico Therapeutics, a Leiden, Netherlands-based clinical-stage genetic medicines company, raised a $60M Series B led by Ackermans & van Haaren (FN)

• Radionetics Oncology, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company, raised a $52.5M Series A led by Frazier Life Sciences, 5AM Ventures, and DCVC Bio (BW)

• Clarametyx Biosciences, a clinical-stage company developing targeted, immune-enabling biologic therapies for persistent infections, raised a $33M Series A led by the Ohio Innovation Fund (BW)

• Revagenix, a biopharmaceutical startup focused on the discovery and development of novel antibiotics, raised a $25M Series B from Tenmile and Novo Holdings (VC)

• AI assistant for doctors Nabla raised a $24M Series B led by Cathay Innovation (TC)

• AI platform Chai has raised a total of $10M since June 2023, now reaching a $450M valuation after a new funding round led by CoreWeave (BW)

• CRISPR QC, a precision analytics platform for the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system, raised a $10M Series A led by Xcellerant Ventures (BW)

• Annabella, a femtech startup, raised an $8.5M seed round from notable investors including Israel’s Shark Tank’s founder Yasmin Lukatz, Oren Dobronsky, and Zohar Gilon (VC)

• Chinese high-end fragrance brand Documents raised an $8M funding round led by USHOPAL (PRN)

• Credo Health, a startup providing tech for value-based care, raised $5.25M in seed funding led by FCA Venture Partners (FN)

• Affinity Learning, a compliance training startup, received a $2M investment from O’Shaughnessy Ventures (PRN)

• Ceretype Neuromedicine, a company that specializes in the practical application and integration of functional MRI, raised a $2M seed round led by Cedar Street Group (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• ​​Metagenomi Technologies, a genetic medicines company backed by Bayer and Moderna, filed for a US IPO (RT)

• Innovex Downhole Solutions, a manufacturer of engineering products for the oil and gas industry, filed for a US IPO (RT) 

• Saudi pharmaceutical manufacturer Middle East Pharmaceutical Industries Company, known as Avalon Pharma, will IPO on the Saudi Exchange's Main Market (RT) 

• Mexican discount retailer Tiendas 3B picked JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America for a potential US IPO as soon as the first half of the year (BBG) 

Debt

• A group of direct lenders co-led by Ares Management, Golub Capital Partners and KKR provided a ~$500M debt financing package to Goldman Sachs Asset Management for its LBO of DOXA Insurance Holdings (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• China’s Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, a major player in China’s ~$3T trust sector, declared bankruptcy; Zhongrong International Trust, a major subsidiary of the company with ~$108B AUM in 2022, had $31B more liabilities than assets (WSJ) 

• Radio and broadcast company Audacy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will hand ownership to creditors in exchange for slashing $1.6B of debt (BBG)

Fundraising

• Exponent Founders Capital, an NYC-based early-stage VC firm, raised $125M, including a new $75M Fund II vehicle (FN)

Crypto Corner

• US spot Bitcoin ETFs could win approval after last-minute application updates (RT) 

• Crypto job postings on LinkedIn declined 57% YoY in December (BBG) 

Exec’s Picks

• ICYMI: Litquidity published his 2023 year-end letter over the weekend. Give it a read to see what’s going on behind the scenes with the Exec Sum team.

• Noah Smith asked, “How much of modern academia is waste?”

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