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Good Morning,

Barbie is on pace to top $1B in the box office, UBS is set to shake up its IB division, Musk says his fight with Zuck will be streamed on X, global investors are pivoting from China to Japan stocks, and SoftBank is benefiting from the rebound in tech valuations.

Looking for a zero-sugar hydration mix to get you through a scorching hot August? Check out today’s sponsor, LMNT.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks dropped on Friday as investors digest a weaker-than-expected jobs report and earnings from Apple and Amazon

  • The S&P and Nasdaq slid for a fourth-straight day and notched their worst weeks since March

• US 10Y yields pulled back from multi-month highs

• Swap traders are projecting a 40% chance of another 25 bps hike from the Fed before year-end

Earnings

• Berkshire Hathaway beat Q2 analyst revenue and earnings estimates thanks to strong insurance performance and gains in its investment portfolio; Berkshire now has over $147B cash (WSJ)

• Icahn Enterprises LP stock fell over 25% after it reported a $269M loss and cut its quarterly dividend in half; Carl Icahn also promised to focus on corporate activism instead of short-selling (F & IEP)

• Nikola stock fell over 26% after lowering Q3 revenue estimates and forecasting 300 to 400 deliveries this year; it also appointed its 4th CEO in four years (RT)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: KKR, Palantir, Tyson Foods, Lucid Group, Paramount Global

  • Tuesday: Eli Lilly, UPS, Rivian, Restaurant Brands

  • Wednesday: Disney, Honda, Roblox

  • Thursday: Alibaba, Brookfield, Ralph Lauren

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US employers added 187k jobs last month but unemployment rate dipped to 3.5% (CNBC)

• US layoffs fell to lowest level in nearly a year (RT)

• Barbie to top $1B at the global box office (CNBC)

• UBS set to shake up its investment banking division (BBG)

• PE firms offer sweeteners to lure reluctant investors (FT)

• US regional banks struggle to break free from government life support (FT)

• US Treasury market topped record $25T in July (BBG)

• European companies suffer $110B hit from Russia operations (FT)

• Hedge funds have lost $6B YTD betting against cruise lines and hotels (FT)

• Musk says fight with Zuckerberg will be live-streamed on X (RT)

• Slower hiring this summer could take heat off the Fed (WSJ)

• China is losing out as global funds chase returns in Japan stocks (BBG)

• Big 3 consultants are paying new recruits to push back start dates (WSJ)

• Russia says JPMorgan stopped processing its grain payments (RT)

• Meme stocks are making a comeback (WSJ)

• Pound’s glory days are over as bets on ever-higher rates fade (BBG)

• SoftBank seen returning to profit as tech stocks gain (RT)

• The West sanctioned Russia’s billionaires, and now they are fighting back (WSJ)

• America’s truckers, cargo pilots, and package carriers are fed up (WSJ)

• Man behind SCOTUS affirmative action decision sued VC Fearless Fund for supporting Black-women-owned businesses (TC)

• Sweden knocks out US Women’s World Cup team in penalties (ESPN)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Australian regulators will block ANZ Group Holdings’ $3.2B acquisition of Suncorp Group’s banking arm due to competition concerns (BBG)

• Bain Capital is nearing a deal to take Chindata private; its last offer for the Asian data center operator was $2.9B (BBG)

• Shares in United States Cellular surged 93% to a $2.9B market cap after the telecom company and Telephone & Data Systems, which owns ~83% of US Cellular, decided to look into strategic alternatives (WSJ)

• Suzano, the world’s largest producer of hardwood pulp, and PE firms Bain Capital, CVC Capital Partners and DCP Capital are bidders entering the next round of bidding for Essity’s majority stake in $2B tissue-maker Vinda International Holdings (BBG)

• US drugstore Walgreens Boots Alliance sold $1.9B worth of shares in AmerisourceBergen, cutting its stake to 16% (RT)

• Billionaire German brothers Andreas and Thomas Struengmann are nearing a deal to acquire hand sanitizer maker Schuelke & Mayr from EQT for $1.5B (BBG)

• PE firm TPG revised its takeover offer for Australian funeral home operator InvoCare to $1.2B after exclusive due diligence (BBG)

• KKR plans to take German space and technology company OHB private alongside its founding family at a $1.1B valuation (BBG)

• Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder/CEO of Paytm, is purchasing a 10.3% stake in his own company from Chinese fintech Ant Financial for $628M (TC)

• PE firm Bain Capital gave a $551M takeover offer to Australian aged care operator Estia Health (RT)

• Asset manager Ares Management is in talks to invest in Premier League team Chelsea FC, which is seeking a $500M capital injection (BBG)

• Asset manager Ares Management will invest an extra $75M into Lionel Messi’s MLS team Inter Miami (BBG)

• Blackstone will submit a bid to acquire a 33.5% stake in Indian drugmaker Cipla from the founding Hamied family (RT)

• Hedge fund Tiger Global has build a ‘big stake’ in PE group Apollo Global (FT)

• Abu Dhabi National Oil Company will acquire a 30% equity stake in Absheron gas and condensate field in the Caspian Sea (RT)

• Societe Generale is exploring options, including a sale, for its asset custodian unit (BBG)

VC

• Eco-friendly scrap metal recycling steel rebar mill Hybar raised $700M in debt / equity led by TPG Rise Climate (FN)

• Autonomous-driving startup Pony.ai received a $139M investment from GAC Toyota Motor (TC)

• Virtual reality language learning platform GoStudent raised $95M in debt / equity from Deutsche Bank, Left Lane Capital, DN Capital, and others (TC)

• TytoCare, a virtual care startup, raised a $49M round led by Insight Partners (FN)

• Enterprise learning management system provider Intellum received a $25M minority growth investment from Guidepost Growth Equity (FN)

• Orbit spaceflight startup Astra Space raised $12.5M in senior secured notes / warrants from Alliance Global Partners (BW)

• Ozlo Sleep, a sleep tech startup, raised a $10M Series A led by LifeArc Ventures and ARTIS Ventures (FN)

• Eye care startup Eye Mantra raised a $10M round led by MantraCare (FN)

• Rolla, a Bosnia and Herzegovina-based fitness tech startup, raised a $6.9M seed round led by Mate Rimac and Sacha Dragic (FN)

• Persist AI, an AI-driven drug formulation startup, raised a $4M seed round led by 2048 Ventures (FN)

• Strategic water management platform for commercial farmers GroGuru raised a $2.3M seed round led by Cove Fund and Impact Venture Capital (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Troubled Swedish property developer SBB is considering an IPO of its $3.4B residential property unit (BBG)

• Beijing WeLion New Energy Technology, a supplier of 1,000 km semi-solid state batteries to EV maker Nio, is planning to IPO as soon as 2025 (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• KKR will hand over embattled payments firm Unzer to creditors, which include Goldman Sachs, Alcentra Asset Management, and Partners Group (BBG)

• Junior creditors won a 70% stake in post-bankruptcy oil producer Mesquite Energy, which went bankrupt in 2019 with $2.3B debt, defeating senior creditors Fidelity and Apollo who argued that they should own the entire business (RT)

• Distressed trucker Yellow is considering asset and real estate sales through a bankruptcy filing (BBG)

• Bankrupt retailer Party City is in talks with creditors to spin off its balloon manufacturing Anagram unit (RT)

• Distressed Indonesian state construction company PT Waskita Karya will be unable to repay bonds due August 6 (BBG)

Debt

• China Life Insurance (Overseas) mandated banks for a $1B-$2B subordinated bond offering (RT)

Fundraising

• Fintech-focused VC Ribbit Capital raised ~$800M for its latest Ribbit Capital X fund (FN)

Crypto Corner

• UK fintech Revolut will halt its crypto services for US customers due to regulatory and market uncertainty (RT)

• Coinbase asked a federal judge to toss out the SEC’s lawsuit (RT)

• Crypto exchange OPNEX, which is tied to the founders of failed crypto HF Three Arrows Capital, is seeking to take control of ailing crypto lender Hodlnaut (BBG)

• Crypto exchange Huobi saw its total value locked fall to $2.5B from $3.1B a month earlier and $64M in daily outflows due to rumors of insolvency and investigations from Chinese authorities (CT)

Exec’s Picks

• Morgan Housel wrote a good piece on the cyclicality of everything, from markets to life.

• This WSJ piece details just how unprepared the labor force’s newest entrants are for the professional world.

• VC firm Insight Partners is ranking their interns on a public leaderboard.

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