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Good Morning,

Bitcoin rallied more than 10% on ETF optimism, Ackman and Gross closed their bond shorts, SpaceX signed a new deal to launch European satellites, revitalizing America’s downtowns will be expensive, and Tesla is facing a new DOJ probe.

Being a founder is tough, but today’s sponsor, Mercury, is making the job a little bit easier. Check out Mercury Raise, the comprehensive founder success platform built to remove roadblocks at every step of the startup journey.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed mixed as investors reacted to the US 10Y yield retreating from 5% and awaited big tech earnings

  • The Dow fell 0.58%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.27%

• Asian stocks fell due to a risk-off move across global markets

• Bitcoin rallied more than 10% to $34,000+ as investors bet on the SEC approving a spot Bitcoin ETF

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Microsoft, Alphabet, Coca-Cola, 3M, GE, GM, Spotify, Snap, Verizon, Visa, Cleveland-Cliffs 

  • Wednesday: Meta, Boeing, Evercore, Hilton, T-Mobile, IBM 

  • Thursday: Amazon, Chipotle, Comcast, UPS, Intel, Ford, US Steel

  • Friday: Exxon, Chevron, AbbVie, Piper Sandler, T. Rowe Price

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Ackman, Gross abandon bearish bond view with yields bouncing off 5% (BBG)

• Tesla discloses DOJ probes over vehicle range, personal benefits, and more (CNBC)

• SpaceX signs deal to launch key European satellites (WSJ)

• New age for treasuries means 6% yield isn’t ‘out of the picture’ (BBG)

• America’s downtowns are empty. Fixing them will be expensive (WSJ)

• Biden aims to boost investment in clean energy, biotech, semiconductors with tech hubs (CNBC)

• Taiwan presidential frontrunner assails China over Foxconn probe (RT)

• Treasuries wild swings turn haven asset into source of turmoil (BBG)

• Intel stock drops on report Nvidia is working on an Arm-based PC chip (CNBC)

• Money managers with $100T confront end of the bull market (BBG)

• UAW expands strike to Stellantis pickup truck plant in Michigan (CNBC)

• Smaller banks look to shrink their way back to health (WSJ)

• Brazil’s Petrobras spooks traders with threat to extraordinary dividends (BBG)

• Alaska Airlines pilot is arrested after alleged attempt to disable engines midflight (WSJ)

A Message From Mercury

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With Mercury Raise, you don’t have to go it alone.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Chevron will buy oil and gas producer and explorer Hess in a $53B all-stock deal to gain a larger US footprint and a stake in Exxon’s Guyana discoveries (RT)

• India’s Reliance Industries is nearing a cash and stock deal to acquire a controlling stake in Walt Disney’s Indian operations Disney Star at an ~$10B valuation (BBG)

• Investment firm Stonepeak Partners agreed to buy Textainer Group Holdings in a deal that values the container leasing firm at ~$7.4B EV (BBG)

• Swiss pharma giant Roche will pay an initial $7.1B to Roivant and Pfizer for Telavant Holdings, which owns the rights to a new inflammatory bowel disease drug (WSJ)

• DAZN Group and Comcast’s Sky Italia were awarded Italy’s Serie A football league TV broadcasting rights for the next five years for a combined $4.8B (BBG)

• PE firm Vista Equity Partners will acquire business software company EngageSmart in a $4B deal (WSJ)

• International Flavors & Fragrance is exploring a sale of its pharma solutions business, which could fetch over $3.5B in a sale (BBG)

• Campbell Soup’s $2.3B acquisition of Rao’s owner Sovos Brands was delayed until next year due to a request from the FTC for more details on the deal (RT)

• Industrial technologies company Fortive will acquire German manufacturer EA Elektro-Automatik Holdings for $1.5B cash (RT)

• Swedish residential property rental company Heimstaden Bostad, which owns ~13,500 homes in the Netherlands, is looking to sell 2,500 units for a cash injection of at least $620M to avoid a credit downgrade (BBG)

• Healthcare talent solutions provider AMN Healthcare will acquire healthcare staffing company MSDR for $300M (GNW)

• Canadian media conglomerate Bell Media will acquire OUTFRONT Media’s Canadian business for $299M (PRNW)

• Buyout fund HIG Capital is preparing to put its sports management agency Sportfive up for sale (RT)

• Privately held investment firm Liwathon Group acquired Exxon’s 25% stake in the Miro refinery in Germany (BBG)

• Los Angeles FC is in early talks with the Chinese owners of Grasshopper Club Zurich to buy the Swiss football club (BBG)

VC

• Crusoe, a cloud provider for compute-intensive applications, raised $200M in financing from Upper90 (BW)

• Enterprise browser startup Island raised a $100M Series C at a $1.5B valuation led by Prysm Capital (BW)

• SynFutures, a decentralized exchange for perpetual futures, raised a $22M Series B led by Pantera Capital (FN)

• Nomad Homes, a marketplace for residential real estate listings across Europe and the Middle East, raised a $20M Series A extension led by Acrew Capital (TC)

• Cloud spend management startup Ternary raised a $12M Series A led by Jump Capital (TC)

• FarmInsect, a Munich-based agritech startup, raised an $8M Series A led by Sandwater (FN)

• Fintech startup Finerio raised a $6.5M round led by Third Prime (TC)

• Open-source AI framework ZenML raised a $6.4M seed extension round led by Point Nine (TC)

• Flash Pack, an adventure travel company for solo travelers in their 30s and 40s, raised a $6.2M round led by JamJar Investments (PRN)

• Prism Data, a cash flow underwriting and data analytics platform provider, raised a $5M seed round led by Obvious Ventures (FN)

• Basis, an AI platform for accounting firms, raised a $3.6M seed round led by Better Tomorrow Ventures (PRN)

• Singaporean cyber risk management startup Protos Labs raised a $3M seed round from Beenext, VinaCapital Ventures, Artem Ventures, and more (FN)

• German primary care platform Lillian Care raised a $2.6M pre-seed round led by Nina Capital (EU)

• Revv, a SaaS startup focused on automotive repair diagnostics, raised a $2.1M seed round led by 1984 Ventures (VC)

• Laxis, an AI assistant for revenue teams, raised a $1.5M seed round from Elevate Ventures, Flywheel Fund, Allos Ventures, and more (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Saudi Arabia’s PIF is exploring an IPO of the kingdom’s largest medical procurement firm, Nupco, as early as next year (BBG)

Debt

• British Columbia Investment Management, which manages $170B in assets, raised ~$910M through a 10-year bond sale (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• As part of its Chapter 11 filing, bankrupt Cyxtera Technologies is in advanced talks to sell a large portion of its data centers to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BBG)

• Baby products company Hello Bello, which was founded by actors Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard, filed for bankruptcy due to high shipping and production costs (BBG)

Fundraising

• Goldman Sachs Asset Management raised $4B for West Street Infrastructure Partners IV, which will invest in infrastructure assets globally (RT)

Crypto Corner

• Bitcoin hits $35,000 for the first time since 2022 on ETF optimism (BBG)

• A federal appeals court formalized a victory for Grayscale Investments over the SEC in its bid to create an ETF based on Bitcoin (BBG)

• The iShares spot Bitcoin ETF proposed by BlackRock has been listed on the DTCC suggesting potential approval by the SEC (CT)

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• Byrne Hobart wrote about the economics of “start-up swag,” discussing why company merch is sometimes a smart investment.

• Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway discussed what it will take for the US to undergo a nuclear energy renaissance.

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