Bonus Bounceback?

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Good Morning,

Traders are eying fat bonuses on a Wall Street rebound, PE secondary sales are surging to new records, analysts set a low bar for Europe Q3 earnings, and SpaceX sued California for politically-motivated regulations.

On the brighter side of California, the Litquidity team just touched down in LA and we’re hosting a Tech Week party tonight with over 150 VCs and founders. RSVP here.

Looking to invest in institutional-caliber private markets? Check out 10 East, a membership-based investment platform offering targeted exposure to PE, VC, and more.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 10/16/2024 market close.

Markets

  • US stocks rose as investors digested corporate earnings

    • Dow notched another record high

    • Small-cap Russell 2000 hit a three-year high

  • Australia's ASX 200 hit an ATH

Earnings

  • Morgan Stanley jumped 7% after beating Q3 earnings estimates on record revenue in wealth management and a surge in trading and IB results (CNBC)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: TSMC, Netflix, Blackstone

    • Friday: P&G

  • Full calendar here

🇺🇸 Election Forecast

As of 10/16/2024.

  • Trump's lead remains 12% ahead after Kamala's Fox interview. Get $20 to trade the election when you deposit $100 or more. See live odds and bet now!

Headline Roundup

  • Trader bonus hopes swell amid big banks surge (BBG)

  • PE secondary sales set for record levels amid cash crunch (FT)

  • Analysts cut Europe earnings estimates at fastest pace in seven months (RT)

  • US O&G M&A slowed sharply in Q3 after year-long deal spree (RT)

  • Jamie Dimon charts JPMorgan expansion into Africa (RT)

  • BlackRock is in talks with Ambani for an India private credit JV (BBG)

  • China's wild stock market swings hurt a $21T bull case (BBG)

  • Big China bets score 25%+ September gains for hedge funds (BBG)

  • Foreigners step up options trading on volatile Korean stocks (BBG)

  • Raytheon will pay ~$1B to to settle foreign bribery probes (CNBC)

  • McKinsey will pay ~$500M to settle federal opioid probe (BBG)

  • SpaceX sued California for political bias in regulatory decisions (WSJ)

  • Amazon joins Big Tech's foray into nuclear power (WSJ)

  • Airbus will cut up to 2.5k jobs in defense and space (RT)

A Message From 10 East

Where Sophisticated Investors Access Private Markets

10 East is a co-investment platform where sophisticated investors access private market investments alongside a veteran team with a 12+ year track record of strong performance across over 350 transactions. The firm is led by Michael Leffell, former Deputy Executive Managing Member of Davidson Kempner.

Members have the flexibility to participate on a deal-by-deal basis across private equity, credit, real estate, and venture capital.

Benefits of 10 East membership include:  

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

  • Alignment – principals commit material personal capital to every offering.  

  • Institutional resources – a dedicated investment team that sources and diligences each offering.

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

  • Uber explored a possible bid for $20B-listed Expedia

  • PE firm Advent International is preparing a takeover offer for $4.1B UK-listed food company Tate & Lyle

  • MasOrange, the Spanish unit of French telecom group Orange, is seeking to sell its 50% stake in its Vodafone Spain fiber JV, which may fetch $3.1B-$4.3B

  • PE firm General Atlantic agreed to buy a minority stake in treasury-management software firm Kyriba from Bridgepoint Group at $3B+ valuation

  • KKR will launch a sale of Singaporean logistics firm Goodpack at a ~$1.8B valuation

  • Warburg Pincus is weighing a buyout of $1.4B-listed German IT services firm Nagarro 

  • Steel company Sidenor is interested in acquiring $490M-listed Spanish train maker Talgo

  • Italian management services firm Rekeep is in exclusive talks to sell its energy arm to a JV between efficiency platform Renovit and utility Hera in a potential $273M deal

  • Japanese entertainment conglomerate Toho will acquire US animation distributor GKIDS

  • Eldridge Industries agreed to buy 10% of Blue Owl Capital’s third GP stakes fund

VC

  • X-energy, a developer of advanced small modular nuclear reactors, raised a $500M Series C-1 from Amazon, Ken Griffin, Ares, and more

  • Photonic computing startup Lightmatter raised $400M at a $4.4B valuation led by T. Rowe Price 

  • Zap Energy, a scalable fusion energy platform, raised a $130M Series D led by Soros Fund Management 

  • Wave energy device developer CorPower Ocean raised a $35.4M Series B-1 from NordicNinja VC 

  • African crypto startup Yellow Card raised a $33M Series C led by Blockchain Capital

  • Support automation startup Capacity raised a $26M Series D led by TVC Capital, Toloka.vc, and others

  • Fable, a startup helping companies build accessibility-aware digital products, raised a $25M Series B led by Five Elms Capital 

  • Healthie, an EHR platform for healthcare providers, raised a $23M Series B led by TCV 

  • On-demand insurance provider INSHUR raised a $19M round led by Viola Growth 

  • DeNexus, a cyber risk management startup for industrial environments, raised a $17.5M Series A led by Punja Global Ventures 

  • Supply chain platform Autone raised a $17M Series A led by General Catalyst 

  • Herald, an API-based digital infrastructure provider for insurance, raised a $12M Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Brewer Lane Ventures 

  • AI customer success management startup Agency raised a $12M seed round led by Sequoia and HubSpot Ventures 

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Horizon Robotics, a Chinese tech firm focused on FSD, plans to raise $696M in a Hong Kong IPO

  • Singaporean immersive entertainment group Neon is preparing for a $380M local IPO

  • Ethiopia is seeking to raise $255M in an IPO of state-run Ethio Telecom, the nations' first ever IPO 

  • Chinese developer Sunac will raise $155M in a top-up placement

  • Indonesian lifestyle entertainment firm Holywings is considering a local IPO

  • German energy firm E.ON and Turkish conglomerate Haci Omer Sabanci are preparing to IPO their electricity JV Enerjisa Uretim Santralleri

Debt

  • Activist hedge fund Elliott will acquire most of fintech Klarna's $39B UK BNPL portfolio

  • 22 banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are set to provide a $9.4B debt package for CD&R's ~$16B LBO of Sanofi's consumer health division Opella 

  • Morgan Stanley launched a $5.8B bond sale

  • Goldman Sachs launched a $5.5B bond sale

  • NYC's Rockefeller Center is seeking to raise $3.4B in a CMBS offering

  • Colombian state-owned Ecopetrol is seeking to raise $1.8B in a bond sale

  • Banks and direct lenders are competing to provide an ~$800M debt package to fund a potential LBO of PE-owned patent software firm Anaqua 

  • Yogurt-maker Chobani priced an upsized $650M private offering of PIK toggle notes

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Northvolt's second largest shareholder Goldman Sachs Asset Management is considering joining an effort to rescue the struggling battery maker

Fundraising

  • Dutch biotech VC Forbion raised $2.3B across two new funds

  • LMM PE firm Victor Capital Partners raised $310M for its second fund

Crypto Corner

  • Game developer Fracture Labs sued market-maker Jump Trading for price manipulation (BBG)

  • a16z says crypto activity is poised to continue upwards after reaching ATH (QZ)

  • Italy will raise capital gains tax on Bitcoin to 42% from 26% (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

  • A good night's sleep sets the tone for the rest of your day, and Eight Sleep's Pod will have you sleeping like a baby. The Pod, which fits on any bed, tracks your health while you sleep and automatically optimizes your body temperature and breathing throughout the night to have you waking up sharper, energetic, and fully rested from day one. Use code LIT to get $350 off your Eight Sleep Pod.

  • LA Tech Week is in full force and Litquidity Ventures is bringing together over 150 VCs and founders for a really cool event tonight. Join us if you're in town, we’d love to see you there! And of course, a special thanks to Hebbia, Canopy, and The Well for making this event possible.

  • Joe Wiggins wrote a great piece on whether (and how) groups make good decisions.

  • The Litquidity merch store is running a Lock-tober sale this month where we’re adding free bags of coffee to orders. Check it out here.

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, an executive search partnership between Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

Meme Cleanser

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