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Good Morning,

Wall Street is ditching China for India, Meta has figured out how to sell the Metaverse, the Senate released its bipartisan Israel/Ukraine/border security proposal, tech layoffs continue, Dartmouth is reinstating SAT requirements, and Bill Gross is betting on a steeper yield curve.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks fell over concerns that the Fed may not cut rates as much as expected; the Fed expects to make three rate cuts this year

  • The Dow led indices with a 0.71% decline

• Chinese stocks plunged before reversing losses after Chinese officials vowed to stabilize equity markets; China’s CSI 300 closed 0.65% higher, while the CSI 1000 fell 6.16%

Earnings

• McDonald’s shares fell ~4% after beating Q4 earnings expectations but missing on revenue due to turmoil in the Middle East (CNBC) 

• Palantir shares jumped 18% after reporting higher-than-expected Q4 revenue thanks to AI demand (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Eli Lilly, Snap, Spotify, KKR

  • Wednesday: PayPal, Walt Disney, Uber, Alibaba, CVS

  • Thursday: Apollo Global, ConocoPhillips, Affirm, Pinterest, Cloudflare 

  • Friday: PepsiCo 

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Meta finally figures out how to sell the Metaverse (WSJ)

• Wall Street snubs China for India in a historic markets shift (BBG)

• Morgan Stanley and Goldman spoil private credit’s record deal (BBG)

• Dow falls after Powell says caution needed on rate cuts (WSJ)

• Senators releases $118B bipartisan aid proposal for Israel, Ukraine, border security (CNBC)

• Hong Kong government markets multi-currency digital green bonds (BBG)

• Mortgage rates jump back over 7% as economic data rolls in (CNBC)

• Tech layoffs continue to roil industry with 32,000 jobs cut (BBG)

• TikTok and Universal will stage a reunion soon (RT)

• Luxury retailers are buying out their landlords (WSJ)

• King Charles diagnosed with cancer (CNBC)

• Liquidity tops trader concerns for volatile 2024, JPMorgan finds (BBG)

• Oil market will face supply shortage by the end of 2025, Occidental CEO says (CNBC)

• First Bank of Canada rate cut seen in April, market participant survey suggests (WSJ)

• Bill Gross is betting on a steeper yield curve (BBG)

• Snap to lay off 10% of workers (WSJ)

• Dartmouth reinstates SAT requirement in first for Ivy League (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of anti-obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk, will acquire US drug manufacturer Catalent for $16.5B; Novo Nordisk will acquire three of Catalent’s manufacturing sites for $11B from its parent company in a three-way transaction (FT) 

• Media entrepreneur Byron Allen began talks with Paramount Global regarding his $14.3B bid to acquire the film and TV giant (BBG) 

• PE firms Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman are losing interest in acquiring $10.9B DocuSign due to valuation differences with the online signature services firm (BBG) 

• A group of Russian investors agreed to acquire Yandex’s Russian business, dubbed ‘Russia’s Google,’ in a $5.2B deal (RT) 

• Drug maker Novartis will acquire cancer treatment developer MorphoSys for $2.9B  (BBG) 

• MultiChoice Group rejected a $2.5B proposed takeover offer from Vivendi SE’s Canal+, the South African company’s biggest shareholder, saying the price undervalued the business (BBG) 

• PE firms Hellman & Friedman and Valeas will acquire a majority stake in US accounting firm Baker Tilly at an EV of over $2B (FT) 

• PE firm Thoma Bravo is taking critical event management software company Everbridge private in a $1.5B all-cash deal (TC) 

• CVC Capital Partners is exploring a sale of South Korean hotel and travel booking app Good Choice, which could be worth $1B-$1.5B in a transaction (BBG) 

• Merck agreed to buy Elanco Animal Health’s aqua unit that makes farmed fish health products for $1.3B (BBG) 

• Stainless steel manufacturer Acerinox will acquire Haynes International, a manufacturer of high-performance alloys, in a $970M deal (BW) 

• Chinese conglomerate Fosun International is considering a sale of its 10% stake in Belgium’s largest insurer Ageas, which is worth ~$792M (BBG) 

• Hilton Worldwide Holdings is in talks to purchase the Graduate Hotels brand, which is attached to over 30 locations in the US and UK (BBG) 

• Blackstone is considering a bid for skin-care company L’Occitane International (BBG)

VC

• Procyrion, a medical device company focused on patients with cardiac and renal impairment, raised a $57.7M Series E led by Fannin Partners (PRN)

• ProducePay, a startup giving fresh growers and buyers greater transparency and flexibility in the grocery supply chain, raised a $38M Series D led by Syngenta Group Ventures (TC)

• Sports gaming startup StatusPRO raised a $20M Series A led by Google Ventures (PRN)

• Jua, a Swiss startup building an AI model for the physical world, raised a $16M seed round led by 468 Capital and the Green Generation Fund (TC)

• Vektor Medical, a startup developing a non-invasive AI-based arrhythmia analysis tool, raised a $16M Series A led by Solas BioVentures and TVM Capital Life Science (BW)

• Digital home insurance startup Kin raised a $15M round at a $1B+ valuation led by Activate Capital (BW)

• Nauticus Robotics, a developer of subsea robots and software, raised $12M in funding (PRN)

• Nibiru Chain, a layer 1 blockchain, raised a $12M round from Kraken Ventures, ArkStream, NGC Ventures, Master Ventures, Tribe Capital, and Banter Capital (PRN)

• Hybrid crypto trading platform Cube.Exchange raised a $12M Series A led by 6th Man Ventures (FN)

• Naboo, a French startup aiming to create an ‘Airbnb for company seminars,’ raised an $8M round from ISAI, Kima Ventures, and Better Angle (TC)

• Meme Kombat, a provider of a Web3 igaming platform, raised $8M in its funding campaign (FN)

• Rivia Health, a provider of a revenue cycle management solution for healthcare provider organizations, raised a $3.3M seed round led by PHX Ventures (FN)

• Clean chemistry startup AZUL Energy raised a $3.2M Series A led by Spiral Capital (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Hyundai Motor is exploring an IPO of its Indian unit to raise at least $3B at a valuation of up to $30B in what would be the country's largest IPO (RT) 

• LuLu Group International, an operator of one of the Middle East’s largest hypermarket chains, invited banks to pitch for a potential $1B IPO (BBG) 

• German tank gearbox manufacturer Renk is seeking to debut on the Frankfurt bourse this week; PE owner Triton Partners is seeking to sell $485M of shares through a private placement valuing Renk at $1.5B (RT) 

• Metagenomi Technologies, a genetic medicines company backed by Bayer and Moderna, is targeting a $638M valuation for its US IPO (RT) 

• E-commerce logistics provider ShipBob is seeking to hire underwriters for a possible 2024 US IPO (RT) 

• Oman’s state energy firm OQ asked banks to pitch for roles on the IPOs of two of its units (BBG)

SPAC

• Satellite-direct-to-standard-phone telecom provider Lynk Global will merge with Slam Corp. in an $800M deal (BW) 

Debt

• Some of the banks backing KKR’s purchase of Telecom Italia’s land line network with $10.7B of financing are looking to syndicate the deal this month (BBG)

• Embattled French IT company Atos canceled plans to sell $777M in equity rights and will seek to negotiate a refinancing with lenders (BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Invitae, a SoftBank-backed medical genetics company, hired restructuring advisers and is preparing to file for bankruptcy within weeks to address $1.5B of debt (WSJ) 

• Scandinavian airline SAS expects to allocate up to $325M for the debt recovery of its general unsecured creditors as part of an updated Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan (BBG) 

• Physician group and medical-center operator Cano Health filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a restructuring deal to reduce debt and solicit potential offers (WSJ)

• WeWork is exploring a new bankruptcy loan due to slower-than-expected progress on rent negotiations (RT) 

• Chemicals producer Unigel Participacoes is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection in Brazil after talks with creditors stalled (BBG)

Fundraising

• Brookfield Asset Management raised $10B in a first close of its second energy-transition fund and is seeking to raise another $15B (AX) 

Crypto Corner

• Bitcoin ETFs saw $700M of net inflows last week (CD) 

• Do Kwon’s former CFO of Terraform Labs was extradited to South Korea from Montenegro (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• The Economist explained how social media dynamics have changed in the 20 years since Facebook’s founding.

• Lux Capital’s Danny Crichton wrote a great post-mortem on Tech Crunch+ and where the company goes from here.

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