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Good Morning,

Goldman is the sole bull on US commercial real estate, hedge fund leverage is near record highs, PwC Australia let go of 37 partners, a new SPAC plans to merge with failed US banks, and FT published a hit piece on how Evercore is closing in on bulge bracket rivals.

Looking to access private market investments alongside Wall Street veterans? Check out today’s sponsor, 10 East.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks edged slightly lower yesterday with tech stocks weighing down the S&P and Nasdaq

• Toronto’s S&P/TSX index hit a 2-year high as commodities rally

• Oil prices jumped over 2% after Ukraine strikes on Russian refineries

Earnings

• Adidas posted its first FY loss in 30 years and warned of US struggles (RT)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Adobe, Dollar General, Dick’s Sporting Goods

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Hedge fund leverage is near record levels (RT)

• Yellen says US rates ‘unlikely’ to return to pre-Covid levels (BBG)

• SPAC Porticoes Capital plans to acquire failed US banks (FT)

• Goldman to resume bets on US property, despite peers pulling back (RT)

• Brookfield says US office market is world's most oversupplied (RT)

• ECB to emphasize bank lending as it shrinks balance sheet (FT)

• Wall Street slams NY lawmakers over sovereign debt bill (BBG)

• Goldman private credit veteran and co-head Lee Becker exits (BBG)

• EY CEO-elect Janet Truncale to shuffle leadership and plan cost cuts (FT)

• PwC Australia let go of 37 partners, ~300 others following tax leaks scandal (FT)

• Argentina’s $50.3B record bond swap aims to pave way to ending currency controls (FT)

• PIMCO filed for its first mutual fund-to-ETF conversion (FT)

• Toyota agrees to biggest wage hike in 25 years (RT)

• Activist fund Tribeca demanded Glencore move its primary listing to Sydney (FT)

• Global art sales fell 4% to a three-year low of $65B (FT)

• Commodities house Mercuria parts with global head of trading (FT)

• Automakers are scaling back on EV plans (CNBC)

• House passes bill that could lead to a TikTok ban (CNBC)

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

• Canadian PE giant Brookfield is looking to acquire a significant stake in Singapore Telecommunications’ Australian unit Optus in a deal that could value Australia's second-largest telecom group at up to $11.9B (RT) 

• Pension insurance specialist Rothesay agreed to acquire the ~$7.6B Scottish Widows in force bulk annuity portfolio from Lloyds Banking Group (RT) 

• British home and motor insurer Direct Line rejected an improved $4.1B takeover bid from Belgian rival Ageas (RT)

• PE firm Nordic Capital is weighing a sale of Regnology, in a deal which could value the German regulatory software firm at up to $3.3B (RT) 

• Cigarette maker Altria is seeking to sell a portion of its 10% stake in beermaker Anheuser-Busch for as much as $2.2B to fund share repurchases (BBG) 

• Investment firm Kimmeridge Energy Management submitted a new offer to acquire SilverBow Resources that values the oil and gas company at ~$2.1B, including debt (RT) 

• BP and the ADNOC suspended talks on a $2B deal to buy a 50% stake in Tel Aviv-listed NewMed Energy due to uncertainty (FT) 

• Billionaire Hans Georg Näder, the controlling shareholder of Ottobock, agreed to acquire a 20% stake in the German prosthetics company from EQT for ~$1.2B (BBG) 

• India's Reliance Industries agreed to acquire Paramount Global’s entire 13% stake in local entertainment network Viacom 18 Media for ~$517M (RT) 

• Cloud cybersecurity startup Wiz will acquire Gem Security in a $350M all-cash deal (BBG) 

• Investment group Stonepeak acquired stakes in four US onshore wind farms from Denmark's Orsted for $300M (RT) 

• UK plans to ban foreign states from controlling/influencing UK news media, putting a UAE-linked takeover of the Telegraph newspaper by RedBird IMI into question (BBG) 

• Cerberus Capital Management emerged as the frontrunner to buy VeloBank, Poland’s 10th biggest lender by assets (BBG) 

• US House of Reps passed a bill giving TikTok owner ByteDance six months to divest the app or face a ban (RT) 

VC

• Generative AI startup Together AI raised a $106M round at a $1.25B valuation led by Salesforce Ventures (RT)

• Zephyr AI, a healthtech developing ‘fast and explainable’ AI solutions to democratize precision medicine, raised a $111M Series A led by Revolution Growth, Eli Lilly, EPIQ Capital Group, and others (BW)

• OT and IoT security startup Nozomi Networks raised a $100M Series E from Mitsubishi Electric and Schneider Electric (VC)

• Indian fintech Perfios received an $80M investment at a $1B+ valuation from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (TC)

• Climate-tech startup CarbonCapture raised an $80M Series A led by Prime Movers Lab (PRN)

• UXLINK, a Web3 social platform, raised $50M in financing led by OKX Ventures (PRN)

• Eye Security, a Dutch cybersecurity startup, raised a $38.6M Series B led by JPMorgan Growth Equity Partners (FN)

• Interlune, a startup aiming to commercialize natural resources from the moon, raised an $18M seed round led by Seven Seven Six (VC)

• FERMAT, a startup allowing retailers to create a unique shopping experience for customers, raised a $17M Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures (BW)

• Cybersecurity software startup BotGuard raised a $13.1M Series A led by MMC Ventures (FN)

• Tech-enabled, carbon-neutral courier startup Packfleet raised a $10M Series A led by General Catalyst and Voyager Ventures (FN)

• SAPI, a UK-based fintech startup transforming the SMB lending landscape, raised an $8.8M equity round from existing backers (EU)

• Murphy’s Naturals, an outdoor lifestyle company creating natural products, raised an $8M Series B led by Point King Capital (FN)

• RapidCanvas, an AI platform for business, raised a $7.5M seed round led by Accel (BW)

• Big Sur AI, a startup building an AI platform for e-commerce, raised a $6.9M seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (BW)

• Furno, a startup building super efficient modular kilns for the cement industry, raised a $6.5M seed round led by Energy Capital Ventures (TC)

• Aerospace company Phase Four raised $6.3M in financing led by Leonid Capital Partners (BW)

• Steadybit, a German startup improving software reliability through chaos engineering, raised a $6M Series A led by Paladin Capital Group (FN)

• Ai Palette, a startup using AI and ML to help with CPG development, raised a $5.8M Series A-1 led by Tin Men Capital, Exfinity Ventures, and Pi Ventures (FN)

• CDN-switching platform IO River raised a $5.4M seed round led by S Capital (TC)

• EV startup Telo Trucks raised a $5.4M round from Neo and Spero Ventures (TC)

• Joyride, a provider of a shared mobility platform, raised a $5.2M Series A led by Yamaha Motors (FN)

• Orbio Earth, a startup building a satellite-based methane leak detection platform, raised a $4M seed round from the European Space Agency, Initialized Capital, and Y Combinator (TC)

• Autonomo, a startup providing checkout-free software for retailers, raised a $2.6M round led by Potter Ventures and River Capital (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Skincare company Galderma Group set the price range for its $2.6B IPO that may value the company at over $14.3B, Europe’s largest IPO since Porsche’s in 2022 (BBG) 

• Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal’s Airtel Africa, Africa’s second-largest telecom operator, is considering an IPO for its mobile money unit that could value it at over $4B (BBG) 

• DreamSmart Group, a smartphone maker that pivoted toward developing AI for mobile devices, selected CICC and Huatai Securities for a Hong Kong IPO that may value the company at over $2.1B (BBG) 

• PE firm Vista Equity Partners plans to IPO software firm Solera by 2024-end (RT)

• Stripe in ‘no rush’ to IPO as $65B fintech turns cash flow positive (FT)

Debt

• Ultra-luxury development One Beverly Hills raised $2B in financing led by JPMorgan (BBG) 

• UK lender Virgin Money raised $821M through a bail-in debt issue (BBG) 

• HarbourView Equity Partners is raising $500M in financing led by KKR to continue to acquire music royalties (BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Enviva, the largest US wood-pellet exporter, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy thanks to its disaster bet on commodity prices (WSJ) 

• EV startup Fisker prepares for possible bankruptcy filing (WSJ)

• Chinese developer Country Garden missed a coupon payment on a yuan bond for the first time (BBG) 

Fundraising

• Chicago PE firm Wind Point Partners closed its largest ever fund at $2.3B (CB)

Crypto Corner

• SEC can proceed with its lawsuit accusing Gemini Trust and bankrupt Genesis Global Capital of offering unregistered securities (BBG) 

• South Africa is set to license 60 crypto platforms by month-end (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• Financial Times published a hit piece on how Evercore is closing the gap to its bulge bracket rivals.

• Erin Griffith of New York Times thinks venture capital may soon meet a major generational shift.

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