Together with

Good Morning,

Shoppers love BNPL, investors see interest rate cuts coming soon, higher mortgage rates are weighing on new home sales, Blackstone’s CEO is eyeing RE deals in Europe, Amazon is the biggest delivery company in the US, and KKR sees private credit in Asia outperforming.

Is your old mattress lumpy, uncomfortable, and ready to bite the dust? Take advantage of Eight Sleep’s Cyber Monday Deal and get $500 off your new mattress today! Plus use code “LIT” at checkout for an additional discount on top of the CM deal.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks slightly fell after four weeks of consecutive gains

  • The S&P led indices with a 0.2% decline

• Treasuries extended their powerful November rally as traders weighed mixed US government debt sales amid bets that the Fed is done raising rates

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: CrowdStrike, Workday, Intuit, Pinduoduo, 

  • Wednesday: Salesforce, Dollar Tree, Snowflake, Foot Locker

  • Thursday: Kroger, UiPath, TD Bank, Dell

  • Friday: Bank of Montreal

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Investors see interest-rate cuts coming soon, recession or not (WSJ)

• Higher mortgage rates weigh on US new home sales in October (RT)

• Saudi Arabia seeks OPEC+ oil quota cuts while some member resist (BBG)

• Blackstone CEO eyes real estate deals in Europe (BBG)

• Microsoft needs a better seat at OpenAI’s table (WSJ)

• The biggest delivery business in the US is no longer UPS or FedEx, it’s Amazon (WSJ)

• More US shoppers tack on buy now, pay later debt for Cyber Monday (RT)

• KKR sees private credit returns in Asia beating US and Europe (BBG)

• How Shell, Chevron are delaying US efforts to refill its emergency oil reserve (BBG)

• Tesla sues Swedish government after postal workers allegedly block license plate deliveries (CNBC)

• China scrambles to contain a looming shadow-bank meltdown (WSJ)

• US whiskey is ‘collateral damage’ in Trans-Atlantic trade fight (WSJ)

• Virgin Atlantic jet to lift off for maiden transatlantic voyage on low-carbon fuel (RT)

• Australia begins crackdown on vaping, to ban import of single-use devices (RT)

• 3M, DuPont defeat massive class action over forever chemicals (RT)

A Message From Eight Sleep

Upgrade your mattress game with Eight Sleep’s Cyber Monday sale!

Humans spend roughly one-third of their lives sleeping. A good night’s sleep is vital for every human to survive. So why not get the best out there? Enter Eight Sleep.

Eight Sleep is a high-tech smart bed system that has taken Silicon Valley by storm. With built-in heating and cooling system, multiple foam layers to deliver comfort, and analytics tracking to help you optimize your sleep and recovery, Eight Sleep is the complete package.

The best part? Eight Sleep is giving the Litquidity community a limited time offer through November 30th for Cyber Monday:

• Mattresses: $500 off

• Covers: $250 off

• Accessories: 20% off with purchase of Mattress/Cover

LASTLY, you can use code "LIT" at checkout to get an additional discount ON TOP of the Cyber Monday special!

So what are you waiting for? Order your Eight Sleep today by clicking below:

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Castlelake, an asset manager with $22B AUM, is exploring options, including a sale (BBG) 

• The German billionaire Schaeffler family increased its offer for electric vehicle specialist Vitesco Technologies to $4.2B after mounting shareholder criticism (FT)

• EU antitrust regulators warned that Amazon’s $1.4B acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot may restrict competition (RT)

• PE firm TJC will acquire L3Harris Technologies’ commercial aviation solutions division for $800M (RT)

• British investment firm Digital 9 Infrastructure agreed to sell its $575M stake in data group Verne Global to cut debt and improve its finances (RT)

• Brazilian energy company Eneva submitted a non-binding stock-for-stock merger proposal to local fuel distributor Vibra Energia (RT)

• Trendy hometown Chicago food retailers Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market are merging in an all-stock merger to create an entity called Outfox Hospitality (BBG) 

• The Dutch government approved Chinese-owned Nexperia’s acquisition of chip firm Nowi Energy (BBG)

• Sweden’s EQT is buying a majority stake in Japanese software startup HRBrain, which specializes in human resource management (BBG) 

• Heavily indebted French supermarket group Casino received preliminary expressions of interest for the sale of some of its hypermarkets and supermarkets (BBG) 

• BNP Paribas Cardif purchased a 51% stake in the insurance arm of Italy's BCC ICCREA (RT)

• Taiwan Cement is expected to increase its stake in Turkey’s Oyak Cement Group and to own a majority of shares in its Turkish joint venture after a transaction to buy more shares from Turkey’s Army Pension Fund (BBG)

VC

• Sono Motors, a Munich-based startup developing solar tech for cars, raised $126.6M in funding led by Yorkville (EU)

• ZeroAvia, a developer of zero-emission aviation engines, raised a $116M Series C led by Airbus, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital, and NEOM Investment Fund (PRN)

• Aesthetics and wellness booking platform RepeatMD raised $40M in a funding round led by Centana Growth Partners and Full In Partners (TC)

• PhysicsX, an AI platform for engineering simulations, raised a $32M Series A led by General Catalyst (TC)

• Payment splitting startup Mozaic raised a $20M Series A from Volition Capital (TC)

• EMotorad, an Indian e-bike startup, raised a $20M Series B led by Panthera Growth Partners (TC)

• Travel tech startup WeRoad raised a $19.7M Series B led by H14 (FN)

• Virtual entertainment company AnotherBall raised a $12.7M seed round led by ANRI and Hashed (PRN)

• Quantum sensing startup QuantumDiamonds raised a $7.7M seed round led by IQ Capital, Earlybird, Onsight Ventures, and more (FN)

• Construction marketplace Construex raised a $4.6M seed round led by Zacua Ventures and Fifth Wall (TC)

• Generative Engineering, a London-based physical product design software provider, raised a $4M seed round led by EQT Ventures (FN)

• Aptus.AI, a Pisa-based regtech startup, raised a $3.3M pre-Series A led by VC P101 (FN)

• Drug delivery device developer 1nhaler raised a $2.5M round led by Archangels (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Fashion retailer Shein confidentially filed for a US IPO that could take place next year (BBG)

• Reddit.com is holding talk with investors over a potential IPO as soon as Q1 of 2024 (BBG) 

• Kim Kardashian’s Skims is weighing options including an IPO (BBG)

Debt

• Roche Holding, the financing arm of the Swiss pharmaceuticals giant, is selling at least $1.6B of euro-denominated bonds to help fund its $7.1B acquisition of Telavant Holdings (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Americanas reached an agreement with bank creditors to overhaul some of its debt; the bankrupt Brazilian retailer will receive a $4.9B capital increase (BBG) 

• Investors in British lender Metro Bank backed a $1.2B rescue plan for the bank that hands majority control to its biggest shareholder, Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski (RT)

Fundraising

• Investment firm Star Mountain Capital closed its Star Mountain Strategic Credit Income Fund IV at $820M to make loans to US small businesses (WSJ)

• Investment firm Wave Equity Partners is raising $400M for its third fund to invest in green energy companies (AX)

• Indian PE firm True North raised over $120M for a credit fund (RT)

Crypto Corner

• Iran-backed militant groups from Hamas to Hezbollah now prefer fast-growing crypto network Tron over Bitcoin (RT)

• A US judge ruled that Binance Holdings’ co-founder Changpeng Zhao could not return to his home in the United Arab Emirates (BBG)

• Singapore proposed regulations that further harden its stance against retail speculation in crypto, including barring individual investors from borrowing to trade (BBG) 

• Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial entered into a pact with SBI Holdings to circulate USDC in Japan (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• Are you looking for the best banking app? Look no further! Onyx Private is here to redefine your banking journey with 2% APY on your Checking Account. Instantly add funds to your account via your external debit card and simplify your financial management. Enjoy the new Premium AI-enhanced financial advisor, available via in-app chat for all your money questions. Join us with the LIT010 code and receive a 10% discount.

• Byrne Hobart discussed whether or not Argentina can (and should) dollarize its economy.

• The New Yorker published a detailed profile on Nvidia’s founder and CEO, Jensen Huang.

Litney Partners - Financial Recruiting 💼💼

If you're currently a junior investment banker looking to break into the buy side, considering lateraling to another investment bank, or have recently been impacted by widespread layoffs, it's time you check out Litney Partners, a partnership between Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates at leading private equity, hedge fund, venture capital, growth equity, and credit funds, as well as investment banks.

To get started, simply head over to the Litney website and create your profile by dropping your resume / filling out the form:

Meme Cleanser

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures // Book a call with Lit // Launch your own newsletter