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Good Morning,

Caroline Ellison testified against her former boss/boyfriend, Biden confirmed that Americans are being held hostage by Hamas, higher interest rates are likely to persist for longer, PE deal flow is slow, banks are benefiting from rising rates, and Deloitte is expanding in the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Today’s sponsor, Mercury, launched a new video series focusing on what drives five founders forward as they build and scale their businesses.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose as 10-year yields hit lowest level in October

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 0.58% gain

• European stocks notched their largest gain in 11 months thanks to a rally in US Treasuries and unconfirmed reports of Chinese stimulus; Stoxx Europe 600 closed 2% higher

Earnings

• PepsiCo beat Q3 earnings and revenue expectations and raised its FY earnings outlook (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Thursday: Delta Airlines, Domino’s Pizza, Walgreens

  • Friday: JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, UnitedHealth Group

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Biden confirms Americans are being held hostage, calls Hamas attack “sheer evil” (CNBC)

• Higher bond yields likely to extend Fed rate pause (WSJ)

• Fed’s Daly says neutral interest rate could be higher than pre-pandemic (BBG)

• Private equity exits sink to one of the lowest points in over a decade (WSJ)

• Europe gives Musk 24 hours to respond about Israel-Hamas war misinformation and violence on X (CNBC)

• Harvard ignites backlash over delayed response to Hamas attack on Israel (BBG)

• Banks got $280B boost from rising rates (BBG)

• Deloitte expands as PwC Maldives, Sri Lanka network firms exit (RT)

• How Ozempic and Wegovy turned Novo Nordisk into a $400B company (CNBC)

• Finland says ‘outside activity’ likely damaged pipeline, telecoms cable (RT)

• Sales slow at Louis Vuitton’s owner as China sputters (WSJ)

• Boeing’s 737 MAX output falls to lowest level in two years (WSJ)

• Qantas Chairman to step down next year to repair airline’s reputation (BBG)

• GM, Canadian union reach tentative agreement, ending strike (RT)

• Calpers CEO says early next year ‘Best Case’ for naming new Investment Chief (BBG)

• Consumers are less interested in brands taking stances on sociopolitical issues (WSJ)

A Message From Mercury

Mercury Presents: Stories of Ambitious Founders

90 percent of startups fail. Only 10 percent succeed in the long term. With odds like that, what could make an entrepreneur want to embark on the startup journey? The answer is simple: ambition. 


In our new video series, we pull back the curtain on what’s driving five founders forward as they build and scale their businesses. From creating the largest university in the world to reimagining the future of childcare, the vision behind each of the companies is as unique as the founders working to bring them to life.

Get inspired and dive into each of the five stories now.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• ExxonMobil is close to a $58B deal to buy shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources (BBG)

• PE firm Stone Point is in talks to acquire Truist Financial’s insurance brokerage business for ~$10B (RT)

• KKR is considering a ~$4.2B sale of European car park operator Q-Park (BBG)

• PGT Innovations, a US maker of vinyl and aluminum doors and windows, rejected a $1.9B takeover offer from rival Miter Brands, which is backed by Koch Industries (RT)

• Japan's Denso and Mitsubishi Electric will each invest $500M into auto chipmaker Coherent’s silicon carbide business for a 12.5% non-controlling stake in the unit (RT)

• Consumer packaged goods company Post Holdings will acquire pet product producer and packager Perfection Pet Foods for $235M (GNW)

• Singapore PE investment firm Capital Square Partners will acquire Startek, a global customer solutions provider, at a $217M EV (PRNW)

• Ares Management will invest $100M and form a strategic partnership with Vinci Partners Investments to help the alternative investments platform expand in Latin America (BW)

• Spanish utility Iberdrola is in talks to sell a 49% stake in a 300-megawatt portfolio of Portuguese renewable assets to Norway’s sovereign wealth fund (BBG)

• Hong Kong-based investor Southwind Media is exploring a possible 80% stake sale in Spanish sports rights and broadcasting group Mediapro (RT)

• Wintershall Dea, billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s energy venture with chemicals producer BASF, is in advanced talks to sell a 10% stake in the Ghasha offshore gas concession in the UAE to a unit of Thai state-owned energy company PTT (BBG)

• Electronic market maker GTS acquired algorithmic trading firm HC Tech’s foreign-exchange trading assets (BBG)

• AMD will acquire AI startup Nod.ai to bolster its software capabilities in its effort to catch Nvidia (RT)

VC

• Pair Eyewear, a D2C customizable eyewear brand, raised a $75M Series C led by Prysm Capital (TC)

• Maritime autonomy startup Saronic raised a $55M Series A led by Caffeinated Capital (PRN)

• Cybersecurity startup Gutsy raised a $51M seed round led by YL Ventures and Mayfield (TC)

• TileDB, a startup building a ‘modern database’, raised a $34M Series B led by AlleyCorp (BW)

• Cleanlab, a startup automating data curation for analytics solutions, raised a $25M Series A led by Menlo Ventures and TQ Ventures (BW)

• Erthos, a Tempe-based utility-scale solar company, raised a $24M round led by Capricorn’s Technology Impact Funds (FN)

• Commons Clinic, a spine and orthopedics care provider, raised a $19.5M Series A led by RA Capital Management (FN)

• Optimize Health, a remote healthcare platform, raised an $18M Series B led by Foundry and Escalate Capital Partners (PRN)

• Modal Labs, a platform providing cloud-based infrastructure to data teams, raised a $16M Series A led by Redpoint Ventures (TC)

• Thread, a startup developing a robotics platform to collect inspection data for utilities, raised a $15M Series A led by Badlands Capital (TC)

• AI-driven postoperative monitoring startup FluidAI Medical raised a $15M Series A led by SOSV and Graphene Ventures (PRN)

• Contract management startup Harbour raised a $15M Series A led by Getty Images co-founder Jonathan Klein, Scribble Ventures, and The Palmer Company (TC)

• 3D printing startup Azul 3D raised a $15M Series A led by DuPont (BW)

• Alternative lending tools provider Kennek raised a $12.5M seed round led by HV Capital (EU)

• SuperOps.ai, a startup streamlining IT management for managed service providers, raised a $12.4M Series B led by Addition and March Capital (TC)

• Restaurant-centric insurance startup Orus raised an $11.6M Series A led by Notion Capital and VR Ventures (TC)

• Data observability startup Acceldata raised a $10M Series C extension from Prosperity7 Ventures (TC)

• Arctop, a brain decoding software platform, raised a $10M Series A led by Fifth Growth Fund and Supermoon Capital (PRN)

• Korio, a clinical trial management platform, raised $6.8M in funding led by Excelerate Health Ventures (PRN)

• Minds.ai, a semiconductor manufacturing startup, raised a $5.3M seed round led by Monta Vista Capital (VC)

• Audoo, a startup developing a device that tracks music played in public, secured a $5M investment from Sir Elton John and David Furnish (EU)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Birkenstock priced its IPO at $46/share, giving the German shoemaker a market value of ~$8.6B at IPO price; Birkenstock and its PE backer L Catterton are set to raise $1.5B (WSJ)

• KKR is set to raise $728M through its sale of shares in Japanese chip-equipment maker Kokusai Electric, which set its IPO price range below earlier guidance (BBG)

• Netherlands-based payment services provider PayU plans to ask for regulatory approval in February for an IPO worth at least $500M in India (RT)

• Africa-focused Lango Real Estate is targeting an IPO in Q2 of 2025 (RT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Mallinckrodt, one of the largest opioid manufacturers in the US, received bankruptcy court approval to wipe out over $1B of payments meant for addicts while handing control of the company to creditors (WSJ)

• Chinese property developer Country Garden warned that it would be unable to meet all of its offshore debt payments (RT)

• Chinese property developer Kaisa told court that creditors would receive less than 5% of their money back if the company is forced into liquidation (RT)

• Chinese EV startup WM Motor filed for bankruptcy (RT)

Crypto Corner

• Caroline Ellison testified that former boss and boyfriend SBF directed her to commit crimes (BBG)

• The owner of crypto exchange Bitfinex is exploring a $150M share buyback offer to hack victims (BBG)

• A Brazilian congressional committee recommended the indictment of four of Binance’s senior leaders, including Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• This Financial Times piece explained how Austrian and Argentinian “century bonds” got whacked by increasing interest rates.

• Casey Newton discussed how Threads could replace the site formerly known as “Twitter” as the de facto news source on the web.

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