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Good Morning,

Workers are getting a share of profits in KKR's deals, Citigroup and Apollo teamed up in a private credit push, Elliott slammed Southwest's CEO, Supermicro fell into deeper trouble, and China is going founder god mode on economic stimulus.

Learn advanced financial modeling and stand out as a top valuation expert with the FMVA^® Certification from CFI, the #1 rated finance training provider. 

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose as investors digested upbeat economic data

  • S&P notched its third record-high this week

• China's CSI 300 rose 4.2% yesterday on track for its best week in a decade

• Hong Kong's HSI rallied 4.2% to a one-year high in its best day since March 2023

• MSCI's EM stock index rose 2.3% in its best day since November

• China 30Y yield fell to 2.14% to the lowest in nineteen years

• Silver is up 35% YTD at its highest since 2012

• Oil plummeted on reports of Saudi abandoning its $100/bbl price target

Earnings

• Costco comfortably beat Q4 EPS estimates but missed on revenue due to continued caution in spending by budget-conscious consumers (RT) 

• CarMax climbed 5% after beating Q2 EPS estimates as price cuts on used vehicles boosted unit sales (YH) 

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• China is assembling an 'economic bazooka' (WSJ)

• China will issue $284B in debt, vows action on real estate and rates (BBG)

• US Q2 GDP growth was revised upwards to 3% (YH)

• M&A seen slowing ahead of US elections (RT)

• US money market assets hit record $6.4T despite Fed rate cut (BBG)

• Saudi Arabia may abandon $100/bbl target to take back market share (FT)

• Workers get share in windfall as PE firms soften image (FT)

• UK tells audit firms to report PE approaches (FT)

• PE-backed Belron is planning the biggest-ever dividend recap (FT)

• Citigroup and Apollo formed a $25B private credit JV (BBG)

• Wells Fargo sends Fed crucial review in fight against asset cap (BBG)

• DOJ is probing Supermicro days after scathing Hindenburg short report (WSJ)

• Activist Elliott slammed Southwest's CEO amid strategy overhaul (NYP)

• Sam Altman denies receiving equity stake in OpenAI (CNBC)

• Argentina's poverty rate soared above 50% in H1 (RT)

A Message From CFI

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Ready to get started? Check out CFI's FMVA^® Certification today.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Validus Energy agreed to buy rival Citizen Energy for over $2B, including debt (RT) 

• PE firm TPG will acquire a minority stake in wealth manager Homrich Berg at a ~$1B valuation (RT) 

• Visa agreed to acquire AI payments protection firm Featurespace for ~$935M (RT)

• Australian fund manager Platinum Asset Management rejected a $421M takeover offer from hedge fund Regal Partners (RT) 

• A consortium including KKR will take a 74% stake in regional airport operator Queensland Airports from a group including Macquarie (WSJ) 

• Satellite-TV firm DirecTV is in advanced talks to merge with rival Dish (WSJ)

• General Atlantic chairman Bill E. Ford acquired a significant minority stake in English football team York City FC (BBG) 

• South African bank FirstRand agreed to acquire HSBC's South African corporate bank (BBG) 

VC

• Observe, an AI-based SaaS observability startup, raised a $145M Series B from Evolution Equity Partners and Madrona Ventures (PRN)

• Marvel Fusion, a startup building laser-powered fusion reactors, raised a $70M Series B led by HV Capital (TC)

• Dinii, a cloud-based restaurant management platform, raised a $45M Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Hillhouse Investment (TC)

• Gladly, an AI-powered unified customer service platform, raised a $40M round led by AVP (PRN)

• Global debt collection fintech InDebted raised a $40M Series C led by Airtree, Australian Retirement Trust, and Premier Capital Partners (PU)

• Prepared, a technology 'revolutionizing' 911 calls, raised a $27M Series B led by a16z (TC)

• Bot Auto, an autonomous vehicle tech startup, raised a $20M pre-A round led by Brightway Future Venture, Cherubic Venture, and more (BW)

• DeepOpinion, an Austrian enterprise GenAI automation platform, raised an $11M Series A led by Red River West and AIpha Intelligence Capital (EU)

• Tetrix, a startup helping LPs optimize private market investments, raised a $5M seed round led by Innovation Endeavors (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Fintech Chime, which was valued at $25B in 2021, hired Morgan Stanley to lead a 2025 IPO (BBG) 

• SoftBank-backed Indian food-delivery platform Swiggy filed for a $1.3B IPO at a  targeted a $15B valuation (RT) 

• Bakery firm Europastry is planning a $234M Spain IPO at a $1.7B valuation (BBG) 

• Saudi Arabia's Fourth Milling Company is set to raise $229M in a local IPO (RT) 

• Healthcare firm Guardian Pharmacy raised $112M in its US IPO (RT)

Debt

• Turkey raised $3.5B in a record dollar-bond sale (FT)

• Saudi Aramco sold $3B in dollar-denominated sukuk bonds (BBG)

• Telecoms firm Windstream sold a $1.3B debt package to refinance debt (BBG)

• India's HDFC Bank offloaded $1.8B in housing and car loan portfolios to a range of asset managers and state-controlled banks to plug margins (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• US-listed oil refiner Vertex Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with plans to sell (BBG) 

• UK cinema chain Cineworld's restructuring is being challenged by its landlords (BBG) 

• Troubled French telecom Altice held talks with funds including Apollo about raising new debt to repay upcoming maturities (BBG) 

Crypto Corner

• Robinhood and Revolut are weighing launching stablecoins (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• Gain insights into the latest trends in private and public markets, and network with leaders in data, tech, finance and operations at S&P Global's flagship Interact conference in New York on October 15-16. Hear the latest on private credit, the role for AI, and more. Register here.

• Matt Phillips wrote an insightful piece on how Covid served as a boon for US corporate profitability. A great piece in light of raging stock valuations…

Litquidity x Tech Week Giveaway

This October, Litquidity is helping bring Tech Week to California: San Francisco (10/7 - 10/13) and Los Angeles (10/14 - 10/20).

To kick things off, we’re giving away 100 limited-release Litquidity x Tech Week sweaters and setting aside a few guest spots for our exclusive events.

To enter the giveaway, simply (1) like this post, (2) tag a friend in the comments, (3) follow both @litquidity and @techweeka16z on Instagram.

Investment Banking Opportunity

Cascadia Capital - Investment Banking Analysts & Associates

• Independent middle market advisory is hiring experienced IB associates and analysts in Austin, Minneapolis and Seattle

• The firm is expanding after a significant investment from ex-Barclays CEO Bob Diamond and several senior banker hires.

• Seeking associates and analysts across technology, industrials, consumer, and business services coverage, and analysts in capital markets and generalist roles

Meme Cleanser

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