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Good Morning,

Coinbase may relocate outside the US without changes to regulation, China’s GDP grew 4.5% YoY in Q1, US consumers are falling behind on payments, EU agreed to a $47B chip plan in response to US/Asia competition, McKinsey and Bain are delaying start dates for MBA hires, and US craft beer production remained flat in 2022.

Today’s sponsor, Plaid, was named a Leader (the top distinction) in the Forrester Wave: Open Banking Intermediaries Q1 2023 report, which is kind of a big deal. Check out the report here.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• All three US indexes closed flat yesterday as investors continued to digest major earnings

  • The VIX fell to its lowest level since January 2022

• The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.4% to a fourteen-month high

• MSCI World index rose 0.2% to its highest level since early-February

Earnings

• Bank of America beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates on hefty interest payments from customers and decade-high bond trading results on the back of high rates; CEO Moynihan sees a relatively mild recession (CNBC)

• Goldman Sachs beat Q1 EPS estimates but missed on revenue on underwhelming fixed income trading and losses on the sale of some assets in its Marcus consumer business; Goldman earnings was the sole disappointment among major peers yet (CNBC)

• Western Alliance Bancorp beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates on a 36% YoY gain in interest income, while affirming its FY deposit growth forecast of ~15% despite the recent turmoil; their stock surged 13% AH (RT)

• Netflix beat Q1 EPS estimates but missed on revenue on disappointing subscriber growth driven by its password-sharing crackdown; the firm also revealed worse-than-expected Q2 projections (YH)

• Johnson & Johnson beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates on growth in all three business segments and raised its FY sales guidance but lowered pharmaceuticals projections amid FX headwinds (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Morgan Stanley, Tesla

  • Thursday: Blackstone, Truist, TSMC

  • Friday: Procter & Gamble

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Debt limit deadline might be sooner than expected (RT)

• China GDP grew 4.5% YoY in Q1 amid end to Covid curbs (RT)

• Investor allocation to stocks relative to bonds fell to lowest level since 2009 (BBG)

• US consumers are increasingly falling behind on payments (RT)

• EU agreed a $47B chip plan in response to US/Asia competition (RT)

• Credit Suisse will report Q1 earnings before UBS next week (RT)

• UK business insolvency surged to a post-Covid high in March (RT)

• Jamie Dimon will face questioning in Jeffrey Epstein cases (RT)

• McKinsey and Bain delay start dates for MBA hires (WSJ)

• UBS will modify its $6B share buyback program amid Credit Suisse takeover (RT)

• Kim Kardashian’s SKKY Partners hired six Wall St professionals including a new COO from Apollo (BBG)

• Anti-Ark ETF founder plans to launch two new Ark-tied ETFs (BBG)

• DE Shaw, Millennium and AQR are expanding India presence (RT)

• ChatGPT can decode Fed speak and predict stock moves from headlines (BBG)

• China banned Raytheon and Lockheed Martin execs from entering (RT)

• Burger King is banking on TikTok virality to boost sales (RT)

• Ex-Latham M&A chair Mark Gerstein joined PJT Partners as senior advisor (RT)

• US craft beer production remained flat in 2022 in historic first (AX)

• Fox settled for $787M with Dominion over election claims lawsuit (CNBC)

A Message From Plaid

The Plaid Train Keeps A-Rollin’

No, not the pattern (although we’re surprisingly big fans of that).

We’re talking about Plaid, the financial services company, which was just named a Leader by Forrester New Wave for the 2nd year in a row.

FYI – Exec Sum readers can get exclusive free access to the full report right here.

For the unfamiliar, this is a big deal. By being named a Leader (the top distinction) in the Forrester Wave: Open Banking Intermediaries, Q1 2023, Plaid has claimed their place among the heavy hitters of the industry – pretty impressive, considering the company has only been around since 2013.

Plaid excelled thanks to their polished product, scoring points for both “strong current offering” and “stronger strategy”. Take a peek at the report to see the metrics for yourself.

Download your copy of the Forrester New Wave Report right here.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• French billionaire Rodolphe Saade offered to buy holding company Bollore’s logistics arm for $5.5B (BBG)

• UK drugmaker GSK agreed to buy Canadian biotech Bellus Health for ~$2B (BBG)

• Freight service operator Nippon Express is in talks to buy Austrian logistics provider Cargo-Partner, which could be valued at $1B+ (BBG)

• State-owned telecom firm China Mobile is considering buying Hong Kong-based telecom firm HKBN, which has a market value of $1B (RT)

• French utility Veolia Environnement is preparing a sale of Sade, its French water-pipe installation business, at a potential $329M valuation (BBG)

• French lender Credit Mutuel is in talks to buy peer BNP Paribas’ consumer finance unit in Hungary (BBG)

• Bank Goldman Sachs is exploring the sale of its Greensky fintech business as it moves to scale down its retail ambitions (RT)

• UK-based Liontrust Asset Management is in talks to buy Swiss investment management firm GAM (RT)

• Activist investor Litt’s Land & Buildings Investment Management urged REIT Apartment Investment and Management to evaluate all potential alternatives, including a sale (RT)

VC

• Miovision, a Canadian startup providing intelligent transportation solutions, raised $260M in funding co-led by Telus Ventures, Maverix Private Equity, and Export Development Canada (FN)

• Intelligence platform Maltego received $100M in growth funding from Charlesbank Technology Opportunities Funds (FN)

• Bitcoin financial services company Unchained raised a $60M Series B led by Valor Equity Partners (FN)

• Code security platform Semgrep raised a $53M Series C led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (TC)

• Cyber risk management platform Safe Security raised a $50M Series B led by Sorenson Capital (PRN)

• Clerkie, an AI-powered debt automation platform, raised a $33M Series A led by Left Lane Capital (PRN)

• Intelligent care enablement platform Memora Health raised a $30M round led by General Catalyst (FN)

• Ariceum Therapeutics, a biotech company developing radiopharmaceutical products, raised a $27.4M Series A extension co-led by Andera Partners and Earlybird Venture Capital (FN)

• Nativo, a content technology platform where advertisers and publishers distribute brand stories at scale, raised $25M in structured capital from Capital IP (PRN)

• SpecterOps, a provider of adversary-focused cybersecurity solutions, raised a $25M Series A led by Decibel (BW)

• Sunvigo, a provider of residential solar systems, raised $21.4M in funding; $13.1M in growth capital from Future Energy Ventures and Triodos Energy Transition Europe Fund and $8.3M in financing from DKB AG (FN)

• nZero, a near-real-time carbon management and accounting platform, raised a $16M Series A led by Fifth Wall and a national US energy company (PRN)

• 3D printing startup Quantica raised a $15.4M Series A led by an undisclosed family office (FN)

• Composable checkout platform Rally raised a $12M Series A led by March Capital (BW)

• Xenocor, a startup building a fog-free, articulating, single-use laparoscope, raised a $10M Series A led by GenHenn Venture Fund I (PRN)

• BlueMark, a provider of independent impact verification and intelligence in the impact and sustainable investing market, raised a $10M Series A led by S&P Global (FN)

• AI-powered retina scanning startup Mediwhale raised a $9M Series A led by SBI Investment (TC)

• Evergrow, the all-in-one platform for clean energy tax credits, raised a $7M second round of financing led by First Round Capital, XYZ Venture Capital, Congruent Ventures, and Garuda Ventures (PRN)

• Confidential computing startup Oblivious raised a $5.9M seed round led by Cavalry Ventures (FN)

• Functional hydration brand Cure Hydration raised a $5.6M Series A led by Lerer Hippeau (FN)

• VR game studio Vinci Games raised a $5.1M seed round led by Makers Fund (BW)

• FinTech startup Charm Solutions raised a $3.5M seed round led by BootstrapLabs (FN)

• Myxt, a provider of a collaborative music workplace, raised a $2M seed round from backers including Accel and Quiet Capital (FN)

• Minagro, a Belgian startup developing green products for crop care, raised $1.3M in funding led by the management team (FN)

• THE LNK, a cross-border online marketplace, raised a $1M seed round led by Reetu Gupta and Suraj Gupta (PRN)

• Inboxbooster, a tech startup helping emails reach inboxes without spam, raised a $1M seed round from backers including Y Combinator and angels Francois Lagunas, Razvan Roman, and Ralph Gootee (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese sportswear company Anta plans to raise $1.5B in a private share sale (WSJ)

• Avianca Group International, Colombia's largest airline that filed for bankruptcy during the pandemic, is planning a New York/London IPO in the next 12-18 months (BBG)

SPAC

• Hearing-aid maker Envoy Medical agreed to merge with Anzu Special Acquisition Corp. I in a $150M deal (LAW)

Debt

• Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will issue AT1 bonds worth $1B in first bank AT1 issue since March (NKK)

• Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison is seeking to raise $1B in a US dollar bond sale (NDQ)

• Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (or Taqa) raised $1.5B via dual tranche bond issuances, including its first green bond (GT)

• UK-based LXi REIT raised $702M to refinance short-term debt maturities (MS)

• UAE property developer DAMAC sold a three-year $400M Islamic bond (RT)

• Canada will issue USD-denominated bonds in first since 2020 (MW)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Cineworld abandoned plan to sell its Eastern European and Israeli businesses (RT)

Fundraising

• European Investment Bank and five EU countries launched a $41.1B fund of funds to invest in VCs that back European scaleups (SFT)

• Australian PE firm Glow Capital Partners raised $37M for its debut fund (AVCJ)

Crypto Corner

• FTX’s restart plan attracted interest from Tribe Capital, a VC that previously invested in FTX (BBG)

• Intel ended production of its bitcoin mining chip series (RT)

• Coinbase may relocate outside the US unless the country changes its approach to regulation (BBG)

• Coinbase's CEO sees crypto firms developing 'offshore' without clear US rules (RT)

• BNY Mellon is going 'incredibly slow' on crypto (CD)

• Bitcoin 30-day average mining revenues rose to highest level in ten months (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• Technology news continues to cross over into the mainstream, with banking collapses, AI breakthroughs, and nonstop volatility in the venture capital industry. The Information has been a great resource to stay up to speed on insider news that does not get covered by TechCrunch, The Verge, or Bloomberg. Highly recommend a subscription to anyone serious about tech or venture capital. You can check them out here.

• Axios covered everything you need to know about what’s next for Juul after settling thousands of lawsuits.

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