Together with

Good Morning,

Barclays named two new co-heads of investment banking, Coinbase's CPO stepped down after making $105M in stock options, a technical glitch caused the NYSE to briefly halt trading for several stocks, US business activity contracted for a 7th straight month, Eurozone business activity unexpectedly improved, and Walmart is raising its minimum wage to $14 per hour.

Looking to diversify your portfolio with artwork? Check out today's sponsor, Masterworks.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed yesterday's session relatively mixed as investors assessed the first batch of major corporate earnings and business activity data

  • The Dow nonetheless had its third-straight day of gains

• The dollar edged lower against the euro on strong eurozone business activity data and weak American data

Earnings

• Capital One missed on Q4 EPS and revenue estimates despite 11% YoY revenue growth boosted by higher net interest income and non-interest income (MW)

• Microsoft beat Q2 EPS estimates on strong growth in its Intelligent Cloud segment and Productivity and Business Processes segment, but took a $1.2B charge in relation to laying-off 10k employees; their stock rose 4.2% AH (CNBC)

• General Electric beat Q4 EPS estimates on robust jet engines and power equipment demand, but offered a disappointing 2023 profit forecast amid persistent problems with its renewable energy business (RT)

• 3M missed on Q4 EPS estimates and forecast a gloomy Q1 amid slowing demand for its consumer and electronic items, while also announcing 2.5k manufacturing job cuts; their stock fell 6.25% yesterday (RT)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Tesla, Raymond James, AT&T

  • Thursday: Blackstone, Intel, Visa, Southwest Airlines

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US is massively underperforming global stock markets (CNBC)

• A technical glitch caused NYSE to briefly halt trading for numerous blue chip stocks (FT)

• US business activity contracted for a seventh straight month, albeit slower (RT)

• Eurozone business activity unexpectedly improved (RT)

• EU is paying more to borrow with its joint bonds than its leading members (FT)

• US fund managers are turning away from China and towards Europe for growth (FT)

• US oil & gas M&A dropped 13% YoY to a 17-year low in 2022 (RT)

• US employers are cutting temporary workers at increasingly fast rates (WSJ)

• Rich customers are pulling money from banks amid scanty savings rates (WSJ)

• China's high-yield dollar bond index regained 50% in the last two months on Beijing support measures (FT)

• Amazon will offer a $5/month subscription plan for US Prime members that will cover generic drugs and their doorstep delivery (RT)

• DOJ and eight states sued Alphabet for 'corrupting' ad market and violating antitrust laws, seeking to break up its online ad business (AX)

• Barclays named Taylor Wright and Credit Suisse veteran Cathal Deasy as new IB co-chiefs (BBG)

• Walmart will raise its minimum wage to $14/hour (CNBC)

• Uber Freight cut 150 jobs or ~3% of its head count (CNBC)

• The SEC awarded $28M to a whistleblower group (RT)

• US private jet buyers are seeking distressed planes in sign of market slowdown (RT)

A Message From Masterworks

Investment Platform Goes 9 for 9 with Profitable Exits in 2022

Last year was a bloodbath for the average retail investor. Adjusting for inflation, the S&P 500 plummeted 25%, while a Total Bond index declined 20.3% – the worst results in nearly 100 years.

Despite this dismal backdrop, one investment platform saw its best year ever.

You’ve heard me talk about the blue-chip art investing platform Masterworks for the last 2 years, not only because of its unicorn status, but also because of their impressive results. All 11 of their exits have been profitable, 9 of those in 2022, with the last 3 realizing +13.9%, +35.0%, and +10.4% net returns each.

The formula to their successful track record lies in the strength of the art market through downturns. Even through the dotcom bubble, and Great Financial Crisis, the art market was resilient.

By qualifying every offering with the SEC, Masterworks makes it easy for retail investors to stake their claim in the high-end art market. And as a trusted partner, ExecSum readers can skip the waitlist to join here.

See important Regulation A disclosures.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Online real estate business CoStar Group is in talks to acquire real estate media site Move Inc. from News Corp for ~$3B (BBG)

• Oil and gas producer Matador Resources agreed to buy Advance Energy Partners for $1.6B (RT)

• Bain Capital is in talks to buy 12% of Blackstone's 24% stake in India's largest REIT Embassy Office Parks in an up to $480M deal (RT)

• A group of investors including Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger and KKR co-founder Henry Kravis agreed to buy a 3.3% stake in VC firm Thrive Capital for ~$175M (WSJ)

• Blackstone-backed investment vehicle Hipgnosis Song Management agreed to buy Justin Bieber’s publishing copyrights, master recordings, and neighboring rights for his entire back catalog, which includes 290 songs released before the end of 2021, for $200M (BBG)

• The Qatar Investment Authority boosted its stake in Credit Suisse to 6.87% from ~5.6% previously (BBG)

• Chinese EV maker BYD is in talks to buy a manufacturing plant in Germany from carmaker Ford (WSJ)

• Israeli energy company NewMed said its proposed merger with the UK’s Capricorn Energy is now less likely to proceed after Capricorn ditched a slew of board members and postponed a meeting to approve the deal (BBG)

• Media mogul Rupert Murdoch scrapped a proposal to combine Fox and News Corp after investor pushback (FT)

VC

• Fintech startup DailyPay raised $260M: a $160M RCF from Barclays and Angelo Gordon and a $100M term loan from SVB Capital and a fund managed by Neuberger-Berman (PRN)

• Reimbursement and spend management platform PayEm raised $220M in debt / equity ($200M credit line / $20M Series A) from Viola Credit, Mitsubishi Financial Group, Collaborative Fund, and others (TC)

• Paris-based quantum computing startup Pasqal raised a $109M Series B led by Temasek (TC)

• Tranch, a BNPL platform for SaaS sellers and services providers, raised a $100M seed round which included equity led by Soma Capital and FoundersX and a credit facility from Clear Haven Capital Management (BW)

• Osmo, a startup looking to find substitutes for hard-to-source aromas, raised a $60M round led by Lux Capital and Google Ventures (WD)

• QuickNode, a blockchain deployment platform, raised a $60M Series B at an $800M valuation led by 10T Holdings (TC)

• Forward Networks, a startup building digital twins to aid in network operations, raised a $50M Series D led by MSD Partners (TC)

• Robotic mowing startup Scythe raised a $42M Series B led by Energy Impact Partners (TC)

• Komprise, a startup helping companies index, manage, and transform data, raised a $37M round from Canaan Partners, Celesta Capital, Multiplier Capital, and Top Tier Ventures (TC)

• SoundHound, a voice AI company, raised a $25M round from “a diverse set of financial and strategic investors” (TC)

• Metabolon, a provider of metabolomics solutions, raised $25M in funding (PRN)

• Memfault, a platform helping manufacturers manage the increasing volume of edge hardware, raised a $24M Series B led by Stripes (TC)

• B2B sales and financing platform Vartana raised a $12M Series A led by Mayfield (TC)

• Accord, a collaboration platform designed to support B2B sales, raised a $10M Series A led by Matrix Partners, Nat Friedman, and Y Combinator (TC)

• Elo, a startup creating personalized protein powder from wearables data / health history, raised a $10M Series A led by Octopus Ventures (BW)

• Speakeasy, a DTC solution for alcohol brands, raised a $6.8M seed round led by InvestBev (PRN)

• The ISH Company, a plant based seafood company, raised $5M in seed funding led by ACCELR8 (PRN)

• Elements, a mobile-first financial monitoring platform, raised a $5M seed extension round led by Flyover Capital (BW)

• Zurp, a fintech platform for superfans, raised a $5M pre-seed round from New Form, MAGIC Fund, Launchpad VC, OVO Fund, and more (BW)

• Sandbar, a startup providing anti-money laundering software, raised a $4.8M seed round led by Lachy Groom and Abstract Ventures (BW)

• Tribes, a Web3 messaging app, raised a $3.3M pre-seed round led by Kindred Ventures, South Park Commons, and Script Capital (PRN)

• Satellite mission management startup Quindar raised a $2.5M seed round from Y Combinator, FCVC, Soma Capital, and Liquid 2 Ventures (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Virgin Australia, the country’s second-largest airline, plans to interview bankers for an IPO as soon as this year (BBG)

Debt

• Crypto infrastructure firm Blockstream raised $125M in convertible notes and secured loan financing to expand its bitcoin mining hosting services (CD)

• Export-Import Bank of China offered Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on its debt (RT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Mattress maker Serta Simmons filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it seeks to cut its debt to $300M from $1.9B (BBG)

• Silicon photonics company Rockley Photonics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection less than two years after going public via a SPAC merger (BBG)

Fundraising

• Silicon Valley-headquartered VC firm Pegasus Tech Ventures and Japanese chemical / life science company Denka set up a $100M fund to invest in early to late-stage startups in renewable energy, EV batteries, chips, and health tech (TC)

Crypto Corner

• Binance moved $346M for seized crypto exchange Bitzlato (RT)

• North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group was responsible for the $100M theft from crypto firm Harmony's (RT)

• Binance mistakenly mixed their customer funds with B-Token collateral (BBG)

• Coinbase’s CPO is stepping down after cashing in on $105M in stock option sales (DLN)

Exec's Picks

• Invest in the Company Behind The Walking Dead – If you could invest in the company behind one of television’s biggest hits ever, would you? Well here’s your chance. Skybound entertainment, the entity behind The Walking Dead, Invincible, Impact Winter, and 150+ other intellectual properties announced its first-ever Regulation A+ campaign. Check out their offering here.

• 💤 The ideal sleeping position is on the side, and the Marlow Pillow adapts to give side sleepers the support they need. It's made with a proprietary fill of memory foam and polyester fiber, and it was designed for easy adjustability, allowing users to find the exact loft profile that fits them. Upgrade your sleep game with a Marlow Pillow!

• MAGNiTT gave a detailed breakdown of Saudi Arabia's 2022 venture capital activity here.

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

Thinking of starting your own newsletter? Beehiiv is the best platform for creators, period. Click here to get started building your own audience.