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Good Morning,

PE is largely absent from recent IPOs, eurozone exited a recession, Dave & Buster’s will allow customers to bet on arcade games, Binance's founder was sentenced to four months, and multi-strat HF Weiss filed for bankruptcy.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks tumbled after strong wage data and deteriorating consumer confidence weighed on investor sentiment ahead of today's Fed decision

  • All three major US indexes snapped five-month winning streaks

  • The Dow lost 5% for its worst month since September 2022

• US 2Y yield surpassed 5%

• Traders are positioning for the biggest Fed-day move in the S&P since 2023 

Earnings

• Amazon beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates as profit more than tripled on cost-cutting efforts and growth in advertising and cloud computing; it nonetheless missed on Q2 forecast (CNBC)

• AMD shares fell ~7% despite reporting better-than-expected Q1 EPS and revenue and meeting Q2 guidance estimates (CNBC) 

• Starbucks tumbled ~12% after reporting weaker-than-expected Q2 EPS and revenue, fueled by a surprise decline in same-store sales (CNBC) 

• Eli Lilly rose ~6% on a Q1 beat-and-raise thanks to a big forthcoming increase in production capacity for its diabetes and obesity drugs (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Mastercard, Qualcomm, Pfizer, CVS, KKR

  • Thursday: Apple, Coinbase, DraftKings, Apollo Global Management

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• PE is largely absent from US IPO market recovery (BBG)

• VCs increasingly adding 'portfolio sale clauses' in funding rounds (SFT)

• Capital markets union plan gets backing from European funds body (FT)

• Eurozone exits recession as inflation steadies (RT)

• JPMorgan broadens roles for sales execs (RT)

• Commodity ETFs pull in most cash since 2022 on sticky inflation (BBG)

• Walmart launched a premium brand to compete with Whole Foods (WSJ)

• Traders scramble for US storage as distillates demand disappoints (RT)

• Walmart to shut US health clinics over lack of profitability (RT)

• Caterpillar will delist from two European exchanges (RT)

• Edtech stocks tank over 10% on ChatGPT popularity (CNBC)

• Pot stocks surge on report DEA set to reclassify Marijuana (BBG)

• Tesla cut its entire supercharging team, including execs (TI)

• Dave & Buster’s will allow customers to bet on arcade games (CNBC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Financial information company S&P Global is weighing options for its mobility business, including a full sale that could value the unit at over $12B (RT) 

• Spanish lender BBVA approached smaller rival Banco Sabadell, which has a ~$10.5B market cap, to express interest in a potential takeover (BBG) 

• Emirates Telecommunications Group is considering a potential acquisition of $8.5B eastern European carrier United Group (BBG) 

• Chinese state-owned Guangdong Holdings is considering a bid for the China operations of logistics firm GLP in a deal that could value the unit at ~$6.9B (BBG) 

• Chinese state-owned Shanghai Lujiazui Finance & Trade is offering to sell 20 Shanghai office towers for over $4.1B (BBG) 

• SES agreed to acquire Intelsat for $3.1B cash to create a satellite giant to compete with Musk’s Starlink (BBG) 

• KKR is nearing a deal to acquire a multibillion-dollar minority stake in PG&E’s power generation business (WSJ) 

• Technology consultant Perficient, which has a $1.7B market cap, is considering a potential sale (BBG) 

• SEA pharma company Far East Drug agreed to acquire a majority stake in Singapore’s Fullerton Health at a ~$1B valuation (BBG) 

• Private medical supplier Medline will acquire water solutions company Ecolab’s global surgical solutions business for $950M in cash (RT) 

• Blackstone is nearing a deal to buy some of Dulwich College International’s Asian assets from school operator Education in Motion for ~$600M (BBG) 

• Tamarix Equity Partners and Pacific General Holdings, the PE owners of Playa Bowls, are exploring options including a sale of the acai bowl chain that may fetch a ~$300M valuation (RT) 

• French hospitality giant Accor is in advanced talks to acquire luxury hotel brand Habitas (BBG) 

• LVMH is exploring options for its Marc Jacobs fashion brand amid interest from potential buyers (BBG) 

• Carlyle held preliminary talks with Germany's IG Metall union on taking a majority stake in Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (RT)

• CVC Capital Partners is considering options for its 20% stake in toll-management firm DKV Mobility after majority owner Fischer family shelved its IPO (RT) 

VC

• Newsletter publishing platform and Litquidity-portco beehiiv raised a $33M Series B led by NEA (TC)

• Island, an enterprise browser company, raised a $175M Series D at a $3B valuation led by Sequoia Capital (TC)

• Corelight, a cybersecurity platform providing AI-driven security and cloud-native security capability, raised a $150M Series E led by Accel (PRN)

• Climate risk coverage platform Arbol raised a $60M Series B led by Giant Ventures and Opera Tech Ventures (PRN)

• Enterprise SaaS startup AiDash raised a $58.5M Series C led by Lightrock (BW)

• Elisity, an identity-based microsegmentation startup, raised a $37M Series B led by Insight Partners (BW)

• SafeBase, a startup automating software security reviews, raised a $33M Series B led by Touring Capital (TC)

• AI-driven B2B furnishing platform Inhabitr raised a $27M Series B led by Hamilton Ventures (PRN)

• Invent Analytics, a retail planning solutions provider, raised a $17M Series B led by LFX Venture Partners (VC)

• Fashion-focused carbon management platform Carbonfact raised a $15M round led by Alven (TC)

• ‘Wallet-as-a-service’ startup Ansa raised a $14M Series A led by Renegade Partners (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Spanish beauty and fragrance group Puig Brands raised $2.8B in its IPO after pricing shares at the top of a marketed range (BBG) 

• Cruise operator Viking Holdings priced its IPO near the top of a marketed range to raise $1.54B (BBG) 

• ZF Friedrichshafen hired BNP Paribas, Citi, and Goldman Sachs to explore a potential sale or IPO of its airbag unit at an over $3.2B valuation (RT)

• Australian retailer Woolworths will sell a 5% stake worth $303M in Endeavour Group (RT)

• Third-party logistics provider WWEX Group tapped underwriters led by JPMorgan ahead of a potential US IPO (BBG) 

Debt

• Dubai Holding refinanced an $8.2B loan to replace older facilities at two state-backed developers it absorbed last month (BBG) 

• JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Apollo and Oaktree are among firms in discussions to lead a $1.1B syndicated refinancing for metal and hardware producer ASC Engineered Solutions (BBG) 

• Chicken finger fast food chain Zaxby’s plans to sell $285M in asset-backed bonds (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Premier League team Everton FC held talks with restructuring advisors after Miami-based 777 Partners struggled to complete its takeover (BBG) 

• Hedge fund Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers filed for bankruptcy two months after shutting down (BBG) 

• Chinese developer Jinke prepared a preliminary plan for a court-led restructuring (RT) 

• Lenders to bankrupt Indian airline Go First will discuss options including liquidation after a court allowed lessors to take back planes (RT) 

Fundraising

• Saudi Arabia's PIF will invest $5B in BlackRock to form BlackRock Riyadh Investment Management to invest in the Middle East (BBG) 

Crypto Corner

• Binance founder 'CZ' was sentenced to four months in prison (WSJ)

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• FT covered the unique dilemma of crypto ETFs that are receiving digital assets they did not buy and cannot sell.

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