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Good morning,

Still buzzin' from this past weekend's shenanigans but managed to get Exec Sum out on time for y'all with help from our intern, Karl. 

Djokovic got booted from Australia, bank earnings are coming in hot all week, Southeast US got clapped by a winter storm, Netflix raises prices, Tiger Woods has a SPAC, Unilever looks for a massive acquisition, VC deals hit an all-time high, everyone can order free at-home covid tests, Morgan Stanley named 199 new MDs, and the only thing performing worse than Chamath's SPACs is his public relations.

Four day week ahead of us, let's dive in.

Before The Bell

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• Markets closed down on Friday after bank stocks posted underwhelming earnings reports, leading major indexes to close in the red for the second straight week to start the year

• Retail sales were reported last week and came in down 1.9% in December (worse than the 0.1% decline that economists expected)

• This week will see big earnings reports continue to be a driver for markets, with huge names like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Netflix reporting

Earnings

• JPMorgan Chase shares slid 6% on Friday despite the bank posting better-than-expected profit and revenue; the negative reaction could be due to large credit reserve release boosting earnings

• Citigroup also saw their stock fall after the bank beat on revenue estimates but logged a 26% decline in their bottom line

• BlackRock shares dropped 2%+ after the company beat on EPS but slightly missed on quarterly revenue

• Wells Fargo CEO thanked a pickup in loan demand in the second half of the year for the bank’s better-than-expected revenue figure; shares added 3%+ on Friday

• What we’re watching this week:

  • Tues: Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab, PNC, Truist

  • Wed: Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, United Airlines, Procter & Gamble

  • Thurs: American Airlines, Netflix, KeyBank, Fifth Third Bank

  • Fri: Ally

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Djokovic departs Australia after losing a shot at tennis history (BBG)

• Texas synagogue hostages freed, gunman dead after standoff (BBG)

• Wall Street’s big banks are set to tap the corporate bond market (BBG)

• Greek seniors face monthly fine for failure to get Covid shot (BBG)

• Venezuela grew 4% in 2021 and on road to recovery (BBG)

• Southeastern US braces for major winter storm (BBG)

• AT&T leads bidders spending $22.5B on 5G airwaves (BBG)

• Amazon brand startup Thrasio launches $500M India push (BBG)

• US VC deals notched ATH of $330B in 2021 (RT)

• Citigroup sticks with its Covid-19 vaccine mandate, while GE drops its rules (WSJ)

• US residents can order free, at-home Covid-19 tests starting on January 19th (TC)

• Netflix raised its prices in the US and Canada (TC)

• Credit Suisse’s surprise chairman exit leaves its bankers unfazed (BBG)

• Morgan Stanley names 199 new MDs, most since 2012 (BBG)

• Goldman’s most elite rank to get millions in special payouts (BBG)

• Chamath Palihapitiya says 'no one cares' about Uyghur genocide (CNBC)

A Message From 800º GO

Get your slice of the $54B pizza market with 800º GO

800 Degrees Pizza and Piestro have teamed up to create 800º GO: a fully automated robotic pizzeria that crafts fresh artisanal pizza within 3 minutes. 

Combining sophisticated culinary offerings with cutting-edge technology, 800º GO is redefining the restaurant industry with lower costs, a highly scalable concept, and the exact same ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques you'd see in a professional kitchen.

Slashing labor and real estate costs without sacrificing quality, 800º GO boasts profit margins 2x that of traditional pizzerias. 

Put some dough towards 800º GO right here.

Deal Flow

M&A

• Unilever bids $68B for drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare unit (NYT)

• Elliott Investment Management and Vista Equity Partners are in advanced talks to buy software-maker Citrix Systems, which as of Friday had an $11.9B market cap (BBG)

• United Overseas Bank agreed to buy Citigroup’s consumer-banking unit in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam for ~$3.6B (BBG)

• Sixth Street Partners is the leading bidder for Italian energy group Eni’s power generation unit that could fetch up to $1.4B (RT)

• Activist investor Macellum Advisors is renewing a push for Kohl’s to explore sale or make changes (BBG)

• Education materials and research publisher Houghton Mifflin is exploring a potential sale (BBG)

• A group including ​​Itochu Corp agreed to buy a 26.1% stake in Japanese industrial conglomerate Hitachi’s construction machinery unit for $1.6B (BBG)

• Centricus Asset Management is in talks to buy a majority stake in film and TV producer Imagine Entertainment at a potential $600M+ valuation (BBG)

• ODP, the parent of Office Depot and OfficeMax, said it will delay plans to split into two publicly traded companies in order to evaluate a possible sale of its consumer business (BBG)

• Brazilian mall operator Aliansce submitted a non-binding merger of equals offer to peer BR Malls in a potential ~$244M deal (RT)

• Consumer products company Mars agreed to buy D2C pet-food brand Nom Nom (BBG)

• Citigroup expects to start the sales process for its consumer, small-business and middle-market banking units in Mexico in the spring (BBG)

• Spain is considering taking a direct stake in Air Europa as part of a revised plan to rescue the troubled airline (BBG)

VC

• Checkout technology company Bolt raised a $355M Series E at an $11B valuation led by BlackRock (TC)

• Warehouse robotics startup Exotec raised a $335M Series D at a $2B valuation led by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity (TC)

• Enterprise crypto asset software and data provider Lukka raised a $110M Series E at a $1.3B valuation led by Marshall Wace (BW)

• Indian fintech app INDmoney raised a $75M Series D at a $600M valuation led by Tiger Global, Steadview Capital, and Dragoneer (TC)

• Turkish social mobile game startup Spyke raised a $55M seed round led by Griffin Gaming Partners (TC)

• Ugandan asset financing startup Asaak raised a $30M pre-Series A round from Resolute Ventures, Social Capital, and more (TC)

• EVage, an Indian startup building commercial electric trucks, raised a $28M seed round led by RedBlue Capital (TC)

• Browser-based contract automation platform Juro raised a $23M Series B led by Eight Roads (TC)

• Vangst, a hiring platform for the cannabis industry, raised a $19M Series B led by Level One Fund (TC)

• AI-powered logistics automation startup 7bridges raised a $17M round led by Eight Roads (TC)

• Shenzhen based chip designer Moffett AI raised a Series A in the ‘tens of millions’  led by CoStone Capital and Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund (TC)

• Ghanian fintech startup Float raised a $17M seed round ($10M equity & $7M debt) led by Cauris and Tiger Global (TC)

• E-commerce analytics and data company Daasity raised a $15M Series A led by VMG Catalyst (TC)

• Spanish ‘salary advance’ startup Payflow raised a $9.1M Series A from Seaya Ventures and Cathay Innovation (TC)

• DeFi platform Giddy raised an $8M seed round led by Pelion Ventures (PRN)

• Connected healthcare technology provider H2U raised a $8M round led by SHARP and Foxconn (BW)

• DeFi-oriented NFT marketplace Burnt Finance raised an $8M Series A led by AnimocaBrands (TC)

• Botanical Solution, a startup focused on the sustainable production of agricultural & pharmaceutical materials, raised a $6.1M Series A led by Otter Capital (BW)

• Singapore-based industrial robotics firm Sesto raised $5.7M in a funding round featuring TRIVE, WTI GmbH and SEEDS Capital (TC)

• Satellite imaging startup Wyvern raised a $2.25M seed round and $2.25M in combined pre-seed and government funding (TC)

• Science-based app for ADHD InFlow raised a $2.3M seed round led by Hoxton Ventures (TC)

• Plant-based hair extensions startup Rebundle raised a $1.4M pre-seed round led by M25 (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Permira and Hellman & Friedman are working with banks on the IPO of call-center technology provider Genesys at a potential $30B+ valuation (BBG)

• StubHub, which operates ticket resale platforms StubHub and Viagogo, is exploring a direct listing at a potential $13B+ valuation (BBG)

• LG Energy raised $10.7B in South Korea’s biggest IPO (BBG)

• Dubai’s road-toll collection system Salik Toll picked Moelis for its local stock exchange listing (BBG)

• Auction house Sotheby’s selected Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to work on potential US IPO (BBG)

• Contact lens and eye-care product maker Bausch + Lomb filed for a US IPO (BBG)

SPAC

• Dog-walking startup Wag Labs is in talks to merge with CHW Acquisition Corp. in a potential ~$350M deal (BBG)

• Tiger Woods-backed Sports & Health Tech Acquisition Corp. filed to raise $150M in an IPO to merge with a company focusing on sports or health tech (BBG)

Exec's Picks

• Unprecedented Access. That’s what you’ll get when you sign up for Early Public Offering. Their newsletter and video platform includes interviews with the world's top startup investors. Learn where the experts are investing, what trends they’re watching, and the investment frameworks they use – all at earlypublicoffering.com.

Big Swinging Decks Podcast

🚨 New Tuesday, new BSD 🚨

This week, Lit and Mark welcome the FIRST guests ever on the pod: FRIDAY BEERS.

The Barrett bros behind Friday Beers open up about their backgrounds, cover the development of the business, and make a few EXCLUSIVE announcements, including a highly confidential JV with Litquidity.

Catch the latest episode on Spotify and Apple Music 🤝

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 40+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

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