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Good Morning,

The Dow hit 38,000, China is weighing a massive stock market rescue package, the EU is upgrading its economic security, US debt hit a record high, Facebook has made a major change after years of PR disasters, humans are still cheaper than AI for most jobs, and Canada is capping international student permits.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose as the Dow and S&P hit all-time highs

  • The Dow led indices with a 0.36% gain to close above 38,000 for the first time

• Asian stocks mostly rose, with Japan’s Nikkei notching a fresh 34-year high

  • Chinese stocks plunged as Hong Kong’s HSI approaches its lowest close since 2009

• Bitcoin prices fell below $40,000, continuing a downtrend that began when bitcoin ETFs were approved

Earnings

• United Airlines beat Q4 earnings and revenue expectations but forecasted a Q1 loss due to the FAA’s grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes this month (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Netflix, Verizon, 3M, Johnson & Johnson, RTX, P&G, Lockheed Martin 

  • Wednesday: Tesla, AT&T, IBM, ASML, Progressive

  • Thursday: Intel, Visa, Blackstone, American Airlines, Comcast, Next Era Energy

  • Friday: American Express

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Dow touches 38,000 for first time (WSJ)

• China weighs stock market rescue package backed by $278B (BBG)

• US debt hits record high as rich economies pile on IOUs (AX)

• EU to upgrade economic security to shield key tech from China (BBG)

• Home sales were the lowest in almost 30 years in 2023 (WSJ)

• Alphabet’s Moonshot X lab cuts staff, turns to outside investors (BBG)

• Facebook made a major change after years of PR disasters, and news sites are paying the price (CNBC)

• Humans still cheaper than AI in vast majority of jobs, MIT finds (BBG)

• Charles Schwab faces more uncertainty after tough 2023 (WSJ)

• Canada to cap international student permits amid housing crunch (RT)

• New details emerge about SEC’s X account hack, including SIM swap (CNBC)

• More workers want to change jobs, but the market is getting tougher (WSJ)

• Exxon sues two ESG investors (WSJ)

• Top House democrat seeks DOJ probe of AI-generated Biden robocalls (AX)

• Samsung races Apple to develop blood sugar monitor that doesn’t break skin (BBG)

• Macy’s urged by Arkhouse to open books after rejecting takeover bid (BBG)

• Fed review clears central bank officials of violating rules (WSJ)

• Southwest Airlines pilots approve new five-year contract (CNBC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Sony Group and Zee Entertainment Enterprises officially called off their $10B media merger in India (BBG) 

• US gas station owner Sunoco agreed to acquire pipeline and fuel storage company NuStar Energy for $7.3B in an all-stock deal (BBG) 

• Argus Media’s CEO Adrian Binks and existing investor General Atlantic will acquire PE firm Hg’s stake in Argus in a deal valuing the energy and commodity data provider at a ~$4.6B EV (FT) 

• Spanish telecom Cellnex is considering selling a minority stake in its Polish operations in a deal that would likely value the Polish unit at over $3.3B, including debt (RT) 

• State-backed French lottery operator Française des Jeux will acquire Stockholm-listed gambling group Kindred in a $2.8B deal (FT) 

• Olympus Partners, the PE owners of Rise Baking Company, are preparing a sale of the US bakery provider that could value the company at ~$2.5B, including debt (RT) 

• Fashion firm Kering, the owner of Gucci and Balenciaga, acquired Manhattan building 715-717 Fifth Ave for ~$963M (BBG) 

• Affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management will acquire a large portion of debt collection company Intrum’s investment portfolio for $785M (RT) 

• British catering company Compass Group agreed to acquire rival CH&CO in a deal valuing the Royal Opera House caterer at $604M, including debt (RT) 

• London-listed investment firm Bridgepoint acquired anti-aging skincare brand RoC Skincare from Gryphon Investors in a ~$500M deal (RT) 

• Sandoz, a pharmaceutical company specializing in generics, will acquire Cimerli, a biosimilar drug to treat vision impairment and loss, from Coherus BioSciences for $170M (RT)

VC

• Device-as-a-Service platform Everphone raised a $295.4M Series D led by Citigroup, Phoenix Insurance, and KfW (FN)

• Voice cloning startup ElevenLabs raised an $80M Series B at a $1B+ valuation led by a16z, Nat Friedman, and Daniel Gross (TC)

• Captain Fresh, an Indian B2B harvest-to-retail marketplace for animal protein, is in talks to raise $50M in funding from Nekkanti Sea Foods, SBI Investment, Evolvence, Tiger Global, and Prosus Ventures (TC)

• Vertical Aerospace, an electric aviation company, raised $50M in funding from founder and CEO Stephen Fitzpatrick (BW)

• Comtech Telecommunications, a global technology company providing terrestrial and wireless network solutions, raised $45M in funding from White Hat Capital Partners and Magnetar (BW)

• Sano Genetics, a UK-based provider of a software platform for precision medicine clinical trials, raised an $11.4M round led by Plural (FN)

• ForthStar, a UK-based mobile free-to-play game studio, raised $10M in funding from Griffin Gaming Partners (BW)

• Artisse AI, a Hong Kong-based startup specializing in human-centric AI image tech, raised a $6.7M seed round led by The London Fund (FN)

• Talofa Games, a startup building social fitness games, raised a $6.3M seed round led by Chamaeleon (FN)

• Brenus Pharma, a startup working on an anticancer vaccine, raised a $4.7M round from Bpifrance (BW)

• Kenyan agtech Shamba Pride raised a $3.7M debt / equity pre-Series A led by EDFI AgriFI and Seedstars Africa Ventures (TC)

• MitoSense, a startup developing neurodegenerative disease treatments, raised a $3.5M seed round led by Caydan Capital Partners (PRN)

• Clinical development company 3Daughters raised a $2M+ seed round led by Thairm Bio (FN)

• Huler, a UK-based worktech company providing an employee experience platform, raised a $1.8M round from MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund (FN)

• Bolden Therapeutics, a neurogenesis-focused biotech startup, raised a $1.5M pre-seed round led by Resolute Venture Partners (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Wilson tennis rackets maker Amer Sports is seeking to raise up to $1.8B at an $8.7B valuation for its US IPO (RT) 

• Shenzhen Gantang Mingshan Catering, a popular Chinese grilled fish diner chain, is considering a Hong Kong IPO (BBG)

Debt

• Direct lenders are competing with banks to finance a potential LBO of DocuSign with a debt package worth as much as $8B (BBG) 

• Saudi Arabia’s PIF raised $5B through the sale of dollar-denominated bonds (BBG) 

• Swedish startup H2 Green Steel secured a $4.6B debt package for the world’s first large-scale green steel plant in northern Sweden (BBG) 

• Truist Financial and Fifth Third Bank raised $4.5B through the US bond market (BBG) 

• The University of California will raise ~$1.7B through the municipal bond market by issuing general revenue bonds (BBG) 

• German real estate company Branicks will try to push back over $436M of debt coming due this year as it faces liquidity pressures due to a property market downturn (BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Peru lacks the funds to bail out struggling state-owned oil company Petroleos del Peru, which had requested $2B (BBG) 

• Eike Batista’s shipbuilding company OSX Brasil filed a request for bankruptcy protection in a Brazilian court with over $1.6B in debt (BBG)

Fundraising

• Australia's Macquarie Group raised $8.7B for its seventh European Infrastructure Fund (RT) 

• Canadian climate investor ArcTern Ventures raised $335M for its latest early stage fund, Fund III (AX) 

Crypto Corner

• Blockchain and lending startup Figure Technologies is seeking SEC approval to issue an interest-bearing stablecoin (BBG) 

• FTX's bankruptcy estate sold ~$1B of Greyscale’s Bitcoin ETF (CD)

Exec’s Picks

• Apoorv Agrawal discussed how and why Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and Google are investing so much venture capital into AI startups.

• 76ers’ GM Daryl Morey chatted with Patrick O’Shaughnessy about decision-making, superstar athletes, and more.

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