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Good Morning,

Elon Musk is now Twitter's largest shareholder, the Senate reached a Covid funding deal, Jamie Dimon warns of a $1B loss from Russia exposure, the US seized another Russian oligarch's yacht, Starbucks suspended its buyback program, and Peloton slashed the prices for its new strength training device.

I was preparing to write something witty about UNC blowing out Kansas UNTIL THAT SECOND HALF CHOKE JOB BY THE TAR HEELS. Thoughts and prayers to the UNC fans out there, better luck next year.

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

• All major indexes climbed higher yesterday, with the Nasdaq gaining the most thanks to strong performance from tech stocks

  • Twitter led the way for tech after Elon Musk disclosed a 9.2% stake in the company

• Investors will continue to keep an eye on lingering effects from the Russia-Ukraine war

  • One such effect is oil prices, as WTI crude traded back above $100/barrel due to supply disruptions

  • Peace talks are also set to resume, as the EU vows more sanctions

Earnings

• What we’re watching this week: 

  • Wed: Levi Strauss

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Elon Musk revealed a 9.2%, $2.98B stake in Twitter, becoming the platform's biggest shareholder (BBG)

• A furious comeback delivers Kansas its fourth title (NYT)

• Senators reach $10B Covid funding deal for therapeutics, vaccines, and testing (CNBC)

• Hertz plans EV fleet expansion with 65K Polestars (BBG)

• Peloton slashes price of new guide strength-training device by $200 (BBG)

• SoftBank’s Fisher steps down as head of Vision Fund’s US arm (BBG)

• China removes key hurdle to allow US full access to audits (BBG)

• JPMorgan’s Dimon warns of potential $1B loss from Russia exposure (RT)

• Biden calls to put Putin on trial for war crimes over Russia killings in Ukraine (CNBC)

• Starbucks suspends buybacks as Schultz returns as CEO (WSJ)

• Germany offers state guarantees to lure buyers for Gazprom unit (BBG)

• Renault considers separating electric car business, finding partner for legacy assets (BBG)

• Investment firm files FINRA arbitration demand against Morgan Stanley, accusing them of front-running a block trade in Palantir stock last year (WSJ)

• VC powerhouse Sequoia Capital names new leader (WSJ)

• Citi hires four more for healthcare banking in push for growth (BBG)

• The US seized the yacht belonging to Viktor Vekselberg, one of Russia's richest men (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• HDFC Bank, India’s most valuable bank, agreed to buy Housing Development Finance, the country’s largest mortgage lender, in a ~$60B deal (BBG)

• Advent International and Centerbridge Partners are weighing an improved offer for German real estate lender Aareal Bank, weeks after a failed $2B bid (BBG)

• Chip designer AMD agreed to buy cloud startup Pensando for $1.9B (RT)

• Global asset management firm DBAY Advisors made a $1.12B "possible offer" for British social care services company CareTech (RT)

• Morningstar agreed to buy data and news service provider Leveraged Commentary & Data for up to $650M (BBG)

• Japan’s Nippon Steel has completed its purchase of a majority stake in Thai steelmakers G Steel PCL and G J Steel PCL in a combined $477M deal (RT) 

• UK fashion designer Ted Baker is starting a formal sale process seeking higher bids after Sycamore Partners improved its offer for a second time (BBG)

VC

• Contract management software startup LinkSquares raised a $100M Series C at an $800M valuation led by G2 Venture Partners (TC)

• Labster, a platform for virtual labs, raised $47M in funding from Sofina Group and Pirate Impact (BW)

• Banking and financial data aggregator Budget Insight raised $35M in funding from PSG Equity (BW)

• ARC Canada, an advanced small modular reactor (aSMR) technology provider, raised a $24M Series A from the Province of New Brunswick and an undisclosed investor (BW)

• EnKash, a corporate spend management and card platform, raised a $20M Series B led by Ascent Capital (BW)

• ProofPilot, a SaaS startup for clinical trial research, raised a $12M Series B led by Mitsui & Co. (PRN)

• Go North, an Amazon e-commerce aggregator, raised an $8.2M seed round led by eEquity (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Saudi Aramco Base Oil, a unit of the state-controlled oil producer, is planning an IPO that may raise $1B+ (BBG)

SPAC

• Westrock Coffee agreed to merge with Riverview Acquisition Corp in a $1.1B deal (RT)

Debt

• Citigroup is underwriting a $1.2B bond sale for the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (BBG)

Fundraising

• SeaX Ventures raised a $60M Fund II to invest in Southeast Asian startups  (PRN)

• Crypto staking company Chorus One launched a $30M venture fund (TBC)

Crypto Corner

• Digihost becomes first publicly traded bitcoin miner to offer bitcoin dividend payments (CD)

• Intel launches new bitcoin mining chips focused on sustainability (DC)

• SEC Chair Gensler calls for more regulation on stablecoins and crypto firms’ custody, market-making arms (TBC)

Exec's Picks

• If you think the line between work and leisure has been blurred during work-from-home, you're not alone. The Atlantic's Derek Thompson wrote about how our new work environments have created more meetings and longer work hours. Check out his latest here

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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