Good Morning,

The Fed is expected to pause, but not pivot, after a tame inflation report, Deutsche Bank’s asset manager is targeting a Holy Grail of the world’s ultra-rich, Morgan Stanley hopes for a drama-free CEO handoff, Disney wants sports leagues as ESPN partners, tech investors are wary of ‘new era’ of China investment restrictions, and the US is set to crack down on real estate money laundering.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks inched slightly higher as investors digested lower than expected July inflation data of 3.2%

• Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.84% thanks to strong corporate earnings and an inflation reading at 3.6%

• Japanese yen fell to its lowest against the euro since 2008 after a weak US CPI report

• US 30Y Treasury auction yielded 4.189%, highest since 2011

Earnings

• Alibaba shares rose almost 4% after beating analyst estimates and reporting its largest revenue increase since September 2021 (CNBC)

• Brookfield stock rose 5% after reporting a 21% increase in distributable earnings due to strength in its insurance solutions and asset management business (YF)

• Ralph Lauren beat Q1 estimates but shares fell ~5% due to weak guidance as it struggles to find growth in the US market (BRN)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Friday: Soho House, Spectrum Brands

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Fed seen pausing after tame CPI data, but mission not over (BBG)

• US core CPI posts smallest back-to-back increases in two years (BBG)

• US 30-Year Treasury auction yielded 4.189%, highest since 2011 (BBG)

• Deutsche Bank’s asset manager targets ‘Holy Grail’ of world’s ultra rich (BBG)

• Litquidity is launching a padel and wellness club (NYP)

• Amazon cuts dozen of house brands as it battles costs, regulators (WSJ)

• Kim Kardashian tapped ex-Apple, Burberry executive for PE firm (WSJ)

• Disney wants sports leagues as ESPN partners, but it’s not clear sports leagues want ESPN (CNBC)

• Tech investors face ‘new era’ of China restrictions after Biden order limits funding in AI chips (CNBC)

• US set to unveil long-awaited crackdown on real estate money laundering (RT)

• US rent just $16 shy of record high as shellter costs drove July inflation (BBG)

• X CEO Linda Yaccarino explains reason for getting rid of Twitter name (CNBC)

• NFL to raise price of NFL+ streaming packages as it adds NFL Network, Redzone (WSJ)

• Colleges spend like there’s no tomorrow (WSJ)

• Hawaii wildfires: Biden vows immediate aid, deploys military to assist victims (CNBC)

• TV giants clash over NBA, NHL, MLB games as local rights go up for grabs (CNBC)

• Average Manhattan rent hit a new record of $5,588 / month (CNBC)

A Message From Litquidity

Hey all! The Litquidity ecosystem has continued to expand in 2023 and figured it would be an appropriate time to remind y’all what we’ve got for our subscribers and followers:

Litney Partners: If you are an investment bank or investment firm (PE, HF, VC, Credit, Growth, etc.) and are looking to hire junior talent (analysts up to VPs), we’d love to work with you. We are disrupting junior finance recruiting by leveraging the latest technologies and social media to tap into a highly engaged and targeted audience. To get in contact with us, email [email protected]

Bond Racquet & Wellness: As featured exclusively in the New York Post yesterday, Litquidity is a co-founder of a new racquet and wellness club. We have an event in East Hampton next Saturday (August 19th) and look forward to seeing y’all out there. The event is sponsored by Wilson and all proceeds from the event will be donated to the Ellen Hermanson Cancer Foundation. If you’re interested in coming by, fill out this quick form!

The Litquidity Syndicate: We’ve maintained an active deal flow pipeline the last few months and continue to deploy capital into exciting startups. If you have interest in getting exposure into early stage VC deals across tech, consumer, media, wellness, and more, please fill out this brief survey. Note: you must be an accredited investor or qualified purchaser to participate in these deals!

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Italy signed a preliminary deal to receive up to a 20% stake in KKR’s $25.3B bid for Telecom Italia’s landline grid (BBG)

• India approved a merger between Sony’s South Asian unit and Zee Entertainment Enterprises, which will help clear the way for the creation of a $10B media giant (BBG)

• Coach parent Tapestry will buy Michael Kors owner Capri Holdings in an $8.5B deal that will create a US fashion powerhouse (RT)

• Montreal-based Public Sector Pension Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan are exploring options including a sale of Cubico Sustainable Investments, which could fetch as much as $6B, including debt (RT)

• US packaging company Berry Global is weighing options for its nonwoven fabrics business, including a potential sale that could be worth as much as $2B (BBG)

• Osaka Gas and Sumitomo Corp are nearing a deal to acquire a 30% stake in Think Gas Distribution in a deal that could value the Indian natural gas supplier at $1.5B (BBG)

• Weight loss drug Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk will acquire experimental weight-loss treatment company Inversago Pharma for as much as $1.1B (BBG)

• Madison Dearborn Partners, the PE owner of Intermedia Cloud Communications, is exploring a sale of the communications services provider for over $1B, including debt (RT)

• Cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies will acquire network security company Perimeter 81 in a $490M cash-free, debt-free deal (BBG)

• Canada's Algonquin Power & Utilities, which is struggling with $7.5B in debt, is considering a sale of its renewable energy unit (RT)

VC

• Healthmap, a Tampa-based health management company focused on kidney disease, raised a $100M round led by WindRose Health Investors (FN)

• Moove, an African mobility fintech providing vehicle financing to drivers of ride-hailing platforms, raised $76M: $28M in equity led by Mubadala Investment Company and $38M in previous funds raised during the past 12 months (TC)

• Data visualization startup Virtualitics raised a $37M Series C led by Smith Point Capital (TC)

• ‘Water intelligence’ startup Wint raised a $35M Series C led by Insight Partners (TC)

• Heart valve technology developer Capstan Medical raised a $31.4M Series B led by Eclipse (FN)

• Trove, a startup helping brands resell items, raised a $30M Series E led by Wellington Management and ArcTern Ventures (BW)

• Autonomous sidewalk delivery company Serve Robotics raised $30M in funding led by Uber Technologies, NVIDIA, and Wavemaker Partners (FN)

• Deepset.ai, a Berlin-based developer of a platform for building enterprise apps with large language models, raised a $30M round led by Balderton Capital (FN)

• Data privacy management platform Osano raised a $25M Series B led by Baird Capital (TC)

• Fizz, a social media platform exclusively available for college students, raised a $25M Series B led by Owl Ventures (FN)

• Identity management platform Veza raised a $15M round at a $415M valuation led by Capital One and ServiceNow (TC)

• Incident response management platform Rootly raised a $12M Series A led by Renegade Partners (TC)

• Web3 security auditing startup Spearbit raised a $7M round led by Framework Ventures (TC)

• Middleware, a cloud observability platform provider, raised a $6.5M seed round led by 8VC (FN)

• BioFlyte, a biothreat detection firm, raised a $5.4M round led by Scout Ventures and Cottonwood Technology Fund (BW)

• KetoSwiss, a startup developing products to improve brain energetics, raised a $4.8M pre-Series A led by William K. Warren Foundation (FN)

• Advertising experience platform Monetizr raised a $4M round led by Change Ventures (FN)

• Pistachio, an Oslo-based cybersecurity company, raised $3.6M in funding led by Signals Venture Capital (FN)

• Robots-as-a-Service startup Saeki raised a $2.3M seed round led by Wingman Ventures (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Esdec Solar Group, a Blackstone-backed solar firm, is seeking to IPO at a valuation of over $5B (BBG)

• Chinese home appliance giant Midea Group picked Bank of America and China International Capital Corp. for a Hong Kong IPO as soon as 2024 (BBG)

• London-listed office rental firm IWG is considering moving its listing to New York (RT)

SPAC

• Vietnamese EV maker VinFast will list on Nasdaq next week through its $23B merger with Black Spade Acquisition Corp. (BBG)

• Clinical stage cell and gene therapy company American Gene Technologies International will merge with 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp. III in a $500M deal and will rebrand as Addimune after the combined entity goes public (GNW)

Debt

• Texas-based chemicals company Celanese raised $3B through a three-part bond offering to fund its $1.75B cash tender offer (BBG)

• Lulu Group International, a Middle East hypermarket chain operator, raised $2.7B from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, and other middle eastern banks to refinance debt (BBG)

• McDonald’s sold $2B of investment-grade rated bonds in three parts, with the longest being an $800M, 30-year tranche yielding a 128 bps premium (YH)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Trucker Yellow Corp expects to be able to pay back its $1.2B loan from the US government and private lenders through its bankruptcy sale, as its assets were appraised at $2.1B last year (WSJ)

• Sorrento Therapeutics is planning a stock sale to raise $105M to pay down its $235M in debt as it looks to emerge from bankruptcy (PT)

• Biotech firm Amyris filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to sell its consumer brands to improve liquidity (RT)

Fundraising

• Blackstone raised $7.1B for a fund that will finance solar, EV, and clean energy companies (BBG)

• Access Holdings Management raised $805M for its Access Holdings Fund II, which is its second lower midmarket fund (WSJ)

Crypto Corner

• Bittrex agreed to pay $24M to settle charges from the SEC accusing the bankrupt crypto exchange of operating an illegal secuirities exchange (WSJ)

• China plans to crack down on crypto and deepfake AI after a surge in identity theft and digital crimes (CT)

Exec’s Picks

• Jack Raines wrote a fun piece about how Hertz became the OG bankrupt meme stock, making a few true believers rich in the process.

• This Economist piece explains how the equity risk premium for US stocks is at a multi-decade low.

• Y-Combinator is busier than ever, largely due to big tech layoffs creating a competitive “little tech” landscape.

Meme Cleanser

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