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Elon Musk completed the $44B Twitter buyout and fired a handful of execs, the ECB raised rates to highest level since 2009, Putin doesn't plan to use nukes in Ukraine, fossil fuel consumption will likely peak this decade, and Tesla's Model Y topped new European registrations last month.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• Better-than-expected Q3 GDP growth and new data suggesting waning inflation levels helped the Dow close higher yesterday, while tech stocks continued to weigh down the Nasdaq and S&P 500

• Euro fell 1%+ and dipped below dollar parity again on another big ECB rate hike and strong US GDP data

Earnings

• Credit Suisse missed wide on Q3 estimates, posting a $4.09B net loss as the bank continues to be plagued by poor IBD revenues, losses from Russia withdrawal, and scandal-related litigation costs; their shares fell ~20% yesterday (CNBC)

• Apple beat Q4 EPS and revenue estimates but fell short on iPhone sales amid a rising dollar and provided no Q1 guidance citing uncertainty; their stock fell ~2% yesterday (CNBC)

• Amazon missed on Q3 EPS and revenue estimates amid slowdown in their core retail business while also issuing weak Q4 sales guidance; their stock fell ~20% in immediate AH trading (CNBC)

• Shopify beat Q3 revenue estimates and posted a smaller-than-expected loss on their growing tools and payment services and exploitation of offline retail opportunities; their stock gained 17.3% yesterday (RT)

• McDonald's beat Q3 comparable sales and profit estimates helped by higher menu prices and increased traffic from inflation-weary customers; their stock rose 3.3% yesterday (RT)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: ExxonMobil

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US GDP grew by 2.6% in Q3 led by a shrinking trade deficit, but domestic demand was weakest in two years (RT)

• ECB raised rates by 75 bps again to highest level since 2009 and cut key bank subsidies (RT)

• US weekly jobless claims rose by 3k to 217k last week (WSJ)

• Putin does not plan to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine (AX)

• US health insurance premiums stayed stable in 2022 (AX)

• Fossil fuel consumption is expected to peak in this decade (AX)

• EU wants to establish a 40-man team including a technology expert to enforce new antitrust rules aimed at big tech (RT)

• Russia said they could target US commercial satellites in 'retaliation' (AX)

• Canada's immigrant population proportion hit its highest level in nation's history and the biggest share among G7 countries (WSJ)

• Credit Suisse plans to raise $4B from investors, cut up to 9k jobs, and shift focus from IB to rich clients in massive strategic overhaul (RT)

• Tesla's Model Y topped new vehicle registrations in Europe last month (RT)

• Toyota will offer mechanical car keys amid chip shortage (RT)

• Bed Bath & Beyond named interim CEO Sue Gove as permanent CEO (CNBC)

• Audi will partner with Sauber and enter Formula 1 in 2026 (F1)

• Spirits are on track to overtake beer as US alcohol market leader (CNBC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Elon Musk completed the $44B acquisition of Twitter and fired CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, head of legal, policy & trust Vijaya Gadde, and general counsel Sean Edgett (BBG)

• Tobacco company Swedish Match recommended its shareholders to accept Marlboro maker Philip Morris’ raised $16B bid (RT)

• US manufacturer Regal Rexnord agreed to buy rival Altra Industrial Motion in a $5B deal (RT)

• Insurance company Aegon agreed to merge its operations in the Netherlands with insurer ASR Nederland in a $4.9B deal (BBG)

• Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board is considering a sale of UK child daycare provider Busy Bees which could be worth $3.5B+ (BBG)

• Saudi-owned Saudi National Bank will invest up to $1.5B for a 9.9% stake in Credit Suisse and may back the standalone Credit Suisse First Boston investment bank (RT)

• Thoma Bravo and Sunstone Partners agreed to buy customer feedback platform UserTesting for $1.3B (RT)

• US-based investment manager Nuveen is buying Arcmont Asset Management, one of the largest private lenders in Europe, for $1B+ (FT)

• US broadcaster Comcast is considering a sale of its German pay-TV business Sky Deutschland that could be worth ~$1B (BBG)

• A group of investors led by Apollo and PIMCO is in exclusive talks to buy the majority of Credit Suisse’s securitized products group business (BBG)

• UK energy supplier Octopus Energy is nearing a deal to buy bankrupt supplier Bulb Energy as soon as this week (BBG)

• US mining firm Freeport-McMoRan is in talks to buy the Hayden copper smelter in Arizona from conglomerate Grupo Mexico (BBG)

VC

• OpenWeb, a community engagement platform, raised a $170M Series F at a $1.5B valuation led by Georgian (PRN)

• Indian fintech startup Money View is looking to raise $125-150M at a ~$1B valuation in a Series E round led by Apis (TC)

• Networking and cybersecurity startup Versa Networks raised a $120M in debt / equity led by BlackRock (BW)

• Medtech company Monteris Medical raised $73M: a $35M Series D led by InnovaHealth Partners and a $38M debt facility from Madryn Asset Management (PRN)

• HR software startup HealthJoy raised a $60M Series D led by Valspring Capital (TC)

• CloudPay, an employee pay process startup, raised a $50M round led by Runway Growth Capital and The Olayan Group (PRN)

• Edtech company Classera raised a $40M Series A led by Sanabil Investments (PRN)

• Global payments startup Reap, raised a $40M debt / equity Series A led by Acorn Pacific Ventures, Arcadia Funds, and HashKey Capital (PRN)

• SaaS platform for nonprofits Resilia raised a $35M Series B led by Panoramic Ventures and Framework Venture Partners (BW)

• Canary Technologies, a startup building a hotel tech stack, raised a $30M Series B led by Insight Partners (PRN)

• Navina, a startup helping physicians summarize patient data, raised a $22M Series B led by ALIVE (TC)

• Thread, a startup enabling customers to inspect critical infrastructure and receive accurate analytics, raised a $15M Series A led by Badlands Capital (PRN)

• Virtual celebrity collectibles platform Zoop raised $15M in funding (BW)

• Virtual care clinic for women Midi Health raised a $14M seed round led by Felicis and SemperVirens (PRN)

• NICO, a neurosurgical startup, raised a $12.5M round led by RC Capital (PRN)

• SGNL.ai, a startup developing an enterprise authorization software platform, raised a $12M seed round led by Costanoa Ventures (TC)

• VR gaming startup ForeVR Games raised a $10M Series A led by Lobby Capital (TC)

• Joro, a personal carbon-cutting app, raised a $10M Series A led by Sequoia and Amasia (TC)

• Onward, a financial platform designed for co-parents, raised a $9.7M Series A led by TTV Capital (PRN)

• Mason, a startup providing a commerce engine that allows sellers to avoid the ‘Amazon tax’, raised a $7.5M seed round led by Accel and Ideaspring Capital (TC)

• Swandide, a self-service cloud platform for companies to manage their go-to-market tech stack, raised a $7M seed round led by Menlo Ventures (PRN)

• Ninetailed, a Berlin-based startup building a data-driven experience layer, raised a $5M round led by Mosaic Ventures and Cherry Ventures (BW)

• Gabbi, a breast cancer detection startup, raised a $4.4M round led by Bread and Butter Ventures (PRN)

• Drive My Way, a trucker recruiting platform, raised a $4.4M Series A led by First Analysis (PRN)

• Reclaim.ai, an intelligent calendar and time management platform, raised a $3.2M pre-Series A round from from Yummy Ventures, Character.vc, Flying Fish Operator, and more (BW)

• Cybersecurity startup Protexxa raised a $3M seed round led by BKR Capital (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Credit Suisse is exploring an IPO for its Credit Suisse First Boston spinoff (YH)

Fundraising

• Saudi Aramco launched a $1.5B sustainability-focused fund to support an inclusive global energy transition; the fund will be managed by Aramco Ventures (RT)

• Boston-based Will Ventures closed a $150M second fund to make seed investments in sports and sports-adjacent businesses (TC)

• Streamlined Ventures, a VC firm targeting data science / AI / blockchain startups, raised a $102M fifth seed fund and a $38M third opportunity fund to invest in startups from prior seed funds (TC)

• Collide Capital, a tech-focused VC firm targeting startups with diverse founders, closed a $66M debut seed fund (PRN)

Crypto Corner

• Twitter will allow users to buy and sell NFTs through tweets (DC)

• Digital bank Revolut will allow customers to use crypto balances to make everyday purchases (CD)

• Google introduced a cloud-based blockchain node engine for Ethereum (CD)

Exec's Picks

• reAlpha is making it easy for individuals to own part of short-term rental properties. They utilize proprietary AI to choose the most viable investment properties based on location, local amenities, and more. Become a reAlpha shareholder before their portfolio expands.

• Axios published a list of companies who have cut ties with Kanye West yesterday. Check it out here.

• We are in the middle of an exciting (and unpredictable) NFL season. If you want to have some skin in the game, be sure to download the BetMGM app and claim some free sign up money if you haven't done so already! Sign up here.

• Jack Raines wrote an entertaining piece on Linkedin's engagement bait problem. Check it out 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 aim to curate jobs across IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We'll sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're a company looking to hire candidates and want to list a job opening on our board and feature on Exec Sum, click the button below:

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