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GameStop is letting Ryan Cohen use company cash to buy stocks, KKR is buying up risky debt, gas prices keep dropping, mortgage rates have fallen for the 6th straight week, Spotify is losing its top marketer amid restructuring, Amazon is testing a grocery subscription service for its Prime members, and JPM’s Kolanovic says to opt for cash or bonds over stocks.

Want the best, exclusive coverage of tech and finance news, as the stories develop? Check out and subscribe to The Information.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks broke a three-day losing streak ahead of Friday’s jobs report

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 1.37% gain

• WTI futures hover at ~6-month low below $70 per barrel

Earnings

• Broadcom beat Q4 adjusted earnings expectations, while revenue was in line with expectations (YF) 

• Lululemon beat Q3 earnings expectations but forecast lower-than-expected Q4 revenue ahead of the holidays (BBG) 

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• KKR is shrugging off ‘fear in the market’ to buy up risky debt (BBG)

• Mortgage rates in US fall for sixth week, dropping to 7% (BBG)

• Gasoline set to get even cheaper as futures hit two-year low (BBG)

• GameStop’s potential new strategy: Let Ryan Cohen buy other stocks with company cash (CNBC)

• The most important debate on Wall Street: Is inflation licked? (WSJ)

• Spotify is losing top marketer amid restructuring (BBG)

• PGA Tour star Jon Rahm gearing up to join Saudi-backed LIV golf (CNBC)

• Amazon tests grocery subscription service for Prime members (CNBC)

• JPMorgan’s Kolanovic says opt for cash or bonds over stocks (BBG)

• Exxon CEO dismisses worries FTC could hold up Pioneer deal, does not see competition concerns (CNBC)

• Wall Street puts a ‘sell’ on its China holding (WSJ)

• Amazon is no longer offering Venmo option for customers at checkout (BBG)

• Open AI director who clashed with Sam Altman shares her side (WSJ)

• China’s exports snap half-year slide (WSJ)

• Mubadala CEO says he’s shifting his focus to Asian investments (BBG)

A Message From The Information

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During OpenAI’s hiring/firing fiasco, The Information was our go-to source for real-time news, and just this week, they covered everything from TikTok’s planned anti-hate speech efforts in the face of Israel-Hamas videos to behind-the-scenes issues with Google’s Gemini model. Click below to get started:

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Woodside Energy Group is in preliminary talks with Santos to create a $52B Australian oil and gas powerhouse (RT) 

• US investment group Arctos Partners will acquire a minority stake in French football club Paris Saint-Germain in a deal that values PSG at over $4.3B (FT) 

• The US FCC approved $2.3B television provider Dish Network’s merger with $1B Echostar, which runs a satellite network (BBG) 

• KKR will take British energy infrastructure company Smart Metering Systems private in a $1.6B deal (RT) 

• French multinational insurance company AXA is considering selling some of its protection insurance businesses across Western Europe in a deal worth up to $1.1B (RT) 

• Bawag Group is in advanced talks to acquire Barclays’ German consumer finance business, which could fetch $539M (BBG) 

• Elon Musks’ SpaceX may sell $500M-$750M worth of insider shares in a tender offer that values the company at $175B or more (BBG) 

• Pepkor Holdings, Africa’s largest clothing retailer, is exploring a potential takeover of South African rival Edgars and is considering paying as much as $126M for the brand (BBG) 

• Healthcare-focused PE firm Hildred Capital Management is set to buy bankrupt baby brand Hello Bello for $65M (BBG) 

• Societe Generale is reviving a potential sale of its private UK bank Kleinwort Hambros (BBG) 

• Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein is in talks to acquire MLB team Baltimore Orioles (BBG) 

• Big Four accounting firm KPMG is planning to merge its UK and Swiss businesses in a bid to boost profit (RT) 

• European billionaires and the Qatar Investment Authority have been approached to acquire a minority stake in fine arts company Sotheby’s (FT)

VC

• Refrigerated storage and logistics solutions provider Emergent Cold LatAm raised $500M in equity financing led by Stonepeak Partners, Lineage, and Losa Group (BW)

• Klook, a platform for experiences and travel services, raised $210M in financing led by Bessemer Venture Partners (PRN)

• Clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company ARTBIO raised a $90M Series A led by Third Rock Ventures (FN)

• European neobroker Scalable Capital raised a $65M round at a $1.4B valuation led by Balderton (TC)

• Pontera, a fintech company helping retirement savers receive professional 401(k) management from their financial advisor, raised a $60M round led by ICONIQ Growth (PRN)

• ContactMonkey, a platform that lets companies create, send, and track internal communications from Outlook, raised a $55M Series A led by Updata Partners (TC)

• TechMet, a leading critical minerals investment company, received a $50M equity investment from the DFC (BW)

• Indian AI startup Sarvam raised a $41M seed and Series A round led by Lightspeed and Peak XV (TC)

• Aerospace startup Air Space Intelligence raised a $34M Series B led by a16z (FN)

• Rhythms, a startup using AI to identify the working patterns of top performing teams, raised a $26M seed round co-led by Greenoaks and Madrona (TC)

• AI-driven affordable housing startup Simply Homes raised a $22M round led by Gutter Capital and Watchung Capital (TC)

• Opal Security, a vendor that helps companies manage access and identities, raised a $22M Series B led by Battery Ventures (TC)

• Babylon, a project aiming to build a Bitcoin-secured decentralized world, raised an $18M funding round led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC (BW)

• French contract management platform Tomorro raised an $11.9M Series A led by Resonance (TC)

• Enterprise-grade open source synthetic data library DataCebo raised $8.5M in seed funding led by Link Ventures and Zetta Venture Partners (TC)

• Financial data enrichment services startup Triple raised a $7.5M seed round led by TX Ventures (EU)

• Embedded insurance platform Mulberri raised a $6.8M Series A led by Eos Venture Partners (BW)

• InpharmD, an AI-based drug information service, raised a $6.1M round led by 645 Ventures (FN)

• Zero-knowledge infrastructure platform Sindri raised a $5M seed round led by CoinFund (BW)

• Robotics-as-a-Service startup Instock raised a $3.2M round led by Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund (BW)

• Corporate cards and spend management platform Bujeti raised a $2M seed round led by Y Combinator (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Dubai Taxi shares rose as much as 19% in its debut day of trading after its $315M IPO (BBG) 

SPAC

• Modular manufacturer Eco Modular will merge with Zalatoris II Acquisition Corp. in a $600M deal (GNW) 

• eLong Power Holding, a provider of batter technologies for vehicles and storage systems, will merge with TMT Acquisition Corp. in a $450M deal (GNW) 

• Digital transformation company Veea will merge with Plum Acquisition Corp. I in a $281M deal (BZ) 

Debt

• Blackstone will provide a private loan package of over $1B to cybersecurity company BeyondTrust (BBG)  

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Air Methods, a PE-backed helicopter ambulance business, received bankruptcy court approval for its restructuring plan to cut $1.7B worth of debt (WSJ) 

• Major global trader Mercon Coffee filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to supply disruptions, high borrowing costs, and steep price moves (BBG) 

• Defunct cargo hauler Yellow rejected a long-shot offer to revive the bankrupt company that was backed by the head of Jack Cooper Transport (BBG)

Fundraising

• Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris’ investment firm 26North Partners is aiming to raise $3B-$4B for its first PE fund (BBG) 

• Morgan Stanley Investment Management raised $725M for its North Haven Expansion Equity IX and $450M for its North Haven Expansion Credit II; both funds will invest in privately held high-growth businesses (WSJ)

• PE manager Falfurrias Management Partners raised $400M for its Falfurrias Growth Partners I, which will invest in newer businesses with the potential for rapid growth (WSJ)

• Congruent Ventures raised $275M to back early-stage developers of technologies that help reduce carbon emissions (WSJ)

Crypto Corner

• Montenegro plans to extradite fallen crypto tycoon Do Kwon to the US (WSJ) 

• Bitcoin option traders are loading up on bets that the cryptocurrency will surge to $50,000 by January (BBG)

• Ethereum and Solana rallied to new 19-month highs (CD) 

Exec’s Picks

• TechCrunch discussed whether or not Austin, Texas is losing its luster as a startup and investing hub.

• Bloomberg published a good piece explaining why launch customers keep going back to Elon Musk.

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