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Good Morning,

Average US gas prices are back down to $3.74 per gallon, the US is slowing chip exports to China, Goldman is planning to cut hundreds of jobs (and free coffee lol), Starbucks has a new 'reinvention' strategy, and holiday airfare is going to be hot.

If you're looking for a great book about investing written by a legendary financier, check out David Rubenstein's latest book: How To Invest.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• Optimism about the August CPI report releasing today and a weakening US dollar helped push the markets upward, with all three major averages closing in the green yesterday

  • The Fed is expected to deliver another 0.75% rate hike during the September 20-21 Fed meeting

Earnings

• Oracle came up short on Q1 profit expectations but reported 18% revenue growth on their $28B acquisition of Cerner; their stock improved ~1.3% in AH trading (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Thursday: Adobe

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Consumers said in August they are expecting notable declines in future inflation (WSJ)

• Gas prices hit an average $3.74/gallon last week, 25%+ lower than the June peak (AX)

• US will broaden curbs on chip and tool exports to China (RT)

• Russia insists war in Ukraine will continue 'until all the goals' are met (AX)

• Many European manufacturers may never open again amid region's gas crisis (WSJ)

• Peloton co-founders John Foley and Hisao Kushi will leave the company in a broad executive shakeup (CNBC)

• Goldman Sachs is planning to cut several hundred jobs this month (CNBC)

• Starbucks will unveil a ‘reinvention’ strategy at investor day today (CNBC)

• Instagram stumbles in push to mimic TikTok, internal documents show (WSJ)

• Twitter shareholders are poised to approve Elon Musk's takeover deal (WSJ)

• A Blue Origin flight rocket crashed after liftoff (AP)

• Rent the Runway to reduce workforce as more customers pause their subscriptions (WSJ)

• Holiday airfare is expected to be most expensive in 5 years as pandemic fears wane (CNBC)

• Gun violence is a top reason for Chinese tourists avoiding the US (AX)

A Message From Simon & Schuster

What do the most successful investors have in common?

David M. Rubenstein, cofounder of one of the world’s largest investment firms, has spent years interviewing the greatest investors in the world to discover the time-tested principles, hard-earned wisdom, and indispensable tools that guide their practice.

Rubenstein, who has spent more than three decades in the hyper-competitive world of private equity, now distills everything he’s learned about the art and craft of investing, from venture capital, real estate, private equity, hedge funds, to crypto, endowments, SPACs, ESG, and more.

• How did Stan Druckenmiller short the British pound in one trade for a profit of $1 billion dollars?

• What made Sam Zell the smartest, toughest investor the world of real estate has ever seen?

• How did Mike Novogratz make $250 million from crypto in one year?

• How did Larry Fink build BlackRock from scratch into a firm that manages more than $10 trillion?

With unprecedented access to global leaders in finance, Rubenstein has assembled the most authoritative book of its kind. Whether you’re brand-new to investing or a seasoned professional, this book will transform the way you approach investing forever.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• A top investor in Turquoise Hill Resources is opposing a proposed takeover by mining company Rio Tinto, saying the $3.3B deal undervalues the company (BBG)

• US drug distributor AmerisourceBergen agreed to buy German biopharma company PharmaLex for $1.3B (RT)

• Core Communities, which owns RV resorts, manufactured-housing locations, and mobile-home parks, is in talks to buy rival Blair at a potential $1B+ valuation (BBG)

• KKR is in talks with advisers to sell its stake in financial services provider Avendus at a $500M+ valuation (BBG)

• Mubadala Investment raised its takeover offer for Brazilian Burger King and Popeyes restaurants operator ZAMP to ~$200M (RT)

• Mobile software company AppLovin withdrew its offer to merge with video game software company Unity (BBG)

• JPMorgan agreed to buy US payment solutions company Renovite Technologies (RT)

VC

• Greenhouse startup Gotham Greens raised a $310M Series E led by BMO Impact Investment Fund and Ares Management (TC)

• Forge Biologics, a gene therapy focused contract development and manufacturing company, raised a $90M Series C led by Drive Capital and Aisling Capital (BW)

• Neurolens, a startup building an eyewear solution to improve vision, raised $67M in financing led by MVM Partners (PRN)

• Data analytics and management platform PurpleLab raised a $40M Series B led by Primus Capital (BW)

• Lumafield, a CT scan platform, raised a $35M Series B led by Spark Capital (TC)

• The Predictive Index, a talent optimization platform, received a $30M investment from JM Family Enterprises (BW)

• Diveplane, a MLOps platform, raised a $25M Series A led by Shield Capital (TC)

• SaaS management platform Cledara raised a $20M Series A led by CommerzVentures (TC)

• 3D nanosystems startup ATLANT 3D raised a $15M Series A led by West Hill Capital (BW)

• Modulous, a startup building an end-to-end home fabrication platform, raised an $11.7M Series A led by Sustainable Future Ventures, Cemex, Regal London, and others (TC)

• Kippa, a Nigerian financial management app for merchants, raised an $8.4M seed round led by Goodwater Capital, TEN13 VC, Rocketship VC, and more (TC)

• Newsletter publishing platform Beehiiv raised $1.6M in funding to expand headcount and accelerate product development in a round led by Creator Ventures, Blue Wire Capital, and Social Leverage, with participation from existing investors including Litquidity (beehiiv)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Intel is aiming for a lower valuation of $30B, down from $50B+, for the IPO of its self-driving technology business Mobileye (BBG)

• Kuwaiti conglomerate Alghanim Industries is seeking to raise ~$1B from a potential IPO (BBG)

Debt

• A group of lenders led by Credit Suisse kicked off the second part of a $15B debt package for the buyout of Citrix Systems. The secured bond deal was expected to be $3.5B but was upsized to $4B following strong demand (BBG)

Fundraising

• EQT Growth closed a $2.2B fund focused on European and Israeli startups (TC)

• Pan-African gender-equal investor Janngo Capital closed a ~$63M fund (TC)

Crypto Corner

• Crypto exchange Coinbase is backing a lawsuit against the Treasury Department following crypto mixer Tornado Cash sanctions (CNBC)

• Brother of ex-Coinbase product manager plead guilty to insider trading (RT)

• Ethereum blockchain will undergo a major upgrade to cut energy use (RT)

• Ethereum’s ‘merge’ is disrupting crypto trading and lending (BR)

• Starbucks is brewing a revolutionary Web3 experience for its rewards members (SBUX)

Exec's Picks

• Billionaire investor David M. Rubenstein discusses philosophies for successful investing plus shares advice from some of the titans of private equity, crypto, real estate, and more in his latest book: How to Invest.

• While not as mainstream in the news anymore, war is still raging in Ukraine. However, Ukraine appears to be retaking territory from Russian forces. BBC provides useful updated territorial maps of the conflict here.

• Embattled Nikola Motors' founder Trevor Milton is back in the news, now facing charges for securities fraud. Perhaps he pushing a "gravity-powered" truck down a hill for a promo video wasn't the best idea. Check out the WSJ piece on Milton 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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