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PwC stripped some partners of leadership, US will probe healthcare PE, global M&A is on for a recovery, bond investors are punishing banks with heavy CRE exposure, Zillow was hit by a short seller report, Miami Beach is sick of spring breakers, and crypto had a day.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks fell for a second session led by steep declines in major tech stocks

• Gold surged to a record high, driven by growing expectations of US rate cuts

• Bitcoin tumbled ~10% after briefly cross $69k for a record high 

Earnings

• Target shares jumped ~12% after beating Q4 earnings and revenue estimates but expects another year of weak sales (CNBC) 

• CrowdStrike shares surged ~25% on a Q4 beat-and-raise and also announced their acquisition of Flow Security (CNBC) 

• Nordstrom shares fell ~10% despite reporting better-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue due to a muted FY outlook (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: JD.com, Abercrombie & Fitch, Foot Locker

  • Thursday: Costco, Broadcom, Kroger, MongoDB

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• DOJ and FTC to probe healthcare PE (RT)

• Global M&A volumes expected to rise by 50% this year (RT)

• Citigroup CEO sees rising IB fees, weaker markets revenue (RT)

• PwC stripped three partners of leadership roles over internal rule breaches (FT)

• NYCB ballooned despite real estate warnings in years before fall (BBG)

• US banks far more exposed than Europeans to property crunch (RT)

• Banks with heavy commercial property exposure see bonds get hit (BBG)

• China vows to 'transform' economy, sets ambitious growth target (RT)

• CalPERS shortlisted four candidates for new CIO (BBG)

• Apple stock gloom deepens as pressure to show AI progress mounts (BBG)

• iPhone sales plunge 24% in China (CNBC)

• Zillow becomes victim of short seller report (BBG)

• JPMorgan joins France's payments network CB to skirt Visa, Mastercard (RT)

• Disney CEO ‘extremely confident’ in 2024 streaming profit (BBG)

• Starbuck union will end proxy fight for board seats (CNBC)

• Miami Beach is sick of spring breakers (WSJ)

• Harvard is once again the no. 1 'dream' school for students (CNBC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Cisco Systems’ $28B bid to acquire cybersecurity firm Splunk is set to receive unconditional EU antitrust approval (RT) 

• Vivendi’s Canal+ increased its bid for South Africa’s MultiChoice Group by almost a fifth to $2.9B all-cash and entered exclusive talks on acquiring control of the African broadcaster (BBG) 

• German insurer Talanx completed its $1.5B acquisition of Liberty ​Seguros' Brazil business (BI)

• PE firm Sentinel Capital Partners will acquire Carrier’s industrial fire division in a $1.4B deal (RT) 

• US-based communications equipment firm Viavi Solutions agreed to buy UK telecom testing firm Spirent Communications for ~$1.3B (RT) 

• Cadence Design Systems will acquire BETA CAE Systems International, a maker of software for analyzing car and jet engine designs, in a $1.2B cash-and-stock deal (RT) 

• Phoenix Tower International agreed to buy Cellnex Telecom’s Irish business for ~$1.1B (BBG) 

• Vitol-backed energy storage company VTTI is close to acquiring a majority stake in Italy's biggest LNG import terminal from ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy in a deal that could value the terminal at ~$868M (RT) 

• Bending Spoons, one of Europe’s largest mobile app developers, is considering a potential acquisition of video hosting platform Vimeo, which has a $780M market cap (BBG) 

• Singapore conditionally approved the merger between Tata Group-owned Air India and sister airline Vistara, a JV between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines (RT) 

• Mubadala Capital, a unit of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, is eyeing Outback Steakhouse’s Brazilian operations, after taking control of Zamp, which operates Burger King and Popeyes restaurants in Brazil (BBG) 

• Cybersecurity tech company CrowdStrike will acquire smaller Israel peer Flow Security for an undisclosed price in a cash-and-stock deal (CNBC)

VC

• Chinese state-owned EV maker IM Motors raised a $1.1B Series B (RT) 

• UK challenger bank Monzo raised a $430M late-stage round at a $5B valuation led by CapitalG (TC)

• Sunfire, a German electrolyzer manufacturer, raised a $234M Series E led by LGT Private Banking, GIC, Ahren Innovation Capital, and Carbon Equity (FN)

• Cyber asset management startup Axonius raised a $200M Series E extension at a $2.6B valuation led by Lightspeed and Accel (TC)

• RapidSOS, an intelligent safety platform that securely links life-saving data from connected devices, apps and sensors to first responders, raised a $75M round led by BlackRock (PRN)

• Dental AI startup Overjet raised a $53.2M Series C led by March Capital (PRN)

• Taalas, an AI and silicon startup, raised $50M across two rounds led by Pierre Lamond and Quiet Capital (PRN)

• Insider risk management company DTEX Systems raised a $50M Series E led by CapitalG (FN)

• Argyle, a provider of direct-source income and employment data, raised $30M in funding led by Rockefeller Asset Management’s Fintech Innovation Fund (FN)

• Multiverse Computing, a startup building a quantum software platform, raised a $27M equity round at a $108M valuation led by Columbus Venture Partners (TC)

• LatAm fintech startup Yuno raised a $25M Series A at a $150M valuation led by DST (TC)

• Openprise, a revenue operations data automation company, raised a $25M Series B led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital (FN)

• Compliance software startup Formalize raised a $16M Series A led by BlackFin Capital Partners (TC)

• Haiper, an AI-powered video generation platform, raised a $13.8M seed round led by Octopus Ventures (TC)

• Data observability platform Metaplane raised a $13.8M Series A led by Felicis Ventures (PRN)

• AI-powered robotics startup Rios Intelligent Machines raised a $13M Series B led by Yamaha Motor Corporation and IAG Capital Partners (FN)

• Threedy, a German startup building a spatial computing technology platform, raised a $10.4M Series A from LBBW Venture Capital, Trumpf Venture, Futury Capital, and EquityPitcher Ventures (FN)

• HData, a startup helping the US energy industry file and analyze regulatory data, raised a $10M Series A led by Buoyant Ventures (PRN)

• TollBit, a platform allowing AI bots and data scrapers to pay for website content, raised $7M in funding led by Sunflower Capital (PRN)

• appCD, a startup using application code to generate infrastructure from code, raised a $6M seed round led by Thomvest Ventures, WestWave Capital, FireBolt, and Secure Octane (VC)

• Workforce management startup RemotePass raised a $5.5M Series A led by 212 VC (TC)

• Cyclize, a German climate tech startup, raised a $5.3M seed round led by UVC Partners (FN)

• Agio Ratings, a UK-based risk analytics company, raised $4.6M in pre-seed and seed funding led by Superscrypt (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Tata Sons, the parent company of Tata Group, may fetch a valuation of as much as $96B in an IPO that could take place within the next 18 months (BBG) 

• PE firm CVC Capital Partners is considering reviving plans for an Amsterdam stock market listing as soon as next month, seeking a $15B+ valuation (RT) 

• Ebury, which is backed by Banco Santander, is eyeing a London IPO that could value the cross-border payments platform at as much as $2.5B (BBG)

• London-listed WeWork rival IWG, which has a $2.3B market cap, is weighing a US IPO and is reviewing adopting US GAAP standards (BBG) 

• Ather selected HSBC, JPMorgan, Nomura, and two local banks for a potential 2024 Mumbai IPO that could value the electric scooter maker at ~$2B (BBG)

• Dubai's $429M IPO of public parking business Parkin sold out within minutes of books opening (BBG) 

• Airline Air Baltic is pursuing plans for an IPO after recording its first profit since 2018 (BBG)

Debt

• Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy plans to raise $600M via a private offering of convertible notes to buy more Bitcoin (RT) 

• Private prison operator CoreCivic sold $500M worth of new notes through the junk bond market in an upsized deal (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Home-fitness company BowFlex filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy with a deal in hand to be acquired by specialty fitness retailer Johnson Health Tech (WSJ) 

• Brazilian airline Azul is working with Citigroup and Guggenheim Partners to explore a potential offer for troubled competitor Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, which is undergoing a Chapter 11 restructuring in the US (BBG) 

Fundraising

• Israel-based VC Team8 raised $500M from investors including Walmart, Cisco, Microsoft, Moody’s and Temasek to invest in local startups (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• Tether’s USDT stablecoin briefly surpassed $100B in circulation for the first time (BBG) 

• Bitcoin’s 10% selloff after hitting a new record high triggered $1B in liquidations (CD) 

• US Bitcoin ETFs surpassed $10B in trading volume (CD) 

Exec’s Picks

• WSJ covered the concerning rise of nefarious AI chat bots, or “BadGPTs.”

• With Norway’s SWF hoping to allocate to private equity, Financial Times examined whether PE investments truly outperform.

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