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Good Morning,

CPI growth had its lowest print in two years, some investors aren’t trusting this rally in US stocks, ECB wants banks in Russia to leave the country, HSBC wants to become the go-to VC and startup bank, US junk loan defaults are climbing, and Modelo beat out Bud Light as America’s top-selling beer last month.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks ended higher yesterday on encouraging inflation data which will likely secure a pause in Fed rate hikes

  • The S&P and Nasdaq reached their highest closes in 14 months

• Traders priced in a 93% chance of a rate hike pause today and a 62% chance of a 25 bps hike in July

• Oil settled 3% higher on news of a China central bank rate cut

• Dollar skidded to a three-week low on rate hike pause expectations

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Lennar

  • Friday: Adobe, Kroger

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• CPI rose 4% YoY in May, the slowest in over two years (RT)

• ETF investors snap up tech, gold and Japan equities despite broad US stock bull market (FT)

• US junk loan defaults surge as higher rates start to bite (FT)

• China cut key policy rate for first time in ten months (CNBC)

• Canada bank regulator says lenders should urgently tackle risks from mortgage extensions (RT)

• ECB urged banks in Russia to leave quickly (RT)

• 71% of PE LPs believe 2024 will be a strong vintage year for North American/European PE (AX)

• EY Chairman/CEO Carmine Di Sibio will retire after failure of split plan (FT)

• HSBC is seeking to become a leading bank for VCs and startups globally (RT)

• ~10% of Credit Suisse staff have left since UBS's takeover announcement (RT)

• Wells Fargo CFO expects upside in net interest income (RT)

• Verizon is searching for a new CFO and/or CEO (WSJ)

• More people are turning to TikTok for news (RT)

• Worker stress reached a historic high in 2022 (GLP)

• Bud Light loses title as top-selling US beer (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Microsoft’s $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard was temporarily blocked by a judge (BBG)

• US grains merchant Bunge is buying Glencore-backed Viterra for $8.2B in a majority stock and cash deal (BBG)

• Hong Kong broadband provider HKBN ended talks of a potential sale to PE firm I Squared Capital due to valuation differences; I Squared had been considering a takeover at a valuation ~$1B (BBG)

• Canadian entrepreneur Michael Andlauer is buying a 90%, ~$1B stake in NHL team Ottawa Senators from the family of the late Eugene Melnyk (BBG)

• Ladbrokes-owner Entain will buy Poland-based sports betting operator STS Holdings for $946M (RT)

• The asset management arm of Australian bank Macquarie bought a majority stake in waste management firm Coastal Waste & Recycling at a $900M valuation (RT)

• Hedge fund Arex Capital Management is urging home health and services provider Enhabit, which has a market cap for $607M, to put itself up for sale (RT)

• Pernod Ricard, the maker of Absolut Vodka and Jameson Irish Whiskey, agreed to buy a 90% stake in Canada’s Ace Beverage Group at an EV of $123M (BBG)

• PE firm Colony Investment Management is in talks to buy a 60% stake in French contemporary art gallery Galerie Perrotin (BBG)

• Zee Entertainment Enterprises' acquisition of a subsidiary of Sony Group is under investigation by Indian regulators due to allegations of siphoned funds (BBG)

VC

• Madhive, an advertising software platform for TV advertising, received a $300M investment from Goldman Sachs Asset Management (BW)

• Sound Vaccine, a hearing healthcare startup, raised $150M in financing led by GEM (BW)

• Mistral AI, an AI startup building large language models and generative AI, raised a $113M seed round at a $260M valuation led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (TC)

• CubicPV, a solar manufacturing startup, raised a $103M round led by SCG Cleanergy (BW)

• AI video creation platform Synthesia raised a $90M Series C at a $1B valuation led by Accel (BW)

• Granite Source Power, a battery storage developer, raised $40M in growth capital from New Energy Capital (FN)

• Gensyn, a decentralized AI creation software provider, raised a $36.5M Series A led by a16z crypto (FN)

• Indifi Technologies, an Indian startup offering digital lending to small and medium-sized businesses, raised a $35M Series E led by ICICI Venture (TC)

• MLOps startup Striveworks raised a $33M round led by Centana Growth Partners (TC)

• Salonkee, a startup providing a salon management solution and booking platform, raised a $30.2M round led by PeakSpan Capital (FN)

• Vectara, an enterprise search platform, raised a $28.5M seed round led by Race Capital (TC)

• Application security startup Kodem raised $25M: an $18M Series A led by Greylock and a $7M seed round led by Greylock and TPY Capital (TC)

• Medivis, a startup working on augmented reality for surgical navigation, raised a $20M Series A led by Thrive Capital (PRN)

• Battery energy storage system integrator On.Energy raised a $20M Series B led by Ultra Capital (BW)

• OneVest, a wealth-as-a-service platform for financial institutions, raised a $17M Series A led by OMERS Ventures (BW)

• Feldan Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in intracellular drug delivery, raised a $16.5M Series B from Investissement Québec, Amgen Ventures, GC Cell, and others (PRN)

• Clinical data technology and automation startup Beaconcure raised a $14M Series B led by NewVale Capital (BW)

• SiMa.ai, a machine learning company delivering solutions for the embedded edge, raised $13M in funding led by VentureTech Alliance and Navin Chaddha, managing director of Mayfield (FN)

• Restaurant marketing and operations tech startup SpotHopper raised a $12M Series B from TVC Capital (PRN)

• Gridware, a startup improving grid reliability, raised a $10.5M seed extension led by Fifty Years and Lowercarbon Capital (PRN)

• Lalo, a baby and toddler product brand, raised a $10.1M Series A led by Spin Master Ventures (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• JPMorgan sees a $3.2B valuation for Thyssenkrupp Nucera’s IPO (RT)

• Softbank is in talks with investors including Intel to anchor Arm’s IPO (BBG)

• Cannabis oil company Zyus Life Sciences is going public through a reverse takeover of Phoenix Canada Oil that raised $15M (BBG)

SPAC

• Online price comparison provider Supermoney is merging with VAM SPAC at a $215M equity valuation (RT)

Debt

• Adani Group is in talks to refinance $3.8B of debt used for its acquisition of Ambuja Cements (RT)

• Australian steel firm InfraBuild is considering buying a new $670M US dollar bond at a 14% yield (FT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Kenya Airways is seeking an investor due to its $1.35B debt and risk of default on a $421M government loan (BBG)

• Bed Bath & Beyond picked Overstock.com’s $21.5M cash offer as the lead bid in its upcoming bankruptcy auction (BBG)

• British cinema chain operator Cineworld is preparing for AlixPartners to act as administrator in the transfer of ownership to lenders (RT)

• Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, owner of one of the biggest shopping centers in San Francisco, will transfer its Westfield San Francisco shopping mall to lenders (RT)

Fundraising

• Nordic VC Voima Ventures announced its third fund with a final target of $130M investing in early-stage ‘deep tech’ startups from the science sphere (TC)

• Family office Pestana Capital is working with SuccessPar to raise a $30M fund for Brazilians to invest in US real estate (BBG)

• BlackRock launched a new Brown to Green Materials Fund investing in undervalued carbon-intensive companies producing materials that drive the energy transition (RT)

Crypto Corner

• 50 cryptocurrencies worth $100B are now viewed as securities by the SEC (RT)

• Binance has not sold either bitcoin or Binance Coin (RT)

• SEC and Binance.US are seeking a compromise over the SEC’s request to freeze the company’s assets (CT)

• North Korean hackers stole over $100M from Atom Wallet users (CT)

Exec’s Picks

• Kaya Yurieff wrote about how “creator economy” startups are struggling as many of their customer bases failed to materialize.

• AnnaMaria Andriotis broke down Goldman’s internal struggle between David Solomon and other high-ups in the bank.

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