• Exec Sum
  • Posts
  • The Most Interesting Man In The World

The Most Interesting Man In The World

Omicron headlines spooked the markets yet again, with airlines and cruise line operators leading the way. We've got fresh inflation data via the producer price index which drops today. The Fed will also be kicking off its monthly two-day meeting.

Together with

Good morning,

Elon Musk stays winning. The world's richest man and avid meme-reposter was named Time magazine's "Person of the Year".  

Omicron headlines spooked the markets yet again, with airlines and cruise line operators leading the way. Fresh inflation data dropping today via the producer price index results and the Fed will be kicking off its monthly two-day meeting.

We've got an exciting private investment opportunity for accredited investors circulating tomorrow. If you want to be included in the mix, pls fill out our surveyPreference is given to subscribers of both our Exec Sum and Foot Guns newsletters.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 12/13/2021 market close.

To see the LitCap Yolo Fund's portfolio holdings, download the Iris Social Stock app here and give Litquidity a follow. If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

  • Major indexes headed back into the red on Monday with the Nasdaq leading the way, closing down almost 1.4%, as investors continued to digest the economic effect of the omicron variant and looked forward to the Fed’s Wednesday announcement

  • Shares of airlines and cruise line operators declined amid fears that the omicron variant could slow travel

  • The Fed is expected to announce a speeding up of their tapering timeline, and the expectation of this tends to hammer tech stocks since rising interest rates would erode future cash flows

  • As of right now, the Fed’s bond purchase program is slated to wrap up in June of 2022, but tomorrow’s announcement, the last of the year, could see Chairman JPow speed up this timeline

Earnings

Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Bond traders stare at worst real returns since Volcker era (BBG)

  • Hong Kong issues rules for quarantine-free travel to China (BBG)

  • Binance drops Singapore cryptocurrency bourse application (BBG)

  • Goldman Sachs tells London staff to work from home if they can (BBG)

  • Elon Musk is named Time's 2021 person of the year (Time)

  • Australia agreed to buy South Korean weapons in defense-tie boost (BBG)

  • Some hospitals drop Covid-19 vaccine mandates to ease labor shortages (WSJ)

  • First omicron death reported in the UK (WSJ)

  • UBS penalties slashed by ~$3B in French tax case (WSJ)

  • Rivian R1T named MotorTrend’s truck of the year (CNBC)

  • Northeast states deploy soldiers and home tests in Covid battle (BBG)

  • Nassar victims reach $380M settlement with USA gymnastics (CNBC)

  • Patek Philippe’s Tiffany Blue Nautilus watch fetches $6.5M at auction (CNBC)

A Message From Endeavour

Invest in the AR financing technology powering a $2.7T addressable market

Endeavour is the only company providing Balance Sheet as a Service (BSaaS) for the US Space & Defense industries. Where conventional invoice financing companies often sneak in unfavorable terms, Endeavour offers transparent & innovative AR financing.

One of just 20 companies with official the Trust Capital Provider designation from the Department of Defense, Endeavour is at the forefront of helping fast-growing and critical Space & Defense businesses thrive.

With $50M+ institutional capital already raised and $92.7M projected near-term revenue, there’s no better time to invest in Endeavour.

Deal Flow

M&A

  • Shares of Swiss drugmaker Vifor Pharma rose after confirmation about a potential $12B merger with Australia’s CSL (RT)

  • Pfizer agreed to buy Arena Pharmaceuticals, a developer of immuno-inflammatory disease therapies, for $6.7B (an implied 100% premium) (BBG)

  • EnCap Investments combined Permian basin portfolio companies Advance Energy and Ameredev in a $4B deal (RT)

  • Lone Star Funds agreed to buy industrial pump and valve maker SPX Flow for $3.8B (BBG)

  • Chinese PE firm Wise Road Capital and US chipmaker Magnachip have terminated their $1.4B merger (RT)

  • Hard Rock International agreed to buy the operations of the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from MGM Resorts for $1.08B (CNBC)

  • Indian shadow lender Shriram Group agreed to merge its two listed lending units Shriram City Union Finance and Shriram Transport Finance (BBG)

  • SVB Financial Group agreed to buy equities-research firm MoffettNathanson (BBG)

  • GFH Financial Group and Kuwait’s Wafra International Investment Co. agreed to buy a portfolio of logistics assets in the US that are leased to FedEx and General Mills (BBG)

  • Investment firm Coller Capital is exploring strategic options including a sale (RT)

  • Credit manager CIFC agreed to buy LBC Credit Partners (BBG)

  • Debt- and scandal-plagued spyware company NSO is exploring options that include shutting down its controversial Pegasus unit and selling the entire company (BBG)

  • Vox Media is in advanced talks to buy digital media company Group Nine (BBG)

  • Nike agreed to buy virtual fashion startup RTFKT (NIKE)

  • Wyloo Metals raised its offer to buy Canadian nickel explorer Noront Resources by nearly 60% of their original in a battle with rival suitor BHP Group (BBG)

  • Men’s grooming company Harry’s agreed to buy D2C body odor management brand Lume Deodorant (PRN

  • Facebook owner Meta agreed to buy the trademark assets of US regional bank Meta Financial Group for $60M (RT)

VC

  • SnapLogic, a startup helping enterprises integrate and automate their disparate apps and data, raised a $156M round at a $1B valuation led by Sixth Street Growth (TC)

  • Cadence, a digital healthcare startup that specializes in virtual patient monitoring, raised a $100M at a $1B valuation led by Coatue (BBG

  • Pre-seed VC firm Script Capital closed a $38M Fund II (PRN)

  • Indonesian insurtech startup Fuse raised a $25M Series B led by ‘an undisclosed global fintech fund’ (TC)

  • AI-driven video calls platform Unique raised a $6M seed round from angel investors (TC)

  • Web3 software startup Thirdweb raised a $5M round from angels including Mark Cuban and Gary Vaynerchuck (TC)

  • Conversational commerce startup Whym raised a $4.3M seed round led by Deciens Capital (TC)

  • Honeycomb, a private social app for families, raised a $4M seed round led by Stellation Capital’s Peter Boyce (TC)

  • StudyFree, an international student scholarships and grants platform, raised a $3M seed round led by I2BF Global Ventures (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Amazon-backed Indian grocery chain More Retail is considering an IPO at a potential $5B valuation (BBG)

  • Richard Branson and Delta Air Lines agreed to provide a $530M capital injection into Virgin Atlantic Airways (BBG)

  • Chinese AI company SenseTime plans to postpone its Hong Kong IPO after it was added to an investment blacklist of companies that the US government says are supporting Chinese military development (WSJ)

SPAC

  • Warehouse-technology platform Symbotic agreed to merge with SVFC in a $5.5B deal (BBG)

  • Harley-Davidson’s electric-motorcycle division LiveWire agreed to merge with AEA-Bridges in a $1.77B deal (WSJ)

  • Footprint, a materials science tech company seeking to eliminate single-use plastic, agreed to merge with Gores Holdings VIII Inc. in a $1.6B deal (BBG)

  • Dutch digital entertainment company Azerion agreed to merge with EFIC1 in a $1.5B deal (BBG)

  • Social-video platform and TikTok rival Triller is in talks to merge with Seachange International in a potential $1.25B+ deal (BBG)

  • Hormone-replacement therapy provider Biote agreed to merge with Haymaker Acquisition Corp. III in a $737M deal (BBG)

Exec's Picks

  • Oh s**t, Christmas is how soon? Can’t remember what blend is your Uncle’s favorite? No sweat, La Aurora’s got you covered. They offer a variety of cigar sampler packs that combine different blends, strengths, and tasting notes together, so everyone can light up and find their favorite cigar this Christmas. Check them out.

  • The Know is all the political news you need, in five minutes or less, every afternoon.They use primary source data to deliver a new take on politics: it’s easy to digest, straightforward, and nonpartisan. Check it out (it’s free)

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've got 100+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're looking to hire candidates and want to post a job, all you have to do is hit "+ Hire Talent" on the top right of the job board. If you want the role to be featured on Exec Sum, check out our "Featured" and "Premium" tiers.

To Candidates: We've also partnered up with Portal Jobs for a more hands-on approach to matching talent with relevant jobs. Fill out the form here and we'll get to work on placing you in a relevant gig 🤝

Meme Cleanser

We just dropped a sticker pack in partnership with our friends over at Bullish Studio. Check it out here

Reply

or to participate.