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Microsoft and Broadcom’s respective acquisitions of Activision and VMWare highlight a revived M&A market, the EV market is struggling with price cuts, ByteDance is letting US staff sell shares, BoA owes $250M over junk fees, meme stocks are hot again, and a Blue Origin rocket engine exploded during testing.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• Stocks finished green on the eve of new inflation reports that will have heavy implications on the Fed’s next move

• The dollar sank to a two-month low against foreign currencies as investors brace for June’s inflation report

• The pound sterling hit a 15-month high on expectations that the BoE will continue raising rates

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:

  • Thursday: PepsiCo, Delta

  • Friday: JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, BlackRock, State Street, UnitedHealth

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US EV market struggles with price cuts and rising inventories (RT)

• Americans prepare for tighter budgets as student loan payments resume (BBG)

• TikTok parent ByteDance to allow US staff to cash out on shares (RT)

• Bank of America to pay over $250M over junk fees (RT)

• JPMorgan plans to lay off 63 employees in Jersey City (RT)

• Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket engine explodes during testing (CNBC)

• Canada probes Nike, Dynasty Gold over alleged use of forced labor in China (RT)

• Meme stocks are back, raising a ‘red flag’ for the broader market (BBG)

• Amazon dangles deeper 'Prime Day' discounts for stressed US shoppers (RT)

• Oil flat after bigger-than-expected build in US crude stockpiles (RT)

• Japan's wholesale inflation slows for 6th straight month (RT)

• World's biggest gallium buyer says clients stockpiling (RT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• A US judge rejected the FTC’s claim that Microsoft’s $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard would reduce competition, allowing the deal to proceed; the UK is now prepared to review Microsoft’s proposals to resolve antitrust concerns (RT)

• Broadcom’s $61B acquisition of cloud computing firm VMWare will gain EU approval as soon as Wednesday (BBG)

• French insurer AXA is discussing a possible sale or listing of its $2B XL Reinsurance unit to reduce disaster risk (RT)

• Egypt will sell $1.9B worth of state assets to boost its private sector and ease pressure on the Egyptian pound (RT)

• Electric utility TransAlta will buy all shares of TransAlta Renewables it doesn’t already own for $1B in a cash-and-stock deal (RT)

• KKR is exploring options, including a sale, for its majority stake in commercial lighting manufacturer LVC Lighting’s China business, which could fetch more than $1B (BBG)

• Tata Group, India’s largest conglomerate, is nearing a deal to acquire Apple supplier Wistron’s factory for more than $600M (BBG)

• Powerschool Holdings, a provider of K-12 cloud software, agreed to buy K-12 communications tool provider SchoolMessenger from Apollo-backed telecom company West Technology Group for $300M cash (BW)

• Canada’s largest pension fund, CPP Investments, purchased a $143M controlling stake in Amsterdam-based green hydrogen company Power2X (RT)

• Walt Disney is reviewing strategic options for its Star India business, including a joint venture or sale (RT)

• Bain Capital and Carlyle Group are among potential bidders for a controlling stake in Adani’s shadow bank Adani Capital, which is exploring a sale after its IPO plans were scrapped (BBG)

VC

• CarbonCure Technologies, a startup building carbon removal technologies for the concrete industry, raised an $80M round led by Blue Earth Capital (BW)

• Collective, a financial management platform for freelancers, raised a $50M round led by Gradient Ventures, Innovus Capital, General Catalyst, and others (TC)

• Autonomous charging solutions startup Rocsys raised a $36.3M Series A led by SEB Greentech Venture Capital (FN)

• Savvy, a platform to secure SaaS apps, raised a $30M round led by Canaan (TC)

• Raft, a freight-forwarding startup, raised a $30M Series B led by Eight Roads (TC)

• CoJourney Inc. a cell and gene therapy manufacturing startup, raised a $30M Series A led by Legend Holdings (BW)

• Orennia, a startup providing commercial analytics for the energy transition, raised a $25M Series B led by Wellington Management (FN)

• Jirav, a startup developing financial planning software for businesses, raised a $20M Series B led by Cota Capital (TC)

• RightRev, a cloud-based finance and accounting solutions provider for revenue recognition automation, raised $12M in funding led by Norwest Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures (BW)

• Verity, a Swiss startup building self-flying warehouse drones, raised an $11M Series B extension led by Qualcomm Ventures (TC)

• SpecterOps, a provider of adversary-focused cybersecurity solutions, raised an $8.5M Series A extension from Ballistic Ventures (BW)

• RecruitBot, a startup providing a recruiting experience platform, raised an additional $8.2M in seed funding led by Slow Ventures, OCA, Freestyle and other (FN)

• Ivy, an instant bank payments startup, raised a $7.7M seed round led by Creandum (TC)

• Congruity360, a data management and data governance provider, raised $6M in funding from NFS Leasing (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• State-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Co. will IPO ‘soon’ after securing approval from the Nigerian president (RT)

SPAC

• Sam Altman-backed nuclear energy startup Oklo will merge with his SPAC, AltC Acquisition Corp, at an $850M valuation (RT)

• Shares in Marti Technologies, a ride hailing app and the first Turkish company to list in New York via SPAC, dropped 49% in its debut (BBG)

Debt

• South Korea's LG Chem is raising $2B in convertible bonds that will exchange for LG Energy Solution shares (RT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• South Korean state-run banks Industrial Bank of Korea and the Korea Development Bank are providing at least $1.5B of liquidity support to credit union MG Community Credit Cooperatives after it was hit by customer withdrawals (RT)

• Celsa’s shareholders and creditors are having valuation clashes during the debt restructuring of Spain's largest private industrial group (RT)

• Indian billionaire Gautam Adani is considering bidding for coal plants from industrialist Anil Ambani currently being auctioned in Indian bankruptcy court (RT)

Fundraising

• Danish green investment company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners raised $6.1B for its fifth flagship fund, Copenhagen Infrastructure V, and expects to reach its $13.2B target (RT)

• Albion River, a private investment firm focused on defense products and services, raised $400M in equity for its new investment vehicle, Albion Platform Holdings (BW)

• Investment firm 777 Partners plans to raise more than $220M for its portfolio of football clubs (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• Exchange operator Cboe Global Markets filed amended applications for three spot bitcoin ETFs, including one by Fidelity, and will partner with Coinbase for market surveillance (RT)

• US prosecutors are investigating a former FTX executive for campaign finance violations related to his girlfriend’s congressional campaign (CD)

Exec’s Picks

• The healthcare system is suffering from expensive and antiquated supply chains, but iRemedy is working to solve this problem with their patented AI-based solutions. Interested in investing in iRemedy? Click here to learn more.

• In this Bloomberg article, Greg Ritchie explained how Saudi Aramco received billions of “ESG” dollars thanks to a complex web of financial structures.

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