Sponsored by

Good Morning,

SXSW is in full force this week and looks like there are some amazing events lined up. Wish we could’ve made it out to Austin, but we’ll have to catch y’all next year!

A Boeing whistleblower was found dead, Jamie Dimon warns a US recession is “not off the table” yet, PE is sitting on record unsold assets, big tech isn’t the sole stock rally driver, Europe’s IPO market is recovering quick, Biden unveiled a $7.3T budget, and ISIS is increasingly relying on crypto to fund operations.

Want the latest in business and tech in daily 5-minute visuals? Check out and subscribe to Bay Area Times!

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed mixed yesterday as investors await crucial inflation data that will test bets on Fed rate cuts

  • Options traders are pricing a ±1% swing in the S&P 500 to follow inflation data

• Japanese stocks slumped on speculation that BOJ may end negative rates this month 

• Bitcoin topped $72k, surpassing silver to become the eighth-largest financial asset 🤯 🤯 

Earnings

• Oracle shares rose ~13% after reporting better-than-expected Q3 earnings thanks to strong demand for its AI servers, though it slightly missed on revenue (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Kohl’s, ADM

  • Thursday: Adobe, Dollar General, Dick’s Sporting Goods

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Prominent Boeing whistleblower found dead in US (YH)

• PE is sitting on a record 28k unsold firms worth $3T+ (FT)

• Chinese stocks make return to global portfolios on bottom bets (BBG)

• Big tech isn't sole driver of stock market rally (WSJ)

• Biden unveiled a $7.3T budget (CNBC)

• HSBC to hire ~50 bankers for startup, venture lending in US (RT)

• Strong start for Europe’s IPO market lifts recovery hopes (FT)

• Disney attacks Nelson Peltz’s motivations in effort to win board seats (RT)

• Jamie Dimon warns US recession ‘not off the table’ yet (BBG)

• Activist fund Third Point added three new directors to Advance Auto Parts' board (WSJ)

• Telegram hits 900M users and nears profitability as founder considers IPO (FT)

• Thomson Reuters has $8B war chest for AI-focused acquisitions (FT)

• Germany starts auction for green industry worth up to $4.4B (BBG)

• Bank of America execs get pay bump despite CEO compensation cut (BBG)

• NYCB's new CEO will receive $1.25M base salary (RT)

• 80% of world’s stock options are traded in India (WSJ)

• AI talent war heats up in Europe (RT)

• Americans’ are dipping into 401k’s, with financial insecurity at a record high (WSJ)

A Message From Bay Area Times

Visual-based newsletter on business and tech

We explain the latest business, finance, and tech news with visuals and data.📊

All in one free newsletter that takes < 5 minutes to read. 🗞

Save time and become more informed today.👇

Subscribe with one click today

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• US natural gas producer EQT agreed to buy back former unit Equitrans Midstream for ~$5.5B in stock (BBG) 

• PE firm Astorg is considering a sale of US-based IP software firm Anaqua, which could be worth up to $3B (RT) 

• British American Tobacco, the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes, is preparing to kick off a sale of part of its stake in Indian partner ITC worth $2B-$3B (BBG)

• Italy conditionally approved ION Group’s $1.5B acquisition of asset manager Prelios (BBG) 

• Billionaire Hans Georg Näder, the controlling shareholder of Ottobock, is nearing an agreement to purchase EQT’s 20% stake in the German prosthetics company for ~$1.2B (BBG) 

• PE firm Advent International is weighing a sale of CAES that could value the aerospace and defense technology company at over $1B (BBG) 

• Elliott Investment Management walked away from a potential takeover of Currys; Elliot last offered $951M for the British electronics retailer (BBG) 

• Hedge fund Standard General offered to buy the remaining stake in Bally's it does not already own in a deal that values the casino operator at ~$684M (RT) 

• Alternative asset managers Hillhouse Capital, Boyu Capital and CDH Investments are in advanced talks to invest $500M-$600M in GDS Holdings’ data center business outside China (BBG)

• PE firm Arsenal Capital Partners will acquire contract research firm Fortrea Holdings’  enabling services segment and patient access businesses for up to $345M (RT) 

• Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and the Daily Mail and General Trust, held talks about a potential joint takeover of The Telegraph alongside UAE-backed investment fund RedBird IMI (BBG) 

• Norwegian PE firm HitecVision is weighing options for UK oil and gas producer NEO Energy, including a potential sale (BBG)

VC

• UK-based cash deposit platform Flagstone received a $136M investment from Estancia Capital Partners (EU)

• Healthy beverage platform Liquid Death raised a $67M round at a $1.4B valuation from strategic partners and new investors (BW)

• Serenity Kids, a shelf-stable baby food brand, raised a $52M Series B led by Stride Consumer Partners (PRN)

• Data analytics software solutions company Ocient raised a $49.4M Series B extension led by Buoyant Ventures, OCA Ventures, and more (BW)

• Vouch, a provider of business insurance for high-growth companies, raised a $25M Series C-1 led by Ribbit Capital (PRN)

• Banking-as-a-Service startup Griffin raised a $24M Series A led by MassMutual Ventures, NordicNinja, and Breega (TC)

• Kaedim, a startup streamlining the 3D creative process for game developers, raised a $15M Series A led by a16z Games (FN)

• SuperAGI, an AI platform building 'large agentic models,' raised a $10M Series A led by Newlands VC (TC)

• Guardrails AI, an AI assurance company, raised a $7.5M seed round led by Zetta Venture Partners (FN)

• Bluwhale, a startup using AI to personalize decentralized applications, raised a $7M seed round led by SBI (FN)

• Milu Health, a health tech company using AI to drive cost savings in healthcare, raised a $4.8M seed round led by a16z (BW)

• Key, a community and networking platform provider, raised $4.3M in funding led by Felicis (FN)

• Stell, a startup helping engineers automate workflows, raised a $4M seed round led by Long Journey Ventures and Cyan & Scott Banister (TC)

• Blockus, a web3 gaming ecosystem, raised a $4M pre-seed round led by Maple VC (PRN)

• Velou, a startup building an AI-powered product data enrichment and search automation platform, raised a $4M seed round led by Animo Ventures (FN)

• Suiso, a UK-based startup developing a hydrogen generator, raised a $3.6M seed round led by NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Perfume retailer Douglas is seeking to raise up to $991M at a valuation of up to $3.4B in its Frankfurt IPO (RT) 

• Horizon Robotics, an Intel-backed Chinese provider of autonomous driving computing solutions, chose China Securities International, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley for a Hong Kong IPO this year that may raise up to $500M (BBG) 

• Ho Chi Minh City Development JSC Bank is exploring raising $500M through a share sale (BBG) 

SPAC

• Gold miner Aurous will merge with Rigel Resource Acquisition Corp. in a $362M deal (NSC)

Debt

• Poland sold $8B in dollar-denominated bonds in their biggest ever dollar debt issue (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Canadian Overseas Petroleum filed for bankruptcy in Canada and the US and intends to restructure (BBG) 

• Signa Prime Selection creditors are close to an agreement to sell luxury Austrian property assets to the Schoeller Group (BBG)

Fundraising

• European PE firm Inflexion raised $2.2B for Europe’s biggest-ever minority stake-focused PE fund (ALT)

• GoldenTree Asset Management raised $1.4B for its first pure private credit fund (RT) 

• MM PE firm Gauge Capital raised $1.4B for its fourth fund (FIN)

Crypto Corner

• ISIS is increasingly using crypto to fund global operations (BBG) 

• UK approved crypto-backed ETNs for professional investors (RT) 

• Bitcoin surpassed silver to become the eighth-largest financial asset (TB)

• US Treasury once again proposes new crypto tax rules to “modernize” code (BW)

Exec’s Picks

• In case you missed yesterday’s newsletter, I recently announced the launch of Litquidity Venture Partners I, my first venture fund focused on investing in YC-backed startups from the most recent batches. We’ve already invested in the seed rounds of four exciting companies and are opening up the opportunity to invest into our fund. If you’re interested in learning more, please fill out our brief interest survey here.

• WSJ published an interesting piece on how background music, podcasts, and the like actually hurt our productivity.

• FT covered how Malaysia is emerging as the surprise winner from US-China chip wars.

Litney Partners - Financial Recruiting 💼

If you're currently a junior investment banker looking to break into the buy side, considering lateraling to another investment bank, or have recently been impacted by widespread layoffs, it's time you check out Litney Partners, a partnership between Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates at leading private equity, hedge fund, venture capital, growth equity, and credit funds, as well as investment banks.

To get started, simply head over to the Litney website and create your profile by dropping your resume / filling out the form:

Meme Cleanser

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures // Book a call with Lit // Launch your own newsletter