Mariah Carey SZN 🎅🏼

J Pow embraced slower rate hikes, stocks ripped back to bull territory, junk bonds rallied, Eurozone inflation fell MoM, US Q3 GDP growth was 2.9% YoY, IPO proceeds fell 93% this year, some Chinese cities are curbing lockdowns in response to protests, Amazon had its highest Thanksgiving weekend sales ever, SBF denied trying to commit fraud, and the EU threatened to ban Twitter.

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Good morning and happy first day of December. 'Tis the season to play Mariah Carey on repeat and cop a Litquidity Christmas sweater.

J Pow embraced slower rate hikes, stocks ripped back to bull territory, junk bonds rallied, Eurozone inflation fell MoM, US Q3 GDP growth was 2.9% YoY, IPO proceeds fell 93% this year, some Chinese cities are curbing lockdowns in response to protests, Amazon had its highest Thanksgiving weekend sales ever, SBF denied trying to commit fraud, and the EU threatened to ban Twitter.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 11/30/2022 market close.

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

  • US stocks posted huge gains yesterday after J Pow signaled a potential slowdown in rate hikes

    • All three major US indexes made back-to-back monthly gains for the first time since 2021, with the Dow Jones exiting bear territory

  • The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.6% on declining Eurozone inflation, ending the month up 6.1%

  • Oil settled higher on signs of tighter supply and a weaker dollar

  • US dollar index fell 0.8% yesterday on dovish Fed sentiment, ending November down 5.03% for its biggest monthly decline since 2010

Earnings

  • Royal Bank of Canada beat Q4 profit estimates on strong retail lending driven by higher rates and a resistant capital-markets division; the bank will also acquire HSBC Canada for $10B (BBG)

  • Salesforce beat Q3 EPS and revenue estimates on strong subscription and support revenues, while announcing a sudden departure of co-CEO Bret Taylor; their shares fell 5.6% in AH trading (CNBC)

  • Victoria's Secret beat on Q4 EPS estimates and matched on revenue as they posted declining North American sales but rebounding international demand amid easing Covid restrictions (BBG)

  • What we're watching this week:

    • Today: Toronto-Dominion Bank, Kroger

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Powell embraced slower rate hikes despite no 'clear progress' toward lower inflation (AX)

  • Junk bonds rally as investors speculate inflation has peaked (WSJ)

  • Eurozone inflation fell to 10% YoY in November for first decline in 17 months (FT)

  • US Q3 GDP growth was revised upwards to 2.9% annualized (WSJ)

  • US job openings fell by 353k to 10.3M in October (CNBC)

  • Private hiring slowed sharply during November (CNBC)

  • US firms have become more pessimistic about economic outlook: Fed survey (RT)

  • IPO proceeds fell by 93% this year (RT)

  • Two Chinese cities eased Covid curbs in response to protests (RT)

  • Amazon recorded its biggest ever Thanksgiving shopping weekend (RT)

  • EU threatened to ban Twitter over content moderation rules (FT)

  • DoorDash cut 1,250 (6%) employees from workforce (RT)

  • Elon Musk's Neuralink aims to start putting brain implants into human patients within six months (BBG)

  • CNN will lay off a 'couple hundred' employees (AX)

  • BlackRock will back banks and cut European and EM debt as part of 2023 playbook (RT)

  • Salesforce's Bret Taylor will step down as co-CEO (RT)

  • House Democrats gained access to six years of Trump's federal tax returns (AX)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Italian energy company Eni is considering buying oil and gas explorer Neptune Energy which could be valued between $5-6B (BBG)

  • Industrial conglomerate General Electric and defense contractor L3Harris are among suitors competing to buy rocket maker Aerojet Rocketdyne, which has a market value of ~$4B (RT)

  • Financial services company State Street terminated its $3.5B deal to buy investment bank Brown Brothers Harriman’s investor-services business (BBG)

  • BC Partners is considering a sale of UK-based veterinary services firm VetPartners, which could be worth $3B (BBG)

  • Agricultural chemical company Corteva agreed to buy biologicals firm Stoller for $1.2B (BBG)

  • Enterprise healthcare service firm Fullerton Health is considering selling an up to 20% stake at a $1.1B+ valuation (BBG)

  • British Columbia Investment Management and Preservation Capital Partners are considering a sale of insurance broker BMS at a potential $720M+ valuation (BBG)

  • Saudi food delivery firm Jahez agreed to buy local rival The Chefz for $173M (BBG)

  • India’s Zetwerk, which connects companies with manufacturing partners and suppliers, agreed to buy US manufacturing services company Unimacts (BBG)

  • HSBC is considering a possible sale of its New Zealand business (RT)

VC

  • Wedding planning platform Joy raised a $60M Series B led by General Catalyst (PRN)

  • Spend management platform Teampay raised a $47M ($35.25M in equity / $11.75M in debt) Series B led by Fin Venture Capital (TC)

  • SPHERE, an identity hygiene platform, raised a $31M Series B led by Edison Partners (PRN)

  • ResortPass, a startup giving people the option to purchase day passes for 900+ hotels and resorts, raised a $26M Series B led by Declaration Partners and 14W (TC)

  • CommonGround, a startup building tech for immersive video avatar creation, raised a $25M round led by Marius Nacht, the co-founder of CheckPoint Software (TC)

  • Contract development and manufacturing company Experic raised a $14M Series B led by Harro Höfliger Packaging Systems and East Seattle Partners (BW)

  • Prismforce, a startup providing IT and tech services companies with tools to build better talent supply chains, raised a $13.6M Series A led by Sequoia Capital India (TC)

  • Re-Vana Therapeutics, a drug delivery company developing sustained-release therapeutics for the treatment of ocular diseases, raised an $11.9M Series A led by Visionary Ventures (PRN)

  • CleanFiber, a startup turning cardboard boxes into insulation nets, raised a $10M round from AXA IM Alts (TC)

  • Finery Markets, a multi-dealer electronic marketplace for institutional crypto participants, raised a $5.5M seed round led by G1 Ventures, gumi Cryptos and Shima Capital (PRN)

  • RailVision, a startup aiming to lower fuel costs and emissions in the railway industry, raised a $4M seed round led by Trucks Venture Capital (BW)

  • LiquiDonate, a startup helping retail stores donate excess goods to nonprofits, raised a $2.25M seed round led by Uncork Capital (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Engineering firm Uniparts India received 58% subscription on the first day of its ~$103M IPO; the offering concludes on Friday (ET)

SPAC

  • Carbon Revolution, an Australian manufacturer of carbon fiber wheels, agreed to merge with Twin Ridge Acquisition in a $270M deal (BBG)

Debt

  • Saudi Arabia’s PIF raised a $17B seven year loan from 25 global banks (WSJ)

  • SoftBank Group raised ~$2.82B from seven-year bonds sold in Japan with a coupon of 2.84% (BBG)

  • AXA IM Alts closed a ~$344M European CLO (AXA)

Fundraising

  • UK PE firm TDR Capital raised $4.3B for a new fund to add resources for deals and support its portfolio of consumer-related companies (BBG)

  • Ex-Tiger Global partner John Curtius plans to raise $1B for his new VC fund Cedar Investment Management which will focus on US/Europe early-stage enterprise software (RT)

  • UK-based innovation fund Nesta launched a new $60M fund to back early-stage impact startups (SFT)

  • Iterative, a Singapore-based VC that runs a YC-style accelerator program, raised a $55M Fund II (TC)

  • Female-led VC NewFarePartners raised a $20M inaugural fund to invest in early-stage food and beverage businesses (TC)

Crypto Corner

  • Sam Bankman-Fried quietly invested over $500M in Sequoia and other VCs (TI)

  • Early Alameda staffers quit after battling SBF over risk and compliance concerns (WSJ)

  • Crypto exchange Kraken laid off ~1.1k employees (AX)

  • ECB claims Bitcoin is artificially propped up and is on 'road to irrelevance' (CNBC)

  • Investors withdrew $19.6B from crypto funds in November (WSJ)

  • BlackRock's CEO believes crypto technology still relevant despite FTX misbehavior (RT)

  • EU crypto and NFT providers must report tax details under leaked EU plan (CD)

Exec's Picks

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  • The Atlantic published a piece about how black investors were disproportionately affected by crypto prices crashing

  • Spotify's Daniel Ek wrote a thread about Apple's anti-competitive practices

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 aim to curate jobs across IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We'll sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're a company looking to hire candidates and want to list a job opening on our board and feature on Exec Sum, click the button below:

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