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PE made a splash into NFL, hedge fund launches are at a 24-year low, commodity traders are set for the worst year since 2019, a court struck down a DEI rule for Nasdaq firms, and Albertsons sued Kroger for billions after terminating their blockbuster merger.

See how to stream your financial operations with BILL and they'll send you a free pair of Ray-Ban Smart Glasses.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks jumped yesterday as inflation data solidified expectations for a Fed rate cut

  • Nasdaq closed above 20,000 for the first time in a new ATH

  • Traders fully priced in a 25 bps rate cut next week

• Japan's Nikkei 225 hit a two-month high

• Gold rose for a fourth-straight day

  • Gold is on pace for its biggest annual gain in 45 years 

Earnings

• Adobe fell 9% despite beating Q4 earnings estimates as disappointing FY revenue guidance stoked fears of emerging AI competition (BBG) 

• Macy's met Q3 EPS and revenue estimates but lowered Q4 profit guidance after concluding its investigation into an employee hiding $151M of expenses; the firm remains under pressure from activist investors (WSJ)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Costco, Broadcom

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Election results were just the beginning! Trade your predictions on a range of notable events legally, only on Kalshi.

• Get a $20 bonus when you deposit $100 or more with code LIT on signup.

Headline Roundup

• US CPI rose 2.7% by the most in seven months (CNBC)

• BoC cut rates by 50 bps again to 3.25% (RT)

• Australia unemployment dropped to a surprise 8-month low (RT)

• Argentina inflation hit a four-year low (RT)

• Appeals court tossed out DEI rules for Nasdaq-listed firms (WSJ)

• New hedge fund launches are set to hit a 24-year low (BBG)

• Commodity traders are set for the worst year since 2019 (BBG)

• Lazard expects dealmaking surge to be boosted by PE (RT)

• Dealmakers see return of more and bigger megadeals in 2025 (RT)

• 80% of US junk bond sales were for refinancing (BBG)

• Citigroup urges investors to look past S&P 500 for 2025 gains (BBG)

• Hong Kong M&A hit a seven-year high at $38B (BBG)

• BoE plans tougher liquidity rules for insurers (FT)

• BlackRock's private markets push not over despite 2024 buyout spree (RT)

• BlackRock opened up private assets to rich Europeans and beyond (FT)

• Congress plans to force health insurers to sell off pharmacies (WSJ)

• HSBC and IFC launched a $1B EM trade finance program (RT)

• OPEC made its biggest cut to oil demand forecasts yet (BBG)

• BofA named 387 to MD, a 16% increase (RT)

• Albertsons sued Kroger for billions amid failed $25B merger (CNBC)

• Nvidia stepped up China hiring to focus on AI-driven cars (BBG)

• Coca-Cola named a new COO after a two-year vacancy (BBG)

• EU raided Adidas HQ for a second-straight day (FT)

• Musk's net worth topped $400B in a historic first (BBG)

• TPG founder and PE pioneer David Bonderman passed away (BBG)

• Apple added ChatGPT to iPhones (CNBC)

• Exxon plans to power data centers (NYT)

• Auction house Sotheby’s will lay off 6% of staff (WSJ)

• Health execs reckon with patient outrage after CEO killing (RT)

• Two star luxury real estate brokers were charged with sex trafficking (FT)

• Meta donated $1M to Trump's inaugural fund (WSJ)

• Bill Belichick will join UNC has head coach (WSJ)

• Hamas conceded to two key Israel demands (WSJ)

• Saudi Arabia will host the 2024 World Cup (BBG)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• $36B-listed chocolate maker Hershey rejected a preliminary takeover offer from snacks maker Mondelez

• Amkor chairman Susan Kim and Ed Peskowitz's children Zack Peskowitz and Olivia Suter will acquire an 8% stake in NFL's Philadelphia Eagles at an $8.3B valuation

• Ares will acquire a 10% stake in the NFL's Miami Dolphins

• Arctos Partners will acquire a 10% stake in the NFL's Buffalo Bills

• Malaysian wireless carrier Axiata and Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas agreed to merge their Indonesian telecom operations in a $6.5B cash and stock deal

• Bain Capital increased its offer for Japanese software maker Fuji Soft to $4.3B, extending a bidding war with KKR

• PE firm Patient Square Capital agreed to take private dental and veterinary company Patterson Companies for $4.1B, including debt 

• CEO Sumant Sinha, Abu Dhabi's Masdar, Canada's CPP, and ADIA-subsidiary Platinum Hawk are looking to take India's $2.8B-listed ReNew Energy Global private 

• Saudi conglomerate Zahid Group offered to acquire South African equipment maker Barloworld at a $1.3B valuation

• PE firm Triton Partners is nearing a deal to acquire some of German engineering firm Bosch's security systems operations at a $735M valuation

• $423M-listed supply chain software firm Logility is exploring a sale

• Hermes-linked family office Krefeld Invest is in talks to acquire a 70% stake in French insurer Albingia for $303M 

• South Korean conglomerate SK Group is considering a sale of its 65% stake in $300M-listed Vietnamese pharma firm Imexpharm

• Bain Capital invested $157M in Indonesia's Mayapada Healthcare Group

• Indian conglomerate Jubilant Bhartia Group will acquire a 40% stake in Coca-Cola's Indian bottling unit Hindustan Coca-Cola Holdings

VC

• Ayar Labs, an optical interconnects for large scale AI workloads, raised a $155M Series D led by Advent Global Opportunities and Light Street Capital

• Players Health, an athlete safety and sports insurance solutions, raised a $60M Series C led by Bluestone Equity Partners

• Flare, a threat exposure management startup, raised a $30M Series B led by Base10 Partners

• IT site reliability startup NueBird raised a $22.5M seed extension led by M12

• Albert Invent, an AI platform for the chemicals sector, raised a $22.5M Series A led by Coatue

• Electrified Thermal Solutions, a startup helping industrial firms replace natural gas with bricks, raised a $19M pre-Series A from Clean Energy Ventures, EDP Ventures, and more

• Stigg, a startup helping companies model pricing data, raised a $17.5M Series A led by Red Dot Capital Partners

• RapidCanvas, an AI agents company, raised $16M in funding led by Peak XV

• Reveal Technology, a 'decision dominance' tools for DOD, raised an $11.2M Series A led by Next Frontier Capital

• KAST, a stablecoin-powered neobank, raised a $10M seed round led by Peak XV and HongShan

• Wafeq, a UAE accounting platform, raised a $7.5M Series A led by 9900 Capital

• Omni HR, an Asia-focused employee management platform, raised a $7.4M round led by Picus Capital

• SkySQL, a startup bringing conversational AI to databases, raised a $6.6M seed round from Eniac Ventures, Good Capital, and WTI

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Cinven and Bain-backed drugmaker Stada Arzneimittel is seeking to raise over $1.6B in a German IPO

• Home services software firm ServiceTitan raised its IPO price again to raise $625M at a $6.3B valuation

Debt

• Kroger will buy back $4.7B of debt issued to help fund its terminated $24.6B acquisition of Albertsons

• Spanish drugmaker Grifols raised $1.4B in a private debt placement

• Deutsche Bank plans to sell a SRT linked to a $2.1B portfolio of German mid-cap loans

• UAE fintech Astra Tech raised $500M in ABS financing from Citigroup 

• Utah's Deer Valley Resort is looking to raise $300M in high-yield munis

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• A US bankruptcy court rejected satire website The Onion's deal to buy Alex Jones' conspiracy website Infowars

• UK fintech Stenn collapsed into administration amid Russia money laundering case 

• Hong Kong gym chain Physical Health Centre received a liquidation petition

Crypto Corner

• Bankers are cautious on crypto despite expected regulatory easing (RT)

• a16z Crypto policy lead Quintenz is in running for CFTC chair (BBG)

• Binance partnered with Circle to expand USDC-denominated offerings (BBG)

• SOCTUS rejected Nvidia's appeal to avoid lawsuit tied to crypto mining (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• Enron has an update! After a week of mystery, Enron introduced their new CEO and their plans ahead. Check out the second video on their website to hear from Connor Gaydos and his plans to unveil world-changing technology next month.

• The world's oldest bond is officially 400 years old.

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

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