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Good Morning,

Risky companies have access to cheap debt, Meta’s stock price hit an all-time high, Terraform Labs filed for bankruptcy protection, Europe is navigating a post-energy crisis world, ocean shipping rates are surging, and Ron DeSantis ended his 2024 presidential campaign.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rallied on Friday as the S&P closed at an all-time high

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 1.70% gain

• Asian stocks rose, excluding Chinese stocks, as Japan reported slowing inflation

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Tuesday: Netflix, Verizon, 3M, Johnson & Johnson, RTX, P&G, Lockheed Martin, United Airlines

  • Wednesday: Tesla, AT&T, IBM, ASML, Progressive

  • Thursday: Intel, Visa, Blackstone, American Airlines, Comcast, Next Era Energy

  • Friday: American Express

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• A hot debt market is slashing borrowing costs for riskier companies (WSJ)

• Meta snaps out of historic slump with first record high in years (BBG)

• Musk’s AI startup secures $500M towards $1B funding goal (BBG)

• Europe moves into a new world after crippling energy crisis (BBG)

• US authorities say more Boeing 737 planes should get checks after MAX 9 incident (RT)

• Microsoft says Russia-linked group hacked employee emails (BBG)

• Euro Zone’s job market puzzle shows risk of early ECB rate cuts (BBG)

• Netflix has its own tough act to follow (WSJ)

• Australia halts ‘Golden Visa’ under broad migration overhaul (BBG)

• Why there is a new global race to the moon (CNBC)

• Ocean shipping rates surge as Red Sea attacks continue (WSJ)

• AMD’s record high shows AI-fueled chip rally has another gear (BBG)

• Petrobras board member resigns from Brazilian oil giant (BBG)

• Ron DeSantis ends 2024 campaign, endorses Trump over Haley (RT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Apollo Global is among PE firms considering making an offer for National Amusements, the Redstone family company that controls $8.9B film and TV giant Paramount Global (BBG) 

• Macy’s rejected a $5.8B takeover offer from Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management (BBG) 

• Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways are appealing a federal judge’s decision to block JetBlue’s $3.8B acquisition of the ultra-low-cost carrier (BBG) 

• Blackstone Real Estate Partners agreed to acquire Canadian real-estate company Tricon Residential in a $3.5B deal (WSJ) 

• La Française des Jeux, France’s exclusive lottery and offline sports-betting operator, is nearing an acquisition of online gambling operator Kindred Group for ~$2.5B (WSJ) 

• Synchrony Financial agreed to acquire consumer lender Ally Financial's point-of-sale financing business, including $2.2B of loan receivables (RT) 

• Italy is considering the sale of as much as 20% in postal operator Poste Italiane, which could bring in up to $2.7B (BBG) 

• Brookfield Asset Management is in talks to invest ~$2B in Dubai-based GEMS Education, one of the world’s largest private school operators (BBG) 

• Privately-held Australian software company Canva is close to completing a share sale to raise over $1.5B at a $26B valuation (BBG) 

• PE firm Arcline Investment Management will take aerospace parts maker Kaman private for $1.3B (RT) 

• French shipping firm CMA CGM is set to buy British logistics firm Wincanton for ~$700M cash (RT) 

• UK caterer Compass Group is in advanced discussions to acquire rival CH&Co in a deal that could be worth over $508M (BBG) 

• AT&T, Google, and Vodafone made a$155M strategic investment in AST SpaceMobile, a space-based cellular broadband network (BW)

VC

• Valsoft Corporation, a Canadian company focused on acquiring and developing vertical market software businesses, raised $170M in funding led by Coatue and Viking Global Investors (BW)

• Tr1X, a biotech company focused on engineering cures for immune and inflammatory diseases, raised a $75M Series A led by The Column Group (FN)

• Korean travel tech startup Myrealtrip raised a $56.7M Series F co-led by BlueRun Ventures Korea and IMM Investment (TC)

• Flowdesk, a Paris-based full-service digital asset trading technology company, raised a $50M Series B led by Cathay Innovation (FN)

• Beatdapp, a fraud detection company in the music industry, raised a $17M round (BW)

• Tandem, a Chicago-based provider of an app for couples to manage their finances together, raised a $3.7M seed round led by Corazon Capital (FN)

• XTM Inc., a fintech startup creator of payment innovations, raised $1.2M in funding from a strategic investor (BW)

• Runnr.ai, a startup providing a conversational guest engagement platform for hotels, raised a $1.1M round led by Arches Capital (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Fintech Kaspi.kz  shares rose 4.3% on its debut day of trading for a valuation of ~$18B after raising $1B for its IPO (BBG) 

• Croatian tycoon Pavao Vujnovac plans to prepare Fortenova Grupa for an IPO as soon as the Balkan retail giant refinances its $1.3B rescue loan (BBG) 

• Senior housing and assisted living property owner American Healthcare REIT is seeking to raise ~$700M in an IPO (BBG) 

•  Kazakh carrier Air Astana confirmed its plans for a February London listing (RT) 

Debt

• Synopsys plans to finance its $34B purchase of software maker Ansys through a term loan and bond issuance (BBG) 

• New World Development and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund plan to refinance a $1.2B syndicated loan related to the acquisition of three Hong Kong luxury hotels (BBG) 

• India's Tata Consumer Products will raise $782M through the issue of commercial papers and rights issue of shares (RT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Terraform Labs, the company behind stablecoin TerraUSD, which collapsed and roiled crypto markets in 2022, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (RT)

Fundraising

• Middle-market PE firm Wynnchurch Capital closed its Wynnchurch Capital Partners VI fund at $3.5B (FN)

• JPMorgan Chase is in talks to clinch $2.5B-$3B of third-party commitments to grow its private credit strategy (BBG) 

• Bain Capital closed its Bain Capital Middle Market Credit 2022 at $1B to provide flexible, junior debt to midmarket companies (WSJ)

Crypto Corner

• Binance is set to face the SEC in a Washington courtroom this week (RT) 

• Crypto supporters say #BoycottVanguard due to its Bitcoin ETF snub (BBG) 

Exec’s Picks

• Trung Phan published an excellent piece on how different tech apps influence our behavior without us realizing it.

• Dan Shipper discussed how AI has taken us from a knowledge economy to an allocation economy.

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