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Mexico’s Congress is holding a hearing on UFOs, the Fed is on alert for one more possible hike, Goldman fired its transaction banking chief, Howard Schultz stepped down from Starbucks’ board, UAW and automakers remain ‘far apart’ in contract negotiations, and X Corp. is settling lawsuits over mass layoffs.

Padel is the hottest sport in the world right now. If you want to keep up with the biggest stories in this industry, check out today’s sponsor, The Padel Press.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed mixed as investors digested a slightly higher-than-expected MoM CPI increase of 0.6%, the biggest monthly gain in 2023 

  • The Dow fell 0.20%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.29% 

• European stocks closed slightly lower as investors reacted to US inflation data

Earnings

• Inditex reported a 40% jump in half-year profit, handily beating euro market forecasts (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Adobe, Lennar

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Mexican Congress holds hearing on UFOs featuring purported ‘alien’ bodies (RT)

• Fed on alert for one more hike after ‘disappointing’ inflation (BBG)

• Caesars paid ransom after suffering cyberattack (WSJ)

• Goldman Sachs fires transaction banking chief Moorthy, other leaders over lapses (BBG)

• JPMorgan, Bank of America dangle 14% yield to get rid of risky M&A debt (BBG)

• China’s Apple iPhone ban appears to be retaliation, US says (BBG)

• Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz steps down coffee chain’s board (CNBC)

• Citi names Figueroa as Latin America CEO amid management changes (BBG)

• TD calls justice department money-laundering probe ‘manageable’ (BBG)

• UAW, automakers remain ‘far apart’ in contract talks, union president says (WSJ)

• Delta changes rules to earn elite status: making it harder to get into airport lounges (CNBC)

• iPhone 15 and 15 Pro: Why a tiny USB-C port is a huge deal (WSJ)

• X Corp. agrees to try to settle lawsuits over mass layoffs (BBG)

• Sen. Mitt Romney says he won’t seek re-election (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Kingspan Group’s early talks for a potential merger with Carlisle to create a ~$30B materials giant have ended (BBG)

• CrownRock LP is exploring a sale that could value the US oil and gas producer at well over $10B, including debt (RT)

• Apollo Global Management is among suitors competing to acquire International Game Technology’s global gaming division, which could fetch $4B-$5B, including debt (BBG) 

• Miner Sigma Lithium, which has a $4B market cap, is exploring strategic alternatives for the whole company after receiving multiple proposals (RT)

• Hempel Foundation, the owner of coating solutions manufacturer Hempel, is exploring options and weighing a stake sale which could value the company at $3.2B (BBG)

• Reliance Retail, India’s largest retailer, is in talks with existing investors that include Singapore’s GIC, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Saudi Arabia’s PIF to raise $1.5B (RT)

• Swiss-based MSC, the world’s largest shipping container company, offered to buy almost half of the HHLA, the main operator of Hamburg port, in a deal worth up to $1.4B (RT)

• Australia's Macquarie and Malaysian hospital chain Columbia Asia are among bidders for Ramsay Health Care and Sime Darby JV Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care, which could be valued at $1.3B (RT) 

• Sumitomo Life will acquire insurance company Aviva’s 25.9% stake in JV Singapore Life Holdings for $997M (RT)

• Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC is considering selling its 12% stake in the world’s largest brandy maker, Philippines’ Emperador, which is worth ~$697M (BBG)

• Major League Pickleball will merge with PPA Tour; the combined entity will also receive a $50M investment from PE firm SC Holdings (FOS)

VC

• Data management startup Denodo raised a $336M Series B led by TPG (BW)

• VideoAmp, an adtech startup providing measurement and data software for the advertising ecosystem, raised a $150M Series G led by Vista Credit Partners (BW)

• UBQ Materials, a climate tech developer, raised $70M in funding led by Eden Global Partners (FN)

• Arialys Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on advancing therapeutics for autoimmune neuropsychiatry, raised a $58M seed round led by Avalon BioVentures, Catalys Pacific, and MPM BioImpact (FN)

• Tarana Wireless, a wireless internet provider, raised a $50M round led by Digital Alpha Advisors (BW)

• Mironid, a UK-based biotech company developing small molecule therapeutics, extended its Series A funding to $43.7M led by Roche Venture Fund (FN)

• Direct-to-consumer home insurance startup Kin raised a $33M Series D led by QED Investors (BW)

• Sempre Health, a provider of a solution for behavior-based healthcare pricing, raised a $20M round from Cencora Ventures and Echo Health Ventures (FN)

• CertifID, a wire fraud protection company, raised a $20M Series B led by Arthur Ventures (FN)

• Port, an Israeli provider of an open internal developer portal, raised an $18M round led by Team8 (FN)

• Healthy aging platform Bold raised a $17M Series A led by Rethink Impact (FN)

• Exostellar, a startup helping companies optimize cloud spend, raised a $15M Series A led by Celesta and Cambium Capital (TC)

• Sonera, a neural data company, raised an $11M seed round led by Amplify Partners (FN)

• Iomed, a startup using AI to activate healthcare data, raised a $10.7M round led by Philips Ventures and XTX Ventures (FN)

• AI-generated identity fraud detection startup Deduce raised $9M in funding led by Freestyle Capital (BW)

• Vaxess Technologies, a life sciences company developing a shelf-stable vaccine patch, raised $9M in funding led by RA Capital, The Engine, and others (FN)

• Cloud savings startup Usage.AI raised $9M in funding led by Amity Ventures (FN)

• AI technology development company DeLorean Artificial Intelligence raised a $7.6M Series A led by Sopris Venture Capital (FN)

• Gable.ai, a startup providing a collaboration platform for developers to build and manage data assets, raised a $7M seed round led by Zetta Venture Partners, Crane Venture Capital, and Essence Venture Capital (FN)

• Caliza, a startup allowing banks and fintech companies to embed its API infrastructure to save and transact in US dollars, raised a $5M seed round led by Better Tomorrow Ventures and Abstract Ventures (FN)

• Q-Bot, an insulation solutions provider, raised $4.4M in funding led by EMV Capital, Wealth Club, and Adjuvo (FN)

• AI-powered help desk for restaurants Science On Call raised a $2.6M seed round led by York IE (FN)

• Kuano, a drug discovery startup combining quantum mechanics with AI, raised a $2.3M seed round led by Mercia Ventures (FN)

• Treefera, an AI-powered data platform, raised a $2.2M pre-seed round led by Concept Ventures (FN)

• Pixelle, a manufacturer of specialty papers in North America, raised a $1.4M round led by Pixelle Specialty Solutions (BW)

• Travel planning platform BookSeats raised a $1M round led by KB Partners (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chip designer Arm will raise $4.9B at a $54.5B valuation after pricing its shares at $51 per share for its IPO (RT)

• German perfume and cosmetics retailer Douglas, which is majority-owned by CVC Capital Partners, chose Goldman Sachs, Citi, and other banks as global coordinators for a planned IPO (RT)

SPAC

• Decarbonization and carbon streaming company DevvStream Holdings will merge with Focus Impact Acquisition Corp. in a $213M deal (GNW)

• AgileAlgo Holdings, a maker of natural language code generator for ML and data-management, will merge with Inception Growth Acquisition Limited in a $160M deal (YF)

Debt

• Adani Group is in talks to refinance $3.5B worth of debt taken on to fund its acquisition of Ambuja Cements (BBG)

• A group of banks led by Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase are looking to sell $1.4B of debt tied to Viasat’s acquisition of satellite company Inmarsat Group Holdings (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Fortress Investment Group, Charlesbank Capital Partners, and Clearlake Capital will take control of US college marketing sports group Learfield in a deal that reduces $600M debt, injects $150M into the company, and transfers ownership to the PE firms (FT)

Fundraising

• Crypto VC Electric Capital is raising $300M for its third core early-stage venture fund (AX)

• SHS Capital, a German healthcare investment firm, closed SHS VI at ~$290M to invest in growing European healthcare companies (FN)

• Sierra Ventures, a VC firm focused on enterprise tech, AI, cybersecurity, and healthcare, raised a $265M fund (WSJ)

Crypto Corner

• FTX received court approval to begin selling its $3.4B digital currency hoard to raise money owed to creditors (BBG)

• Digital Currency Group is urging creditors of subsidiary Genesis Global Holdco to approve its repayment plan that it says could fully repay hundreds of thousands of customers (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• Katie Gatti Tassin discussed the role that narratives played in the rise and fall of crypto over the last market cycle.

• Eliza Relman wrote about how America is running low on ‘third places.’

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