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Mortgage rates are soaring, ChatGPT’s owner is exploring making its own chips, Jeremy Grantham says no one should invest in the US, China is becoming a no-go zone for executives, rising interest rates are making deficits matter, and the Michelin Guide will start ranking hotels.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks edged slightly lower as investors looked toward key jobs data on Friday

  • The S&P led indices with a 0.13% decline

• Asian stocks rose thanks to a fall in oil prices

• Oil slumped below $83 bbl, posting its biggest decline in over a year

Earnings

• Lamb Weston shares rose 8% after it raised its full-year net sales and profit forecasts, anticipating high prices for its products and easing cost pressures (RT)

• Constellation Brands beat Q2 adjusted earnings and revenue expectations thanks to 12% sales growth in its beer portfolio (CNBC)

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Mortgage rates hit 7.49%, highest since 2000 (WSJ)

• ChatGPT owner OpenAI is exploring making its own chips (RT)

• Michelin Guide will start ranking hotels (BBG)

• SEC seeks to force Musk testimony on Twitter stock purchases (BBG)

• Jeremy Grantham says no one should invest in the US (BBG)

• Chicago Fed’s Austan Goolsbee sees ‘puzzle’ in recent spike (BBG)

• US jet shoots down Turkish drone over Syria (WSJ)

• Mexico airport changes to affect passenger fee, other tariffs (BBG)

• China is becoming a no-go zone for executives (WSJ)

• After two failed attempts in the past year, Japan could be next in line to land on the moon (CNBC)

• ‘Coffee badging’ is the latest workaround for return-to-office mandates (CNBC)

• US jobless claims tick up slightly, remain historically low (BBG)

• Blacklisted Chinese chip maker does a thriving business with US (WSJ)

• Rising interest rates mean deficits finally matter (WSJ)

• MGM Resorts refused to pay ransom in cyberattack on casinos (WSJ)

• Weight loss drugs may be linked to stomach paralysis, other severe issues (CNBC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• ExxonMobil is nearing a ~$60B deal to acquire shale-focused Pioneer Natural Resources (WSJ)

• Shareholders of global grains merchant and oil seeds processor Bunge approved its acquisition of Glencore-backed Viterra, which will create a $34B company, including debt (RT)

• Newmont Corporation received all government regulatory approvals required for its $16.7B acquisition of Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining (RT)

• PE firm General Atlantic is exploring a sale of payment software vendor EngageSmart, which has a market value of $3.3B (RT)

• European buyout firm Triton is exploring a potential sale of All4Labels Global Packaging that may value the German label manufacturer at over $2.1B (BBG)

• Spanish multinational telecom Telefonica is weighing a $2.1B stake sale in its technology unit (BBG)

• Parking technology provider Metropolis Technologies will acquire parking facilities management services provider SP Plus for $1.5B, including debt (RT)

• Indian conglomerate Tata Group is in advanced talks with Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings to buy back a stake in its entertainment content distribution platform at a valuation over $1B (BBG)

• Japanese specialty pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin will acquire gene therapy developer Orchard Therapeutics for $387M (GNW)

• Pernod Ricard is exploring a sale of Czech liqueur brand Becherovka, which could be valued at over $300M in a sale (BBG)

• AbbVie exercised its exclusive right to acquire Mitokinin and purchased the Parkinson’s Disease drug developer for $110M (BZ)

• Drugmaker Sanofi is exploring a potential acquisition of cancer drugmaker Mirati Therapeutics (BBG)

• A consortium of BlackRock and Grain Management is in advanced talks to acquire a 20% stake in Phoenix Tower International from funds managed by Blackstone (BBG)

• TotalEnergies is weighing the sale of a 25% stake in Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm Seagreen Wind Energy (BBG)

VC

• AI-powered parking platform Metropolis raised a $1.7B round led by Eldridge Capital and 3L Capital to fund its acquisition of SP Plus, a provider of parking facility management services (TC)

• Lendbuzz, a startup providing an AI-powered auto finance platform, raised $345M in debt and equity: $45M in equity and $300M in a forward flow facility led by Group 1001 (FN)

• NYC-based mental healthcare tech startup Headway raised a $125M Series C at a $1B valuation led by Spark Capital (FN)

• Reusable rocket startup Stoke Space raised a $100M Series B led by Industrious Ventures (TC)

• Defense startup Mach Industries raised a $79M Series A at a $335M valuation led by Bedrock Capital (TC)

• Consumer brand accelerator SuperOrdinary raised a $58M Series B at an $800M valuation led by Manzanita, Alliance Consumer Growth, Demira GateUpper90, and founder and CEO Julian Reis (TC)

• SaaS observability startup Observe raised a $50M Series A-3 led by Sutter Hill Ventures (FN)

• Habyt, an Airbnb-style platform aimed at longer stays and flexible living, raised a $42M Series C led by Korelya Capital and Deutsche Invest (TC)

• Microsure, a robot-assisted microsurgery startup, raised a $40M Series B2 led by the European Innovation Council Fund, Kineo, Invest-NL, Innovation Industries, BOM Ventures, and more (FN)

• Multichainz, a web3 lending platform, received a $35M investment commitment from GEM Digital (BW)

• Diana Health, a network of modern women’s health practices, raised a $34M Series B led by Norwest Venture Partners (PRN)

• Manufacturing automation startup Machina Labs raised a $32M Series B led by Nvidia Ventures and Innovation Endeavors (TC)

• Rabbit, a startup building an AI-powered personalized operating system, raised a $20M round led by Khosla Ventures (FN)

• EV drive-brake startup DeepDrive raised a $15M Series A led by Continental (EU)

• Corporate treasury platform Cobre raised a $13M round led by Kaszek (TC)

• Saleo, a startup creating a live demo automation platform, raised $13M in funding led by Emergence Capital and Tech Square Ventures (PRN)

• Bastille, a French startup aiming to challenge Brompton’s folding bike market, raised $10.5M in funding from Eutopia and Ankaa Ventures (TC)

• Gradient, a startup which allows developers to build and customize AI apps in the cloud using large language models, raised a $10M round led by Wing VC (TC)

• Cicada, a non-custodial credit risk management company, raised $9.7M in pre-seed funding led by Choppa Capital (VC)

• Lemurian Labs, an AI chip startup, raised a $9M seed round led by Oval Park Capital (TC)

• Aampe, an AI-native user engagement platform, raised a $7.5M pre-Series A led by Matrix Partners India and Peak XV Partners (BW)

• Web3 social platform onboarding startup Phaver raised a $7M seed round led by Polygon Ventures, Nomad Capital, Symbolic Capital, and others (TC)

• Plant-based irrigation management startup Treetoscope raised a $7M seed round led by Champel Capital (PRN)

• Getpaid, a B2B payments platform, raised a $6M seed round led by Inventure (EU)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• OQ Gas Networks’ $771M IPO is likely to price at the top of a marketed range (BBG)

• Saudi cargo firm SAL’s $678M IPO was oversubscribed by 72x (BBG)

• Doosan Robotics shares closed up 98% on its debut day of trading after raising $312M in South Korea’s largest IPO this year (BBG)

Debt

• Rivian shares sink 20% after the EV maker said it plans to raise $1.5B through convertible notes (CNBC)

• Private Russian oil producer Lukoil will lend Azerbaijan state oil company Socar $1.5B as part of a broader deal that will allow Socar’s Turkish STAR refinery to begin processing Russian crude again (RT)

• Thoma Bravo is nearing a ~$1B debt financing package from a group of private credit lenders for its planned acquisition of NextGen Healthcare (BBG)

• Indian hotel-booking startup OYO Hotels is in talks with Apollo Global Management to refinance a $660M loan following a delay in its IPO (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• French retailer Casino avoided bankruptcy through a debt restructuring agreement with its main creditors, led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky (RT)

Fundraising

• A group of Moore Capital Management traders led by Joeri Jacobs are spinning out to start their own hedge fund, JJJ Capital, and will begin trading with $3B, including $1B from Moore Capital (BBG)

• Section 32, a VC founded by Google Ventures founder Bill Maris, raised $525M for its fifth fund for early-stage investments (TC)

• Digital health VC 7wireVentures launched a $217M Growth and Opportunity Fund to support later stage investments from existing portfolios and explore new opportunities (FN)

Crypto Corner

• SBF’s colleague testified that SBF demanded special trading privileges for Alameda Research on FTX, including a $65B line of credit (RT)

• Months before its collapse, FTX employees discovered the so-called backdoor that Alameda Research used to withdraw billions of customer funds; it was reported but never fixed (WSJ)

Exec’s Picks

• Crypto probably should have created something useful by now, according to Jack Raines.

• The Economist explained why investors can never really escape the influence of China.

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