Together with

Good Morning,

FDIC began potential misconduct probes into SVB and Signature Bank, US midsized lenders are battling to keeping their deposits, SBF allegedly bribed Chinese government officials, five French banks were raided in tax fraud probe, Apple launched a BNPL service in the US, and Disney eliminated its Metaverse division.

Want to join 100,000+ investors and traders receiving actionable trading tips each morning? Check out today's sponsor, 360 Wall Street.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• All three major US indexes slipped yesterday as investors weighed comments from banking regulators' Congressional testimony and continued to assess the Fed's rate hike path

  • The S&P and Dow snapped three-day win streaks

Earnings

• Jefferies beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates on a smaller-than-expected drop in profit as strength in its capital markets business helped offset declines in dealmaking (RT)

• Micron missed Q2 revenue estimates and posted its largest loss on record due to a $1.4B inventory write down and a meltdown in the memory chip market, but remains optimistic on a turnaround in its key data-center market (MW)

• Lululemon beat Q4 EPS and revenue estimates on strong sales driven by wealthier shoppers and issued upbeat guidance for FY 2023; their stock jumped 12.5% AH (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Thursday: BlackBerry

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• BoE governor dismissed prospects of an imminent financial crisis (FT)

• US consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in March (RT)

• Home prices cooled in January for a seventh-straight month (CNBC)

• Asia PE deals plunged 44% in 2022 (CNBC)

• Home prices are falling in the West and rising in the East (WSJ)

• Fed, FDIC and Treasury reps testified before Congress over SVB's collapse (CNBC)

• FDIC began potential misconduct probes into SVB and Signature Bank (RT)

• French prosecutors raided HSBC, SocGen and BNP Paribas offices as part of ‘cum-cum’ tax probe (FT)

• US midsize lenders battle to keep deposits after exodus (RT)

• First Citizens shares hit record high in wake of SVB purchase (RT)

• China spent $192B bailing out 'Belt and Road' countries from 2016-21 (RT)

• Jamie Dimon will face questioning in lawsuit over JPMorgan’s Epstein ties (WSJ)

• Moelis poached over seven MDs from SVB Securities (BBG)

• Apple launched its BNPL service in the US (RT)

• McKinsey will eliminate 1.4k roles this week in rare round of job cuts (BBG)

• Magna cut 2023 US ad spend forecasts again (AX)

• Peru prosecutors probe president for alleged money laundering (BBG)

• Disney eliminates its Metaverse division (WSJ)

• Space companies Spire and Momentus got stock exchange delisting warnings (CNBC)

• Ivy League prices are pushing $90k a year (BBG)

A Message From 360 Wall Street

Hottest stock ideas delivered every morning

Get the most out of the trading day with 360 Wall Street.

Before the market opens, our experts have already found the 3 stocks they think have the best potential to make the biggest moves – stocks that you’ll see everyone else talking about – tomorrow!

This email is like a little gift 🎁 in your morning inbox, you can get the full details on the top 3 juiciest stocks on our radar - in less than 3 minutes.

Cut through the meaningless news and get right to what is most important!

Over 100,000 people rely on 360 Wall Street to make better-informed decisions.

Best of all... there is absolutely no cost to join!

Click here to start getting the best ideas delivered FREE to your inbox!

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• The Josh Harris/Mitchell Rales group which now includes Magic Johnson, and Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulo, submitted fully financed bids for the NFL team Washington Commanders that meet Dan Snyder's $6B asking price (ESPN)

• Australian lithium developer Liontown Resources rejected world's biggest lithium producer Albemarle’s $3.7B bid for the firm, sending its shares up almost 70% (BBG)

• Energy company BP and Abu Dhabi’s state oil firm ADNOC offered to jointly buy 50% of Israeli offshore natural gas producer NewMed Energy for ~$2B (RT)

• Australia's largest private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care and Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby plan to revive the sale of their Asia-focused healthcare JV in a deal that could value the business at $1.36B (RT)

• A federal judge temporarily stopped bankrupt Voyager Digital from completing a proposed $1.3B sale to crypto exchange Binance.US, allowing the US government to pursue appeals that challenge the legality of the deal (RT)

• Canadian oil and gas company Crescent Point Energy agreed to buy energy company Spartan Delta’s oil and gas assets in Alberta’s Montney region for $1.24B (RT)

• Payment processing companies Mastercard and Visa are among firms in talks to buy Pismo, which provides cloud-based payment and banking platforms, at a potential ~$1B valuation (BBG)

• Canada’s Lundin Mining agreed to buy a majority stake in Chile’s Caserones copper mine for ~$950M (RT)

• UK grocer Asda agreed to sell 13 gas stations with grocery stores attached to get its $738M purchase of gas station operator Co-operative Group approved by UK competition regulators (BBG)

• PE firm Falcon House Partners chose Deutsche Bank to help with the sale of a majority stake in Indonesian health-care group Brawijaya Hospital & Clinic at a potential $150-$200M valuation (BBG)

• Retailer Next agreed to buy fashion and homeware brand Cath Kidston for $10.5M (BBG)

• Berkshire Hathaway raised its ownership stake in Occidental Petroleum to 23.6% (RT)

• Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano, the co-founders of investment firm Clearlake Capital, are considering a bid for a minority stake in the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers (BBG)

• Media group ProSiebenSat.1 is looking to divest its online dating service The Meet Group and focus on its streaming platform (RT)

• Amazon is reportedly looking to buy AMC Entertainment (RT)

• Yankee Global Enterprises announced a strategic investment in international padel circuit A1 Padel (MLB)

VC

• Isar Aerospace, a German satellite launch service startup, raised a $165M Series C led by 7 Industries, Bayern Kapital, Earlybird Venture Capital, and others (FN)

• Cabify, a Madrid-based Uber rival, raised $110M in funding: a $43.3M loan from the European Investment Bank and $66.7M in equity from Orilla Asset Management (TC)

• Norsepower, a startup providing mechanical sails for large ships, raised a $30.4M Series C led by Mirova (FN)

• Fashinza, an Indian AI-driven B2B marketplace for fashion supply chains, raised a $30M round led by Mars Growth Capital and the Liquidity Group (FN)

• Stellarator fusion startup Type One Energy raised a $29M round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, TDK Ventures, and Doral Energy Tech (BW)

• Venti, a startup designing autonomous vehicles for industrial and logistics hubs, raised a $28.8M Series A led by LG Technology Ventures (TC)

• Spiral, a startup helping banks and fintechs embed sustainability and social impact into their core businesses, raised a $28M Series A led by Team8 (BW)

• Perplexity AI, a conversational AI answer engine, raised a $25.6M Series A led by NEA (PRN)

• Smalls, a DTC fresh cat-only food brand, raised $19M led by the Companion Fund (BW)

• pH7 Technologies, a startup developing a metal extraction process that uses non-toxic organic and inorganic chemistry, raised $16M in funding led by TDK Ventures and Pangaea Ventures (FN)

• StellarFi, a startup helping people build credit without taking on debt, raised a $15M Series A led by Acrew Capital (TC)

• EDITED, a provider of an AI-driven merchandising experience platform, received $15M in funding from Delta-v Capital (BW)

• SKUx, a payments technology and consumer engagement platform, raised an $11M Series A led by an unnamed strategic family office (FN)

• Reeco, an Israeli hospitality procurement and supply marketplace, raised a $10M seed round led by Net Capital Ventures and Joule Ventures (FN)

• Turntable LIVE, the reincarnated version of the music streaming service Turntable, raised a $7M seed round led by Founders Fund and f7 Ventures (TC)

• Conduit, a remote crypto native infrastructure platform, raised a $7M seed round led by Paradigm (FN)

• Markerr, an analytics platform for real estate decision-making, raised a $6.6M Series B led by RET Ventures (PRN)

• FedML, a startup building an open source community and platform for collaborative AI development, raised a $6M seed round led by Camford Capital (BW)

• Deepway, a Chinese smart commercial vehicle developer and manufacturer, raised a $5.9M Series A led by Weiqiao Pioneering (FN)

• Right Hand Cybersecurity, a startup developing a human risk management platform for cybersecurity, raised a $5M Series A led by AZ VC (PRN)

• Logistics SaaS platform Navix raised a $5M seed round led by angels and strategic industry investors (PRN)

• Two Boxes, a startup helping brands and 3PLs process returns, raised a $4.5M seed round led by Vinyl Capital (PRN)

• 3E Nano, a startup developing a low-cost solar control coating for windows, raised a $4M seed round led by Energy Foundry (BW)

• Autonomous delivery and security robotics startup Neubility raised a $2.6M Series A extension at a $76.9M valuation from Samsung Venture Investment (TC)

• Dental treatment / planning startup Relu raised a $2.2M seed round led by Dental Innovation Alliance (PRN)

• Newsletter platform Substack plans to raise a $2M community funding round as an extension to their $65M Series B in 2021 (AX)

• Toronto-based climate tech startup Carbon Neutral Club raised a $1M seed round led by Emend Vision Fund, Blue Vision Capital, and Good News Ventures (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Alibaba announced plans to split its $220B empire into six business units in restructuring to allow each to pursue independent fundraising and IPOs (AX)

• The Shanghai stock exchange called off a hearing about seed and fertilizer company Syngenta’s proposed $9.4B IPO (BBG)

• Italy's UniCredit received supervisory approval to buy back $3.6B of shares (RT)

• Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek is considering a US IPO of medical device maker Advanced MedTech that could raise $200M-$300M (BBG)

SPAC

• Proptech REAL Messenger plans to merge with Nova Vision Acquisition Corp. in a $150M deal (YH)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Drug developer Codiak BioSciences filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (RT)

Fundraising

• Crypto 1, a crypto focused investment firm, closed its $500M C1 Secondaries Fund to invest in secondaries in blockchain, crypto, web3, and fintech companies (BW)

• Ares Management Corp. is discussing raising $400M for a new SPAC (BBG)

• AllianzGI raised $238M for its Allianz Global Infrastructure and Energy Transition Debt Fund (IPE)

• Early-stage VC firm Torch Capital raised $200M for its second fund (TI)

• New Iceland-based PE firm Is Haf Investments raised $71M for Iceland’s first seafood-focused PE fund (IF)

• UK-based Playfair Capital launched a $70M pre-seed fund for European startups (TC)

Crypto Corner

• US charged SBF with bribing Chinese officials with $40M (RT)

• Binance saw $2.1B in outflows last week as troubles compound (WSJ)

• Execs at crypto lender Genesis were offered FTX tokens at discounted rates before they were issued to the public (FT)

• F1 team Williams and crypto exchange Kraken announced a global crypto partnership (CD)

• North Korea is mining crypto to launder stolen loot (WRD)

Exec's Picks

• Eight Sleep is a high-tech smart bed system that has taken Silicon Valley by storm. With a built-in heating and cooling system, multiple foam layers to deliver comfort, and analytics tracking to help you optimize your sleep and recovery, Eight Sleep is the complete package. Upgrade your mattress game here, and use code "LIT" at checkout for a great discount!

• Bloomberg covered the one big bet on Deutsche Bank's credit default swaps that likely caused Friday's global selloff.

• Jack Raines wrote a banger on "entropy" and the role it plays in our lives.

• 1440 is the daily newsletter helping 2M+ Americans stay informed on culture, science politics, sports, and more in a five-minute read each morning. The team at 1440 scours over 100+ sources so you don't have to. It's also free. Sign up here.

Litney Partners - Financial Recruiting 💼💼

If you're currently a junior investment banker looking to break into the buy side, considering lateraling to another investment bank, or have recently been impacted by widespread layoffs, it's time you check out Litney Partners, a partnership between Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates at leading private equity, hedge fund, venture capital, growth equity, and credit funds, as well as investment banks.

To get started, simply head over to the Litney website and create your profile by dropping your resume / filling out the form:

Meme Cleanser

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures

Thinking of starting your own newsletter? Beehiiv is the best platform for creators, period. Click here to get started building your own audience.