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Good Morning,

Microsoft stock closed at an all-time high on OpenAI optimism, BlackRock’s model makers are betting on megacaps, big banks are cooking up new ways to unload risk, EV makers are using discounts to combat waning demand, and credit card balances hit a $1.08T record.

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 rose again for their longest winning streak since November 2021

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 0.9% gain

• WTI prices fell over 4% to below $80/barrel due to demand concerns and a strong dollar

Earnings

• Uber missed Q3 analyst earnings and revenue expectations but showed strength in other areas such as gross bookings (CNBC)

• KKR shares rose 5% after reporting a smaller-than-expected 6.6% YoY decline in distributable earnings thanks to strong growth in its insurance unit (YF)

• Datadog shares rocketed 28% after reporting stronger-than-expected Q3 earnings and full-year guidance (CNBC)

• Robinhood shares fell 9% after it missed Q3 revenue estimates due to muted trading activity (RT)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Disney, Arm Holdings, Roblox, AMC, Warner Bros Discovery, Affirm

  • Thursday: Li Auto, Unity

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• WeWork’s bankruptcy caps swift downfall for $47B standout (BBG)

• BlackRock’s $100B model makers are betting on megacaps (BBG)

• Microsoft closes at all-time high on fresh OpenAI-related optimism (CNBC)

• Big banks cook up new way to unload risk (WSJ)

• Group of Google contractors who work on Search and Bard win union vote (CNBC)

• Zero-coupon treasuries flew off shelves during October yield surge (BBG)

• EV makers turn to discounts to combat waning demand (WSJ)

• Goldman moves to unload its GM credit card (WSJ)

• US crude oil prices fall below $78 a barrel to their lowest level since July (CNBC)

• Apple delays work on next year’s iPhone, Mac software to fix bugs (BBG)

• Auto chip makers try to avoid a pileup (WSJ)

• Credit card balances spiked in the third quarter to a $1.08T record (CNBC)

• Salesforce CEO says Dreamforce is staying in San Francisco after reaching deal with mayor (CNBC)

• Chicago council approves putting mansion tax measure on ballot (BBG)

• Optus network outage affects millions of Australians (RT)

• Google’s Waze will now warn you about roads prone to car accidents (CNBC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Spanish Telecom Telefonica is seeking to buy a 28% stake in its German unit for as much as $2.2B in a bid to take the company private (BBG)

• France-based investment firm Ardian acquired a $2.1B portfolio of PE investments in North America and Europe buyout funds from Canada's biggest pension fund, CPP Investments (RT)

• Columbia Asia, a Southeast Asian healthcare firm backed by TPG, emerged as the frontrunner to buy Malaysian private hospitals operator Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care for ~$1.5B (RT)

• BlackRock’s diversified infrastructure business will invest $550M of client money into Occidental Petroleum’s Stratos project (BBG)

• Saudi Arabia’s PIF is in talks to invest at least $250M in Chinese EV maker Human Horizons at a $3B valuation (BBG)

• India's Tata Group is considering selling a ~30% stake in the home appliances business of Voltas (RT)

VC

• Enable, a rebate management platform, raised a $120M Series D at a $1.12B valuation led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (BW)

• May Mobility, an autonomous vehicle startup, raised a $105M Series D led by NTT Group (PRN)

• Xpressbees, an Indian logistics startup, raised an $80M round at a $1.4B valuation led by Ontario Teachers’ late-stage growth fund (TC)

• Low-code cloud payments startup Volante Technologies raised a $66M round led by Sixth Street Growth (TC)

• OrsoBio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on metabolic disorders, raised a $60M Series A led by Longitude Capital and Enavate Sciences (BW)

• QuickNode, a blockchain deployment platform, raised $60M in funding led by Tiger Global (TC)

• Refurbed, a Vienna-based marketplace for refurbished electronics, raised a $57M Series C led by Evli Growth Partners and C4 Group (EU)

• Italian fintech startup Qomodo raised a $36.9M pre-seed round led by Fasanara Capital (EU)

• Cast AI, a startup helping companies optimize cloud spend, raised a $35M Series B led by Vintage Investment Partners (TC)

• Kythera Labs, a healthcare technology and data analytics company, raised $20M in debt / Series A from BIP Ventures and CIBC (PRN)

• Summer, a startup helping customers buy and rent out vacation homes, raised $18M in funding led by QED and Viola, as well as a $50M debt facility led by Setpoint Capital (TC)

• ShippyPro, a shipping platform for e-commerce, raised a $15M Series B from Five Elms Capital (PRN)

• Perinatal nutrition startup Needed raised a $14M round led by Craftory (BW)

• Risk Ledger, a startup building a collaborative platform for supplier due diligence, raised a $7.7M Series A led by Mercia Ventures (FN)

• Sift, a startup building an end-to-end telemetry stack, raised a $7.5M round led by Riot Ventures, Fika Ventures, and First Resonance (TC)

• Myrror Security, a startup preventing attacks on the software development process, raised a $6M seed round from Blumberg Capital and Entrée Capital (PRN)

• Polimorphic, a provider of AI-enabled ‘GovGPT’ software for local government operations, raised a $5.6M seed round led by M13 (VC)

• BioPhy, a startup using AI to improve drug development, raised $4.5M in funding from Chelsea Clinton, Metrodora Ventures, Audere Capital, and TRCM (BW)

• Lucent Bio, an agricultural technology startup, raised $3.6M in funding from PacifiCan (PRN)

• Integration.app, a startup using large language models to automate certain aspects of the software integration process, raised a $3.5M seed round led by Crew Capital (TC)

• Self-custodial crypto investment app Sock raised a $2.8M seed round led by Haven Ventures (FN)

• Black social media app Spill raised a $2M seed extension led by Kapor Capital (TC)

• Rainbow Weather, a Polish meteorological AI tech startup, raised $2M in funding from Kolos Ventures, Verras Capital, and more (FN)

• Concept Matrix Solutions, a vertically integrated biotechnology company, raised $1.2M in financing from Impact Biotech (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Shein is targeting a valuation of up to $90B in an eventual US IPO (BBG)

• EV battery material supplier Ecopro Materials cut its IPO size to the bottom of its marketed range due to weakened demand and will raise $319M in South Korea’s second-largest IPO in 2023 (BBG)

• Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal’s Airtel Uganda failed to sell half of the shares on offer in its IPO, raising $56M (BBG)

• USDC stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial is considering an early 2024 IPO (BBG)

Debt

• Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries is seeking to raise $2.4B via rupee-denominated bonds (BBG)

• Telecom Charter Communications, the owner of Spectrum, raised $2B through the bond market for paying down debt and potential share buybacks (BBG)

Fundraising

• Alternative credit manager Kennedy Lewis Investment Management closed its Kennedy Lewis Capital Partners Master Fund III at $4.1B to make private investments high in the capital structure (BBG)

• IBM debuted a $500M enterprise AI venture fund (AX)

• VC 01 Advisors raised $395M for its Fund III (AX)

• Granite Creek Capital Partners closed Granite Creek FlexCap III at $300M to back midsize companies with minority growth investments (WSJ)

• Early-stage investor Bison Ventures raised $135M for a debut fund focused on climate and biotech (AX)

Crypto Corner

• Several ex-Cantor Fitzgerald execs launched a crypto lending platform with the expectation that it will serve operators of spot Bitcoin ETFs (BBG)

• Robinhood plans to start EU crypto trading and UK brokerage operations in the coming weeks (CD)

Exec’s Picks

• Top-ranked business school application rates are down bad, according to Bloomberg.

• Clay Skipper wrote a GQ profile on Celsius CEO John Fieldly, explaining how he turned a failing brand into the hottest energy drink on the market.

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