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Good Morning,

Jane Street traders who shared secrets were salty about pay, investors are most bullish since late-2021, Vanguard named a new CEO, big-name funds are piling into real estate debt, China is considering buying unsold homes, and meme stocks continued their meme worthy rally.

Considering investments in private markets but confused about how to access them? Check out Nomuscapital for solutions tailored to a range of investment needs.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks jumped yesterday following the release of fresh economic data 

  • The Nasdaq closed at a new record high

Earnings

• Alibaba shares fell ~6% despite beating Q4 revenue estimates due to an 86% plunge in net profit (CNBC) 

• Home Depot beat on Q1 but missed on revenue as customers deferred home projects due to high interest rates (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Cisco Systems 

  • Thursday: Walmart, JD.com

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Investors are 'most bullish' since November 2021 (RT)

• Ex-Jane Street traders cite pay letdown in secrets countersuit (BBG)

• Producer inflation data came in higher than expected (CNBC)

• The meme stock rally continued yesterday (AP)

• China reduces access to live data on share trades by foreign investors (FT)

• Vanguard named ex-BlackRock exec Salim Ramji as new CEO (WSJ)

• New PwC US leader starts early as predecessor heads to Citigroup (WSJ)

• Citigroup exec responsible for implementing thousands of job cuts quits (FT)

• US sharply raises tariffs on Chinese EVs and semiconductor imports (FT)

• Mega funds pile into real estate debt as banks retreat (RT)

• China mulls purchases of unsold homes to ease glut (BBG)

• China's central bank leaves key policy rate unchanged (RT)

• Amazon's AWS chief will step down after three years (RT)

• Walmart will lay off hundreds from corporate (WSJ)

• OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever will depart (CNBC)

A Message From Nomuscapital

Tailored Solutions Across the Investor Landscape

With access to private markets only growing, so is the need for effortless and efficient access and ongoing support...and given the unique profile of each investor, there is no one size fits all.

That's where Nomuscapital comes in...

Whether you're a new investor or a seasoned allocator, Nomuscapital offers streamlined, transparent, and tailored solutions for every stage of the investment cycle.

Nomuscapital structures entities (GP funds, SVPs, trusts, etc.) uniquely-tailored to your needs and manages all affairs of jurisdiction, banking, legal, accounting, reporting, compliance, tax, cap tables, and distributions...

...so you can focus on investments!

Boasting over 50 years combined global capital markets experience and a proven-track record of servicing institutional investors globally, Nomuscapital offers solutions YOU need to effortlessly enter alternative investments.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Anglo American plans to divest its steelmaking coal assets, demerge its South African platinum unit, explore options for its nickel mines, and list diamonds business De Beers to focus on copper and fend off BHP Group after rejecting its latest $43B takeover offer (RT) 

• Sony Pictures is rethinking its $26B bid with Apollo Global for media giant Paramount Global (RT)  

• A consortium including Blackstone and SWFs GIC and ADIA is in talks with India's Haldiram's for a majority stake in its snacks business at a valuation of up to $8.5B (RT) 

• Spanish oil company Repsol is in talks to sell a stake in its renewables unit, which has an estimated $6.4B value, including debt (RT) 

• Uber will buy Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan for $950M (BBG) 

• KKR will take UK's IQGeo private in a $396M deal (RT) 

VC

• Medicare navigation platform Chapter raised a $50M Series C led by XYZ Venture Capital (BW)

• Polymarket, a prediction market platform, raised $70M in funding: a $45M Series B led by Founders Fund and a $25M Series A led by General Catalyst (BW)

• Fintech Farm, a UK fintech providing tools to create neobanks in emerging markets, raised $32M in funding: an initial Series B round led by Nordstar and an extension Series B round led by Bank of Georgia (FN)

• Customer experience platform Gorgias raised $29M in funding led by SaaStr and Alven (FN)

• Intelligent workforce management platform Sona raised a $27.5M Series A led by Felicis (PRN)

• Data Zoo, a global identity verification solution, raised a $22.7M Series A led by Ellerston JAADE (PRN)

• Ndustrial, an AI startup optimizing industrial energy consumption, raised an $18.5M Series B led by ABB and GS Energy (FN)

• Pharmacy cost containment startup Truveris raised a $15M Series E led by Canaan Partners and New Leaf Venture Partners (BW)

• Uxlink, a provider of a Web3 social infrastructure, raised $15M in funding from SevenX Ventures, INCE Capital, and HashKey Capital (FN)

• Purple Dot, an e-commerce pre-order and waitlist platform, raised a $10M Series A led by OpenOcean (FN)

• ChainML, a hybrid AI/ML development and research lab, raised a $6.2M seed extension round led by Hack VC (FN)

• Mexican HR and payroll software startup Worky raised a $6M Series A led by Atlántico (BW)

• SHAED, a sustainable transportation platform, raised a $5.7M seed round led by EnerTech Capital (PRN)

• Youth Inc., a digital media network and commerce marketplace for youth sports, raised a $4.5M seed round led by Will Ventures (VC)

• Crosby Health, a startup providing a proprietary AI to automate administrative tasks, raised a $2.2M pre-seed round led by Amplo Ventures (FN)

• AI assistant for investment banks and management consultants Grasp raised a $1.9M round led by Yanno Capital (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• A consortium of investors including Blackstone is offloading stakes worth over $1.9B in London Stock Exchange (BBG) 

• Healthcare payments software firm Waystar is seeking to raise up to $1B in its US IPO (BBG)

• Saudi hospital group Dr. Soliman Abdul Kader Fakeeh Hospital’s $763M local IPO drew $91B in orders (BBG) 

• Sweden's Epidemic Sound is considering options including an IPO (RT)

Debt

• Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk is raising $5B in bonds to expand drug production (BBG) 

• NYCB will sell $5B of loans to JPMorgan to free up cash (BBG)

• McDonald’s sold $1B of bonds to help refinance debt (BBG) 

• Blackstone and Goldman Sachs Asset Management are providing the majority of a $900M direct loan to KKR portfolio company Depot Connect International (BBG) 

• Carlyle is providing over $400M of private credit loans to sightseeing tour company Big Bus Tour (BBG) 

• GDA Luma Capital offered a loan of up to $188M to struggling Premier League club Everton (BBG) 

• KKR is in talks for a new loan with private credit lenders for Australian accounting software firm MYOB (BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Red Lobster is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection this month (WSJ)

Fundraising

• Goldman Sachs raised $3.6B for its latest real estate credit fund (BBG) 

• VC Accel raised $650M for its eighth fund to invest in European and Israeli startups (CNBC) 

Crypto Corner

• Retail traders sat out the recent bitcoin rally (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• Financial Times published a take discussing whether Europe’s economy can ever hope to rival the US again.

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