New Dall-E Next Month

The Fed left rates unchanged but signaled for another rate hike this year, OpenAI says a new Dall-E iteration is coming next month, Klaviyo’s founders are billionaires after a strong IPO, DeSantis shrugged off Ken Griffin’s criticism of his Disney fight, and SpaceX sued the Justice Department.

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Litquidity Capital
September 21, 2023

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The Fed left rates unchanged but signaled for another rate hike this year, OpenAI says a new Dall-E iteration is coming next month, Klaviyo’s founders are billionaires after a strong IPO, DeSantis shrugged off Ken Griffin’s criticism of his Disney fight, and SpaceX sued the Justice Department.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 9/20/2023 market close.

Markets

  • US stocks fell despite the Fed leaving rates unchanged; the Fed expects one more interest rate hike by the end of the year and sharply revised its economic growth expectations upwards

    • The Nasdaq led indices with a 1.53% decline

  • Asian stocks fell after investors reacted to Australia’s Fed minutes where the bank said inflation was still ‘too high’

Earnings

  • FedEx shares climbed ~5% after it beat adjusted earnings expectations and raised its earnings forecast thanks to cost cutting, strong pricing, and new customers (BBG)

  • What we're watching this week:

    • Today: Darden Restaurants

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Fed leaves rates unchanged, signals another hike this year (BBG)

  • Klaviyo IPO mints $3.4B fortune for Harvard physicist (BBG)

  • GM and Stellantis just laid off more than 2,000 additional workers because of UAW’s strike (CNBC)

  • Ex-Goldman bankers make a fortune with controversial bet on coal (BBG)

  • Ford averts second strike, secures new labor contract in Canada (WSJ)

  • US employers to see biggest healthcare cost jump in a decade in 2024 (RT)

  • Amazon executives accused by FTC of helping deceive Prime users (BBG)

  • America’s biggest landlords can’t find houses to buy either (WSJ)

  • DeSantis shrugs off Ken Griffin’s criticism of his Disney fight (BBG)

  • Qantas ex-CEO takes 900% pay rise, but bonus cut amid scandals (RT)

  • OpenAI says next iteration of Dall-E coming in October (BBG)

  • Disney CEO says company will ‘quiet the noise’ in culture wars (RT)

  • SpaceX sues Justice Department to stop discrimination case (WSJ)

  • More US colleges are at risk of closing or merging, Fitch says (BBG)

  • White House warns freeing Evan Gershkovich ‘potentially tough’ (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Buyout firms Cinven and Bain are close to mandating investment banks to sell or IPO generic drugmaker Stada, which could be valued at $16.1B; the most likely option is the sale of a minority stake to a third investor (RT)

  • PE firm Japan Industrial Partners’ $14B tender offer to take Toshiba private is set to succeed (RT)

  • Philip Morris International is considering a stake sale in its largest pharmaceuticals unit, which it acquired for $1.2B, to help make the business work (WSJ)

  • French spirits maker Pernod Ricard is exploring a potential sale of its wine portfolio, which includes Australia’s Jacob’s Creek, St Hugo and New Zealand’s Stoneleigh; the unit has previously been valued at ~$1B (BBG)

  • US alternative investment manager Ares Management provided a $500M capital injection to Premier League team Chelsea FC (FT)

  • UK car dealer Pendragon rejected a $486M unsolicited buyout proposal from its largest shareholder Hedin Mobility Group and US-based PAG International (RT)

  • Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest acquired London-based ETF company Rize ETF, which manages over $450M across 11 European funds (FT)

  • Luye Medical Group is weighing a sale of its oncology business in Singapore; a deal could be worth $300M-$400M (BBG)

  • French oil giant TotalEnergies will invest $300M in a joint venture with Adani Green Energy that will expand the companies’ portfolios of clean energy projects (BBG)

  • Frisbee Bidco, which is owned by asset management firm DBAY, will acquire UK bakery group Finsbury Food Group for $177M (RT)

  • India will sell up to a 4.92% stake in state-run hydropower generation utility SJVN worth up to $161M (RT)

  • Unilever restarted efforts to sell a basket of non-core beauty and personal care brands that include Q-Tips and Impulse after it abandoned the effort 2 years ago (RT)

  • German multinational food order and delivery app Delivery Hero is in talks to sell its Foodpanda brand in Southeast Asia, where growth has stalled after Covid lockdowns ended (BBG)

  • Italy is considering a 15% stake sale in Italian lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BBG)

  • WiZink Bank is considering different strategic options for its Portugal business, including a possible stake sale (RT)

VC

  • Mapbox, a location platform powering navigation for Toyota, General Motors, and BMW, raised a $280M Series E led by SoftBank (PRN)

  • Harbinger Motors, a Southern California-based automotive manufacturer, raised a $60M Series A led by Ridgeline and THOR Industries (PRN)

  • Corti, a Danish startup providing an AI co-pilot for healthcare interactions, raised a $60M Series B led by Prosus Ventures and Atomico (FN)

  • MotherDuck, a startup building a serverless data analytics platform, raised a $52.5M Series B at a $400M valuation led by Felicis (PRN)

  • Online grocery delivery startup JOKR raised a $50M Series D at an $800M valuation led by Convivialité Ventures (TC)

  • Cybersecurity startup Legit Security raised a $40M Series B led by CRV (TC)

  • TOLREMO therapeutics, a startup looking to prevent non-genetic drug resistance, raised a $39M Series A led by BioMedPartners (BW)

  • Darrow, a startup developing an AI data engine to search for class action lawsuit potential, raised a $35M Series B led by Georgian (TC)

  • Digital digestive health platform Vivante Health raised a $31M Series B led by Mercato Partners (PRN)

  • European carbon accounting startup Plan A raised a $27M Series A extension led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (TC)

  • Indian audio platform Kuku FM raised a $25M Series C led by Fundamentum Partnership (TC)

  • Tankfarm, a propane distribution platform, raised a $23M Series B led by a ‘handful’ of prominent family offices and existing investors (BW)

  • Proptech startup Cecilian Partners raised an $11M round led by Resolve Growth Partners (FN)

  • Kyros, a Minnesota-based recovery services technology platform, raised $10.5M in funding led by Rally Ventures (PRN)

  • Complete Farmer, an agritech startup looking to connect farmers to global food buyers, raised a $10.4M pre-Series A ($7M in equity and $3.4M in debt) led by ARAF and Alitheia Capital (TC)

  • Jiritsu, a startup building a verifiable computing platform, raised $10.2M in funding led by gumi Cryptos Capital (PRN)

  • qbiq, a generative AI and visualization platform for real estate space planning, raised a $10M seed round from JLL Spark Global Ventures, 10D, and Ocean Azul (PRN)

  • Vero Technologies, a wholesale financing and loan servicing platform, raised an $8.5M Series A led by BankTech Ventures (BW)

  • Yotta Energy, a provider of solar+storage solutions for commercial buildings, raised an $8M round led by Evergy Ventures (PRN)

  • Clinical trial participant management platform Mural Health raised an $8M seed round led by Bessemer Venture Partners (PRN)

  • Navenio, a location tech startup streamlining patient care logistics, raised a $6.3M round led by Oxford Science Enterprises (BW)

  • Authentic, a platform allowing vertical SaaS companies to create captive insurance programs, raised a $5.5M seed round led by Slow Ventures (PRN)

  • HealNow, an online pharmacy checkout startup, raised a $5.5M seed round led by Bonfire Ventures (PRN)

  • Afterparty, a platform empowering creators with tools and technology for personal fan connections and monetization, raised a $5M round led by Blockchange Ventures (BW)

  • BeDimensional, a startup producing graphene and other 2D crystals, raised $5.3M in funding led by EUREKA! Venture SGR (FN)

  • VerImmune, a startup developing a Virus-inspired Particle "ViP" technology platform, raised a $3.1M seed round led by Proxima VC (PRN)

  • Edtech startup Edsoma raised a $2.5M seed round at a $14M valuation led by NBA star Shaquille O’Neal (TC)

  • Offline, a community of Indian startup founders, raised a $2M seed round from a number of executives and founders (TC)

  • Kayna, an embedded insurance infrastructure platform, raised a $1.1M pre-seed round led by Delta Partners and MiddleGame Ventures (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Marketing and data automation provider Klaviyo climbed 9.2% on its debut day of trading, closing at a $9.9B valuation (BBG)

  • PIF-backed Saudi oil and gas driller ADES Holding priced its IPO, implying a valuation of $4.1B; it received ~$76.5B of orders from institutional investors (RT)

  • Indian e-scooter maker Ola Electric plans to fast-track its up to $700M IPO and file regulatory papers before the end of October (RT)

SPAC

  • Oil producer Greenfire Resources is set to begin trading today on the NYSE after closing a deal to combine with M3-Brigade Acquisition III Corp. (BBG)

Debt

  • Lenders including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group are preparing for the refinancing of $14B in loans to help fund Kioxia Holdings’ merger with Western Digital Corp.’s flash memory business, which is still under discussion (BBG)

Fundraising

  • Goldman Sachs’ asset management arm raised $14.2B for its Vintage IX strategy to acquire stakes in private equity funds from other investors (WSJ)

  • Apollo Global Management is looking to raise $2.5B for its Apollo Origination Partnership Fund II to lend to large corporate borrowers in private North American and European markets (BBG)

  • Goldman Sachs’ asset management arm raised $1B for Vintage Infrastructure Partners, its debut comingled fund that will acquire stakes in private infrastructure vehicles (WSJ)

  • Israeli entrepreneur Ziv Aviram, who co-founded Mobileye, and former US President Bill Clinton partnered on a new climate-tech fund, EcoBridge, with a target size of $1B (AX)

Crypto Corner

  • PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD is now available to select users on Venmo (CT)

  • Troubled Hong Kong crypto exchange JPEX applied for deregistration in Australia (CT)

  • Australia’s corporate regulator sued Bit Trade, the provider of the Kraken crypto exchange to Australian customers, for design and distribution failures in its margin trading product (RT)

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