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FTX’s Ryan Salame pleaded guilty to two criminal counts, Ryan Petersen cleared house at Flexport, Goldman’s Solomon sees a Wall Street rebound if tech IPOs outperform, ChatGPT traffic is down again for the 3rd month in a row, and the SEC is probing Ryan Cohen’s Bed Bath & Beyond trades.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks fell over concerns of continued interest rate hikes from the Fed

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 0.89% decline

• Asian stocks fell as investors assessed trade data from China and Australia

Earnings

• DocuSign beat Q2 analyst earnings and revenue estimates; its FY 2024 forecast was also higher than expected (I)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Friday: Kroger

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Former FTX exec Salame to forfeit $1.5B, pleads guilty to two criminal counts (CNBC)

• Flexport clears out executives after Clark’s resignation as CEO (WSJ)

• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon sees Wall Street rebound if tech IPOs perform (CNBC)

• ChatGPT traffic slips again for 3rd month in a row (RT)

• SEC probes Ryan Cohen’s Bed Bath & Beyond trades (WSJ)

• Carl Icahn says new Illumina CEO has his ‘full support’ months after proxy fight (CNBC)

• Kenya expected to buy corn at market prices for first time in three years (BBG)

• Walmart cuts starting pay for new hires who prepare online orders, stock shelves (CNBC)

• Apple grapples with turmoil in China days before iPhone 15 launch (BBG)

• US retail workers are fed up and quitting at record rates (BBG)

• Indonesia, Brazil demand seat at EU’s green rules implementation (BBG)

• Triple threat to Texas power grid will keep it vulnerable (BBG)

• Russian hacker sentenced to nine years in US prison (WSJ)

• Wall Street’s biggest bear ditches call for 11% S&P drop in 2023 (BBG)

• Economic data leads markets and governments astray (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• French billionaire Francois Pinault is acquiring a majority stake in Creative Artists Agency from PE firm TPG in a deal that values the Hollywood talent giant at $7B (BBG)

• Summit Materials will buy the US operations of Colombia's Cementos Argos for $3.2B cash and stock in a deal that will create the largest US-based producer of cement (RT)

• Brookfield Asset Management is considering a ~$2.5B sale of luxury resort Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas (BBG)

• Broadcast services provider NEP Group, which is owned by Carlyle Group, is exploring a sale of its live events business, which could fetch ~$2B (RT)

• PE firms Vista Equity Partners and Clearlake Capital, the owners of EagleView Technologies, are exploring a sale that could value the aerial imagery and data analytics services provider at $2B, including debt (RT)

• Oil and gas major Shell put Germany’s Sonnen up for sale; the renewable energy company could sell for an estimated $1.4B-$1.9B (RT)

• German advertising group Stroeer is considering potential options for the sale of Statista in 2024, which could value the data gathering business at up to $1.6B; Stroeer could also IPO Statista on Nasdaq (RT)

• Carlyle Group is weighing options for Jagex, the creator of Runescape; the video game maker could be valued at up to $1.3B (RT)

• KKR and M&G’s Infracapital arm invested $1B+ into British battery storage and vehicle electrification company Zenobe Energy to help it expand into North America and Australia (BBG)

• Spanish multinational energy company Repsol acquired US renewable energy developer ConnectGen for $768M from energy investor Quantum Capital (RT)

• Biobest Group, a Belgian developer of biological crop-protection products, agreed to acquire Brazilian farming solutions provider Biotrop Participacoes at a $570M EV (BBG)

• Canadian drilling company Precision Drilling will acquire drilling oil and gas wells company CWC Energy Services for $103M cash and stock (BZ)

• German business software maker SAP acquired software management company LeanIX from a consortium of investors that include Insight Partners and DTCP (RT)

VC

• H2 Green Steel, a Stockholm-based startup building a large-scale green steel plant, raised ~$1.6B in funding led by Altor, GIC, Hy24, and Just Climate (FN)

• AI research startup Imbue raised a $200M Series B at a $1B+ valuation from Astera Institute, Nvidia, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt, and more (TC)

• Marian Oncology, a biotech company developing radiopharmaceuticals, raised a $175M Series B led by Deep Track Capital and Forbion (BW)

• Corteria Pharmaceuticals, a French biopharmaceutical startup focused on heart failure subpopulations, raised a $69.5M Series A led by OrbiMed and Jeito Capital (FN)

• Compliance and risk management startup Certa raised a $35M Series B led by Fin Capital and Vertex Ventures (TC)

• Insurance claims AI startup CLARA Analytics raised a $24M Series C led by Spring Lake Equity Partners (BW)

• Crypto trading execution platform Brine raised a $16.5M Series A led by Pantera Capital (FN)

• AI reading coach Ello raised a $15M Series A led by Goodwater Capital (TC)

• Gradient Denervation Technologies, a startup developing an ultrasound-based catheter for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension, raised a $15M Series A led by Sabadell Asabys (BW)

• Noetik, a drug discovery startup using machine learning and human data, raised a $14M seed round led by DCVC (BW)

• Momofuku Goods, a provider of restaurant-grade pantry essentials, raised $11.5M in funding led by Alliance Consumer Growth (FN)

• Trident Digital Group, a digital asset lender, raised an $8M seed round led by New Form and White Star Capital (FN)

• Socket, a provider of an interoperability protocol that allows asset and data transfer across chains for decentralized applications, raised a $5M round led by Coinbase Ventures and Framework Ventures (FN)

• Mission Control, a startup developing software for Earth, Moon, and Mars, raised a $3.3M seed round led by GreenSky Ventures (FN)

• Syscap, a Mexican startup building infrastructure for non-banking lenders, raised a $2.3M seed round led by Wollef Ventures (TC)

• Nestcoin, a development company housing web3 finance project Onboard, raised a $1.9M round led by Hashed Emergent (TC)

• MessageDesk, a text messaging software provider, raised a $1.6M seed round led by Reno Seed Fund (FN)

• Streamforge, an AI firm that specializes in influencer marketing, raised a $1.2M seed round led by Triptyq Capital (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• New Era Cap is preparing an IPO that could value the US sports headwear supplier at $4B-$5B (RT)

• Jala Group, a Chinese cosmetics and skincare brand, is considering a Hong Kong IPO that could raise as much as $500M (BBG)

• Hamilton Insurance Group confidentially filed for a US IPO (RT)

SPAC

• AI startup Brand Engagement Network is merging with DHC Acquisition Corp. in a $358M deal (RT)

Debt

• Canadian Telecom Rogers Communications is pricing a $2.2B bond offering to refinance debt after acquiring a smaller rival earlier this year (BBG)

Fundraising

• Astara Capital Partners, a NY middle-market PE firm, closed its inaugural fund at $312M (FN)

• Israeli VC Pitango closed its Pitango Healthtech II fund, which will invest in seed to commercial stage health companies, at $175M (FN)

• Pentathlon Ventures, an Indian early B2B SaaS-focused VC, launched its second fund with a $55M target (FN)

Crypto Corner

• A US court ordered Mirror Trading International to pay $1.7B in restitution for its bitcoin fraud scheme (RT)

• Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX's Bahamian subsidiary and a former SBF lieutenant, pleaded guilty to illegal campaign contributions (RT)

• US authorities are probing Digital Currency Group and founder Barry Silbert over claims of fraud from Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini Trust (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• Conor Mac showed that buying the top 10 S&P 500 stocks of the past year equally weighted, and replacing them annually, would have averaged a 37% CAGR since 2013.

• Bloomberg broke the story of how a fintech owner in London laundered hundreds of millions of euros through a crypto exchange for drug traffickers.

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