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U Penn’s med school dean was named interim president of the university, inflation slowed to 3.1% YoY, EY is laying off partners amid tough economic conditions, Milei devalued the peso by 54%, Citadel is handing back $7B in profits to clients, and OpenAI’s funky corporate structure is skewing its “revenue” results.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose as investors digested November inflation data for clues on the Fed’s next move

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 0.70% gain 

• Asian markets were down after China’s annual economic work conference prioritized industrial policy and indicated little desire for large-scale stimulus

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Adobe 

  • Thursday: Costco

  • Friday: Darden Restaurants

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• New COP28 draft demands swifter fossil fuel transition (BBG)

• Penn taps med school dean as interim president, replacing Magill (BBG)

• Inflation slowed to a 3.1% annual rate in November (CNBC)

• Japan’s SBI falls most since 2022 on stock manipulation report (BBG)

• EY is laying off partners amid tough economic conditions (WSJ)

• Former French official pushes for looser AI rules after joining startup (BBG)

• Apple now requires a judge’s consent to hand over push notification data (RT)

• OpenAI’s nonprofit arm showed $45,000 in revenue last year, even though the company is worth billions (CNBC)

• Argentina’s Milei devalues peso by 54% in first batch of shock measures (BBG)

• Blue Origin aims to launch first New Shepard rocket in over a year (CNBC)

• Google’s loss to Epic will likely have little impact in the near-term (CNBC)

• Stubbornly high rental costs lift US consumer inflation in November (RT)

• Citadel is handling back about $7B in profits to clients (WSJ)

• Billionaire Steve Cohen pushes Point72 deeper into macro trading (BBG)

• Vice Media CMO steps down to lead public affairs and marketing firm SS+K (WSJ)

• Car-rental firms confront early bumps in the road to EVs (BBG)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Shari Redstone is contemplating the sale of her interest in the Paramount Global movie and TV empire in a deal that could lead to over $13B in asset sales (BBG) 

• KKR is nearing a deal to acquire a 50% stake in healthcare technology company Cotiviti at a $10B-$11B valuation from Veritas Capital (BBG) 

• Budget hotel operator Choice Hotels International launched a hostile takeover bid for peer Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and is preparing a board battle; Choice Hotels is attempting to acquire Wyndham for $7.2B (RT & PRNW)  

• Carlyle Group is exploring a sale or potential listing of Acrotec Group, which could value the Swiss luxury watch parts maker at $4.6B (BBG) 

• KKR is in advanced talks on a potential acquisition of Iris Software in a deal that could value the private UK software company at $3.8B (BBG) 

• Bain Capital and Cinven are considering making an offer for Spanish defense company Indra's tech unit Minsait, which would be worth ~$1.7B-$1.9B (RT) 

• Japanese civil engineering group Infroneer Holdings will buy Japan Wind Development from Bain Capital for ~$1.4B (RT) 

• Investment group RedBird IMI is in talks to acquire UK film and TV production firm All3Media in a ~$1.3B deal from joint owners Liberty Global and Warner Bros Discovery (RT) 

• AstraZeneca agreed to buy Icosavax, a developer of vaccines for respiratory viruses, for as much as $1.1B (BBG)   

• Epassi Group, a digital employee benefit payments company backed by TA Associates and Warburg Pincus, will buy Exercite, a provider of corporate health and wellness benefit solutions, from Waterland Private Equity in a deal worth over $1B (BBG) 

• TPG and Middle Eastern alternative asset manager Investcorp will buy UK special education services provider Outcomes First Group from investment firm Stirling Square Capital Partners in a deal estimated to be worth ~$1B (BBG) 

• Renault is selling ~5% of its stake in partner Nissan Motor, which is worth ~$824M (BBG) 

• Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Quebec’s largest pension manager, acquired a stake in Canadian telecom Cogeco group from rival wireless company Rogers Communications for over $600M (BBG) 

• South Korea's Mirae Asset Securities will acquire French bank BNP Paribas' Indian retail brokerage unit, Sharekhan, in a $370M deal (RT) 

• Swiss luxury watchmaker Breitling will buy Universal Geneve in an attempt to revive the brand (BBG) 

• Walt Disney and Reliance Industries are expected to sign a deal as soon as next Monday to merge their Indian media operations in a cash-and-stock deal; Ambani’s conglomerate will own 51% of the combined entity (BBG)

VC

• Bicara Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing dual-action biologics to elicit a potent and durable immune response, raised a $165M Series C led by Braidwell LP and TPG (BW)

• True Anomaly, a startup developing hardware and software systems to ensure the sustainable security of space, raised a $100M Series B led by Riot Ventures (PRN)

• Indian logistics aggregator Shiprocket is in talks to raise a $75M round led by Tribe Capital (TC)

• AI startup Essential AI raised a $56.5M Series A led by March Capital (BW)

• Shinobi Therapeutics, a biotech company developing new class of immune evasive iPS-derived cell therapies, raised a $51M Series A led by EQT Life Sciences, F-Prime Capital, and Eight Roads Ventures Japan (PRN)

• Calyxo, a medtech startup developing treatment solutions for kidney stones, raised a $50M Series D led by Avidity Partners (BW)

• Freya Biosciences, a biotech company focused on women’s health, raised a $38M Series A led by Sofinnova Partners and OMX Ventures (BW)

• Laza Medical, a cardiovascular robotics startup, raised a $36M Series A led by The Capital Partnership (PRN)

• Gig marketplace Jitjatjo raised a $30M Series B led by Morningside Technology Ventures (TC)

• Vammo, a startup looking to scale electric motorcycle battery swapping in LatAm, raised a $30M Series A led by Monashees (TC)

• Antabio, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel and differentiated antibacterial treatments, raised a $27M Series B led by AMR Action Fund, the EIC Fund, BNP Paribas Development, Relyens Innovation Sante, and more (FN)

• Dimensional Energy, a sustainable aviation fuel producer, raised a $20M Series A led by Envisioning Partners (TC)

• Fourth Power, a startup developing low-cost thermal storage for renewable energy, raised a $19M Series A led by DCVC (BW)

• WiFi sensing startup Origin AI raised a $15.9M Series B extension led by Verisure (PRN)

• Durable, a startup building AI-powered business tools for small businesses, raised a $14M Series A led by Spark Capital (TC)

• Low-code AI platform Relevance AI raised a $10M Series A led by King River Capital (TC)

• Chalk, a data platform for machine learning, raised a $10M seed round led by General Catalyst, Unusual Ventures, and Xfund (BW)

• Spore.Bio, a French startup using machine learning to detect contamination in food factories, raised an $8M pre-seed round led by London’s LocalGlobe VC (TC)

• CorrActions, an Israeli AI-based driver safety startup, raised a $7.3M Series A led by Volvo Cars Tech Fund (FN)

• AI debt transaction platform Noetica raised a $6M seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese chipmaker Changxin Memory Technologies delayed its IPO and will consider raising funds at a $19.5B valuation (BBG) 

• Walgreens Boots Alliance is considering separating from its UK drugstore chain Boots, which may IPO in London at an ~$8.8B valuation (BBG) 

• Clearing firm Apex Fintech confidentially filed for a US IPO; the firm initially planned to go public in 2021 through a $4.7B SPAC merger (RT) 

• Saudi state-owned media giant MBC priced its IPO at the top of its range and is expected to have a $2.2B market cap at listing; MBC drew $14.5B worth of orders for its $222M IPO (BBG & RT)

Debt

• India's largest private port operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone will raise $600M through an issuance of non-convertible debentures (RT) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Troubled Chinese builder Country Garden Holdings will likely avoid its first default on yuan bonds after most holders agreed not to demand repayment this week (BBG) 

Fundraising

• Dubai is setting up a new Dubai Investment Fund to house assets worth “billions of dollars” and invest government money locally and internationally (BBG)

• Falfurrias Management Partners, a lower middle-market PE firm, closed Falfurrias Growth Partners I at $400M, the firm’s first dedicated growth buyout fund (FN) 

Crypto Corner

• KuCoin, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, agreed to shut down in New York and pay $22M to settle a lawsuit from the state (RT)

• Credit rating firm S&P Global began providing risk assessments of the world’s eight largest stablecoins; Tether and Dai were given bottom marks (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• Morgan Housel explained the distinction between “frugal” and “independent.”

• The Hechinger Report published a detailed piece on the global decline in students’ standardized math scores.

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