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Good Morning,

Musk's Twitter poll shows that users want him to step down, Epic Games got fined $520M for children's privacy and safety law violations, Dogecoin is worth more than Coinbase, the US is expected to become a net exporter of crude oil in 2023, and law school enrollment is down 11% this year.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed lower yesterday for a fourth straight session as rate hike concerns lingered

• Dollar slipped versus the euro on upbeat German business morale data

• Russian rouble plunged 4%+ against the dollar in biggest one-day decline since July

• Japan stocks tumbled while the yen surged following the BOJ's decision to widen its yield curve control, allowing Japan's 10Y bond yields to rise to 0.5%, up from the previous upper limit of 0.25%

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Nike, FedEx

  • Wednesday: Micron

  • Thursday: CarMax

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US home builder confidence fell for a record 12th straight month (CNBC)

• Chinese business confidence fell to lowest level in nearly a decade (RT)

• EU energy ministers agreed to a gas price cap (RT)

• US is expected to become a net crude oil exporter in 2023 (RT)

• Ghana will default on most external debt amid worsening economic crisis (RT)

• Increased ESG disclosures are linked to stronger PE fund performance (PB)

• EU warned Meta of breaching antitrust laws (RT)

• US fined Epic Games $520M for alleged children's privacy violation (RT)

• Taiwan is investigating TikTok for suspected illegal operations (RT)

• Wirecard witness admitted guilt but pinned German fraud blame on ex-CEO (RT)

• Majority of Twitter poll respondents said Musk should 'step down as head' (AX)

• VC fund Nemesis Technologies is on course to become world’s largest digitally securitized fund (FFN)

• Morgan Stanley named Emilio Greco and Nicola Savoini as co-heads of its Italian IBD (RT)

• New US law student enrollment dropped 11% to pre-pandemic levels (RT)

• Vice Media is set to miss revenue projection by over $100M (WSJ)

• Worker strikes surged by 39% in 2022 (AX)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Candy maker Perfetti Van Melle agreed to buy food conglomerate Mondelez International’s gum business, which includes brands Trident and Dentyne, for $1.35B (WSJ)

• Crypto exchange Binance.US agreed to buy crypto broker Voyager Digital’s assets out of bankruptcy in a $1B deal (BBG)

• A consortium comprised of Pakistan-based asset manager TPL and UAE-based tower operator TASC Towers are nearing a deal to buy wireless operator Veon’s tower assets in Pakistan in a potential $600M+ deal (BBG)

• China's Evergrande reduced its stake in its property services by ~6.5% to 51.71% after forced selling of pledged shares by a third party (RT)

• Cannabis producer Ianthus Capital is exploring a potential sale after receiving takeover interest from peers (BBG)

VC

• Redaptive, a company that manages energy-efficiency upgrades for commercial buildings, raised a $200M round at a ~$1B valuation led by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (BBG)

• CyberCube, a provider of cyber risk analytics, raised $50M in funding led by Morgan Stanley (BW)

• Helm.ai, a startup developing software for autonomous driving, raised a $31M Series C at a $431M valuation led by Freeman Group (TC)

• ImagenAI, a startup using AI to personalize photo editing, raised $30M in funding from Summit Partners (TC)

• Drug discovery startup Protillion Biosciences raised an $18M Series A led by ARCH Venture Partners and Illumina Ventures (PRN)

• Mangomint, a startup building software for salons, raised a $13M Series A led by OpenView Venture Partners (TC)

• NFT platform Revel raised a $7.8M seed round led by Dragonfly Capital (TC)

• Foundation Devices, a startup building products to make bitcoin more accessible, raised a $7M seed round led by Polychain Capital (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Internet services company United Internet is considering an IPO of Ionos Group, its web hosting arm, at an up to $5.3B valuation (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• German utility Uniper's shareholders approved Germany's $53B bailout (RT)

Fundraising

• Puerto Rican growth equity firm Linse Capital raised $700M spread across its flagship fund and two co-investment vehicles for portfolio companies Skydio and Verkada (BW)

• Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund approved new commitments totaling up to $240M: $100M to core real estate fund Oak Street Real Estate Capital Fund VI, $50M to EnCap Energy Transition Fund II, $40M to ABRY Secured Credit Opportunity Fund, and $25M each to buyout funds Accel-KKR Capital Partners VII and Accel-KKR Emerging Buyout Partners II (PI)

• VC firm Collaborative Fund received backing from British designer Stella McCartney and LVMH for its $200M climate-focused fund (FT)

• Axelar, a startup delivering secure interchain communication across web3, raised a $60M ecosystem fund intended to support blockchain startups (BW)

Crypto Corner

• Coinbase's market cap is $1B lower than Dogecoin's market value (BBG)

• Binance.com’s core financial information remains private despite CEO CZ's promise for transparency (RT)

• Binance’s native BNB token plunged to lowest since July as concerns about withdrawals and FTX ties mount (CNBC)

• Insurers are denying coverage to FTX-linked crypto firms amid contagion risks (RT)

Exec's Picks

• Technology news continues to cross over into the mainstream, with FAANG hiring freezes, Elon Musk buying (and regretting his decision to buy) Twitter, and celebrities increasingly investing in or launching their own startups. The Information has been a great resource to stay up to speed on insider news that does not get covered by TechCrunch, The Verge, or Bloomberg. Highly recommend a subscription to anyone serious about tech or venture capital. You can check them out here.

• @Culturaltutor wrote an interesting thread on why Argentina's football team wears a blue and white kit

The Hiring Block 💼

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We aim to curate jobs across IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We'll sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're a company looking to hire candidates and want to list a job opening on our board and feature on Exec Sum, click the button below:

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