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AI continues to carry the entire stock market, Bain is pulling back from work in China, US banks hiked Q3 dividends, Amazon is pivoting into an AI company, and the presidential debate became the meme of the weekend.

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AI continues to carry the entire stock market, Bain is pulling back from work in China, US banks hiked Q3 dividends, Amazon is pivoting into an AI company, and the presidential debate became the meme of the weekend.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 06/28/2024 market close.

Markets

  • US stocks closed lower on Friday markets digested fresh inflation data and sentiment from the presidential debate

    • All three major US indexes posted a seventh winning month in eight

    • S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained 3.9% and 8.3% in Q2 respectively

    • Nvidia has accounted for 31% of S&P 500's H1 returns 

  • France-Germany 10Y spread hit its highest since the Euro crisis

  • Lumber futures fell to post-Covid lows as home-building season fails to spark 

  • Yen weakened through 161 vs the dollar to a 38-year low

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Wednesday: Constellation Brands

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • PCE index cooled to a three-year low in May (RT)

  • Dealmakers optimistic on global M&A despite sluggish growth (RT)

  • US banks hike Q3 dividends after sailing through Fed stress test (RT)

  • Fund managers are most underweight in bonds since November 2022 (RT)

  • Global equity funds see biggest weekly inflows since March (RT)

  • Fed reverse repo inflows hit highest level YTD (RT)

  • Financial services shun AI over job and regulatory fears (FT)

  • Japan Q1 GDP growth was revised downwards to -2.9% YoY (RT)

  • China issued rare earth regulations to protect domestic supply (RT)

  • New Bain CEO says firm is pulling back from China (FT)

  • Reddit-traded 'Roaring Kitty' was sued for securities fraud (DYN)

  • US will criminally charge Boeing and seek a guilty plea (BBG)

  • Amazon investing more on AI than retail warehouses (WSJ)

  • Citigroup urged dismissal of ex-MD's whistleblower lawsuit (RT)

  • Warren Buffett will donate wealth to a new foundation upon death (FT)

  • Biden loses ground in alarming first presidential debate (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Boeing agreed to acquire Spirit AeroSystems in a $4.7B all-stock deal (RT)

  • PE firm TDR Capital is pursuing an acquisition of UK education business BPP, which could fetch a ~$3.2B valuation (FT)  

  • BlackRock agreed to acquire UK private markets data firm Preqin for $3.2B in cash (FT

  • PE firm Cinven will acquire a 70% stake in real estate platform Idealista from EQT at a $3.1B valuation (BBG

  • PE firm EQT lowered its bid for UK video game services company Keywords Studios to ~$2.7B (FT

  • Nokia will acquire optical telecom equipment maker Infinera in a  $2.3B cash and stock deal (RT

  • Swiss PE firm Partners Group will acquire a majority stake in biotech FairJourney Biologics at a $966M valuation (FT

  • Hedge fund Citadel will acquire Japanese power firm Energy Grid, its first Japanese acquisition (RT

  • Spanish energy company Repsol is in talks to merge its UK North Sea oil and gas business with PE-backed NEO Energy (RT

VC

  • AI infrastructure startup Lambda Labs is seeking to raise an $800M round (FT)

  • Czech grocery delivery startup Rohlik raised $170M in funding led by EBRD (TC)

  • Seven AI, an AI-powered cybersecurity solutions, raised a $36M pre-seed round led by Greylock (VC)

  • Feather, a German health insurance platform for expats, raised a $6.5M seed round led by Keen Venture Partners (TC)

  • Battery electrolyte startup Feon Energy raised a $6.1M seed round led by Fine Structure Ventures (FN)

  • Synthpop, an AI-driven platform for healthcare workflows, raised a $5.6M seed round led by Peterson Ventures (FN)

  • Prescribe FIT, a remote patient monitoring and health coaching solutions, raised a $4.8M Series A from Jim Grote, Tamarind Hill, and more (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square set the IPO price of its potential $25B US closed-end vehicle at $50 per share (BBG)

  • Spanish bakery firm Europastry postponed its $537M Madrid IPO citing election volatility (BBG

  • Biotech Alumis fell ~17% in its trading debut after a downsized $250M IPO (BBG

  • Clinical stage biotech Bicara Therapeutics is working with Morgan Stanley on a $100M-$150M US IPO (BBG

  • US small jet manufacturer Cirrus plans to raise up to $197M at a $1.3B valuation in a Hong Kong IPO (RT)

  • Riding hailing app Chenqi Technology plans to raise $175M in a Hong Kong IPO (RT)

  • KKR-backed software company OneStream filed for a US IPO (BBG

  • French PE firm Astorg hired Evercore to explore a capital raise (BBG

SPAC

  • Canadian cannabis extraction company Ayurcann will merge with Arogo Capital Acquisition Corp. in a $210M deal (GNW

Debt

  • SoftBank sold ~$1.9B in eurobonds to repay debt and boost AI bets (BBG)

  • Chinese leasing company Bohai Leasing is in talks for a ~$1B private credit loan to refinance its $2B of maturing debt (BBG

  • Spanish auto-parts maker Antolin agreed to refinance $536M of its bank debt (BBG)  

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

  • French tech group Atos reached a restructuring deal to convert ~$3.1B of debt into equity and receive a $250M capital injection (RT

  • Rite Aid received court approval for a restructuring plan to cut $2B of debt and provide $2.5B in exit financing (BBG

  • Redbox-owner Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (BBG

Fundraising

  • VC Kleiner Perkins raised over $2B across two new funds (TC

  • Joe Tsai's family office Blue Pool Capital raised $500M to invest in hedge and private credit funds (BBG)  

Crypto Corner

  • US Treasury finalized crypto rules to prevent tax evasion (WSJ)

  • Binance must face bulk of US SEC crypto lawsuit (RT)

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