Together with

Good Morning,

OnlyFans may go public through a SPAC, Axie Infinity got hit by a $600M rug pull, GM wants to produce more electric Hummers, Russia may pull back from Kyiv, the SEC is cracking down on SPACs, and there are too many jobs and not enough workers.

Big Swinging Decks is back with everything you need to know about crypto, web3 and NFTs. Catch the latest episode of the BSD podcast, presented by CoinFLEX.US, on Spotify and Apple Music 🤝 

Speaking of web3 and crypto, today's sponsor, Ledger, is the hardware wallet I use to keep my crypto safe from scammers and government overreach 😤. Check em out.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• US markets continued their positive run as the major averages all closed in the green; the Dow and S&P 500 experiencing their fourth straight day of gains

• The bond market created a lot of buzz yesterday with the US 5Y and 30Y Treasury yields inverting for the first time since 2016

  • Investors continue to monitor the potential for a market recession in the future

• Hope for a potential ceasefire helped sentiment after Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the country will “drastically” reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv

Earnings

• Chewy fell in AH trading after reporting a weaker-than-expected sales forecast driven by increasing costs, supply-chain disruptions, and a decelerated demand for pets (BBG)

• Lululemon posted strong revenue growth and a better-than-expected sales forecast thanks to increased demand for comfortable clothes throughout the pandemic and WFH (BBG)

• What we’re watching today: BioNTech, Five Below 

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• FDA clears way for millions to get additional Covid-19 boosters (BBG)

• US consumer confidence rebounds slightly on firm job market (BBG)

• SPACs face fresh SEC legal threat for overly bullish forecasts (BBG)

• Trump must testify about ‘misleading’ asset valuations (BBG)

• Britain blocks $5B Cargotec-Konecranes merger on competition concerns (RT)

• Russia built parallel payments system that escaped Western sanctions (WSJ)

• Supreme Court to consider copyright battle over Warhol paintings of Prince (WSJ)

• There are now a record 5M more job openings than unemployed people in the US (CNBC)

• Aircraft leasing giant casts doubt on renting to Russian airlines again after Putin seizes planes (CNBC)

• GM looks to increase electric Hummer production as reservations top 65K, exceeding expectations (CNBC)

• Russian pullback from Kyiv is likely to be limited and tactical (BBG)

• Ontario hits foreign home buyers with 20% tax as election looms (BBG)

• Ukraine proposes neutral status with guarantees, and Zelenskyy seeks more Western help (WSJ)

A Message From Ledger

Warren Buffett once said, “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”

For years, investors made money ‘while they slept’ by investing in dividend-yielding stocks or real estate. Now, there’s a third option. Investors can stake their crypto holdings with Ledger and earn passive income.

Here’s how this process works: 

1. Stake or lock up some of your tokens

2. Your staked tokens are used to validate the blockchain

3. You are rewarded with more coins as a result

Think about it like earning interest on your savings account while a bank uses your money, except, you know, you can earn 10% APY instead of 0.1% APY.

Check out Ledger’s staking services, and let your crypto earn money while you sleep.

Stake and Sleep

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Investors led by Elliot Management and Brookfield Asset Management agreed to buy TV-ratings firm Nielsen in a $16B debt/equity deal that is fully financed and includes a 45-day "go-shop" period (RT)

• Brookfield Asset Management is considering bidding for Chinese industrial gasses producer AirPower (BBG)

• Insurance and medical services provider UnitedHealth agreed to buy home-health provider LHC for ~$5.4B (BBG)

• French laboratories chain Inovie’s owners are exploring the sale of a majority stake in the company at a potential $4.4B valuation (BBG)

• Liberty Strategic Capital, a PE firm launched by ex-treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, acquired a majority stake in mobile security startup Zimperium for $525M (TC)

• Goldman Sachs agreed to buy NextCapital, a Chicago-based fintech firm that provides automated advice to corporate retirement plan participants (CNBC)

• Software startup Celonis agreed to buy German data startup Process Analytics Factory (BBG) 

• Investors affiliated with Paul Conway’s Pacific Media Group agreed to buy a nearly 10% stake in German football club FC Kaiserslautern (BBG)

• DHL Express Division made a deal with Canada’s CargoJet which gives them the option to buy up to a 9.5% stake in the firm (RT)

• French provider of edible insects for animal and human feed Ynsect agreed to buy US mealworm producer Jord (RT)

• Pophouse Entertainment, the firm founded by ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus, agreed to buy the song catalog of electronics dance act Swedish House Mafia (BBG)

• Pulp and paper company Stora Enso is planning to sell four of its five paper mills (RT)

• Jamie Salter, the acquisitive founder of Authentic Brands, is considering joining a bid for Chelsea Football Club (BBG)

VC

• ConcertAI, a data solutions startup for life sciences healthcare, raised a $150M Series C at a $1.9B valuation led by Sixth Street (PRN)

• Brightline, a provider of virtual behavioral-health services to children and their families, raised $105M at a $705M valuation in a round led by KKR (BBG)

• GrowSari, a startup digitizing small businesses in the Philippines, added $77.5M to its Series C, bringing the round total to $110M, investors include International Finance Corporation, KKR, Wavemaker Partners, and Pavilion Capital (TC)

• Indian edtech startup Classplus raised a $70M Series D at a $570M valuation led by Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global (TC)

• HackerRank, a platform where recruiters can test candidates with coding exercises, raised a $60M Series D at a ~$500M valuation led by Susquehanna Growth Equity (TC)

• Brightside Health, a telemedicine platform that offers personalized treatment for mental health concerns, raised a $50M Series B led by ACME Capital and Mousse Partners (BW)

• LambdaTest, a startup allowing developers to test their websites on 3,000+ different combinations of browsers / operating systems / devices, raised a $45M Series C led by Premji Invest (TC)

• Qure.ai, a startup incorporating AI into medical imaging diagnostics, raised a $40M round led by Novo Holdings and HealthQuad (PRN)

• Kaiyo, a second-hand furniture marketplace, raised a $36M debt / equity Series B led by Edison Partners (TC)

• D2C caffeine-infused personal care brand mCaffeine raised a ~$32M Series C at a ~$132M valuation led by Paragon Partners (PRN)

• Pinecone, a purpose-built database for data scientists, raised a $28M Series A led by Menlo Ventures (TC)

• Home365, a tech-enabled platform for real estate investing and property management, raised a $26M Series B led by Viola Growth (BW)

• Cloaked, a consumer-first privacy company, raised a $25M Series A led by Lux Capital and Human Capital (BW)

• SMB focused IT infrastructure provider Electric raised a $20M Series D-1 at a $1B+ valuation led by Harmonic Growth Partners, Vintage Investment Partners, Greenspring, and Slack Fund (TC)

• In-space transportation services startup Impulse Space Propulsion raised a $20M seed round led by Founders Fund (BW)

• Mobile games development platform Kooply raised an $18M seed round led by Microsoft’s M12 Fund, Playtika, and TPY Capital (TC)

• CredPal, a Nigerian startup building a BNPL product, raised a $15M equity/debt hybrid round from Greenhouse Capital and First City Monument Bank (TC)

• Singaporean esports startup Ampverse raised a $12M Series A led by Falcon Capital (TC)

• E-commerce infrastructure startup Airhouse raised an $11M Series A led by DNX Ventures (TC)

• CHILI Publish, a Dutch publishing software startup, raised a $10M round led by Connected Capital (PRN)

• OmniML, a startup developing smaller, faster machine learning models, raised a $10M seed round led by GGV Capital (BW)

• FutureFit.AI, an AI-powered career navigation platform, raised $5.7M CAD in a round led by JPMorgan Chase and Acumen America (PRN)

• Revvable, a SaaS platform for powersports dealerships, raised a $5M seed round led by Tiger Global (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Southwest Gas Holdings will sell $400M in shares to fund its $2B acquisition of Questar Pipelines that activist investor Carl Icahn tried to block (BBG)

• India plans to sell up to a 1.5% stake in state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp, aiming to raise $397M from the share sale (BBG)

• AIG filed for an IPO of its life and retirement arm that will be renamed Corebridge (BBG)

SPAC

• Social media platform OnlyFans has had talks with multiple SPACs about a reverse merger to go public (AXIOS)

Debt

• Microstrategy closed on a $205M term loan from crypto payments provider Silvergate Bank to buy more bitcoin (BW)

Fundraising

• Next Coast Ventures raised $310M across three funds to invest in companies from emerging tech hubs such as Austin and Miami (BW)

• Evok Innovations, a venture firm focused on developing and deploying clean energy technology, raised a $300M Fund II to invest in industrial decarbonization companies (BW)

Crypto Corner

• Robinhood’s top crypto exec is leaving after nearly five years (TBC)

• OpenSea teased April integration of Solana NFTs (TBC)

• Axie Infinity’s Ethereum sidechain Ronin was hit by $600M exploit (TBC)

Exec's Picks

• Take your crypto to the next level with Nexo. Invest in the hottest coins, swap between 300+ pairs and get up to 0.5% cash back, earn up to 17% APR. Open your account at Nexo before March 31 and receive up to $100 as a welcome bonus. Sign up for Nexo here.

Big Swinging Decks Podcast

🚨 BSD IS BACK WITH A NEW EPISODE 🚨

In today's episode, titled “These NFTs…are they in the room with us?”, Lit & Mark continue their primer on DeFi by taking their shareholders on a journey deep into the world of Web3.

The duo also discusses DB's recent strip club fiasco, breaks down what makes a successful NFT project, and plays a robust game of ‘Cash or Pass’.

Catch the latest episode of our Big Swinging Decks podcast, presented by CoinFLEX.US, on Spotify and Apple Music. 

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've got 20+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

Meme Cleanser

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures

Catch the latest episode of our Big Swinging Decks podcast, presented by CoinFLEX.US, on Spotify and Apple Music 🤝