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Good Morning,

Goldman UK’s gender pay gap problem got worse, virtually all PE assets were sold at discounts last year, women C-suite representation fell for the first time, two Trump SPAC investors pled guilty to insider trading, and Disney beat the activist pressure.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks inched higher yesterday as investors digested comments by J Pow hinting rate cuts are still not in sight

• Gold topped $2.3k to another record high

• Oil hit a five-month high 

• Copper hit a thirteen-month high 

• US dollar index is up 3.3% YTD

Earnings

• Levi’s rose ~8% on a Q1 beat-and-raise driven by a boom in D2C, with half its sales happening online (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Lamb Weston

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Goldman UK gender pay gap hit a six-year high (FT)

• 99% of PE assets were sold at discounts last year (FT)

• Markets see terminal rate at 3.6%, higher than Fed's 2.6% estimate (FT)

• Hedge funds rallied in Q1, with systematic L/S and tech funds up ~11% (RT)

• ISS said Goldman should split CEO and chairman roles (RT)

• China quant funds change strategies after regulatory clampdown (FT)

• Bridgewater's co-CIO said dollar and gold gains are 'anomalies' (RT)

• FINRA fined Stifel broker-dealers for recommending leveraged ETPs (FT)

• Women representation in C-suite roles fell for the first time (S&P)

• PIMCO sees rate cuts midyear, but gradual easing (RT)

• Wall Street is bracing for a tax season liquidity test (RT)

• Powell sticks with Fed's cautious rate-cut strategy (RT)

• Google plans to charge for AI-powered search engine (FT)

• Two Trump SPAC investors pled guilty to insider trading (BBG)

• Steve Cohen said Point72 can save $25M by using AI (CNBC)

• Disney won its proxy fight against activist investor Peltz (CNBC)

• Amazon cuts hundreds of jobs in cloud-computing business (WSJ)

• ExxonMobil expects weak oil and gas prices to hit Q1 profit (RT)

• JPMorgan Chase launched a digital media business (RT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Paramount Global agreed to enter exclusive merger discussions with Skydance, favoring the media company over Apollo Global’s recent $26B cash offer (WSJ) 

• Abu Dhabi-based firm Lunate acquired BlackRock and KKR’s 40% stake in ADNOC's oil pipeline network, at a reportedly $4B+ valuation (BBG) 

• PE firm Summit Partners is exploring a sale of men’s grooming brand Dr. Squatch at a potential $2B+ valuation (RT) 

• Danish drugmaker Genmab agreed to buy US antibody cancer treatment developer ProfoundBio in a $1.8B all-cash deal (BBG)

• State-run coal miner and power producer NLC India is planning to sell its renewables unit worth an ~$720M (BBG)

• French manufacturer Cie. de Saint-Gobain agreed to buy Canadian metal buildings solutions firm Bailey Group of Companies for $650M in cash (BBG) 

• Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur is in talks with potential investors over a stake sale (BBG) 

• French asset manager AXA IM will buy PE secondary specialist W Capital (WSJ)

• Hilton will acquire a controlling interest in hospitality firm Sydell Group (BBG)

VC

• Obsidian Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech, raised a $160.5M Series C led by Wellington Management (FN)

• Alterome Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in precision oncology, raised a $132M Series B led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives (RT)

• Diagonal Therapeutics, a biotech focusing on agonist antibodies, raised a $128M Series A co-led by BVF Partners and Atlas (BS)

• 'Fintech for fintech lenders' Scayl emerged from stealth to announce a $108M equity round (EU)

• Fintech infrastructure company Brim Financial raised an $85M Series C led by EDC Investments (BW)

• Alsym Energy, a startup developing affordable energy storage solutions, raised a $78M Series C co-led by Tata Limited and General Catalyst (FN)

• Torus, a firm specializing in energy storage and management products, raised a $67M round led by Origin Ventures (AX)

• Homebase, an HR and team management app for small businesses, raised a $60M Series D led by L Catterton Growth (TC)

• Netgain, a software provider specializing in finance / accounting solutions, raised a $35M round led by Summit Partners (FN)

• Constantinople, a tech and operations platform for Australian banks, raised a $33M Series A led by Prosus Ventures (FN)

• Data privacy startup Skyflow raised a $30M Series B extension led by Khosla Ventures (TC)

• OROS Labs, a materials tech company specializing in advanced thermal insulation, raised a $22M Series B led by Airbus Ventures (FN)

• Mission Zero, a developer of direct air capture technology, raised a $27.5M Series A from 2150, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and more (FN)

• Datavolo, an AI data pipeline company, raised a $21M round led by General Catalyst (FN)

• Permiso, a threat detection firm, raised an $18M Series A led by Altimeter Capital (FN)

• dappOS, a Singaporian intent execution network, raised a $15.3M Series A at a $300M valuation led by Polychain (FN)

• Full Glass Wine, a startup focused on acquiring D2C wine marketplaces, raised a $14M Series A led by Shea Ventures (TC)

• Nucleai, a spatial AI biomarker company, raised a $14M round led by M Ventures (FN)

• Allure Security, an online brand protection-as-a-service, raised a $10M Series A led by Curql (FN)

• NobleAI, an AI solutions provider for chemical and material informatics, raised a $10M Series A extension led by Sway Ventures (FN)

• Aligned Marketplace, a membership-based national network of value-based advanced primary care providers, raised an $8M seed round co-led by A* Capital and Maverick Ventures (PRN)

• Higgsfield AI, a startup democratizing social media video creation, raised an $8M seed round led by Menlo Ventures (FN)

• TrojAI, an enterprise AI security solutions provider, raised a $5.75M seed round led by Flying Fish (PRN)

• HD, a Thai healthcare startup creating a marketplace for third-party healthcare and surgery services, raised a $5.6M Series A led by SBI Ven Capital (TC)

• SiftHub, an AI startup specializing in sales efficiency tools, raised a $5.5M seed round co-led by Matrix Partners India and Blume Ventures (TC)

• Home From College, a career platform for Gen Z, raised a $5.4M seed round led by GV (TC)

• Eirene, an online funeral services provider, has raised a $4.1M seed round led by Relay Ventures (YH)

• Delivery Collective, a startup facilitating direct connections between merchants and customers raised a $3.8M round led by defy.vc and Bling Capital (AX)

• Hapax, an AI for the financial services industry, raised a $2.6M round led by RHS Investments (PRW)

• Vodex, an Indian Gen AI startup, raised a $2M seed round led by Unicorn India Ventures and Pentathlon Ventures (PRN)

• Aiorde, an AI investment analysis tool developer, raised a $1M seed round from undisclosed investors (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Zeekr, the premium EV brand of Chinese automaker Geely, restarted plans to raise up to $500M in a US IPO (RT)

• Corporate wellness start-up Gympass is preparing for a potential US IPO (FT)

• Aerospace and defense parts manufacturer Loar filed for a US IPO (RT) 

Debt

• Private credit funds are in talks to provide as much as $2.5B to finance the sale of US packaging firm Trivium Packaging by shareholders Ardagh Group and OTPP if a deal emerges (BBG) 

• Apollo Global Management is in talks to offer a loan of at least $1B to finance Saks Fifth Avenue’s potential acquisition of rival Neiman Marcus (BBG) 

• BC Partners’ credit arm agreed to provide $400M to football helmet maker Riddell, most of which will serve as a dividend recap to shareholders including PE firm Fenway Partners (BBG) 

• Software company Thryv held discussions with private credit lenders for $350M to refinance debt (BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Communications technology business Casa Systems filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with proposed deals in hand to sell its assets (WSJ) 

• LATAM Airlines will start the process of re-listing shares on NYSE upon consent from creditors that supported their Chapter 11 reorganization (RT)

Fundraising

• PE firm Clarion Capital closed its fourth fund at $677M for buyouts of lower-MM companies (BW) 

• The asset management unit of India's Nuvama Group is targeting $480M for its Nuvama Crossover IV fund (BBG)

• Africa-focused PE firm Adenia closed its fifth fund at $470M (FN) 

• Bitkraft Ventures raised $275M for its third fund to invest in gaming studios and tech (AX) 

Crypto Corner

• Ex-legal and compliance head for $4B crypto scam OneCoin was sentenced to four years for money laundering (BBG) 

Exec’s Picks

• Financial Times explained why Germany is the sole lagging outlier in eurozone’s post-Covid economic growth.

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