Post-Election Delusion?

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Good Morning,

China is weighing a sale of TikTok US to Elon Musk, Goldman is going all in on private credit, Kalshi named Donald Trump Jr. as adviser, Honeywell succumbed to activist pressure, and the post-election stock market rally fizzled.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 1/13/2024 market close.

Markets

  • US stocks closed mixed yesterday as investors rotated out of growth stocks amid dimmed hopes for rate cuts

    • S&P wiped out all post-election gains

  • Japan 40Y yield rose to 2.75%, the highest since inception in 2007

  • Japan 20Y yield topped 2% to hit its highest since 2011 

  • Oil jumped to a five-month high amid new Russia sanctions

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Wednesday: JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, BlackRock

    • Thursday: UnitedHealth, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, TSMC

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • With corporate America piling into Trump's inauguration, there's a few big names that are yet to reveal any such plans.

  • Trade your predictions on a range of events legally, only on Kalshi. Get a $20 bonus when you deposit $100 with code LIT on signup!

Headline Roundup

  • Big US banks set for $31B Q4 profit as Wall Street business booms (FT)

  • Goldman says drop in funding spread signals brisk equity selling (BBG)

  • US IPO market rebound faces reality check as yields spike (BBG)

  • Healthcare bankers eye M&A resurgence under Trump (RT)

  • European banks' record profits fuel M&A talk (RT)

  • PE money is flowing into UK's consumer law firms (FT)

  • India's $556B stock rout seen worsening as growth cools (BBG)

  • Goldman creates new group to boost private credit and PE financing (WSJ)

  • Debts on EY's failed breakup took longer than expected to clear (FT)

  • Pension managers urge UK to ditch 'megafund' scale test (FT)

  • Barclays sustainability chief stepped down, following HSBC amid industry pressure (RT

  • Honeywell plans to breakup amid pressure from activist Elliott (BBG)

  • Kalshi named Donald Trump Jr. as adviser (WSJ)

  • SEC fined Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, others in texting crackdown (BBG)

  • US limited AI chip exports (RT)

  • Nvidia's biggest customers are delaying orders of AI chips (TI)

  • EU considers expanding probe into Musk's X (BBG)

  • Elite prep schools flood munis market after regional bank tumult (BBG)

  • Biggest US banks ready mortgage relief for LA fire victims (RT)

  • Harvard hired lobbying firm linked to Trump's chief of staff (BBG)

  • Spain proposes 100% tax on property purchases for non-EU buyers (FT)

  • China smokers light up global tobacco sales despite bans (FT)

  • American tipping hit a six-year low (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • China is mulling a potential sale of TikTok US to Elon Musk

  • Johnson & Johnson agreed to acquire CNS-focused Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6B cash

  • Germany is weighing a full exit in ~$19B energy utility Uniper, after nationalizing it in 2022

  • Steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs is partnering with peer Nucor to weigh an all-cash joint bid for $8.8B-listed US Steel, after US blocked its sale to Japan's Nippon Steel

  • Comcast will buy a minority stake in $4.6B NBA team Philadelphia 76ers as part of a JV with Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment to build a new arena for the 76ers and the NHL's Flyers

  • Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square proposed a takeover of real estate developed Howard Hughes at a $4.3B valuation

  • Eli Lilly agreed to acquire cancer drug developer Scorpion Therapeutics in a $2.5B cash deal

  • Cookie chain Crumbl is exploring a sale at a $2B valuation, including debt

  • New Mountain Capital is nearing a $2B acquisition of revenue cycle management firm Access Healthcare

  • Financial software maker Clearwater Analytics agreed to acquire investment management platform Enfusion in a $1.5B cash-and-stock deal

  • Abu Dhabi SWF ADQ offered to acquire courier services firm Aramex at a $1.2B valuation

  • GSK agreed to buy US cancer biotech IDRx in a $1.15B deal

  • Goldman Sachs' PE arm is nearing a deal to buy Danish telematics firm Trackunit from PE firm Hg for over $1B

  • Saudi SWF PIF's SURJ Sports Investment is in talks to invest over $1B in billionaire Len Blavatnik’s sports streaming service Dazn

  • SWF AIDA, Canada's BCI, and RRJ Capital are nearing a $1B deal to invest in Yinson Holdings' equipment unit Yinson Production Offshore via redeemable convertible preference shares

  • Pension fund AustralianSuper acquired a 50% stake in an $860M European warehouse portfolio owned by Oxford Properties, the real estate arm of Canada's OMERS, and a stake in the portfolio's manager M7 Real Estate

  • T-Mobile agreed to acquire ad tech firm Vistar Media for $600M cash

  • SWF ADIA will invest $500M in Alpha Generation, a US power infrastructure company owned by ArcLight Capital Partners

  • MoonPay, a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp provider, acquired blockchain-based payment processor Helio in a $175M deal

  • Asian investment manager PAG agreed to acquire Pravesha Industries, one of India's largest pharma-focused packaging firms

  • Apollo agreed to buy $6B AUM manager Argo Infrastructure Partners in a cash and stock deal

VC

  • Epigenome editing company Tune Therapeutics raised a $175M Series B led by NEA, Yosemite, Regeneron Ventures, and Hevolution Foundation

  • Normunity, a startup creating anti-cancer therapies, raised a $75M Series B led by Samsara BioCapital and Enavate Sciences

  • Labviva, an AI procurement platform for life sciences, raised a $25M Series B led by 53 Stations

  • Raspberry AI, a startup using AI to help expedite fashion designing, raised a $24M Series A led by a16z

  • Jotit, a platform simplifying and streamlining learning in the digital age, raised a $10M seed round led by Owl Ventures

  • AI-powered surveillance solutions startup Intelex Vision raised a $6.8M Series A led by Acurio Ventures, Adara Ventures, and Inveready

  • hc1, a startup transforming lab data into actionable intelligence, raised $6.25M in new financing led by Health Cloud Capital

  • PHOTON IP, a startup manufacturing advanced low-power optical chips, raised a $5.2M seed round led by Innovation Industries

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Venture Global is seeking to raise $2.3B at a $110B valuation in the largest US energy sector IPO in a decade

  • Saudi lender Riyad Bank is preparing a local IPO at a $2.5B valuation

  • Reinet Investments is offering to sell its 2% stake in British American Tobacco in a potential $1.2B deal

  • PE-backed Polish laboratory operator Diagnostyka is planning a Warsaw IPO at an over $1.2B valuation

SPAC

  • Global telecoms firm Veon agreed to merge its subsidiary Kyivstar, Ukraine's largest mobile phone operator, with Cohen Circle Acquisition Corp. I

Debt 

  • Software maker Databricks secured over $5B in bank and private credit financing from lenders including JPMorgan, Barclays, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Blackstone, Apollo, and Blue Owl

  • PCI Pharma will refinance debt and secure additional financing in a $4B private credit deal led by Blue Owl Capital

  • State-owned Bank of India is marketing a $400M dollar syndicated loan, its first since 2012

Fundraising

  • Allianz Global Investors raised $1.5B for a fund to acquire secondary private credit stakes

  • Healthcare-focused MM PE firm Hildred Capital Management closed its third fund at $810M

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Cryptocurrency firm Tether will move its HQ to El Salvador (RT)

  • CFTC may probe legality of Super Bowl futures trading on Crypto.com (BBG)

  • Check out Crypto Sum for the full stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

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