Together with

Good Morning,

Russia services its debt to avoid default, Biden and Xi are set to speak, global stocks rallied, M&A pace is set to slow down, and crude prices jumped back over $100/bbl. 

We've got another early-stage FinTech investment opportunity to offer up to our accredited investors list this morning. Be sure to mark [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected] as safe-senders to avoid the memo being caught in your spam box or promotions tab. 

On a separate note, shoutout to today's sponsor, FarmTogether, for offering investors an opportunity to invest in agricultural real estate. More on their platform below.

Lastly, if you're staying in tonight, tune into our twitter spaces at 8pm ET co-hosted with CoinFLEX.US. They're also currently giving away $1,000. Follow them on twitter here. Special Litquidity merch will be awarded to their 2,000th follower. 👀

Have a great weekend all!

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

• All major stock indexes closed up 1%+ yesterday, continuing a rally which has the S&P poised to notch its biggest weekly gain in more than a year on the heels of the Fed’s announcement to tighten monetary policy

• Reuters reported that Russia was able to pay coupons on its sovereign bonds to some creditors, as investors continue to keep an eye on the war that is seeing Russian attacks result in increasing numbers of civilian deaths

• Crude oil futures jumped more than 8% yesterday, climbing back above $100/barrel

Earnings

• GameStop tanked ~8% in extended trading due to an unexpected loss during the holiday quarter and not providing a financial outlook (CNBC)

• FedEx shares dropped 3%+ AH after the delivery firm posted lower-than-expected profit for the quarter due to labor shortages and disappointing holiday revenue growth (YHOO)

• Warby Parker shares fell yesterday after posting weaker-than-expected Q4 revenue and forecasted slower growth this year compared 2021 (WSJ)

• Accenture shares closed in the red yesterday even despite posting a beat-and-raise Q2 report (Barrons)

Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Dealmakers see M&A pace slow as geopolitical turmoil takes toll (RT)

• Senator Elizabeth Warren introduces bicameral legislation to ban anti-competitive mergers (Senate)

• Joe Biden to warn Xi Jinping of US retaliation if China actively supports Russia (WSJ)

• Telegram thrives amid Russia's media crackdown (WSJ)

• BNY Mellon to take $100M hit to quarterly revenue from Russia pullback (FT)

• Delta boosts worker pay 4% as bookings spring to life (BBG)

• Double-digit UK inflation emerges as risk in BOE scenario (BBG)

• DE Shaw calls for Verisk Analytics to divest assets, add new directors (BBG)

• Todd Boehly adds PR, advisory muscle to Chelsea FC bid group (BBG)

• Thyssenkrupp may cut working hours, reviews spending due to Ukraine crisis (RT)

• Mortgage rates top 4% for the first time since 2019 (WSJ)

• Dave Portnoy accusations prompt scrutiny of Barstool Sports as Penn National pursues a full acquisition of the media brand (WSJ)

• Netflix wants to charge users who share accounts in password crackdown (WSJ)

• Maserati to go all-electric starting with new 1,200-horsepower GranTurismo (CNBC)

• Tesla looks to massive solar panels in a California parking lot as a green model to power its stores (CNBC)

A Message From FarmTogether

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Thanks to FarmTogether, accredited investors can explore a pipeline of agricultural real estate opportunities suited to fit a variety of portfolios: 6-14% target returns, 2-9% target cash yields.

Invest today at FarmTogether.com

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Amazon closed the $8.5B acquisition of film studio MGM after regulators declined to challenge the deal (BBG)

• PE firm Sycamore Partners is weighing a takeover bid for the British fashion retailer Ted Baker, which currently has a ~$240M market cap (RT)

• Software maker Datto, which is backed by Vista Equity Partners, is exploring options which include a sale (BBG)

VC

• Instant delivery startup Getir raised a $768M Series E at an $11.8B valuation led by Mubadala Investment Company (TC)

• Vietnamese EV maker VinFast is exploring raising $500M-$1B in a funding round ahead of a potential US listing (BBG)

• Regional lender Cross River Bank is close to raising $600M+ at a $3B+ valuation in a round potentially co-led by Eldridge Industries and Andreessen Horowitz (BBG)

• Ethereum scaling startup Optimism raised $150M at a $1.65B valuation in a Series B co-led by Paradigm and Andreessen Horowitz (TBC)

• The at-home connected rowing machine maker Hydrow raised a $55M Series D led by Constitution Capital (CNBC)

• Serverless data platform Upstash raised a $1.9M seed round from Mango Capital, ScaleX Ventures, AngelList and more (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Affordable lodging startup Oyo, that filed for an IPO last year, is considering slashing its fundraising target by half or even shelving the debut (BBG)

SPAC

• Metals Acquisition Corp emerged as the winner of a years-long race to buy Glencore’s CSA copper mine in Australia in a $1.1B deal (RT)

Debt

• Bank of America-led group faces loss on pumpmaker SPX junk bond (BBG)

Fundraising

• Hellman & Friedman is targeting $30B+ for its next flagship fund, which would be a record for the firm (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• GameStop to launch NFT platform by end of Q2 (TBC)

• Rarible adds Polygon NFTs and multi-wallet support to marketplace (DC)

• New job openings at Spotify indicate a move to Web3 technology (DC)

• Coinbase launches crypto wallet support for Solana (DC)

• Hacker steals $790K of NFTs and crypto from owners of Rare Bears (TBC)

• APE token tied to Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs sinks 80% in opening hours (CD)

• Check out Exec Sum's latest deep dive into FTX's business model, as they expand beyond crypto and into stocks, payments, NFTs, VC, and more (ES)

Exec's Picks

• Just dropped a new "Non-Target" merch collection that made an early appearance at SXSW. Check it out here

• CoinFLEX.US, a crypto yield platform that has created America's first interest-earning stablecoin, is opening up to users soon. Holders of their stablecoin, flexUSD, will earn ~5-17% APY, paid daily ever 8 hours. Join their waitlist here

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 40+ 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

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