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Good Morning,

There’s a new dominant e-commerce giant in China, Milei warns that economic shock is unavoidable, Ethiopia is about to become Africa’s next debt defaulter, the US is reloading the strategic reserve, Rakuten is launching a proprietary AI model, Tucker Carlson is launching his own streaming service, and renters are getting concessions from landlords again.

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Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose to hit a new high for the year after the November jobs report signaled a resilient economy and cooling inflation

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 0.45% gain

• European stocks briefly hit their highest level since February 2022 as traders bet that central banks were finished with rate hikes

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Oracle 

  • Wednesday: Adobe 

  • Thursday: Costco

  • Friday: Darden Restaurants

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Jack Ma’s biggest e-commerce rival is coming for Amazon (BBG)

• Argentine President Milei warns economic shock unavoidable in maiden speech (RT)

• US seeks to buy up to 3M barrels of oil for Strategic Petroleum Reserve (RT)

• Ethiopia is about to become Africa’s next debt defaulter (BBG)

• Why treasury auctions have Wall Street on edge (WSJ)

• Japanese tech giant Rakuten plans to launch proprietary AI model within next two months (CNBC)

• Tucker Carlson is launching his own streaming service (WSJ)

• NYC’s financial district gets luxury apartments in former office tower (BBG)

• Azerbaijan says it’s on track to double gas exports to Europe (BBG)

• Serbia, Bulgaria complete gas pipe to reduce reliance on Russia (BBG)

• Many car dealers are getting nervous about EV push (WSJ)

• Arm CEO fears humans could lose control of AI (BBG)

• Wharton board calls for leadership change at Penn amid furor over campus antisemitism (WSJ)

• Renters are starting to get concessions from landlords again (WSJ)

• Renaissance Technologies names longtime employee Lippe as Co-CEO (BBG)

• Shohei Ohtani to sign $700M deal with Los Angeles Dodgers (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• US health insurer Cigna abandoned its attempt to negotiate an acquisition of rival Humana to create a $140B+ insurer; Cigna will buy back an additional $10B worth of shares instead (RT) 

• FTC is seeking more information on Chevron’s $53B acquisition of energy company Hess (RT) 

• Endeavor Energy Partners is exploring a sale that could value the largest privately held oil and gas producer in the Permian basin at $25B-$30B (RT)

• Macy’s received a $5.8B buyout offer from Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management (BBG) 

• US industrial firm Honeywell will acquire air conditioner maker Carrier's security unit for $5B cash to bulk up its building safety business (RT) 

• PE firms including Bain Capital and Blackstone are considering bids for Japanese pharmacy chain Tsuruha Holdings, which has a market value of ~$4.1B (BBG)

• Saudi Arabia’s PIF is seeking to gain majority control of London’s Heathrow Airport, as several shareholders consider the sale of their interests; a 25% stake in the airport recently sold for $3B (BBG) 

• TikTok will take a controlling stake in an e-commerce unit of Indonesia’s biggest tech firm, PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia, for $1.5B (RT)

• Chemical maker INEOS Oxide will acquire LyondellBasell’s ethylene oxide unit in Bayport, Texas for $700M (RT)  

• China Southern Power Grid, the country’s second-largest electricity supplier, is considering a bid for the stakes held by Canadian pension funds in Transelec, Chile’s biggest power-transmission company (BBG) 

• Germany’s Näder family plans to buy back the remaining 20% stake in prosthesis firm Ottobock from EQT (BBG)

VC

• Pragmatic Semiconductor, a Cambridge, UK-based manufacturer of flexible integrated circuits, raised a $228.4M Series D led by Catalyst and UK Infrastructure Bank (FN)

• Cortex, a startup developing an integrated mapping and ablation solution suite for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, raised a $90M round led by KKR and Hellman & Friedman (VC)

• Igloo, a Singapore-based regional provider of insurtech solutions for companies, raised a $36M pre-Series C led by Eurazeo (FN)

• Qortex, an NYC-based intelligent video analytics company, raised a $10M round led by GFT Ventures (FN)

• Customer insights platform Yogi raised a $10M Series A led by Blueprint Equity (FN)

• Travel platform service for overseas tourists in Japan WAmazing raised a $9.6M Series C from the Hyogo Chiiki Kasseika Fund, Chugin infinity fund NO.2, and ACT (BW)

• OurSky, a developer platform for space data applications, raised a $9.5M seed round led by Upfront Ventures and Venrex Investment Management (FN)

• Helix, a generative AI assistant for the private markets industry, raised a $6M seed+ round led by FINTOP Capital (VC)

• Jiant, a ready-to-drink alcohol brand, raised a $6M Series A led by Natureza Growth Partners (VC)

• Japanese revenue-based finance startup Yoii raised a $5.5M Series A led by Emellience Partners (BW)

• Gacha Monsters, a Tokyo-based entertainment and gaming company, raised a $3M seed round led by Animoca Brands, Infinity Ventures Crypto, FBG, and Big Time Games (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• UK commodities broker, Marex Group, is seeking an IPO in New York at a valuation above $1.8B (BBG) 

Debt

• Petroleos Mexicanos refinanced ~$8.3B worth of debt from banks including Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup amid a cash crunch (BBG) 

• Lender Golub Capital Partners is leading a group of lenders to provide a debt package of over $2B to refinance all the existing debt of software firm Aptean (BBG) 

• Blackstone is leading a $1B private loan package for Permira’s buyout of German insurance broker Gossler, Gobert & Wolters from Hg (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• SmileDirectClub, an orthodontics startup once valued at $8.9B, will wind down global operations after failing to find a buyer (WSJ) 

Crypto Corner

• Binance announced the withdrawal of a license application in Abu Dhabi (BBG) 

• DOJ unveiled extensive government oversight over Binance regarding the crypto exchange’s new compliance obligations (CT)

Exec’s Picks

• Ben Cohen covered Jensen Huang’s turbulent path to creating a trillion-dollar chip giant, and why the entrepreneur wouldn’t do it again.

• Stripe Press republished Poor Charlie’s Almanack for free.

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