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Rent inflation is cooling, Twitter partnered with eToro to let users trade stocks and crypto, Chinese exports surged in March, Amazon is facing 18 shareholder proposals this year, Apple tripled iPhone production in India, Sweden’s largest pension fund fired its CEO, and Bernard Arnault is now worth $210B+.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rallied yesterday on more signs of rapidly cooling inflation and a loosening labor market

• Gold hit its highest level of the year

• Dollar index fell to a two-month low, and a one-year low against the euro

Earnings

• Delta posted a Q1 loss driven in part by a new pilot contract but forecasted better than expected Q2 profit and revenue growth while brushing off effects of a consumer pullback in spending (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: JPMorgan, Citi, Wells Fargo, BlackRock

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US PPI slowed to 2.7% YoY in March for biggest drop in three years (WSJ)

• ECB policymakers are converging on a 25 bps rate hike in May (RT)

• Rent inflation is cooling (AX)

• China's exports unexpectedly surged in March (RT)

• Hedge funds boosted exposure to financial stocks by 5.5% amid banking turmoil (RT)

• Global debtors and creditors agreed on steps to jumpstart debt restructurings (RT)

• Amazon is facing a record 18 shareholder proposals this year (RT)

• JPMorgan cut dozens of base metals clients after nickel crisis (BBG)

• Amazon announced new AI offerings as it joins Big Tech AI race (WSJ)

• Apple tripled iPhone production in India to $7B (BBG)

• ​​JPMorgan internally flagged Epstein’s withdrawals years before his 2008 conviction (WSJ)

• Exxon CEO's pay rose 52% in 2022 (RT)

• Amazon awarded CEO Andy Jassy no new stock in 2022 (RT)

• Sweden’s biggest pension fund Alecta fired its CEO after losing $2B on failed SVB/Signature bets (FT)

• Tech exec Nima Momeni was arrested for the stabbing/murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee (RT)

• Bernard Arnault's wealth soared to $210B (BBG)

• Outcome Health founder Rishi Shah was convicted of fraud (AX)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• A group led by billionaire Apollo co-founder Josh Harris agreed to buy the NFL’s Washington Commanders for $6B (BBG)

• French energy company TotalEnergies is considering a bid for oil and gas explorer Neptune Energy at a potential $5B+ valuation (BBG)

• PE firm Bridgepoint is preparing to sell its majority stake in French insurance broker Kereis at a potential $2.21B valuation (RT)

• A PE consortium led by CVC Capital Partners is in talks to buy Middle Eastern credit card processor Network International, which has a market value of $2B (BBG)

• Pharmaceutical company Merck is seeking to revive the sale of its pigments division, Surface Solutions, that could be worth ~$1B (RT)

• Canadian miner Hudbay Minerals agreed to buy peer Copper Mountain Mining in a $439M deal (RT)

• Consumer brand owner WHP Global and retailer Express agreed to buy the menswear line Bonobos from Walmart for $75M (BBG)

• German insurer Frankfurter Leben-Gruppe is nearing a deal to buy Italian insurer Assicurazioni General’s German unit Deutschland Pensionskasse (BBG)

• Property investment firm Cain International agreed to buy a minority stake in luxury hotel brand Delano (BBG)

• CVC Capital Partners is considering selling its 21% stake in fast food franchise operator QSR Brands (RT)

VC

• BioTherapeutics, a biopharma company focused on developing new biologics for cancer treatment, raised a $158M Series B led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management (VCN)

• Context Labs, a data provider that helps companies track carbon emissions, hired Barclays to help raise up to $150M at an over $1B valuation (RT)

• Satellite telecommunications company Kepler Communications raised a $92M Series C led by IA Ventures (TC)

• Biopharmaceutical company Aer Therapeutics raised a $36M Series A from investors including Canaan, OrbiMed, and Hatteras Venture Partners (VCN)

• ThayerMahan, an autonomous maritime surveillance solutions provider, raised a $30M Series C led by MC2 Security Fund (VCN)

• Consumer benefits administration platform Elevate raised $28M in a funding round led by Anthemis (TC)

• Tradier, a global retail brokerage firm, raised a $24.6M Series B led by PEAK6 Strategic Capital (VCN)

• Online learning management system LMS365 raised a $20M funding round (TC)

• Government-technology focused AI SaaS solution provider Cardinality.ai raised a $12.5M Series B led by Boathouse Capital (VCN)

• Otterize, which aims to allow developers to securely connect different software services to each other, raised $11.5M in a seed funding round led by Index Ventures (TC)

• Ampersand, a startup that helps SaaS companies build user-facing integrations into their products, raised a $4.7M seed round led by Matrix Partners (TC)

• E-bike subscription platform for last-mile delivery drivers Whizz raised a $3.4M seed round from investors including Joint Journey and TMT Investments (VCN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Italian gambling company Lottomatica is seeking to raise $467M in a Milan IPO (BBG)

Debt

• BBVA, Santander and Bank of America together plan to fund Mexico's $6B deal to purchase power plants from Spanish utility Iberdrola (BBG)

• Software maker Adobe is looking to tap debt markets to finance its acquisition of UI design tool maker Figma, which could include replacing its $3.5B DDTL and $1.5B of bonds maturing in 2025 (BBG)

• Santander Consumo Peru, the Peruvian car loan business of Santander, plans to sell up to $53M worth of short-term bonds in local markets (LF)

• Credit Suisse hired BlackRock to help sell a portfolio of structured bonds (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Movie-theater advertising giant National CineMedia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (RT)

Fundraising

• Swiss asset manager Edmond de Rothschild raised $2.8B for its fifth ESG-focused BRIDGE infrastructure debt fund (FE)

• Warren Equity Partners raised $1.4B for its flagship fourth fund (BW)

• Lux Capital raised $1.15B for its largest fund to date, Lux Ventures VIII, to invest in science and deep technologies (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• Crypto investors face delays in withdrawing funds after Ethereum upgrade (RT)

• Twitter partnered with eToro to let users trade crypto (CNBC)

• London Stock Exchange Group will offer clearing services for crypto derivatives (FT)

Exec’s Picks

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• The Information published an interesting read on the issues that Google and Meta are having with their internal performance reviews.

• Amazon CEO Andy Jassy shared his 2022 annual letter to shareholders.

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