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Good Morning,

Adam Neumann is back for a second act, Citadel Securities is printing money, China's economy is faltering, DoorDash is testing Facebook Marketplace deliveries, Snapchat+ hit 1M subscribers, Chinese firms have Swiss GDR mania, and Dan Loeb went activist on Disney.

Shoutout to today's sponsor, Mizzen + Main. They blend the comfort of golf polos with the look of tailored dress shirts to make some great shirts perfect for the office.

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

• Stocks opened lower to start Monday’s trading session but all three major indexes notched gains for the day by the closing bell

  • Oil and other commodities fell after data showed China’s economic growth slowed in July, raising concerns about global demand

• Today kicks off a big earnings week for retail companies

Earnings

• What we’re watching this week:

  • Today: Walmart, The Home Depot

  • Wednesday: Target, Lowe’s, Performance Food Group, Cisco Systems

  • Thursday: Kohl’s, Ross Stores, Arco

  • Friday: John Deere

• Full calendar here 

Headline Roundup

• US is in a ‘housing recession’ as sentiment turns negative (CNBC)

• China’s economy stumbled in July, prompting its central bank to unexpectedly cut interest rates (WSJ)

• Citadel Securities raked in a record $4.2B of net trading revenue in 1H'2022 (BBG)

• Five Chinese state-owned companies under SEC scrutiny will delist from the NYSE (RT)

• Wall Street deal making has faced much greater scrutiny from the Biden antitrust enforcers than years past (WSJ)

• Drivers are paying an average $702 per month for new cars, a record high (CNBC)

• Chinese firms' Swiss GDR mania shows no signs of slowing (BBG)

• Chinese EV maker CATL will build a $7.6B battery plant in Hungary, Europe's largest ever such plant (RT)

• Walmart reached a video-streaming deal to offer Paramount+ with its membership program (WSJ)

• Berkshire Hathaway scooped up millions more shares of Apple and doubled down on its energy investments during Q2 (WSJ)

• Activist investor Elliott Management has a large position in Cardinal Health and is seeking seats on its board (WSJ)

• Huawei Technologies' H2 net profits fell 52% on weakened demand (RT)

• FTC and Meta will go to court in December over Meta's takeover deal of Within Unlimited (BBG)

• Snap's Snapchat+ premium subscription hit 1M subscribers (RT)

• Indian ride-hailing firm Ola plans to produce electric cars in 2024 (RT)

• DoorDash partnered with Meta to test delivery of Facebook Marketplace items (TC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Video game software development company Unity Software rejected software company AppLovin's unsolicited ~$20B takeover bid (BBG)

• Crypto-focused financial service firm Galaxy Digital is abandoning its $1.2B acquisition of crypto custody firm BitGo (CD)

• Investment firm Third Point disclosed a 0.4% stake of ~$1B in Walt Disney Co. and is urging them to acquire the remaining Hulu from minority stakeholder Comcast and spin off ESPN (RT)

• Lundin Mining is weighing the sale of a Portugal copper and zinc mine for ~$1B (BBG)

• Saud Arabia's Public Investment Fund and London-based real estate investment firm Cain International invested $900M in luxury hotel group Aman at a $3B valuation (RT)

• Gaming equipment provider Inspired Entertainment offered to acquire slot machine maker PlayAGS for $370M (RT)

• US TV station giant Nexstar Media will acquire a 75% stake in broadcast TV network The CW Network (RT)

• Crypto VC firm Dragonfly acquired MetaStable Capital, one of the oldest cryptocurrency investment funds with over $400M AUM (BBG)

VC

• Bill Gates' nuclear innovation company TerraPower raised $750M in funding co-led by Gates and SK (CNBC)

• EV maker Faraday Future aims to raise up to $600M in funding this year (RT)

• Flow, Adam Neumann’s new pre-launch residential real estate venture, raised $350M at a $1B valuation from a16z, the VC firm's largest ever single investment (TC)

• Private air charter broker Jet Token secured a $40M investment commitment from GEM Global Yield (YHOO)

• Gorgias, a customer service tools developer for e-commerce companies, raised a $30M Series C at a $710M valuation led by Transpose Platform and Shopify (TC)

• Monod Bio, a life sciences company developing biosensors for protein and other analyte detection, raised a $25M seed round led by Matrix Capital (BW)

• CareHarmony, a virtual care coordination startup, raised a $15M Series A led by Maverick Ventures (AXIOS)

• .bit, an identity protocol built on the blockchain, raised a $13M Series A led by CMB International (TC)

• Mobot, an IaaS platform for developers, raised a $12.5M Series A led by Cota Capital (TC)

• EvaBot, an emotionally intelligent relationship solution between customers and employees, raised $10.83M in funding: an $8.33M Series A led by Comcast Ventures and $2.5M in debt financing (PRN)

• Dukkantek, a UAE-based provider of store management platforms, raised a $10M pre-Series A from BECO Capital, Rocketship, and others (PYMNTS)

• Naborforce, a company that connects elderly people with tech support and guidance, raised a $9M Series A led by Translink Capital (PRN)

• Pastel, a Nigerian bookkeeping and digital platform for merchants, raised a $5.5M seed round led by TLcom Capital (TC)

• BankiFi, a provider of embedded banking solutions for small and medium businesses, raised a $4.8M Series A led by Praetura Ventures (BW)

• Regression Games, an AI gaming and esports company, raised a $4.2M seed round led by New Enterprise Associates (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Group One, the company behind MMA brand One Championship, is considering a US IPO; it was most recently valued at $1.35B in a private funding round last December (BBG)

• Chinese hand and power tools maker Hangzhou Greatstar, battery component maker Shenzhen Senior Technology Material, carbon and graphite product producer Fangda Carbon New Material, and drug manufacturer Joincare Pharmaceutical are all looking to raise up to $400M through Swiss GDR sales (BBG)

SPAC

• Voltus ended its $1.3B merger deal with Broadscale Acquisition Corp (MW)

• Crypto infrastructure firm Prime Blockchain ended its $1.25B merger deal with 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp II (BBG)

• Italian space logistics company D-Orbit canceled plans to merge with Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp, the space company was set to raise $185M in the deal (SN)

Fundraising

• Arsenal Capital Partners, a PE firm focused on the industrial and healthcare sectors, closed two new funds: the $4.3B Fund VI and the $1.1B Growth Fund (PRN)

• Apogem Capital raised $614M for its PA Secondary Fund VI, which is committed to investing in the North American middle market through negotiated secondary market purchases (PRN)

Crypto Corner

• The Fed is creating a pathway for crypto banks to tap into the central banking system (CD)

• NFT marketplace OpenSea will require a police report for NFTs reported as stolen (DC)

• The blockchain industry workforce grew 80% this year (BC)

Exec's Picks

• Yesterday, Packy McCormick partnered with space media company (and Litquidity portfolio company) Payload Space to break down the space economy. Check out their latest 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 aim to curate jobs across IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We'll sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're a company looking to hire candidates and want to list a job opening on our board and feature on Exec Sum, click the button below:

Meme Cleanser

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