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Biden canceled $9B of student debt for 125k borrowers, the US is dealing with its largest healthcare walkout on record, US firms added their fewest jobs since early 2021, Britain may ban cigarettes for younger generations, Caroline Ellison is a central figure in SBF’s trial, and the Keystone pipeline restarted at half-capacity.

It’s time to stop wasting hours searching through your data warehouse. Instead, let Zoë, Zenlytic’s AI assistant, find your answers in seconds.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose thanks to Treasury yields pulling back from multi-year highs after weaker-than-expected jobs data

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 1.35% gain

• Japan five-year yields hit highest level since 2013 amid debt rout

• WTI prices tumbled 5%+ after the EIA reported a significant gasoline build

Earnings

• Tilray reported Q1 revenue of $177M, a 15% YoY increase, as well as a narrowed net loss of $55.9M as the Canada-based cannabis company expanded its reach into other business segments, particularly the US craft beer industry (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Lamb Weston, Levi’s, Constellation Brands

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US firms added 89k jobs in September, fewest since early 2021 (BBG)

• Biden cancels $9B in student debt for 125k borrowers (CNBC)

• Kaiser Permanente Union workers strike, mounting largest US healthcare walkout on record (WSJ)

• US credit rating already includes another possible shutdown, Fitch says (BBG)

• Bond market a ‘little oversold’ after ETF pullout, Bill Gross says (BBG)

• Citigroup outlines layoff process, reassignments in overhaul - memo (RT)

• Keystone pipeline restarts at half capacity of 300k barrels a day (BBG)

• Britain proposes ban on cigarettes for younger generations (RT)

• Homeowners flock to last-resort insurance policies (WSJ)

• Clorox warns of a sales mess after cyberattack (WSJ)

• Ex-Alameda CEO Ellison emerges as a central figure at Bankman-Fried trial (BBG)

• Top vaccine maker seeks growth by selling shots to globetrotters (BBG)

• Oil driller Noble’s CEO says Biden plan will push rigs outside US (BBG)

• GM secures new $6B credit line as UAW strike costs reach $200M (CNBC)

• KKR’s Sheldon sees private credit becoming an evergreen allocation (BBG)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• PE firms Veritas Capital and Platinum Equity are competing against contractor Amentum to acquire Jacobs Solutions’ Critical Mission Solutions in a deal that could value the government consulting unit at over $4B (RT)

• Singapore state investor Temasek hired Goldman Sachs to help it find a buyer for its 40% stake in Australian gas and electricity distributor Jemena, which could be worth up to $3.8B (RT)

• Civitas Resources will buy acreage in the Permian Basin from global energy trader Vitol's upstream venture Vencer Energy for $2.1B (RT)

• UK regulators approved Japanese firm Hitachi’s $1.8B acquisition of Thales’ rail-signal business after Hitachi offered to divest parts of its European unit (BBG)  

• Canadian energy company Suncor Energy will acquire French multinational energy company TotalEnergies' Canadian operations for $1.1B (RT)

• Lab equipment manufacturing company Standard BioTools and protein and biomarker company SomaLogic will combine in a $1B all-stock merger (BBG)

• BlackRock will buy Exxon Mobil’s 71% stake in Italy's main LNG terminal in a deal that values the offshore Adriatic LNG Terminal at ~$881M (RT)

• Australian lender Westpac canceled the sale of its Fiji and Papua New Guinea businesses after failing to find a buyer (RT)

• AT&T is exploring options for its 70% stake in DirectTV (BBG)

VC

• 7wireVentures, a digital health VC firm, raised a $217M ‘Growth & Opportunity Fund’ (FN)

• Clearco, a Toronto-based AI-based e-commerce underwriter, raised a $60M Series D led by Inovia Capital and Founders Circle Capital (TC)

• FinTech startup Brite Payments raised a $60M Series A led by Dawn Capital (TC)

• Shorla Oncology, a startup developing oncology treatments, raised a $35M Series B led by Kurma Partners (BW)

• Loop, a startup providing transportation logistics for audits and pay upgrades, raised a $35M Series B led by JP Morgan Growth Equity Partners and Index Ventures (FN)

• Blackbird Labs, a startup helping restaurants reward and connect with guests, raised a $24M Series A led by a16z (PRN)

• EdgeCortix, a Japanese edge AI semiconductor development and design company, raised $20M in funding led by SBI Investment and GHOVC (PRN)

• Opsera, a DevOps platform geared toward enterprises, raised $12M in a funding round led by Taiwania Capital (TC)

• Peak Energy, a startup developing low-cost giga-scale energy storage tech for the grid, raised a $10M funding round led by Eclipse (PRN)

• Trinetix, a product development company, raised $10M in funding from Hypra (PRN)

• Swag Golf, a golf accessory and apparel company, raised a $10M round led by Verance Capital (BW)

• Cicada Partners, a non-custodial credit risk management company bringing greater transparency and accountability to institutional lending over public blockchain infrastructure, raised a $9.7M funding round led by Choppa Capital (BW)

• Pow.Bio, a startup developing intelligent continuous fermentation tech, raised a $9.5M Series A led by Re:Food and Thia Ventures (BW)

• Plenful, a startup streamlining pharmacy and healthcare operations, raised a $9M round led by Bessemer Venture Partners (FN)

• Rainforest, a payments-as-a-service platform for software companies, raised an $8.5M seed round led by Accel (TC)

• CoPilot, a digital training app which matches users with one-on-one remote fitness coaches, raised a $6.3M Series A-1 led by Jackson Square Ventures (TC)

• Vyzer, a digital wealth management platform, raised a $6.3M seed round led by iAngels, Guy Gamzu, MonetaVC, and more (PRN)

• Cyviation, a cybersecurity company focused on aircraft security, raised $4M in funding from the company's existing investors (PRN)

• Centro, an automated inventory control center for e-commerce brands, raised a $2M pre-seed round led by Ripple Ventures and 2048VC (PRN)

• LANGaware, a startup using AI to detect cognitive and mental health conditions, raised a $2M seed round led by Eleven Ventures (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Doosan Robotics, a maker of collaborative robots, will make its debut today after raising $310M in South Korea’s biggest IPO offering this year (BBG)

• Astera Labs, a semiconductor connectivity solutions firm backed by Intel, is working with Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan for an IPO as soon as next year (BBG)

• FIVE Holdings, which operates luxury hotels for partying in Dubai and Switzerland, is considering an IPO in Dubai in 2025 (BBG)

• BlackBerry is wrapping up a strategic review of its options and is planning an IPO of its Internet of Things division, separating it from BlackBerry’s main cybersecurity business (BBG)

• Sanctioned Russian lender Sovcombank is considering an IPO (RT)

SPAC

• Bolt Threads, a developer of sustainable biomaterials for consumer products, will merge with Golden Arrow Merger Corp. in a $346M deal (BW)

• Agricultural tech company Freight Farms will merge with Agrinam Acquisition Corp. in a $147M deal (PRNW)

Debt

• Vedanta Resource’s talks for a $1B private credit loan have been complicated by a plan to separate its Indian subsidiary into six units, as lenders are looking to revise the parameters of the deal (BBG)

• Britain's Metro Bank is exploring raising as much as $729M in debt and equity financing (RT)

• Britain’s biggest pub chain Stonegate Pub, which is owned by PE firm TDR Capital, is proposing spinning off a group of ~1,000 pubs into a special vehicle and using it to raise debt from outside investors (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• The Spanish government and Celsa’s creditors, which include Strategic Value Partners and Sculptor Capital Management, have come to an agreement for creditors to apply to take control of the steelmaker (BBG)

Fundraising

• Alterra Capital Partners fund, an Africa-focused PE fund founded by a team spun out of Carlyle Group, plans to raise as much as $500M (BBG)

• Climate venture investment firm At One Ventures raised $375M for its second fund that will invest in early-stage startups with technology that will improve biodiversity (PRNW)

Crypto Corner

• SBF’s defense lawyer portrayed him as a ‘math nerd’ who overlooked risk management in building FTX, but did not steal customer money (RT)

• SEC pushes ahead with case against Coinbase (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• The Wall Street Journal shared an excerpt from Michael Lewis’s Going Infinite, detailing how Caroline Ellison met Sam Bankman-Fried.

• Ben Carlson gave career advice covering the three types you can pursue in your 20s: learning jobs, earning jobs, and dream jobs.

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