Together with

Merry Christmas!

We hope you're enjoying the holiday season and spending well-deserved time with the loved ones ☃️ 🎁🎄

Intern Karl is also OOO so we'll keep today's version short 🫡 

Looking to finally land that IB or PE job next year? Check out Wall Street Prep for the financial modeling course used by major investment banks to train their their analyst / associate classes!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rallied early in the shortened holiday trading week 

• Japan startup stocks are down 11% YTD on track for their fourth annual loss 

• Yen-hedged US 10Y notes yielded positive for the first time in two years

Earnings

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Markets may be slow for the holidays but Kalshi knows what's really priced in.

• Trade your predictions on any event on Kalshi. Get a $20 bonus when you deposit $100 with code LIT on signup!

Headline Roundup

• Bulge brackets capture biggest share of industry profits since 2015 (FT)

• PE payouts fell 50% short in 2024 (FT)

• PE is trapped in China as top firms fail to find exit deals (FT)

• Leveraged loan defaults soared to highest rate since Covid (FT)

• Bumpy ride for US corporate bond spreads expected in 2025 (RT)

• US consumer confidence fell unexpectedly to near recession levels (BBG)

• Canada economy shrank for first time this year (BBG)

• ECB is 'very close' to reaching its inflation goal (RT)

• China is planning a record $411B special bond issuance next year (RT)

• Japan's budget to hit record but with reduced bond sales (RT)

• Banks were among the best-performing UK stocks this year (FT) 

• Wild China markets send Hong Kong derivatives to third record year (BBG)

• Major US banks sued the Fed over annual stress tests (CNBC)

• VC partners are leaving big firms in droves (BBG)

• MicroStrategy mania exposes rare faultline in ETF industry (FT)

• Ex-comedian joins ex-Goldman analyst to advise Japan stock fund (BBG)

• Apple will defend Google in US antitrust trial (RT) 

• De Beers amassed the biggest diamond stockpile since 2008 (FT)

• Lego is defying the toy market slowdown (CNBC)

• US middle class cut back on holiday spending (WP)

• Shrinking US bar tabs signal little festive cheer (RT)

• China steps up campaign for singles to date, marry and have kids (FT)

• Elite colleges have a looming money problem (WSJ)

• Credit score hangover is hitting America's riskiest borrowers (WSJ)

A Message from Wall Street Prep

Don't Blow Your Dream IB Interview

Finance nightmare, a short story:

Target undergraduate school. 4.0 GPA. Great extracurriculars. Tons of opportunities for the new year.

You're set. Your job is a lock and you're breezing through the interviews. The end is in sight, as long as you crush the case study. You're well on your way... until you can't remember how to run a DCF model.

And just like that, everything falls apart.

Game over. Have fun with the back office gig.

If you don't want to be a back-office guy, make sure you stick the interview by using Wall Street Prep.

Wall Street Prep offers a complete financial and valuation modeling training program, so you can learn financial statement, DCF, trading and transaction comps, M&A and LBO modeling. This is the same program used by top investment banks and financial institutions to train their juniors.

Take 20% off with code HOLIDAY20 till December 31st and ace those interviews for 2025 🚀 💻 🤝

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Honda and Nissan signed a memorandum of understanding to begin talks for a potential $58B merger 

• KKR and Bain Capital submitted first-round bids of $5.1B and $7.6B respectively for 7-Eleven-owner Seven & i Holdings' non-core assets

• Nordstrom's founding family and Mexican retailer El Puerto de Liverpool agreed to take upscale retailer Nordstrom private in a $6.25B cash deal

• Dutch technology investor Prosus will acquire LatAm online travel agency Despegar for $1.7B

• Xerox agreed to buy printer maker Lexmark International from Ninestar, PAG Asia Capital, and Shanghai Shouda Investment Centre in a $1.5B deal

• Hyatt Hotels is in exclusive talks with $1.5B-listed Playa Hotels & Resorts over an acquisition

• Insurer MetLife agreed to buy $100B AUM global asset manager PineBridge Investments from billionaire Richard Li's Pacific Century Group for $1.2B

• Taiwan blocked Uber's plan to buy Delivery Hero's Foodpanda business for $950M

• Canada's Vermilion Energy will acquire O&G firm Westbrick Energy for $747M cash

• Insurance cloud firm CCC Intelligent Solutions agreed to acquire AI-driven claims management firm EvolutionIQ for $730M in cash and stock

• TPG is in talks to acquire $662M-listed solar power firm Altus Power

• Orange Capital Partners and One Investment Management will acquire a 90% stake in a portfolio of German rental units from Adler Group for $440M

• Turkish conglomerate Yildiz Holding plans to sell its marinas business Marinturk

• Asian investment firm PAG agreed to acquire UK IT services outsourcing firm NashTech from Nash Squared

• Activist hedge fund Third Point agreed to acquire $8B AUM credit fund manager AS Birch Grove

VC

• Musk's OpenAI-rival xAI raised a $6B Series C at a $45B valuation from a16z, Lightspeed, Sequoia, MGX, BlackRock, Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, Kingdom Holdings, OIA, QIA, Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital, Nvidia, AMD, and others

• Gene therapy startup GEMMABio raised a $34M seed round led by Double Point Ventures, Bioluminescence Ventures, and Earlybird Venture Capital

• Winna.com, a crypto casino platform, raised a $15M seed round

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Nigeria's neighbor Benin plans to raise $192M in an IPO of a 40% stake in state-owned lender BIIC

• Data center operator GDS is considering a $140M IPO for a REIT of its data center assets in China

• Indian EV maker Greaves Electric Mobility plans to raise $118M in an IPO

• CDH Investments-backed Chinese data center operator Yovole is considering a $100M US IPO

Debt

• Agrochemicals giant Syngenta raised a $4.5B ESG loan from over 40 banks

• Health-care analytics firm MultiPlan reached a deal with creditors to refinance $4.5B of debt

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• The Container Store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

• Chilean telecom WOM received court approval to exit Chapter 11 and hand control to creditors

• Chinese developer Jinke Property revealed plans of its court-supervised onshore debt restructuring

Fundraising

• VC Founders Fund is seeking to raise $3B for its third growth equity fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Russia is using Bitcoin to evade sanctions (AX)

• Multiple US states are weighing strategic Bitcoin reserves (CNBC)

• Bitcoin boom validates Wall Street folks who jumped into crypto (BBG)

• Singapore pulls ahead of Hong Kong in race to be crypto hub (BBG)

• Get the latest on everything crypto here!

Meme Cleanser

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