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Good Morning,

US CPI growth slowed to 6.4% YoY in January, Biden pledged to prevent a US debt default, fund managers are looking into emerging market stocks, Walmart wants its tech employees back in the office, Ford is cutting 3.8k jobs in Europe, Time is launching a new commerce site, a judge tightened SBF's bail conditions, and Florida now dominates the list of priciest zip codes in the US.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks traded mixed yesterday after an unsurprising CPI reading failed to change expectations about the Fed's path forward on interest rate hikes

  • Fed officials are keeping options open concerning a higher peak interest rate

  • Futures markets are pricing in a 5.27% rate peak in July

• UK's FTSE 100 hit a record closing high

• The 6-month US Treasury yield closed at 5.022%, above 5% for the first time since July 2007

• Oil settled more than 1% lower after US announced a 26M bbl sale from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Earnings

• Coca-Cola topped Q4 revenue estimates on higher prices, which nonetheless hurt demand; the firm will continue price hikes this year in contrast to PepsiCo (CNBC)

• Airbnb beat Q4 EPS and revenue estimates on a surging global travel rebound and higher prices, while also forecasting strong 2023 demand as Europeans gear for summer travel; their stock rose 14.2% (CNBC)

• GoDaddy missed on Q4 EPS estimates on slowing post-Covid growth in its core domain business (DNW)

• Restaurant Brands International beat on Q4 revenue estimates as strong inflation-driven demand for affordable food options offset rising costs and FX headwinds; their COO will succeed as CEO (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Cisco, Shopify, Zillow 

  • Thursday: DraftKings, WeWork

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US CPI growth slowed slightly to 6.4% YoY in January (CNBC)

• Biden pledged to prevent a US debt default (RT)

• US bank CEOs see economic pessimism lifting (RT)

• Sustainability bond market stumbles as investors get picky (FT)

• Fund managers are flocking to emerging market stocks trading at pre-Ukraine invasion levels (RT)

• Adani group sees no refinancing risk or liquidity issues (RT)

• Toshiba’s profits fell 90% ahead of potential take-private deal, as top executive resigns (FT)

• Walmart will require tech employees back to office (WSJ)

• Singapore's wealth-fund GIC is still exploring China investment opportunities (RT)

• Air India sealed a record 470 jets deal with Airbus and Boeing, as it aims to be the next Emirates (RT)

• Ford will cut 3.8k European jobs in EV overhaul (FT)

• News Corp. will cut ~1,250 positions this year (CNBC)

• Time will launch a new commerce site (AX)

• Super Bowl LVII became third most-watched TV show ever with 113M viewers (WSJ)

• America's priciest neighborhoods are changing as the ultra-rich move to Florida (BBG)

• Pharrell Williams to run menswear design at Louis Vuitton (FT)

• Nikki Haley launched a 2024 presidential bid (AX)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Sandwich chain Subway is exploring a possible sale at a reported $10B+ valuation (BBG)

• PE firm Triton is exploring a sale or IPO of industrial machinery maker Renk, that could fetch up to $3.2B in a deal (BBG)

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in Apple by 5.8% after buying shares worth $3.2B (RT)

• Media company Paramount Global is again looking to sell book publisher Simon & Schuster at a potential $2B-$2.5B valuation, after its $2.2B deal to sell it to Penguin Random House collapsed (RT)

• The Krause Family is exploring options for US convenience store chain Kum & Go that could be valued at close to $2B in a deal (RT)

• Citadel Securities disclosed a 5.5% stake worth ~$25M in crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital (RT)

• Berkshire Hathaway acquired an 80% stake in US fuel retailer Pilot Company (RT)

• Italy’s second-biggest bank UniCredit is considering strategic options for its payment arm, including potential JVs to boost services and revenue (BBG)

• Music and entertainment investment firm Influence Media Partners agreed to buy the music rights of Grammy Award winning producer Tyler Johnson (BBG)

• Home and lifestyle brand Magnolia is exploring options including the sale of a minority stake after fielding interest (BBG)

• French billionaire Xavier Niel boosted his stake in Luxembourg-based telecoms firm Millicom International Cellular to 19.6% (RT)

• An undisclosed financial investor will buy a 7-9% stake worth up to $145.7M in Italian asset manager Anima (RT)

• Rapper Ice Cube’s Big 3 basketball league is in talks to sell some of its teams as it looks to open up ownership to outside investors (BBG)

VC

• Indian insurance platform InsuranceDekho raised a $150M Series A ($40M in debt / $110M in equity) at a ~$500M valuation led by GSAM and TVS Capital (TC)

• Merchant Money, a UK-based business finance lender, raised $140M in funding from Barclays and Quilam Capital (FN)

• Indian fintech startup PhonePe raised $100M as part of an ongoing round at a $12B valuation from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, and TVS Capital (TC)

• Singapore-based neobank Aspire raised a $100M Series C led by Lightspeed and Sequoia Capital SEA (TC)

• Taurus, a digital asset infrastructure provider for financial institutions in Europe, raised a $65M Series B led by Credit Suisse (PRN)

• Checkerspot, a startup designing materials and ingredients at a molecular level to enable more sustainable, high-performing products, raised a $55M Series C led by ArrowMark Partners (BW)

• AI-powered medication treatment platform MDI Health raised a $20M Series A led by Intel Capital (BW)

• Smart contract platform Monad Labs raised a $19M seed round led by Dragonfly Capital (TC)

• Insurtech startup OpenEyes raised an $18M Series A led by Insight Partners and Pitango First (PRN)

• NewsWhip, a predictive media monitoring platform, raised $13M in funding from Ashgrove Capital (PRN)

• Investment reporting platform Landytech raised a $12M Series B led by Aquiline Technology Growth (FN)

• Canadian agtech startup Croptimistic raised a $9.1M Series B led by Forage Capital Partners (FN)

• Procyon, a privilege access management platform built for multi-cloud environments, raised $6.5M in funding led by Lobby Capital (PRN)

• Betty, a New York-based iCasino and casual mobile gaming company, raised a $5M seed round led by Karlani Capital (FN)

• Ottometric, a startup focused on validation for advanced driver-assistance systems (“ADAS”), raised a $4.9M seed round led by Rally Ventures (FN)

• Capsule, an AI-powered video editor, raised a $4.75M seed round from Human Ventures, Swift Ventures, and more (TC)

• Latino neobank Comun raised a $4.5M seed round led by Costanoa Ventures (BW)

• Blockchain interoperability startup Orb Labs raised a $4.5M seed round led by Bain Capital Crypto (BW)

• ModernFi, a tech-enabled marketplace that allows banks to exchange deposits on demand, raised a $4.5M seed round led by a16z (FN)

• UK-based fintech startup kennek raised a $4.5M pre-seed round led by Dutch Founders Fund, ffVC, and Plug and Play Ventures (FN)

• Sandbox Banking, a low-code integration platform for banking, raised a $4.3M seed round led by Horizon Ventures (PRN)

• Stakeholder Labs, a platform for measuring and increasing retail investor engagement, raised a $4.2M seed round led by Seven Seven Six (FN)

• Sustainable materials innovation startup Kelpi raised a $3.65M seed round led by Science Creates Ventures and Green Angel Syndicate (FN)

• Suite Studios, a cloud-based platform allowing creative teams to manage post-production workflow, raised a $3.5M seed round led by Bonfire Ventures (PRN)

• Kenyan fintech platform Power raised a $3M seed round led by DOB Equity (TC)

• Curacel, a Nigerian insurance infrastructure company, raised a $3M seed round led by Tencent, AAF Management, and more (FN)

• All-in-one accounting platform Fondo raised a $3M pre-seed round: $1.8M in non-dilutive financing from Capchase and $1.2M in equity from Y Combinator, Liquid2 Ventures, and more (FN)

• FYR Medical, a startup working on reducing eye strain from AR / VR headsets, raised a $2.6M Series A led by NuVasive (FN)

• Statera, a physician compensation and attrition solution startup, raised a $2.5M round led by DWP Capital (PRN)

• Moroccan B2B food distribution platform Terraa raised a $1.5M pre-seed round led by FoodLabs (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Social media platform Reddit is aiming to IPO in H2 2023 (TI)

• Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of betting company Fanduel, is considering a US IPO after a record Super Bowl for betting (CNBC)

SPAC

• Insurance tech firm Roadzen agreed to merge with Vahanna Tech Edge Acquisition I Corp in a $965M deal (RT)

• Drilling Tools International, which builds and rents out drilling equipment for oil and gas companies, agreed to merge with ROC Energy Acquisition Corp in a $319M deal (RT)

Debt

• Apollo Global Management and other firms acquired $538M of discounted loans that backed the acquisition of British grocery chain Wm Morrison Supermarkets; the debt was offloaded at 85¢ on the euro (BBG)

• Vice Media secured over $30M in debt financing from Fortress Investment Group amid ongoing financial crunch (WSJ)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• IT firm Avaya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will reduce its total debt by over 75% to $800M (RT)

Fundraising

• Bain Capital raised $2.4B for its second Tech Opportunities fund (TC)

• Quant fund D.E. Shaw raised $1.1B for two new funds: over $450M for its first dedicated PE fund and over $650M for a private credit-focused fund (PRN)

• New biotech VC vehicle Curie.bio launched with $520M to invest in seed-stage biotech startups (FBT)

• Alternative credit investment firm Hyland Hill Investment Partners raised a $250M fund to invest in undervalued opportunities in private credit and adjacent asset classes (BW)

Crypto Corner

• SEC is signaling that it views crypto products as securities (AX)

• FTX investor sued Sequoia Capital, Thoma Bravo and Paradigm in a class action complaint (BBG)

• Polaris Ventures, a charity formed by ex-FTX and Alameda chief of staff Ruairi Donnelly, reportedly made $150M from insider deal on FTT tokens (CT)

• George Soros' fund added exposure to some crypto companies in Q4 2022 with new / increased positions in Marathon Digital, MicroStrategy and Silvergate Bank (CD)

• Ethereum blockchain NFT sales jumped 42% MoM to $780.2M in January (RT)

• A US judge tightened SBF's bail conditions, barring him from using VPNs (RT)

• UK's financial regulator raided crypto ATM operators in a first (CD)

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• CNBC published a piece covering what happened to former FTX college ambassadors after the company collapsed.

• EIX released a study showing that startups with onsite employees grow 3.5x faster.

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