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Good Morning,

PE payouts are plummeting, hedge funds are ditching US stocks, investors are ploughing into US farmland, China is scrutinizing quant funds, Japanese stocks hit an all-time high, Apple released a free new sports app, and Nvidia delivered on its earnings hype.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed mixed yesterday as investors awaited Nvidia's blockbuster earnings and reacted to Fed minutes suggesting caution about lowering rates too quickly

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed past its all-time closing high, 34 years after bubble burst

• Chinese stocks closed at their highest level in seven weeks

Earnings

• Nvidia shares rose ~9% after beating Q4 earnings and revenue estimates and forecasting better-than-expected Q1 sales, even against elevated expectations for growth (CNBC) 

• Rivian shares plunged 15% after forecasting full-year EV production that widely missed estimates and announcing plans to cut 10% of its workforce (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Block, Moderna, Carvana, Intuit

  • Friday: Warner Bros. Discovery 

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• AI mania resumes, with Nvidia outlook saving broader market (BBG)

• Fed minutes show unease over premature cuts (WSJ)

• Fed officials to debate balance sheet reduction efforts at March FOMC (RT)

• Hedge funds ditch US stocks as Wall Street slides (RT)

• Global debt hit a record $313T high (RT)

• Japan downgrades view of economy on sluggish consumer spending (RT)

• US urged banks to manage risks from fintech partnerships (RT)

• Investors plough record amounts into US farmland  (FT)

• China bans institutional investors from selling stocks at opening and closing bells (FT)

• PE payouts at major firms plummet 49% in two years (BBG)

• Chinese banks to lend $17B as part of real estate liquidity effort (RT)

• Disney leans on AI in latest class of startup investments (BBG)

• Apple releases free new sports app for iPhone (CNBC)

• Roblox game developers earned a record $741M last year (BBG)

• Taiwan chip firms flock to Japan as decoupling accelerates (RT)

• Walmart eases supplier delivery demands as stocking pressures recede (WSJ)

• Boeing to replace head of its 737 Max program (CNBC)

• Two top Goldman bankers threaten to quit after exclusion from operating committee (FT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• US energy firm Chord Energy will acquire Canada's Enerplus in a cash-and-stock deal that will create an $11B combined entity (RT) 

• Tech-focused PE firm Thoma Bravo is exploring a potential ~$8B sale of J.D. Power (BBG) 

• ESR Group’s top shareholders are considering options for the $5B Asian warehouse developer, including a take-private deal (BBG) 

• Manufacturer Cie. de Saint-Gobain offered to acquire Australia’s CSR for $2.8B as the building industry consolidates (BBG) 

• Germany’s professional football league Deutsche Fußball Liga canceled a potential $1.1B media rights deal with PE firms including CVC (BBG) 

• French software company Axway began potential discussions to acquire most of Sopra Banking Software activities from Sopra Steria in a $357M deal (RT) 

• MCR Hotels will acquire The BT Tower, one of London’s most distinctive buildings, for $347M from BT Group (BBG) 

• Online shopping service operator Commerce Media acquired BuzzFeed’s media unit Complex Networks for $108.6M (BBG)

• Italy is considering selling up to a 10% stake in lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena to cut debt (BBG) 

VC

• Moonshot AI, a Chinese startup building large language models, raised a $1B Series B at a $2.5B valuation led by Alibaba and HongShan (TC)

• Industrial automation startup Hadrian raised a $117M Series B from a variety of investors (TC)

• MMI, a robotics company focused on increasing treatment options and improving clinical outcomes for patients with complex conditions, raised a $110M Series C led by Fidelity (BW)

• Simetrik, a B2B financial solutions startup, raised a $55M Series B led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management (TC)

• Napier AI, a London-based financial crime compliance RegTech startup, received a $56.5M investment from Crestline Investors (BW)

• Kairos Aerospace, a startup building methane-detection tech for the energy industry, raised a $52M Series D led by BlackRock (FN)

• Qloo, a startup using AI to predict favorite movies, TV shows and more, raised a $25M Series C led by AI Ventures (TC)

• HealthSnap, a remote patient monitoring and chronic care management platform, raised a $25M Series B led by Sands Capital (PRN)

• BRIA, a responsible visual generative AI platform, raised a $24M Series A led by GFT Ventures, Intel Capital, and Entree Capital (PRN)

• DustPhotonics, a developer of silicon photonics technology used in data centers and AI applications, raised a $24M Series B from Sienna Venture Capital, Greenfield Partners, Atreides Management, and Exor Ventures (PRN)

• Microservices orchestration platform Orkes raised a $20M Series A led by Nexus Venture Partners (TC)

• Blackbird Health, a neuroscience-led technology-backed youth mental health provider, raised a $17M Series A led by Define Ventures (PRN)

• Empowerly, a startup providing college counseling and career guidance services, raised $15M in funding from Conductive Ventures (TC)

• AltLayer, a decentralized protocol empowering developers to create rollups from various software stacks, raised a $14.4M round led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC (PRN)

• Faddom, an Israeli startup helping companies map IT infrastructure, raised a $12M Series A from Viola Ventures, NFX, and others (TC)

• Loora, a startup using conversational AI to teach English, raised a $12M Series A led by QP Ventures (TC)

• Insamo, a biotech developing membrane permeable and orally available cyclic peptides, raised a $12M seed round from Playground Global, venBio, and MRL Ventures Fund (BW)

• Ventiva, a startup building active cooling solutions for electronic devices, raised a $10M Series C (BW)

• BridgeCare, a startup providing a data and tech infrastructure platform for early care and education, raised $10M in funding from Avenue Growth Partners (FN)

• End-to-end developer for carbon credits Varaha raised an $8.7M Series A led by RTP Global (TC)

• Tagomics, a developer of a platform for disease insight and diagnosis, raised an $8.2M round led by Calculus Capital (FN)

• Novity, a provider of predictive maintenance AI for process industry clients, raised $7.8M in financing led by WERU Investment (PRN)

• Acoustic water detection startup Conservation Labs raised a $7.5M Series A led by RET Ventures (TC)

• Direct air capture startup Clairity raised a $6.8M seed round led by Initialized Capital and Lowercarbon Capital (TC)

• Ziplines Education, an education startup that delivers industry-focused certificate courses in partnership with universities, raised a $6.4M Series A led by Jackson Square Ventures (PRN)

• Northwood Space, a satellite data startup founded by ex-Disney star Bridgit Mendler, raised $6M from Founders Fund, a16z, and Also Capital (CNBC)

• Elektra Health, a digital health platform for women navigating the menopause journey, raised a $3.3M round led by UPMC Enterprises (PRN)

• NodeShift, a startup providing a single API for access to excess compute, storage and graphics accelerators, raised a $3.2M seed round led by Inovo.vc (TC)

• Citrea, Bitcoin’s first zk-rollup, raised a $2.7M seed round led by Galaxy (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• First Quantum Minerals agreed to sell $1B in stock and raise $1.6B via a notes offering (BBG)

• Reddit plans to reserve an undetermined number of shares for its 75k most loyal users when it IPOs next month (WSJ) 

• Novelis, an American aluminum products maker owned by Hindalco Industries, selected Bank of America and Citigroup for its US IPO (BBG) 

• Oman Investment Authority appointed Lazard to advise on a potential IPO of its state power utility Oman Electricity Transmission (BBG) 

SPAC

• Cunova, a manufacturer of copper alloy products, will merge with SDCL EDGE Acquisition Corp. in a ~$736M deal (BW) 

Debt

• Cisco Systems is raising $13.5B through a seven-part bond issuance to partly finance its proposed $28B acquisition of Splunk (BBG) 

• Pharmaceutical giant AbbVie is seeking to sell at least $13B of bonds to help fund its acquisitions of ImmunoGen and Cerevel Therapeutics (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Hornblower, a cruise operator backed by Crestview Partners, filed for bankruptcy; existing creditor Strategic Value Partners agreed to acquire majority ownership in a debt-for-equity swap (WSJ)

• Fertilizer maker Unigel Participacoes reached an agreement with creditors led by PIMCO to begin an out-of-court restructuring (BBG) 

Fundraising

• CVC Capital Partners raised $6.8B for its sixth Asian fund to make consumer and service sector investments (WSJ) 

• Lower MM alternative investment manager Keystone Capital closed its Fund III at $630M (FN) 

• Goldman Sachs Asset Management launched its first European private credit fund for wealthy individuals and has raised ~$600M so far; the fund will provide senior debt to mid-sized and large European businesses (BBG) 

• Ex-Elliott PM Mark Wills will launch his new hedge fund Cisu Capital Partners in Q2 with $200M-$300M in capital (BBG) 

Crypto Corner

• Winklevoss twins donated ~$5M to a crypto super PAC (CNBC)

• Fort Worth-based crypto company Lejilex and lobbying group Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas sued the SEC for 'overreach' on digital assets (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• In light of ex-Disney star Bridgit Mendler raising $6M from Founders Fund and a16z, CNBC explained how a college application error led her to tech ventures.

• Check out WSJ’s investigation into the curious case of why the lifespans of large appliances are shrinking.

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