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Good Morning,

US subpoenaed Nvidia, Norway may divest from Israel war stocks, bond traders are pricing in a historically steep Fed easing, and capital markets got ACTIVE despite another stock market clappening to kick off September.

Level up your PE skills in the self-paced Wharton Online and Wall Street Prep Private Equity Certificate Program. Enrollment ends soon!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks tumbled yesterday after this week's initial economic data revealed signs of weakness

  • VanEck Semiconductor ETF dropped 7.5% in its worst day since Covid

  • VIX index surged over 33% 

• Bond traders are pricing in the steepest non-recession Fed easing

• US gas futures fell 6% to their lowest since December 2021

• Yen rallied over 1%

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Dollar Tree, Dick's 

  • Thursday: Broadcom, Docusign

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US manufacturing activity slowed for a fifth-straight month (BBG)

• US small business startup applications are surging (RT)

• US corporate bond sales hit the highest one-day ever (BBG)

• SPAC fundraising hit the highest since 2022 (BBG)

• Active ETFs are set to hit $1T in assets (FT)

• Munis market faces September slump as supply outpaces demand (BBG)

• Norway's $1.7T SWF may divest from Israel (RT)

• Japan's $1.75T pension fund may increase Japan stock allocation (BBG)

• America overtook China in chip sales (BBG)

• UK regulator to slash maximum fraud losses banks are forced to cover (FT)

• EY draws up female-dominated shortlist for top UK job (FT)

• Morgan Stanley renews efforts to regain stock trading crown (FT)

• Nvidia suffered its worst one-day market cap loss ever (CNBC)

• US subpoenaed Nvidia in an antitrust investigation (BBG)

• Super Micro denied short-seller Hindenburg's claims (RT)

• Elliott now holds a key 10% stake in Southwest Airlines (RT)

• Insurers may face $151B in annual losses from natural disasters (FT)

• Citigroup named Achintya Mangla as head of IB financing (RT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Bain Capital made a $4.1B buyout for Japanese software developer Fuji Soft, a 5% premium to KKR's bid (RT) 

• CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Singapore's ION Orchard mall at a $1.4B valuation (RT) 

• Josh Harris' 26North Partners agreed to acquire specialty systems provider ArchKey Solutions at over $1B valuation, including debt (BBG) 

• Sixth Street repurchased a $1B stake in their firm from TPG at a $10B valuation (BBG)

• Dairy products maker Tropical Cheese is exploring a $500M sale (RT) 

• PE firm Clearlake agreed to acquire European-focused credit investment shop MV Credit from Natixis for several hundred million dollars (FT) 

• Salesforce agreed to acquire GenAI voice agents developer Tenyx (RT)

VC

• 'Hospital at home' startup Doccla raised a $46M Series B led by Lakestar (TC)

• Dubai-based fintech Ziina raised a $22M Series A led by Altos Ventures (TC)

• Treble, an audio simulation and data generation firm, raised an $12.1M Series A led by KOMPAS VC (EU)

• Monda, an all-in-one data monetization platform, raised a $5M seed round led by Senovo and Acrobator Ventures (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Academic publisher Springer Nature plans to launch a European IPO at a $10B valuation, including debt (RT) 

• Carlyle selected Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and UBS for a Zurich IPO of  luxury watch parts maker Acrotec that could fetch a $.47B valuation (BBG)

• EQT, ADIA, and Auba Investment plan to sell a $1.2B stake in Swiss skincare giant Galderma (BBG) 

• Nonprofit UL Standards & Engagement plans to sell a $1.1B stake in UL Solutions in a FPO (BBG) 

• Delivery Hero hired Emirates NBD, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan for a $1B IPO of its Talabat unit in Dubai (BBG) 

• Vaccine maker Vaxcyte is seeking to raise $1B in an FPO (BBG) 

• Latvia's AirBaltic plans to raise up to $332M in an IPO this year (BBG)

• Biotech BioAge Labs hired Goldman and Morgan Stanley to lead a US IPO (BBG) 

SPAC

• Pain therapy developer Semnur Pharmaceuticals will merge with Denali Capital Acquisition Corp. in a $2.5B deal (RT) 

• Aspire Biopharma will merge with PowerUp Acquisition Corp. in a $316M deal (LW)

Debt

• Aerospace parts maker TransDigm is selling $3B of new debt to fund a $3.5B-$4.5B cash dividend to shareholders (BBG) 

• Subway is seeking to raise $2.3B in a second ABS sale this year (BBG) 

• Banks launched a $2.05B leveraged loan sale to finance KKR's LBO of edtech Instructure (BBG) 

• Saudi Arabia's PIF raised $1.5B in a fourth bond sale this year (BBG) 

• Mexico plans to sell $1.5B in debt to pay off a bridge loan from global banks to fund its $6B purchase of power plants from Spain's Iberdrola (BBG)

• Banks led by Goldman Sachs launched an $850M leveraged loan to help fund F1-owner Liberty Media's acquisition of MotoGP (BBG) 

• Canadian indigenous consortium Aspen Investments plans to sell $738M of debt to fund a stake purchase in TC Pipeline (BBG) 

• Dutch healthcare tech firm Qiagen raised $500M in a convertible bond sale (BBG) 

• LEG Immobilien raised $550M in a convertible bond sale (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Residential solar panel company Lumio filed for bankruptcy with plans to sell itself to primary lender White Oak Global Advisors (WSJ) 

• NYC's biggest taxi Insurer American Transit Insurance Co. is insolvent (BBG)

Fundraising

• Mizuho's Asset Management One is seeking to raise $3.4B for its first large-cap Japanese fund (RT) 

• Fintech and insurance VC PruVen Capital closed its second fund at $379M (TC) 

Crypto Corner

• Bitcoin ATM fraud is soaring (CNBC)

• WazirX's hacker began laundering the $234M stolen (BBG) 

Exec’s Picks

• Invest in real assets supporting demand for sustainable electricity with the Chicago Atlantic Digital Mining Fund.

• Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham got the tech world raging (and the memes flowing) with an alternative view on how to run successful startups. Dubbed "Founder Mode," his latest essay challenges conventional business school wisdom by articulating what founders have forever failed to put into words.

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