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Congress passed the debt ceiling bill, the Fed is likely to pause rate hikes in June, Jamie Dimon hinted at a potential presidential run, corporate accounting manipulation is at a 40-year high, the CA bill to force Big Tech to pay for news is gaining momentum, and billionaire SPAC kings are getting sued.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks jumped after the House passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling late Wednesday evening

  • Investors now turn their focus to Friday’s jobs report

  • The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq all closed green

• Japan's Nikkei closed at a 32-year high

• Oil prices rose 3%, the biggest jump in two weeks, ahead of an OPEC+ meeting on Sunday

Earnings

• Broadcom beat Q2 expectations and provided an upbeat forecast as the CEO says generative AI applications will boost demand for the company’s chips (BN)

• Macy’s missed Q1 expectations after the company saw sales significantly weaken in March and April, the retailer also anticipates more markdowns of seasonal products and plans to reduce merchandise orders (CNBC)

• Dollar General missed Q1 earnings after core customers slowed spending amid fears of a recession (CNBC)

• Lululemon beat Q1 expectations and raised its full year guidance, bolstered by improvements in China and freight costs, the stock was up 13% AH (CNBC)

• Dell beat Q1 expectations thanks to strong revenue and big cost reductions for components that were previously short in supply (BN)

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Congress passed a debt limit suspension bill (BBG)

• Fed will likely pause rate hikes in June but may raise later (WSJ)

• ~$700B of the $1.4T US junk loan market is still tied to Libor just 30 days before the rate expires (FT)

• ECB warned that BOJ policy shift risks causing eurozone bond turmoil (FT)

• Wall Street boosts Jamie Dimon presidential run (AX)

• Corporate accounting/earnings manipulation is at a 40-year high (WSJ)

• Investors see China’s surging local debt as Asia's biggest financial risk (BBG)

• Credit Suisse paid back government-backed liquidity (RT)

• JPMorgan will close 21 First Republic Bank branches (RT)

• California bill to force Big Tech to pay for news gains momentum (CNBC)

• Investors are dumping value funds to shovel money into AI bets (BBG)

• SpaceX's Starlink wins Pentagon contract for satellite services to Ukraine (RT)

• Billionaire SPAC kings are being sued in numbers amid market bust (YH)

• Goldman Sachs to cut more jobs, eyes sharp fall in markets revenue (RT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Apollo Global Management, KKR, and Bain Capital are among potential bidders for Fujitsu’s $2.7B controlling stake in semiconductor packaging maker Shinko Electric Industries (BBG)

• Utility firm Constellation Energy will acquire NRG’s stake in a Texas nuclear power plant in a $1.75B deal (RT)

• Swedish investment firm EQT is exploring a sale of its industrial technology company Ellab that could value the company at $1.1B (BBG)

• Chinese brokerage GF Securities’ Hong Kong business agreed to buy 20.2% of Value Partners from its founding shareholders for $140M (RT)

• Ireland and British lender NatWest Group will sell a 6% stake in Irish bank Permanent TSB worth $94M (RT)

• Investment bank SVB Securities is preparing for a Baupost Group-backed management buyout of the company from bankrupt parent SVB Financial Group (WSJ)

• Capital One Financial agreed to buy digital concierge service Velocity Black (BBG)

• JetBlue Airways will sell Spirit Airlines’ operations at La Guardia airport to rival airline Frontier Group, but the deal is contingent on the closing of their $3.8B acquisition of Spirit (BBG)

VC

• Clean energy company Nexamp raised a $400M round led by U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance and Mitsubishi UFJ Finance Group (FN)

• Travel experience marketplace GetYourGuide raised $194M at a $2B valuation: an $85M Series F led by Blue Pool Capital and a $109M revolving credit facility from UniCredit (TC)

• Red 6, an augmented reality technology firm focused on synthetic air combat training, raised a $70M Series B led by RedBird Capital Partners (PRN)

• Indian SaaS startup Capillary Technologies raised a $45M Series D led by Avataar Ventures (TC)

• Swing Education, an online marketplace that connects schools and substitute teachers, raised a $38M Series C led by Apax Partners (BW)

• Pixxel, a startup building a hyperspectral satellite constellation, raised a $36M Series B led by Google Ventures (BW)

• Debut, a synthetic biology company creating novel active ingredients, raised a $34M Series B led by BOLD (PRN)

• Ceibo, a copper extraction technology startup, raised a $30M Series B led by Energy Impact Partners (BW)

• Lynk Pharmaceuticals, a Hangzhou, China-based clinical stage company, raised a $28.2M Series C1 led by China Grand Prosperity Investment, Tailong Capital, and Liando Investment (FN)

• Synctera, a banking as a service startup, raised $15M in funding led by NAventures (FN)

• Cloud consulting and managed services firm PTP raised $12M in funding from 424 Capital (BW)

• Industrial cybersecurity platform Galvanick raised a $10M seed round led by MaC Venture Capital, Founders Fund, Village Global, and more (BW)

• Giftory, a startup building a platform for gift experiences, received a $10M investment from Otium Capital (BW)

• Realta Fusion, a startup developing compact magnetic fusion generators, raised a $9M seed round led by Khosla Ventures (FN)

• Customer support automation startup 8Flow.ai raised a $6.6M seed round led by Caffeinated Capital (TC)

• Beehive AI, an AI platform that analyzes customer unstructured data, raised a $5.1M seed round led by Valley Capital Partners (PRN)

• Demox Labs, a startup creating zero-knowledge technology, raised a $4.5M pre-seed round led by HackVC (PRN)

• Credit Genie, a digital personal finance platform, raised a $4M Series A led by Tippet Ventures and Khosla Ventures (FN)

• Vault, a startup offering banking services to Canadian SMBs, raised a $3.7M seed round co-led by Gradient Ventures and Fin Capital (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese affordable EV maker Hozon New Energy Automobile is considering a $1B IPO in Hong Kong (BBG)

• Saudi Arabia’s Milling Company 3 hired Moelis for a potential Q1 2024 IPO (RT)

• Shares of Abu Dhabi's ADNOC Logistics & Services rose 45% above their listing price in market debut (RT)

Debt

• Hong Kong hired banks for a targeted ~$2B eurobond green bond sale, its third such sale YTD (YH)

• South African retailer Steinhoff is seeking a Dutch court’s approval to restructure its debt and avoid bankruptcy (RT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Aircraft parts supplier Incora filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to $3.14B debt (RT)

• ATM maker Diebold Nixdorf filed for bankruptcy and says it has reached an agreement to cut its overall debt by $2.1B (RT)

• Cancer treatment company GenesisCare filed for bankruptcy protection and intends to sell its US operations (RT)

• South African retailer Steinhoff is seeking a Dutch court’s approval to restructure its debt and avoid bankruptcy (RT)

Fundraising

• RBC Global Asset Management, an affiliate of RBC, raised over $446M for a new direct private infrastructure funds (PEH)

• ff Venture Capital, a New York- and Warsaw-based VC firm, launched a new ~$65M fund (TC)

Crypto Corner

• Monthly crypto exchange volume hit a 32-month low in May (TC)

• Crypto exchange Gemini is seeking to acquire a crypto license to operate in the UAE (RT)

• Fed ordered Silvergate Bank to implement its plans to self-liquidate while protecting depositors and preserving funds (RT)

• Dogecoin investors accused Elon Musk of insider trading in an amended class action lawsuit (CT)

Exec’s Picks

• a16z’s essay on Who Owns the Generative AI Platform? is an excellent read.

• Packy McCormick wrote a cool profile on an early cancer detection startup and the role that early detection could play in lowering cancer deaths.

• The Economist published an interesting piece on the impact of “greying” economies, shrinking labor forces, and slowed innovation.

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