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Good Morning,

Inflation cooled in July, Deutsche Bank is searching for deal flow in Africa, Trump pled the fifth, and stocks rallied hard to put us back to bull market territory.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• Stocks surged on Wednesday after July’s headline CPI reading came in at 8.5% YoY, lower than the expected 8.7% and lower than 9.1% YoY in June

  • Also noteworthy is CPI month-over-month was unchanged (0%), as lower gas prices offset price increases in other goods; core CPI was up 0.3% MoM

  • The Nasdaq ended its longest bull market since the 2008 financial crisis by officially rising 20% from a recent low on June 16

  • Energy stocks underperformed the market after the CPI print showed that gas, oil, and utilities all took a price hit in July

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release July's PPI report today at 8:30am EST

Earnings

• Walt Disney reported a 26% increase in revenue while adding 14.4M subscribers to its streaming service, Disney+, causing its stock to rise nearly 7% after hours (WSJ)

• Wendy’s was harmed by consumers opting out of recently higher priced items and eating at home, although the fast-food chain did exceed earnings expectations; its stock fell 1.8% (YHOO)

• What we're watching today: Cardinal Health 

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• CPI inflation was 0% in July MoM, driven by falling gas prices (AX)

• IRS will hire more employees but will 'absolutely not increase scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans' (CNBC)

• The FCC rejected Musk’s bid for $886M in broadband subsidies for Starlink (BBG)

• Elon Musk is accusing Twitter of hiding key witnesses in their legal battle (BBG)

• Deutsche Bank is expanding its investment banking team to focus on Africa (BBG)

• Social Security recipients are on track to receive the highest cost-of-living increase in more than four decades next year (WSJ)

• Trump pleaded the Fifth during his deposition in a civil-fraud investigation into his financial dealings (WSJ)

• Two former JPMorgan traders were convicted of manipulating gold prices for years (WSJ)

• United Airlines paid a $10M deposit for 100 electric flying taxis from Archer Aviation (WSJ)

• Truck-driver pay rose 11% last year due to strong freight demand (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Tobacco giant Philip Morris International extended its $16B takeover bid for smaller peer Swedish Match to October 21, citing government review delays (BBG)

• PE firm Kohlberg & Co. will acquire 50% of utility service provider United States Infrastructure Corp. at a $4.1B valuation incl. debt (BBG)

• Saudi Egyptian Investment Co., a unit of Saudi's Public Investment Fund, acquired minority stakes in Egyptian companies Abou Kir Fertilizers & Chemical Industries, Misr Fertilizer Production, Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling, and E-Finance for $1.3B (BBG)

• India-based power producer JSW Energy will buy smaller peer Mytrah Energy's renewables portfolio for $1.3B (BBG)

• French infrastructure investment firm Meridiam is exploring a potential ~20% stake sale (BBG)

• Rubik’s Cube maker Spin Master agreed to acquire mobile game studio Nordlight Games for undisclosed terms (BBG)

• Blackstone will buy a majority stake in commercial sourcing agency CoreTrust (BBG)

• Sanctioned Russian steelmaker Evraz placed its North American business for sale (BBG)

VC

• ​​Jet Commerce, an Indonesian e-commerce digital marketing company, raised a $60M Series B jointly led by Jinqiu Capital, Hidden Hill Capital, and Zhejiang SilkRoad Fund (PRN)

• TeamApt, a Nigerian fintech providing business payments and banking platforms, raised a $50M+ pre-Series C co-led by QED and Novastar Ventures (TC)

• SecondCircle, an innovative CO2 emissions solutions platform, received a ~44M EU grant and raised a ~$1.25M pre-seed round led by Atlantic Labs (TC)

• Nightfall AI, a cloud data loss prevention platform, raised a $40M Series B from WestBridge Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Drew Brees and others (TC)

• Injective, a blockchain built for finance, raised a $40M funding round led by Jump Crypto (PRN)

• Oliver Space, a furniture company that furnishes and sells returned items, raised a $36M funding round led by Union Grove Venture Partners (PRN)

• Prellis Biologics, a biotherapeutics company with technology to replicate the human immune system response, raised a $35M Series C led by Celesta Capital (FSMS)

• Finix, a payments technology company for software platforms, raised a $30M funding round from new and existing investors (PRN)

• FullStory, an analytics platform for apps and websites, secured $25M in new equity financing from Permira (TC)

• Biofourmis, a provider of technology for virtual healthcare, raised a $20M extension to its Series D from Intel Capital, bringing the total to $320M (PRN)

• Expedock, an AI-powered automation service for global supply chains, raised a $13.5M Series A led by Insight Partners (PRN)

• Unstoppable Finance, a German fintech building a DeFi wallet, raised a $12.8M Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (CD)

• Nanopath, an innovative medical diagnosis platform, raised a $10M Series A co-led by Norwest Venture Partners and the Medtech Convergence Fund (TC)

• DataProphet, an AIaaS platform for manufacturers, raised a $10M Series A led by Knife Capital (TC)

• Stark, a platform helping designers make software and websites more accessible for people with disabilities, raised a $6M seed round led by Uncork Capital (TC)

• Junto, an EdTech startup that offers digital live training for companies, raised a ~$5.2M seed round led by Earlybird (EUS)

• Cupixel, a mobile app for creating art, raised a $5M seed round led by JOANN (PRN)

• Mesh Security, an Israeli cloud cybersecurity startup, raised a $4.5M seed round led by Booster Ventures (CTCH)

• ZumVet, a Singapore-based pet care startup, raised a $3.7M Series A led by Quest Ventures and Pine Venture Partners (TIA)

• Convertedin, an Egypt-based marketing operating system for e-commerce brands, raised a $3M seed round led by Merak Capital (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• SoftBank will sell nearly a third of its 23.7% stake in Chinese conglomerate Alibaba to gain over $34B (BBG)

• Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize postponed IPO plans for their e-commerce unit Bol.com, citing volatile equity markets (BBG)

SPAC

• Oral biotech company Captura Biopharma will merge with OceanTech Acquisitions I Corp. in a ~$224.3M deal (MW)

Debt

• Bank of America will start fresh talks with investors to sell parts of a $15B debt financing for the buyout of cloud computing company Citrix Systems (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Blockchain payments company Ripple Labs is interested in purchasing assets of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network (RT)

Crypto Corner

• Crypto criminals laundered $540M by using a 'cross-chain bridge' called RenBridge (CNBC)

• The SEC may soon require large hedge funds to report cryptocurrency exposure (WSJ)

• Paris Hilton will sell NFTs and hold virtual parties in The Sandbox metaverse platform (CNBC)

• World Table Tennis is pursuing Web3 initiatives in partnership with NFT startup NFT Tech (CD)

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