Together with

Good Morning,

Thoma Bravo raised $32B for new funds, Bank of Canada raised rates by 50 bps, Wall Street CEOs have seen a slowdown in consumer spending, China increased its gold reserves, Vanguard left the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, Blackstone's credit fund reached its withdrawal limit, and Coinbase's CEO predicts a sharp revenue drop.

Tied of using a million workflow tools? Simplify your work with today's sponsor, ClickUp.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• US stocks continued the week's declining streak on Wednesday as investors weighed pessimistic bank CEO comments and the possibility of a recession

  • S&P 500 fell for a fifth consecutive day, while the Nasdaq finished down for a fourth straight session

• The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.62% in its largest one-day decline in over a week

• Oil fell to a 2022 low, forfeiting all gains since Russia's invasion of Ukraine

• The dollar index traded 0.2% lower on concerns of a US recession

Earnings

• Mobileye beat EPS and revenue estimates in first quarterly report since IPO on strong demand for self-driving technology from carmakers (RT)

• GameStop shares rose ~4% AH, despite reporting declining Q3 sales and cash reserves, as the company works to become profitable and focus on digital initiatives (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Broadcom, Costco, lululemon

  • Friday: Oracle

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Bank of Canada raised rates by 50 bps to 4.5%, says hikes may be over (RT)

• Eurozone Q3 GDP growth was revised upwards to 0.3% (RT)

• Wall Street CEOs are observing a slowdown in consumer spending (CNBC)

• Putin warned that Russia may be fighting in Ukraine for a long time (RT)

• European tech industry value declined by $400B YTD, with VC funding declining 18% (CNBC)

• China disclosed an increase in gold reserves for first time since 2019 (RT)

• SEC will vote on on proposals that could overhaul Wall Street trading next week (RT)

• Vanguard quit the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (FT)

• BlackRock believes investors should increase allocations in inflation-linked bonds (RT)

• Blackstone's $50B credit fund reached its withdrawal limit (RT)

• BlackRock is freezing hiring and reducing expenses (RT)

• Fintech Plaid laid off 20% of its staff (TC)

• Lazard's CEO warned of more Wall Street layoffs (RT)

• Bezos' Blue Origin is partnering with Boeing and Lockheed Martin to pitch a lunar lander to NASA (RT)

A Message From ClickUp

Are you using 93 apps just to do your job?

Take a breath and click that ‘permanently delete’ button. ClickUp helps customize your workflow and makes a number of your current tools obsolete. All through 1 app…finally.

Instead of hopping around your desktop like bugs bunny off 3 macchiatos, use your precious time to focus on your goals, tasks, and projects which keep the needle moving.

Don’t believe me? The proof is in the productive pudding. Hawke Media has been up and to the right due to the benefits:

• Decrease in project delay by 70%

• Unified projects across 200 employees

• Executive visibility to cut down on cross-team meetings

Truth is, time is money. Are you wasting both?

See how Hawke Media changed their business with ClickUp

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali is planning to sell a ~$21B Italian life insurance portfolio as part of a plan to improve profitability (BBG)

• Swiss investment group Partners plans to increase its stake from ~23% to 50%+ in Swiss watch maker Breitling at a $4.5B valuation (BBG)

• China National Pharmaceutical Group is considering a new bid for China Traditional Chinese Medicine at a potential ~$4B valuation (BBG)

• Australia's Squadron Energy acquired Australia's CWP Renewables for $2.7B+ (RT)

• Russian restaurant and entertainment company Almira agreed to buy Madrid-based restaurant operator AmRest’s KFC restaurant business in Russia for $104.5M+ (RT)

• Mining company Vale will separate its base metal assets from its iron ore assets and unveil a strategic partner in the first half of 2023 (BBG)

• The London Metal Exchange has attracted takeover interest from rivals as it wrestles with its future in the wake of March’s nickel crisis (BBG)

• Italian chocolate and confectionery producer Ferrero agreed to buy US-based Wells Enterprises, which makes ice cream brands including Blue Bunny and Halo Top (RT)

• Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm DWS Group is considering a sale of its private equity secondaries business (BBG)

• Newspaper publisher Washington Post is considering selling its software business Arc XP, which is expected to generate $200M+ in ARR by 2027 (WSJ)

VC

• Swedish autonomous and electric truck startup Einride raised a $500M Series C which consisted of $200M in equity led by Northzone, EQT Ventures, Temasek, and others, plus $300M in debt led by Barclays Europe (TC)

• Chicago-based credit fintech startup Avant raised $250M in preferred equity & debt from Ares (BW)

• Security compliance and automation platform Drata raised a $200M Series C at a $2B valuation led by Iconiq Growth and GGV Capital (TC)

• Apogee Therapeutics, a biotech company developing therapies for immunological and inflammatory disorders, raised a $169M Series B led by Deep Track Capital and RTW Investments (PRN)

• Sound Agriculture, an agtech startup sustainably improving farm production, raised a $75M Series D led by BMO and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (PRN)

• Sonatus, a startup building software for cars, raised a $75M round led by Foxconn (PRN)

• Restaurant management and bill payment platform MarginEdge raised a $45M Series C led by Ten Coves Capital (TC)

• Setpoint, a fintech startup aiming to be the Stripe for lending, raised a $43M Series A led by a16z (TC)

• Slingshot Aerospace, a startup building a real-time digital space twin for asset safety and security, raised a $40.85M Series A-2 led by Sway Ventures (TC)

• Recruiting startup Hunt Club raised a $40M Series B led by WestCap and Sator Grove (PRN)

• DevSecOps platform Second Front Systems raised a $32M Series A led by Moore Strategic Ventures and AEI HorizonX (PRN)

• Rejoni, a medtech startup designing and developing hydrogels, raised a $25M Series B led by Catalyst Health Ventures (PRN)

• Clinical trial intelligence startup Lokavant raised a $21M round led by Edison Partners (PRN)

• E-commerce shipping startup Maergo raised a $20M seed round from Deep Lake Capital, ACR Strategic Credit, RyderVentures, and funds managed by Neel Shah (TC)

• Cloud storage startup Wasabi Technologies raised a $15M Series D extension led by Azura, SiS Cloud Global Tech Fund 8, and existing investors (BW)

• Vaultree, a startup building software to enable companies to work with encrypted data, raised a $12.8M Series A led by Molten Ventures and Ten Eleven Ventures (TC)

• Harbor Lab, a startup aiming to make shipping easier and cheaper, raised a $6.4M seed round led by VentureFriends and Speedinvest (TC)

• Mezo, a platform for property maintenance, raised a $6M seed round led by Chicago Ventures and Building Ventures (BW)

• Pickme, a startup building a network of pick-up and drop-off points for e-commerce retailers / logistics companies, raised a $3.7M round led by OneRagtime (TC)

• Alfalfa, a fast casual balanced food joint, raised a $2M seed round led by Blue Falcon Capital (PRN)

• African credit-led neobank Fin raised $2M in financing led by existing investor Leonard Stiegeler (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Hedge fund Third Point sold its remaining stake in healthcare provider Cano Health via block trade amid mounting concerns around Cano’s liquidity (BBG)

SPAC

• Logistics and transport company MNG Airlines agreed to merge with Golden Falcon Acquisition Corp in a $676M deal (BBG)

Debt

• Indian online-education provider Byju’s is seeking to restructure its $1.2B loan as it struggles with steep losses and cost reduction targets (BBG)

• Apollo and Franklin Templeton are among investors that bought $750M of debt backing the buyout of cloud computing company Citrix Systems (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Online used-car retailer Carvana is consulting with lawyers and bankers about options for managing its debt load; the company currently has $5.7B in outstanding debt with bankruptcy concerns growing (CNBC)

Fundraising

• PE firm Thoma Bravo raised $32.4B for three new tech-focused funds: $24.3B for Thoma Bravo Fund XV, $6.2B for Thoma Bravo Discover Fund IV, and $1.8B for Thoma Bravo Explore Fund II; their Fund XV is the largest tech-focused buyout fund ever raised (PRN)

• Indian VC firm Blume raised $250M+ for its fourth fund aimed at early-stage startups and portfolio companies (TC)

• Berlin-based Cavalry Ventures raised $105M for a targeted $168M third fund to invest in early-stage tech companies (SFT)

• European climate tech VC World Fund received a $52.5M investment from EU’s European Investment Fund to invest in climate-related ventures (EUS)

Crypto Corner

• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong believes FTX's $8B hole was result of theft (DC)

• FTX once pursued a $100M sponsorship deal with Taylor Swift (FT)

• Binance’s bitcoin reserves are fully collateralized: audit report (TC)

• Brian Armstrong expects Coinbase revenue to plunge over 50% on battered crypto prices (BBG)

• A US judge overseeing Celsius' bankruptcy is considering for the first time who owns crypto tokens in frozen accounts at a bankrupt crypto exchange (RT)

• Telegram is selling fake telephone numbers for crypto (GZ)

• Energy intensive crypto should be banned: ECB official (CD)

• Canadian pension fund CPPI ended its pursuit of crypto investments (RT)

Exec's Picks

• Friday World Cup games are the perfect excuse to skip out of work early. But just because you’re ditching your Bloomberg Terminal to watch a little footy, doesn’t mean you have to stop trading. Sporttrade is the ONLY sports trading exchange that lets you trade the soccer games just like trading securities. For tomorrow’s game, Argentina is priced at $43.5 to win against the Netherlands in regulation, which means they have a 43.5% chance of winning, without overtime, according to the market on Sporttrade. But if you don’t like that price, buy them to Draw at $30.5 and watch that value increase if the game goes scoreless at the onset of the game. Then sell out for a profit whenever you want! Because on Sporttrade, you can trade in and out of a soccer game just like you do with stocks. Download on iOS anywhere. If you are in NJ or travel to NJ you can start trading today.

• Kids don't want cash anymore, they want Robux, according to The Wall Street Journal

The Hiring Block 💼

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We aim to curate jobs across IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We'll sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're a company looking to hire candidates and want to list a job opening on our board and feature on Exec Sum, click the button below:

Meme Cleanser

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures

Thinking of starting your own newsletter? Beehiiv is the best platform for creators, period. Click here to get started building your own audience.