THXGIVING HANGOVER

Hope y'all had a Thanksgiving full of cringe conversations about banking, crypto, and more. We've got a short trading session today and some Black Friday deals for y'all.

Together with

Good morning,

Hope y'all got absolutely stuffed last night (...pause... not like that) and avoided cringe conversations about crypto, DAOs, stock picks, how you spend 100 hours a week rearranging logos on PPT, etc.Ā 

We've got a shortened trading session today in the US, with the NYSE and Nasdaq closing at 1pm ET and treasury markets closing at 2pm ET.Ā 

We've got a YUGE Black Friday sale today, and today only. We will be slashing our subscription from FREE to FREE. But in all seriousness, we've got a flash sale on our merch right hereĀ (15% off sitewide until midnight ET today).

On top of that, we're launching a student-athlete program for those of you D1-D3 studs and studettes looking to break into Wall Street. Info here.

Last but not least, special shoutout to La Aurora for being our cigar plug and today's sponsor. Scoop some of their product up to celebrate all your recent good fortunes.Ā Ā 

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 11/24/21 market close.

To see the LitCap Yolo Fund's portfolio holdings, download the Iris Social Stock appĀ hereĀ and give Litquidity a follow. If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out ourĀ Foot GunsĀ newsletter.

Markets

  • The S&P 500 jumped slightly and the Nasdaq edged up thanks to a cool down in rising bond yields, but the Dow closed in the red for the day

  • News from the latest Fed meeting shows that central bankers are ready to speed up the timetable for slowing asset purchases and raising rates if inflation remains high

  • On a bullish note, initial jobless claims fell 71K to a pandemic low of last week to 199K, below pre-pandemic levels and the lowest level since 1969 šŸ˜‰

  • Rising covid cases in Europe continue to worry investors, with Germany considering a full lockdownĀ 

Earnings

  • Full calendarĀ here

Headline Roundup

  • New coronavirus variant a ā€œserious concernā€ in South Africa (BBG)

  • Biden includes Taiwan among 110 invitees to Democracy summit (BBG)

  • US households likely increased spending in October (WSJ)

  • US jobless claims drop sharply (WSJ)

  • OPEC weighs shift in oil policy after crude release (WSJ)

  • US blacklists dozens of Chinese tech firms citing national security concerns (CNBC)

  • Germany considers a full Covid lockdown and mandatory vaccines (CNBC)

  • Only 54% of Europe is fully vaccinated, WHO official says (CNBC)

  • NFL and Rams reach $790M settlement in St. Louis relocation case (CNBC)

  • Starwood to buy 2,300 US rental houses in suburban push (BBG)

  • BofA (deez nuts) says a $100B wave of EV IPOs to hit market by 2023 (BBG)

  • The crypto trading hamster that outperformed the S&P 500 has died (BI)

  • Antitrust tech bills gain bipartisan momentum in Senate (WSJ)

  • Drugmakers gear up for price restrictions in Biden's legislative agenda (WSJ)

A Message From La Aurora

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After explaining to your drunk uncle why youā€™re invested in pixel monkeys six times, you deserve to chill out.

La Auroraā€™s premium cigars are the perfect way to do just that.

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Deal Flow

M&A

  • KKR and Blackstone are among suitors weighing bids for data centers Global Switch that could fetch $10.7B (BBG)

  • Carlyle and CVC Capital Partners are among potential bidders for UK oil and gas explorer Neptune that could fetch $5B (BBG)

  • Singapore-based Coda Payments is weighing options including a sale or an IPO at a potential $4B+ valuation (BBG)

  • Trading giant Vitol Group agreed to buy Africa-focused fuel retailer Vivo Energy in a ~$2.3B deal (BBG)

  • PAI Partners is among final bidders competing to buy German eye-care operator Veonet from Nordic Capital in a potential $2.3B deal (BBG)

  • Apex Group and CSC Global are considering making rival offers for Dutch tax and administration specialist Intertrust that could be worth $2.1B (BBG)

  • Online travel agency BookingĀ to buy Sweden-based peer Etraveli for ~$1.83B (RT)

  • JPMorgan is weighing a potential investment in Greek digital banking and payments firm Viva Wallet at a potential $1.7B+ valuation (BBG)

  • Africaā€™s largest clothing retailer PepkorĀ made a $152M bid for South African furniture brand owner Tapestry Home Brands (BBG)

  • Spanish clean energy firm FRV is considering selling a 300 megawatt pre-construction portfolio of wind and solar energy plants in Chile (BBG)

  • Technology-driven RE company Accurate Group agreed to buy eMerge, a supplier of broker price opinions and other alternative valuation solutions (YHOO)

  • Turkish delivery app Getir agreed to buy UK-based grocery delivery startup Weezy (TC)

VC

  • EV charging network provider Ionity received a $783M investment led by BlackRock (TC)

  • simPRO, an Australian provider of field service management software, raised $350M led by K1 Investment Management. It also acquired two companies: AroFlo, a provider of job management software, and ClockShark, a timesheet and scheduling platform (PRN)

  • Jusda, a logistics arm of Foxconn Technology, is considering raising $300-$400M from private investors in a ā€˜pre-IPOā€™ round (BBG)

  • Spinny, an Indian used car marketplace platform, raised a $280M Series E at a $1.75B valuation led by Tiger Global and Abu Dhabi Growth Fund (TC)

  • Japanese space startup Astroscale raised a $109M Series F led by Japanā€™s THE FUND (TC)

  • Podimo, a podcast and audiobook platform, raised a $78M Series B co-led by 83North and Highland Europe (DMN)

  • Plug In Digital, a French indie game publisher, raised $75M led by Bridgepoint (BP)

  • Rescale, a developer of compute infrastructure for scientific research simulations, raised a $55M Series C (bringing the round to $105M total) from a group of angel investors including Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Peter Thiel, and more (VB)

  • Electric boat startup Arc raised a $30M Series A led by Eclipse VenturesĀ (TC)

  • CoreStack, a provider of multi-cloud governance SaaS, raised a $30M Series B led by Avatar Growth Capital (PRN)

  • Whatslly, an Israeli no-code conversational sales solutions provider, raised $11M led by Zeev Ventures (VB)

  • D2C clothing company Vollebak raised a $10M Series A led by Venrex (TC)

  • Japanese e-commerce aggregator Forest raised an ~$8M seed round led by UTEC (TC)

  • CRM startup Attio raised a $7.7M seed round led by Point Nine Capital (FinSME)

  • Vauban, a London-based startup providing VC fund managers with tools to raise a fund and invest capital (like AngelList), raised $6.3M in funding co-led by Pentech and Outward (TC)

  • Sabi, a B2B retail platform, raised a $6M bridge round led by CRE VC (TC)

  • TabTrader, a startup building a mobile app with aggregated crypto exchange data, raised a $5.8M Series A from 100X Ventures, Hashkey Capital, and more (TC)

  • Plant-based meat startup Juicy Marbles raised a $4.5M seed round led by tree-planting search engineĀ Ecosiaā€™s ā‚¬350MĀ World Fund (TC)Ā 

  • Fintech API startup OnePipe raised a $3.5M seed round led by Atlantica Ventures, Tribe Capital, and V&R Associates (TC)

  • Perfeggt, a food-tech startup debuting a chicken-less, plant-based egg alternative, raised $2.8M in funding led by EVIG Group, Stray Dog Capital, and more (TC)

  • Life science startup Longevica raised a $2.5M round led by Xploration Capital (TC)

  • Pet video marketplace Camlist raised a $1.3M pre-seed round led by Y-Combinator (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Indiaā€™s Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. is planning to raise almost $1B in IPO (BBG)

  • Wuxi Diagnostics, a Shanghai-based integrated diagnostics service platform, is weighing a Hong Kong IPO that could raise ~$400M (BBG)

  • Private health-care services group Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital is planning a Hong Kong IPO that could raise ā€œa few hundred million dollarsā€ (BBG)

  • Nuvo Group, a pre-revenue Israeli pregnancy care management platform, filed for a $50M IPO with plans to list on the NYSE (MFN)

  • Appliance maker Midea is exploring a potential relisting of German robotics firm Kuka on an Asian stock exchange (BBG)

  • Oaktree Capital-backed luxury cruise venture Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is exploring a possible capital infusion amid construction delays and pandemic restrictions that have repeatedly postponed plans (WSJ)

SPAC

  • Bitcoin miner Griid Infrastructure is in talks to merge with Adit EdTech Acquisition Corp. in a potential $3B+ deal (BBG)

  • Industrial 3D printing firm Essentium is in talks to merge with Atlantic Coastal Acquisition Corp. in a potential $900M+ deal (BBG)

  • Hydrogen fuel developer eCombustible Energy agreed to merge with Benessere Capital Acquisition Corp. in a $805M deal (BBG)

Exec's Picks - Black Friday Edition

  • Jomashop has some great Black Friday deals on Rolexes, Omegas, and other luxury watches

  • As we've said before, we're big fans ofĀ Mizzen + Main's performance dress shirts that feel like a golf polo but look like a well-tailored dress shirt. They've got 30% off site wide. Good time to cop some comfortableĀ dress shirtsĀ 

  • If you're looking for solid crypto trading strategies, our Foot Guns newsletter is offering 30% off the annual paid subscription (only today). Click here for the special offer. You'll get access to the discord community, private podcasts, technical analysis cheat sheets and more. If you want to check out the free edition, sign up hereĀ 

  • Amazon has some good Black Friday deals. They've got the latest Airpods at a slight discount to the Apple store price, a 4k Roku streaming stick deal, and more

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out ourĀ job boardĀ on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 100+ jobsĀ spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDevĀ and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

Featured job of the day:

  • BitGo, a provider of capital markets infrastructure for cryptocurrencies, is looking to hire anĀ Institutional Sales Associate in New York City. They're backed by the most prominent investment banks, prop trading firms, Silicon Valley VCs, and digital asset investors.Ā Apply here

If you're looking to hire candidates and want to post a job, all you have to do is hitĀ "+ Hire Talent"Ā on the top right of the job board.

To Candidates: We've also partnered up with Portal Jobs for a more hands-on approach to matching talent with relevant jobs. Fill out the form here and we'll get to work on placing you in a relevant gigĀ šŸ¤

Meme Cleanser

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