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Good Morning,

The Fed raised rates by another 25 bps, UK inflation hit 10.4%, bond markets are having their wildest swings since 2008, First Republic shares continue to tank, Indeed is cutting 2.2k employees, TikTok stars are rallying in DC against a potential TikTok ban, and office rents are dropping.

Interested in the Fintech space? Download Plaid's newly released "What is fintech?" report here!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks retreated sharply from two week highs as investors reacted to the Fed's latest 25 bps rate hike and uncertainty over the Fed's rate path amid banking turmoil

  • The Fed anticipates one more rate hike this year followed by no rate cuts

  • S&P Banks index slid 5.1% after Yellen ruled out blanket insurance for bank deposits 

• Dollar index fell 0.6%

Earnings

• Petco slightly missed Q4 EPS and revenue estimates and issued soft guidance despite a resilient and growing pet category, causing their stock to lose 17.5% (INV)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Accenture, General Mills

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Fed raised rates by 25 bps and indicated rate hikes are nearing end (CNBC)

• Fed considered rate pause amid banking sector issues (WSJ)

• UK inflation unexpectedly rose to 10.4% in February (RT)

• Bond market swings are at wildest levels since 2008 (AX)

• Global banks pull back from M&A leveraged loan deals amid credit market uncertainty (BBG)

• Asian banks putting AT1 bond deals on hold after $17B CS debt wipeout (FT)

• Funds run by BlueBay Asset Management and PIMCO lost over 8% last week amid Credit Suisse debt turmoil (BBG)

• First Republic shares continue to tank (RT)

• First Republic execs will forego 2023 bonuses, with founder/chairman forgoing pay (RT)

• Recruiting firm Indeed will cut 2.2k staff (TC)

• Chipmaker Marvell to cut 4% of jobs (BBG)

• TikTok stars rally in DC against amid potential US ban (WSJ)

• Digital World Acquisition Corp, the SPAC set to merge with former Trump's media/tech firm, fired its CEO (RT)

• Office rents have declined amid shift to remote work (AX)

• Gym memberships grow despite consumer spending slowdown (RT)

A Message From Plaid

More people use fintech than social media?

As it seems like everyone and their grandmother are using social media apps, fintech is more popular. According to Plaid’s newly released “What is Fintech” report, the % of Americans managing their finances with fintech jumped from 58% to 88% in 2021!

Plaid has taken a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of fintech by exploring what it is, how it works, and what types of companies make up this exploding vertical. 

Download the full report for free right here

What makes the report worth the download? Good question. Here are just a few highlights: 

• The massive growth of fintech companies in the startup landscape - 5,868 fintech startups in 2018 —> 10,755 in 2021

• Different types - embedded finance is estimated to produce $230 billion (with a b) in revenue in 2025 (10-fold increase from 2020).

• The Impact - Gen Z trusts fintech more than traditional financial institutions (66% to 63%)

For anyone looking to dive deeper into the fintech framework, give it a look!

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Horizon Roads, the owner of Australia’s second-busiest toll road, is looking to raise $1.3-$1.7B through the sale of up to 55.45% of ConnectEast, which holds a concession to operate the EastLink toll road until 2043 (BBG)

• Investment firms made a $1.4B investment in lender Pacific Western Bank (RT)

• South Korea’s Cowell Fashion Company agreed to buy the IP assets in the Asia Pacific region of British fashion brand Superdry (RT)

• London-listed investment banks Cenks and finnCap are in advanced talks about a potential merger (RT)

• Self-storage company Extra Space Storage is considering making an offer for peer Life Storage, which rejected an offer from Public Storage earlier this year (BBG)

• A group including Gabe Plotkin, a minority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, is in talks to buy a portion of the franchise from former NBA player Michael Jordan (BBG)

VC

• Flare Therapeutics, a biotech company targeting transcription factors to discover precision medicines, raised a $123M Series B co-led by GordonMD Global Investments and Pfizer Ventures (PRN)

• Cognito Therapeutics, a neurotech company focussed on Alzheimer’s Disease, raised a $73M Series B led by FoundersX Ventures (BW)

• B2B data integration / exchange startup Adeptia raised a $65M round led by PSG (BW)

• Care coordination platform Viz.ai raised a $40M round from CIBC Innovation Banking (BW)

• Secure web gateway startup dope.security raised a $16M Series A led by GV (TC)

• Clerk, a drop-in authentication and user management solution for React, raised a $15M Series A led by Madrona (BW)

• Chicago-based home insurance startup Kin raised a $15M Series D from Geodesic Capital, QED Investors, and more (BW)

• Generative AI-powered code integrity solution CodiumAI raised an $11M seed round led by Vine Ventures and TLV Partners (PRN)

• Mad Rabbit, a tattoo aftercare startup, raised a $10M Series A led by Lucas Brand Equity (PRN)

• Windfall Bio, a climate startup capturing and converting methane emissions into organic fertilizer, raised a $9M seed round led by Mayfield and UNTITLED (BW)

• VETRO, a provider of cloud-based fiber management systems, raised a $7M round led by Resolve Growth Partners and Maine Venture Fund (BW)

• Healthtech startup Reveal HealthTech raised a $4M seed round from W Health Ventures (PRN)

• RiseKit, a startup helping companies source untapped, diverse talent from community organizations, raised a $4.8M seed round from Muditā VP, Stand Together Ventures Lab, and others (PRN)

• Aspecta, a startup allowing developers to build LinkedIn-like identity pages, raised a $3.5M seed round led by ZhenFund, HashKey Capital, and Foresight Ventures (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Shanghai Stock Exchange will review agriculture tech firm Syngenta's listing plan as the firm moves closer to raising $9.5B at a ~$50B valuation in a China IPO; this is expected to be one of the biggest IPOs of 2023 (RT)

• The banking unit of financial services firm Rakuten is set to raise up to $881M in a Japanese IPO (BBG)

• Satellite launch services firm Virgin Orbit is nearing a $200M investment from VC investor Matthew Brown via a private share placement; the firm intends to resume operations (RT)

Debt

• Heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande offered creditors debt for bond swaptions as part of plan to restructure $22.7B in offshore debt (RT)

• UBS will buy back $2.96B worth of debt it sold just days ago in bid to boost bondholder confidence over its $3.2B Credit Suisse rescue deal (RT)

• Used car retailer Carvana offered to swap up to $1B of bond principal at below-par prices in move to restructure its $9B debt load (BBG)

• European building materials distributor STARK Group started selling a new $432M high yield loan despite market unrest (RT)

Fundraising

• Deerpath Capital Management raised $1.5B for its sixth senior debt fund (PEH)

• Middle-market PE firm Sverica Capital Management raised $750M for its Sverica Capital Partners VI fund (PRN)

• Canadian PE firm Vertu Capital raised $218M for its inaugural Vertu Partners Fund I (BK)

• European VC firm Emblem raised $54M for an $80M new European seed fund (TC)

• European lessor Nova Capital launched the first light helicopter backed private debt fund with $54M (HI)

• The Family Fund & Founder Community (F3C) raised $25M in capital commitments for a new venture fund to back and mentor up-and-coming founders leading consumer and consumer-tech brands (TC)

Crypto Corner

• SEC notified Coinbase of intent to sue over potential securities law violations (BBG)

• SEC charged Tron founder Justin Sun with fraud and eight other celebs for related crypto violations (CNBC)

• Coinbase suspended its Algorand staking rewards (CD)

Exec's Picks

• If you have outstanding credit card debt and large monthly payments, getting a new 0% intro APR credit card could help ease the pressure while you pay down your balances. Our credit card experts put together a list of the top cards offering extended periods of 0% intro APR on balance transfers and purchases. Apply today to take advantage of these special rates before they're gone.

Litney Partners - Financial Recruiting 💼💼

If you're currently a junior investment banker looking to break into the buy side, considering lateraling to another investment bank, or have recently been impacted by widespread layoffs, it's time you check out Litney Partners, a partnership between Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates at leading private equity, hedge fund, venture capital, growth equity, and credit funds, as well as investment banks. 

To get started, simply head over to the Litney website and create your profile by dropping your resume / filling out the form:

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