Together with

Good Morning,

Powell signaled that the Fed will stay on hold, Credit Suisse is preparing for more job cuts, Harvard’s endowment outperformed Yale’s, the 60-40 strategy had its worst year in generations, home sales slid to the lowest pace since 2010, PC demand is back, and Tim Cook made a surprise visit to China.

SPVs are a useful tool for investors looking to pool capital, but it can be difficult to know where to start. On October 26th, today’s sponsor, Carta, is hosting a free webinar covering all things SPV. Sign up here.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks fell as the US 10Y yield approached 5%

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 0.96% drop

• European stocks closed lower as investors digested corporate earnings and economic data

Earnings

• Blackstone shares fell 8% after reporting weaker-than-expected Q3 distributable earnings, which fell by 12% YoY due to rising interest rates (RT)

• AT&T shares rose ~7% after reporting Q3 mobile subscriber gains, higher-than-expected profit, and raising its full year free cash flow guidance (BBG)

• TSMC shares rose ~4% after it beat Q3 analyst expectations for revenue and earnings, though they also reported the largest profit decline since 2019 (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: American Express

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Powell signals Fed to stay on hold and keep future hike on table (BBG)

• Credit Suisse prepares for more job cuts (BBG)

• Harvard’s $51B fund beats Yale in hard year for endowments (BBG)

• Big banks are quietly cutting thousands of employees, and more layoffs are coming (CNBC)

• The 60-40 investing strategy just had its worst year in generations (WSJ)

• Home sales slide to lowest pace since 2010 as high rates squeeze market (WSJ)

• China weighs options to blunt US sanctions in a Taiwan conflict (RT)

• PC demand is back, says Acer CEO who sees robust growth in the ‘forseeable future’ (CNBC)

• Tim Cook makes surprise China visit as iPhone sales slump (WSJ)

• India-Canada diplomatic spat escalates as Ottawa pulls out 41 diplomats (CNBC)

• Biden to seek billions in military aid for Israel as invasion of Gaza nears (RT)

• CVS pulls certain cold medicines from shelves and will stop selling them (WSJ)

• Inflation raging at 130% is pushing Argentina down a radical path (BBG)

• US Army charges Private Travis King with desertion over dash into North Korea (RT)

• Jim Jordan will seek third floor vote on US House Speaker bid (BBG)

A Message From Carta

Demystify SPVs with Carta

SPVs are a valuable tool for investors looking to pool capital. The problem is that they have so many different uses and structures that it can be difficult to know where to start.

On October 26th at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, Carta is holding a free webinar to demystify SPVs for investors.

During the event, they’ll discuss:

• Key differences between hosted master-series structures vs. self-managed standalone SPVs

• Overview of (some surprising) benefits of SPVs

• SPV use cases & insights

Register below to learn how you can maximize SPV benefits for your firm.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• China is weighing delaying US chipmaker Broadcom’s $69B acquisition of cloud software company VMware after the US’s tougher chip controls for China on Tuesday (FT)

• EU antitrust regulators gave Pfizer unconditional approval for its proposed $43B acquisition of cancer drug maker Seagen (RT)

• Japan's JFE Steel is in talks to buy a stake in the metallurgical coal business of Canada's Teck Resources; Glencore offered $8.5B for the business (RT)

• Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and and Antin Infrastructure Partners are among several bidders for PE fund Partners Group’s majority stake in German metering firm Techem; Partners Group wants as much as $9.5B, but offers may be closer to $7.4B (RT)

• German lender NordLB is considering options for its $3.2B aviation financing portfolio (BBG)

• Singapore-based pulp producer RGE is considering a $3B takeover offer of Chinese tissue maker Vinda International Holdings (BBG)

• EQT picked Evercore to help the investment firm gauge interest for a potential sale of data management company Rimes Technologies for as much as $2.1B (BBG)

• Hitachi is set to win EU approval for its $1.8B acquisition of Thales’ GTS railway signalling business on the condition it sells assets in France and Germany (RT)

• Infrastructure fund I Squared Capital will acquire UK-based Arriva, Deutsche Bahn’s international transport business in an estimated $1.7B deal, including debt (FT)

• Qantas Airways will drop its $387M plan to buy out charter flight operator Alliance Aviation Services due to regulatory hurdles (RT)

• Door manufacturer Masonite International acquired Fleetwood Aluminum Products for $285M cash (BZ)

• Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Group will buy Stellantis’ Chinese automotive assets for $234M (BBG)

• SoftBank's VC arm SVF Growth, Singapore, will sell a 1.1% stake in Indian food delivery firm Zomato for $123M (RT)

VC

• Lithium extraction and refinery tech startup EnergyX raised a $50M Series B led by General Motors (FN)

• HqO, a real estate experience platform, raised a $50M+ Series D led by Koch Real Estate Investments (FN)

• Intelligent freight platform Transfix raised a $40M Series F led by New Enterprise Associates (PRN)

• Petfolk, a veterinary care startup, raised a $40M Series B led by Movendo Capital (PRN)

• Debut, a synthetic biology company developing cosmetic bioactive ingredients, raised a $40M Series B led by BOLD (PRN)

• EarthGrid PBC, a plasma boring technology and infrastructure development company, raised a $30M seed round led by NetCapital (FN)

• Decentralized crypto derivatives exchange SynFutures raised a $22M Series B led by Pantera Capital (TC)

• Overstory, a startup using AI to mitigate wildfires and protect biodiversity, raised a $14M Series A led by B Capital (BW)

• Sidebar, a group coaching program focused on career growth, raised a $13.55M seed round from Foundation Capital, Scribble Ventures, and Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp (TC)

• Property insurance claim lending startup iink raised a $12M Series A led by Headline (TC)

• Warmly, an AI-powered sales platform that automates away the busy work of salespeople, raised an $11M Series A led by Felicis (TC)

• Finzly, a payments infrastructure provider for financial companies, raised a $10M Series A led by TZP Growth Equity (FN)

• Virtual and community-based primary care startup Pair Team raised a $9M Series A led by NEXT VENTURES (PRN)

• Ai Build, a London-based additive manufacturing software company, raised an $8.5M Series A led by IQ Capital (FN)

• UK pet tech startup Creature Comforts raised an $8.50M seed round led by Torch Capital, Hanaco VC, and Boost Capital Partners (EU)

• Ventricle Health, a virtual cardiology care network, raised an $8M seed round led by RA Capital Management (FN)

• Cloover, a Berlin-based climate fintech, raised a $7.6M pre-seed round led by 9900 Capital (EU)

• Media management platform Mediatool raised a $7.4M round led by Fairpoint Capital and eEquity (FN)

• Tofu, a startup automating content creation for large-scale B2B marketing campaigns, raised a $5M seed round led by Index Ventures (TC)

• Bluebirds, a Pleasanton-based provider of an AI power platform for outbound teams, raised a $5M seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Buyout firm CVC Capital Partners plans to raise over $1.1B in what is set to be one of Europe’s largest IPO listings this year (RT)

Debt

• Japan’s top banks are set to commit $12.7B in financing to support the merger of Kioxia Holdings and Western Digital’s flash memory business (RT)

• Australia’s Liontown Resources raised $713M through debt financing and an equity raise after Albemarle abandoned its takeover bid for the lithium miner (RT)

• Mexican fast food chain Qdoba Restaurant is seeking to raise $325M to refinance debt by securitizing franchise agreements (BBG)

• Hydrogen project developer HH2E is in talks to raise $317M in debt to fund two projects in Germany (RT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Convoy, a trucking tech startup once valued at $3.8B, will close down its business after failing to find a buyer (BBG)

• The management of bankrupt electric truck maker Volta Trucks is urgently seeking a buyer (RT)

Fundraising

• Pfingsten, an operationally focused PE firm, closed its Pfingsten Fund VI at $435M (FN)

Crypto Corner

• SEC asked a federal judge to dismiss its charges against both Ripple’s CEO and cofounder (BBG)

• New York sued crypto firms Genesis Global, its parent company Digital Currency Group, and Gemini for defrauding investors of over $1B (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• I'm subscribed to dozens of newsletters, and my biggest problem is sorting through hundreds of emails each week to find the stuff that I want to read. Thankfully, Meco has a solution. Meco is an app designed for reading newsletters, allowing you to read your favorite content in one place, without the clutter. The process is simple: just download the Meco app, add your favorite newsletters, and start reading! If you want to clean up your inbox, get started with Meco here.

• Everyone, including some of the US’s largest asset managers, are betting big on ETFs.

• Tesla's valuation is starting to look unsustainable, especially after their recent earnings report.

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:

Meme Cleanser

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures // Book a call with Lit // Launch your own newsletter