Zuck's Big Bounceback

Tim Cook teased Apple AI announcement later this year, Musk wants to move Tesla’a incorporation from Delaware to Texas, Apple’s China slump is deepening, JPM says to exit five-year Treasury bets, Japanese retail investors are piling billions into Indian equities, and Nvidia’s CEO is bullish on nations wanted their own AI systems.

Author

Litquidity Capital
February 02, 2024

Together with

Good Morning,

Tim Cook teased an Apple AI announcement later this year, Musk wants to move Tesla’s incorporation from Delaware to Texas, Apple’s China slump is deepening, JPM says to exit five-year Treasury bets, Japanese retail investors are piling billions into Indian equities, and Nvidia’s CEO is bullish on nations wanting their own AI systems.

Are you tired of waking up tired? Check out today’s sponsor, Eight Sleep, for a mattress cover that will improve your sleep quality overnight.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 2/1/2024 market close.

Markets

  • US stocks rose, recovering from yesterday’s brutal sell-off in reaction to the Fed’s rate decisions, while investors awaited big tech earnings

    • The Nasdaq led indices with a 1.3% gain

Earnings

  • Apple reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue but showed a 13% decline in sales in China, an important market (CNBC) 

  • Meta shares jumped 15% after reporting better-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue and announcing its first-ever dividend payment in addition to a $50B buyback (CNBC) 

  • Amazon shares surged 7% after beating Q4 earnings and revenue expectations and providing strong Q1 guidance (CNBC) 

    • Today: Exxon, Chevron, Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie, Cigna

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Tim Cook teases Apple AI announcement ‘later this year’ (CNBC)

  • Elon Musk wants to move Tesla’s incorporation from Delaware to Texas (WSJ)

  • Apple’s China slump deepens even as total sales grow again (BBG)

  • Taylor Swift deep fakes push tech companies, lawmakers to find fixes (BBG)

  • JPMorgan says exit five-year Treasury bets, bank angst overdone (BBG)

  • Battle for Disney’s future heats up, company sets meeting date (RT)

  • Powell navigates ‘toxic’ politics of rate cuts as election nears (WSJ)

  • Japanese retail investors pile billions into Indian equities (BBG)

  • McKinsey’s leader survives, but voting reveals cracks at elite consulting firms (WSJ)

  • Nvidia CEO says nations seeking own AI systems will raise demand (BBG)

  • Boeing 737 MAX crisis adds to high demand for older planes (RT)

  • Intel delays $20B Ohio project, citing slow chip market (WSJ)

  • Commercial property losses hammer banks on three continents (WSJ)

  • Okta to cut 400 jobs following tech peers in reducing costs (BBG)

  • US property losses trigger 20% drop in Japanese bank Aozora (BBG) 

  • The GOAT of Formula One is set for move to Ferrari (WSJ)

A Message From Eight Sleep

A Mattress Cover Fine-Tuned to Your Sleep

Our bodies sleep best when the temperature drops 1-3 degrees as we fall asleep, cools down further during REM sleep, and warms as we wake up to leave us feeling refreshed. The problem is that most beds trap heat, resulting in uncomfortable and inefficient sleep.

Eight Sleep fixes this.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Eight Sleep, the company that has been revolutionizing sleep from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. But did you know that their buzz-worthy mattress cover, the Pod, can be added to your existing mattress to immediately improve your sleep quality?

The Pod, which fits on your bed like a fitted sheet, includes sensors that track your health while you sleep, and it cools down and warms up each side of your bed throughout the night to improve your sleep quality. Want to try it yourself? Get started by clicking below:

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance is close to merging its India media business with Walt Disney with a 51%-54% stake, in a deal that values Disney’s Indian operations at just $3.5B, sharply lower than Disney’s $15B-$16B estimate of its value in 2019 (RT) 

  • Vivendi’s Canal+ offered to buy the shares of South Africa’s MultiChoice Group that it doesn’t already own in a deal that values the pay-TV company’s shares at $2.5B (BBG)

  • STT Telemedia Global Data Centres, which is backed by state-owned investor Temasek Holdings, shortlisted a list of PE firms that include Apollo Global and Blackstone to take part in its potential $1B funding round (BBG) 

  • Hong Kong investment firm Pacific Century Group is seeking to sell its majority stake in asset manager PineBridge Investments, which has ~$157B AUM; PCG acquired PineBridge in 2010 from AIG for $277M, when it managed $87B of assets (RT)  

  • RBC Capital Markets will purchase $280M worth of shares in copper miner Capstone Copper (RT) 

  • PE firm GPB Capital Holdings, which faces civil fraud charges, sold a majority stake in medical billing services provider HealthPrime International for $190M cash (WSJ) 

  • Alibaba Group Holding is considering selling its InTime department store arm as it undergoes a broad restructuring (BBG)

VC

  • Swedish hybrid-electric airplane producer Heart Aerospace raised a $107M Series B led by United Airlines, Sagitta Ventures, and EQT (EU)

  • DataSnipper, an intelligent automation platform for audit and finance professionals, raised a $100M Series B at a $1B valuation led by Index Ventures (EU)

  • Enterprise sustainability platform Watershed raised a $100M Series C led by Greenoaks (VC)

  • SPR Therapeutics, a medical device startup focused on treating pain, raised $85M in funding: a $25M Series D-1 led by Revelation Partners and a $60M debt facility from SLR Capital Partners (FN)

  • Basking Biosciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel acute thrombolytic therapy to treat stroke, raised a $55M round led by ARCH Venture Partners (BW)

  • Spine Solutions, a medical device developer, raised $30M in funding led by Amzak Health (FN)

  • Avation Medical, a digital health company focused on peripheral neuromodulation, raised a $22M Series C led by ShangBay Capital and Asahi Kasei (PRN)

  • ArteraAI, a developer of predictive and prognostic cancer tests, raised $20M in funding from Prosperity7 Ventures, EDBI, and more (BW)

  • LightBeam.ai, a Palo Alto-based zero trust data protection company, raised $17.8M in funding led by Vertex Ventures US (FN)

  • Planet A Foods, a B2B sustainable ingredients company, raised a $15.4M Series A led by World Fund (TC)

  • Anbogen Therapeutics, a Taiwanese clinical-stage biotech company focused on cancer drugs, raised a $12.5M Series A led by China Development Industrial Bank (FN)

  • NeoPhore, a small molecule neoantigen immuno-oncology company, raised a $12.2M Series B extension from CPF, Claris Ventures, Astellas Venture Management, 3B Future Health Fund, and more (PRN)

  • CitySwift, an AI-powered platform for optimizing public transportation, raised a $7.7M round led by Gresham House Ventures (EU)

  • Tenchi Security, a Brazilian startup focused on third-party cyber risk management, raised $7M in funding from Bradesco PE&VC, L4 Venture Builder, and Accenture (FN)

  • CARPL, a radiology marketplace, raised a $6M round led by Stellaris Venture Partners (TC)

  • Perelel, a female OB/GYN-founded vitamin and supplement company, raised a $6M Series A led by Unilever Ventures, Willow Growth, and Selva Ventures (PRN)

  • MIC Global, a full stack embedded microinsurance provider, raised a $6M round led by Launchpad Capital (FN)

  • Paris-based biotech startup Vivet Therapeutics received $5.7M in funding from the French Government (FN)

  • Weather intelligence and technology startup Meteomatics raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Lockheed Martin Ventures (VC)

  • Proniras Corporation, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing small molecule therapeutics for substance use disorders, raised a $4.7M Series B led by Accelerator Life Science Partners and ARCH Venture Partners (BW)

  • Eggscape Entertainment, a game studio focused on creating social games for mixed reality, raised a $4.3M seed round led by Transcend Fund (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Amer Sports shares rose ~3% in its debut day of trading after raising $1.4B at a $6.5B valuation (RT) 

  • Sierra Space is making preliminary plans to go public ahead of its debut of a long-awaited cargo spaceplane; the aerospace and space tech company was last valued at over $5B after a September fundraising (BBG) 

  • CVC-owned German perfume retailer Douglas plans to kick off an IPO as soon as this month and plans to sell ~$1.1B in new stock, which will be used to pay down debt (BBG) 

  • Greece priced the IPO of a stake in the Athens International Airport at the top end of a marketed range to raise ~$852M (BBG) 

  • IT services firm UST, which is backed by Singaporean state investor Temasek Holdings, is exploring a US IPO and may seek to raise at least $500M at a valuation over $1B (BBG) 

  • Biotech company Kyverna Therapeutics is seeking up to $211M at a $711M valuation in its US IPO (RT)

Debt

  • Banks including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are in talks to provide up to $8B of financing for a DocuSign buyout that values the company at ~$13B (BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

  • Collapsed crypto lender Celsius Network exited bankruptcy and began the distribution of over $3B of crypto and fiat currency owed to creditors (WSJ) 

  • A unit of Indian edtech startup Byju’s, Byju’s Alpha, was put into US bankruptcy after the company defaulted on $1.2B of debt (BBG) 

  • Petmate, the Platinum Equity-owned pet company, is nearing a deal to restructure much of its ~$750M debt load and transfer control to lenders (WSJ) 

  • Chain retailer Express has been holding talks with lenders to discuss its restructuring options (BBG) 

  • Lenders including Bain Capital and Sona Asset Management agreed to take over distressed Australian wine producer Accolade Wines as part of a debt restructuring (BBG)

Fundraising

  • KKR raised $6.4B for a fund focused on infrastructure and energy related investments in the Asia-Pacific region (RT) 

  • Canadian pension manager the Alberta Investment Management announced the creation of a $745M energy transition fund (RT)

Crypto Corner

  • Crypto lender Genesis Global settled an SEC lawsuit over its defunct Gemini Earn lending program and agreed to pay a $21M fine (RT) 

  • Binance’s attempts to re-enter the UK market are being frustrated by prospective local partners’ unwillingness to work with the exchange (BBG) 

  • JPMorgan says stablecoin USDT’s market dominance may jeopardize crypto (BBG) 

Exec’s Picks

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

Join the conversation

or to participate.