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Switzerland put up $280B for CS bailout, Jamie Dimon is leading rescue plan talks for First Republic Bank, Saudi National Bank lost $1B on its Credit Suisse investment, Credit Suisse will pay out bonuses/pay rises despite rescue takeover, Amazon is cutting 9k employees, Netflix is developing a cloud gaming service, and TikTok hit 150M US monthly users.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 3/20/2023 market close.

Markets

  • US stocks ended higher yesterday after a deal to rescue Credit Suisse and central bank efforts boosted confidence in the financial system

  • The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 1%

  • Oil prices rose over 1% after hitting their lowest level since December 2021

  • Japanese yen rose yesterday as investors sought a safe haven amid banking uncertainty

  • Dollar dropped 0.5% to its lowest level since mid-February

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:

    • Today: Nike 

    • Wednesday: Petco

    • Thursday: Accenture, General Mills

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Switzerland put up $280B for Credit Suisse rescue (RT)

  • Jamie Dimon is leading talks for a new rescue plan for First Republic Bank (WSJ)

  • UBS will assume $5.4B in losses on their Credit Suisse acquisition (RT)

  • Saudi National Bank lost over $1B on its Credit Suisse investment (CNBC)

  • Credit Suisse bond-wipeout threatens $250B CoCo market (WSJ)

  • Credit Suisse AT1 bond holders consider legal action after $17B+ wipeout of claims (RT)

  • US studies ways to guarantee all bank deposits if crisis expands (BBG)

  • S&P cut First Republic deeper into junk saying $30B infusion may not solve problems; their stock hit a record low (RT)

  • Credit Suisse will pay out bonuses/pay rises despite rescue takeover (FT)

  • German regulator allows SVB to conduct lending through its local branch (RT)

  • Vanguard plans to shutter its remaining business in China and exit its JV with Ant Group (BBG)

  • Amazon will cut another 9k employees (CNBC)

  • Netflix is developing a cloud gaming service (TV)

  • Edtech Course Hero cut 15% of staff (TC)

  • TikTok hit 150M US monthly users (RT)

  • Miami Beach wants to cancel spring break (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Flagstar Bank, a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp, will acquire 'substantially all' of failed Signature Bank's deposits for $10.2B (~80¢ on the dollar), over one-third of its assets and all its 40 branches (FT)

  • US scientific instruments maker Thermo Fisher Scientific and South Korea’s Celltrion are among suitors competing to buy the biopharma solutions of medical device maker Baxter International, which could fetch $4B+ (RT)

  • Ammonia producer CF Industries agreed to buy the US ammonia manufacturing facility of Australia’s Incitec Pivot in a $1.68B deal (RT)

  • Vitamin Shoppe owner Franchise Group, which also owns Buddy’s Home Furnishings, received an unsolicited proposal to buy the company at a ~$1B valuation (YHOO)

  • Investment firm AP Moller, which is owned by the Maersk family, agreed to buy offshore energy services firm Maersk Supply Service for $685M from logistics company Maersk (BBG)

  • Norwegian independent oil and gas producer Okea agreed to buy a 28% sake in Norway’s Statfjord oil field production license from Equinor for $220M (RT)

  • First Citizens BancShares, one of the largest buyers of US failed lenders, is still hoping to strike a deal to buy all of SVB; it submitted an offer to buy all of SVB but may also participate in the auctions this week for the two parts of the company (BBG)

  • FDIC will break up SVB and hold two separate auctions for its deposits unit and its private bank (RT)

VC

  • Reebelo, a marketplace for affordable and sustainable consumer electronics, raised a $29M Series A extension led by Cathay Innovation (PRN)

  • Candela, a Swedish startup building a passenger commercial hydrofoil shuttle, raised a $20M round led by EQT Ventures, Joel Eklund (Fosielund Holding AB), and Svante Nilo Bengtsson (Marknadspotential AB) (TC)

  • Numbers Station, a startup bringing AI to the data stack, raised a $17.5M Series A led by Madrona (TC)

  • Aembit, a startup helping DevOps and security teams manage how federated workloads talk to each other, raised a $16.6M seed round from Ballistic Ventures and Ten Eleven Ventures (TC)

  • Embedded B2B payments platform Monite raised a $5M seed round led by Third Prime (TC)

  • ROOK, a startup transforming health data from wearables into actionable insights, raised a $1.7M pre-seed round led by NuFund (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Thai conglomerate DTGO is considering listing its UK hospitality assets, via a REIT, in Singapore in a potential $244M offering (BBG)

Debt

  • IMF approved a $3B rescue plan for Sri Lanka (WSJ)

  • Sri Lanka bondholders are considering a proposal to swap sour bonds with GDP-linked fixed-income securities (BBG)

Fundraising

  • Saudi Venture Capital Company launched an $80M fund to back Saudi Arabian fintechs (WM)

Crypto Corner

  • Coinbase halted support for Signature Bank's digital payments platform (RT)

  • Signature Bank raised crypto exposure after slowing real-estate lending (WSJ)

  • Digital asset outflows continue for sixth week despite Bitcoin surge (CD)

  • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis proposed a new law to ban CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) (CD)

  • Anchorage Digital, the first federally chartered crypto bank, cut 20% of staff (TI)

Exec's Picks

  • Buying a second home? Have questions about your employer stock? Pattern has you covered. Pattern clients get matched with a financial advisor, have access to a curated portfolio, and get advice on all areas of their financial lives, all for one low fee. Sign up for Pattern and take control of your financial future, and use invite code "LIT" to get a three-month free trial.

  • Axios mapped out the current status of SVB's subsidiaries here.

  • Alexandra Scaggs explained everything we need to know about US regional banks in this Financial Times piece.

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