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Good Morning,

Markets are betting on a Trump victory, PwC is offering 'MD' titles to retain senior staff, CVS fired and replaced their CEO, Prada is designing spacesuits for NASA's moon mission, and Trump picked up a shift at McDonald's.

Eilla AI just launched the first end-to-end AI platform for everything M&A, PE and VC. It's truly a game-changer if you're in the industry. Check it out.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 10/18/2024 market close.

Markets

  • US stocks climbed on Friday as investors digested early tech earnings 

    • All three major indexes rose for a sixth-straight week

    • S&P and Dow hit new ATHs on their longest weekly win steaks YTD

  • Europe's Stoxx 600 rose for a second-straight week

  • Gold rose to a new ATH

Earnings

  • Procter & Gamble beat Q1 earnings estimates but missed on revenue amid weak demand in China (CNBC)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Tuesday: Verizon, GM, 3M, RTX, GE Aerospace

    • Wednesday: Tesla, Boeing, Coca-Cola, IBM, AT&T

    • Thursday: UPS, Southwest, American Airlines

  • Full calendar here

🇺🇸 Election Forecast

As of 10/20/2024.

Headline Roundup

  • Markets are betting on a Trump victory (RT)

  • Hedge funds bought tech stocks at the fastest pace in five months (RT)

  • Nuclear energy stocks hit record highs on surging AI demand (FT)

  • US banks consider cutting interest payments on company deposits (FT)

  • PBOC will pump $112B to boost China's stock market (RT)

  • Bondholders could make $14B from EM restructurings (FT)

  • Germany denies weighing law to protect banks from foreign takeovers (RT)

  • Pensions warn being forced to invest in UK would be 'huge mistake' (FT)

  • UK regulator sets out plans for earlier banker bonuses (FT)

  • Nigerian banks race to raise capital after order to bolster balance sheets (FT)

  • PwC is offering 'managing director' titles to retain non-partners (FT)

  • Boeing is exploring asset sales to boost finances (WSJ)

  • CVS fired and replaced its CEO amid activist pressure (CNBC)

  • Elliott and Southwest are discussing a settlement to avoid a proxy fight (BBG)

  • Big Tobacco nears $24B settlement to end Canada lawsuits (RT)

  • Prada is designing spacesuits for NASA's moon mission (VB) 

A Message From Eilla

Introducing the first end-to-end AI platform for the M&A, VC and PE workflow

After 12 months of working closely with design partners and gathering insights from over 600 M&A banks, VC and PE funds we're excited to announce that Eilla is now live!

Why Eilla?

  • Use AI to analyze 6m+ companies in 10 seconds to find true competitors and new opportunities. 

  • Streamline sourcing to due diligence—everything you need in one platform. 

  • Leverage cross-validated insights from Eilla's proprietary research, Crunchbase, Capital IQ, LinkedIn, and your internal data.

  • Designed to plug seamlessly into your existing workflow at a fraction of the cost of building an in-house solution.

Focus on what truly matters—making informed decisions and closing deals.

Try Eilla for Free

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • $94B-listed insurer Cigna revived merger discussions with $32.2B peer Humana

  • PE firm CD&R agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Sanofi's consumer health unit for Opella for ~$16B

  • Saudi Arabia's Abdul Latif Jameel Energy & Environmental Services plans to revive a $2.2B sale of Spanish energy firm Fotowatio 

  • Auto supplier Dana is exploring a sale of its off-highway business, which could fetch a few billion dollars

  • The owners of Danish emergency services firm Falck are considering a sale or IPO of their stake that could value the firm at ~$1.6B

  • Mitsubishi will acquire a 50% stake in Ayala's AC Ventures, which owns a 13% stake in GCash-owner Globe Fintech Innovations, for $319M

  • Italian energy firm Eni is seeking to sell up to a 49% stake in its biomethane unit Enibioch4in 

  • Hein Park Capital Management is exploring of sale of its 15% stake in Canadian entertainment firm Cirque du Soleil

  • Dubai-based PE firm Gateway Partners is considering selling its stake in the Gulf franchise of Tim Hortons 

  • European defense electronics firm Thales will acquire Boeing’s surveillance unit Digital Receiver Technology 

VC

  • AI startup Perplexity is in talks to raise $500M at a ~$9B valuation

  • AI startup and Alphabet-spinoff SandboxAQ is seek new funding at a ~$5B valuation

  • Education marketplace Eruditus raised a $150M Series F led by TPG

  • Computing intelligence platform SynthBee raised a $20M seed round from Crosspoint Capital

  • Lidwave, a startup developing '4D LiDAR-on-chip sensors,' raised a $10M seed round led by Jumpspeed Ventures and Next Gear Ventures 

  • Indian satellite platform XDLINX raised a $7M seed round led by Lucky Investments 

  • Ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is fundraising for her new AI startup

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • UAE-based hypermarket giant LuLu is gauging investor interest for an Abu Dhabi IPO at a $5B valuation

  • HDB Financial Services, a unit of India's HDFC Bank, plans to raise $1.5B in a local IPO  

  • Saudi tech firm Ejada Systems is considering a local IPO at a $1.5B valuation

  • Online lender K Bank withdrew its $700M Korea IPO due to weak demand

  • China Resources Beverage priced its Hong Kong IPO at the top of a marketed range to raise $649M

  • Saudi Arabia-based United Electronics will IPO a 30% stake in its financial services unit Tasheel Finance

Debt

  • Cerberus Capital Management and Swedish debt collector Intrum are nearing a deal to buy $2.2B of Spanish bad loans from Hoist Finance

  • JPMorgan will lend Panama $1B to help plug its budget gap

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Intrum plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure $4.7B of debt

  • Spirit Airlines maxed out its $300M credit facility as it weighs a bankruptcy  

  • TGI Friday's is seeking financing ahead of an imminent bankruptcy filing

  • Bausch Health turned down debt-restructuring proposals from bondholders as it explores a sale of its Bausch + Lomb vision care subsidiary

  • US edtechs Neuron Fuel, Epic! Creations, and Tangible Play that bankrupt Indian edtech Byju's bought for $820M will be placed for sale to repay lenders

Fundraising

  • Hedge fund Millennium's $10B fundraise saw $20B of demand  

  • VC Emergence Capital is close to raising $1B for a ninth fund

  • Australian commodities hedge fund Farrer Capital raised $500M to trade agriculture

Crypto Corner

  • Crypto events turn to regulation and politics as US election looms (CT)

  • Julian Assange thinks blockchain has higher purpose than just Bitcoin (CS)

  • SEC approved options listing for spot bitcoin ETFs (CD)

  • Bitcoin miners take divergent paths amid revenue 'halving' (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, an executive search partnership between Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

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