What You Need To Know For May 9th

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Headlines 🔍

• As you may have seen across our social platforms, a Bank of America Investment Banking Associate lost his life last week. A Wall Street Oasis forum alleged that his group was pulling 120 hours week for four weeks straight and drinking an excessive amount of energy drinks to stay awake.

  • There’s been a lot of speculation online unfortunately. Some correct, some wrong - like a supposed post on WSO for BofA juniors to strike that was seemingly written by a UBS/CS junior. No strike occurred.

  • However, Bank of America PR has reportedly noted that this is unrelated to work, with an official statement of “our focus is on doing whatever we can to support the family and our team, who is devastated."

  • Per Reuters, The New York Office of the Chief Medical Examiner cited “acute coronary artery thrombus” as the cause behind the passing.

  • He left behind a wife and two young children. His brother posted a fundraiser in order to support his family. I donated and highly recommend you look into this as well. In fact, Bill Ackman kindly donated $10,000. As of now, over $220k has been raised.

• Tiktok sues US government to block divest-or-ban law

• Disney pares streaming losses; shares fall 10% on their earning outlook. Revenue of $22B was around expectations and EPS of $1.21 was a nice beat, but the growth rate of Disney’s streaming platforms have slowed as of late (despite now reaching profitability), and Parks division demand may be cooling as well. The weak 3Q guide is weighed down parks demand normalizing and some higher segment specific expenses. Disney’s linear TV business saw revenue decline 8% y/y, as the world continues to push more into streaming. However, yesterday, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced a plan to bundle streaming services

• Palantir slides after a soft guide drives the street to reset the outlook for AI demand

• Stanley Druckenmiller cut his Nvidia stake in Late March and says AI may be too overhyped in the short term - per CNBC

• Wells Fargo Economist calls Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), “Phantom Debt”. If the Fed and economists can’t figure out how much BNPL consumers have, then it’s harder for them to accurately predict the strength of the consumer….

• Peloton apparently has Private Equity Investors circling…

• 1 out of every 24 Manhattan residents is a millionaire. Aka - there’s 350k millionaires in NYC. Given high wages…this makes a lot of sense IMO. I would argue by 10 years of working in finance you’ll generally be a millionaire by then

• Uber and Instacart team up to power restaurant delivery on Instacart. Watch out Doordash!

• Match misses earnings once again:

• Real estate credit: Gear up for the year of transactions

• Mastercard supercharges consumer protection with gen AI

• Renters feel really bad about homeownership prospects - with 74%+ believing now is a terrible time to take out a mortgage (hard to blame them).

• The NFL is close to allowing Private Equity Sponsors to buy up to a 30% stake in NFL Teams. Bad news for Lenders, Brock Purdy just got moved to an unrestricted subsidiary.

• Sports Private Equity Firm 777 Partners are under investigation for fraud

• Steward Health files for bankruptcy

• Equinox Is Launching A $40,000 Gym Membership Aimed At Longevity

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Transactions: M&A 💭 

Amret Microfinance Institution, provider of microfinance services, has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired for $435.00M by SinoPac Financial Holdings (TIA: 2890).

Perficient (NAS: PRFT), a provider of information technology and consulting services, has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired for $3.0B by BPEA EQT. Bank of America and Wells Fargo advised on the sale.

NanoString Technologies (PINX: NSTGQ), a company who engages in the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of instruments, consumables, and services, was acquired for $392.6M by Bruker (NAS: BRKR). Perella Weinberg Partners advised on the sale.

Lincoln Wealth, a wealth management service provider, was acquired for $700.00M by Osaic.

Lexion, a developer of contract management systems, was acquired for $165.00M by DocuSign (NAS: DOCU).

Allete (NYS: ALE), provider of competitively priced energy in America’s Upper Midwest region, has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired for $6.2B by CPP Investments and Global Infrastructure Partners. Houlihan Lokey and J.P. Morgan advised on the sale.

TIH, operator of an insurance broking agency, was acquired for $12.4B by Stone Point Capital, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Mubadala Investment Company.

Penny, Ruddy & Winter, provider o chartered financial planning services, was acquired for $299.94M by Advanta Wealth.

Transactions: Private Placements 💭

Wayve, developer of an AI-based driving software, raised $1.05B of Series C venture funding led by Softbank Group.

Abound, provider of consumer lending services, raised $1.0B of venture funding led by Hambro Perks, K3 Ventures, and GSR Ventures.

Monzo, developer of a financial platform, raised $237.45M of venture funding led by CapitalG and Hedosophia at a pre-money valuation of $6.5B.

Atlan, operator of a data intelligence platform, raised 105.00M of Series C venture funding led by Meritech Capital Partners and GIC at a pre-money valuation of $645.00M.

Meati, producer of plant-based food products, raised $100.00M of Series C1 venture funding led by Grosvenor Food & AgTech.

Noteworthy Chart 🧭

Best of YouTube ⌚️

ICYMI - Warren Buffett talking about his friendship with Charlie Munger

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In Other News

• Have you checked out Mainstreet yet? They allow individuals to invest in curated venture capital funds for low minimums. Subscribe to their Newsletter Here.

• What’s a Private Credit Risk Transfer? Learn about it in this latest High Yield Harry Article.