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Your Daily Shot of Business News - October 10, 2024

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🏦 LBO Season is Back, Baby!

Remember when leveraged buyouts were about as active as a sloth in hibernation? Well, times are changing faster than your coffee getting cold. The Fed's first rate cut in four years has private equity firms dusting off their checkbooks, and banks are ready to party like it's 2019.

By the numbers:

• $2.4 trillion: Total M&A deals announced in 2024 (up 22% YOY)

• $15 billion+: Maximum debt now available for single junk-rated deals

• 7.0x: New possible leverage levels (previously unthinkable)

What's cooking: Major deals are already simmering, including French drugmaker Sanofi's consumer health division and German generic drugmaker Stada. But it's not all champagne and caviar – some deals are getting reality checks. Just ask Jefferies about their $15 million "oopsie" on that leveraged loan.

🔍 Google's Potential Breakup: The Empire Strikes Back(fire)?

The Justice Department is channeling its inner Marie Kondo, suggesting it might be time for Google to declutter... by breaking up. Judge Amit Mehta found Google monopolizing search and text advertising, and now the cleanup crew is coming in with some interesting proposals.

Key points:

• Final remedies expected by August 2025

• Google might have to stop paying $20B+ annually for default search status

• Last major tech breakup: AT&T in 1982 (feeling old yet?)

Google's warning that billions of users might face disrupted services. Sounds like when your parents threatened that the TV would explode if you sat too close – but maybe with more merit this time.

👻 Snapchat's New Revenue Play

Snapchat is finally monetizing its Chat tab and Snap Map with new ad placements. Think of it as putting billboards in previously untouched neighborhoods. Disney, McDonald's, and Taco Bell are already on board, probably hoping to catch Gen Z's attention between their daily dose of puppy filters.

🛍️ Shein's UK Shopping Spree

Fast fashion giant Shein is living its best life in the UK:

• $2B in 2023 revenue (38% YOY growth)

• Outperforming H&M and Asos

• Prepping for London IPO

• Planning workforce expansion beyond current 33 employees

🚀 Quick Hits

• Uber's NYC Airport Innovation: Half taxi, half bus, all convenience. $18 rides between LaGuardia and Manhattan.

• Disney's Price Hike: The happiest place on Earth now costs up to $206/day. Magic comes at a premium!

• Mining Mega-Deal: Rio Tinto drops $6.7B on Arcadium Lithium. Battery makers, take note.

• Farewell to a Legend: Ratan Tata, former Tata Sons chair, passes at 86. Led the $2.3B Jaguar-Land Rover acquisition.

• Wine & Dine: Duckhorn Portfolio getting acquired for $1.95B. Shareholders toasting to that 106% premium.

• Honda's Recall: 1.7M vehicles need a steering check-up. Better safe than sorry!

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🚀Startups Nuts

• Form Energy, a Somerville, Mass., developer of long-duration batteries, raised $405m in Series F funding

• EvenUp, an SF-based provider of AI solutions for personal injury law, raised $135m in Series D funding at a valuation north of $1b

• Cytovale, an SF-based developer of detection tech for sepsis and other immune-mediated diseases, raised $100m in Series D funding

• Glooko, a Palo Alto, Calif., provider of remote patient monitoring and chronic care management for diabetes, raised $100m in Series F funding

• Imprint, a co-branded credit card startup, raised $75m in Series C funding at a $600m valuation, per Fortune

• Reylance AI, an SF-based data governance platform, raised $32m in Series B funding

• Qantey, a French health insurance claims platform, raised €30m in Series B funding

• Logik.io, a Highland Park, Ill.-based CPQ fintech, raised $25m in Series B funding

• Scope3, a New York-based decarbonization startup focused on the media, AI, and advertising industries, raised $25m, per TechCrunch

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That’s your nuts for today! Stay tuned for more updates and insights in our next edition. Have a great day!

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