Credit Suisse Gets US$54 Billon Lifeline

Credit Suisse Group AG sought to arrest a collapse in investor confidence Thursday by opening a 50 billion Swiss franc ($54 billion) credit line with the country’s central bank, First Republic Set to Get $30 Billion of Deposits in Rescue, The newly-released ChatGPT-4 is able to take a photo of your fridge, identify the ingredients, and tell you what you could make for dinner, and Fonterra has announced plans for an $800 million capital return.

March 17, 2023

Good Morning,

Credit Suisse Group AG sought to arrest a collapse in investor confidence Thursday by opening a 50 billion Swiss franc ($54 billion) credit line with the country’s central bank, First Republic Set to Get $30 Billion of Deposits in Rescue, The newly-released ChatGPT-4 is able to take a photo of your fridge, identify the ingredients, and tell you what you could make for dinner, and Fonterra has announced plans for an $800 million capital return.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

  • Asian stocks ended broadly lower on Thursday as concerns grew about the health of the global banking system (RTT)

  • Wall Street's main indexes reversed declines on Thursday after a report said some U.S. big banks were in talks with First Republic Bank for a potential deal, while comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also boosted investor sentiment (RT)

  • Oil steadied near the lowest closing price in 15 months after a three-day rout started by the US banking crisis and accelerated by options covering (AFR)

Earnings and Data

  • Dairy co-op Fonterra has announced plans for an $800 million capital return in October using proceeds from the sale of its Chilean business Soprole (NBR)

News Summary

  • The newly-released ChatGPT-4 is able to take a photo of your fridge, identify the ingredients, and tell you what you could make for dinner, AI commentator Paul Duignan says (Stuff)

  • The Commerce Commission is investigating Airbnb and Bachcare to determine whether their standard contracts contain terms that are unfair (Stuff)

  • Lakewood General Partner, a company associated with the troubled Lakewood Plaza apartment tower in Manukau City, has been placed in liquidation by the court (NBR)

  • BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has warned of the as yet unforeseen consequences of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in his yearly letter to investors, saying it was a “classic asset-liability mismatch” and it was "too early to know how widespread the damage is" (NBR)

  • The ASX-listed intellectual property law group that owns New Zealand firm AJ Park has gone into a trading halt following a “cyber incident” it recently became aware of (NBR)

  • With confidence far from restored and markets fearful of a full-blown banking crisis, analysts, investors and bankers think the $54-billion loan facility has only bought Credit Suisse some time to work out what to do next (RT)

  • The Biden administration has demanded that TikTok's Chinese owners divest their stakes in the popular video app or face a possible U.S. ban, the company told Reuters on Wednesday (RT)

  • UniCredit (CRDI.MI) is not under pressure to raise the interest rates it pays on retail deposits, which account for about 60% of its deposit base and are "very sticky", Chief Executive Andrea Orcel said on Wednesday (RT)

  • First Republic Set to Get $30 Billion of Deposits in Rescue (BBG)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • The Government has decided to develop a detailed business case for the Lake Onslow pumped hydro project after its phase one investigation identified an estimated build cost of $15.7 billion (NBR)

  • The Takeovers Panel will look very closely at how a new Pushpay scheme of arrangement will protect shareholders after a new bid was revealed this morning, offering $1.42 for most shareholders but $1.34 for hedge funds that bought up shares when the scheme was first announced (NBR)

  • AusSuper’s Indara Digital in secret $2b bid for BAI, knocked back (AFR)

  • Glencore is willing to walk away from a $16 billion ($21.7 billion) deal to buy aluminum from Russia’s No. 1 producer, in a move that would distance itself from one of its biggest rivals (AFR)

  • French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) is selling some of its European petrol stations to Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard for $3.3 billion as part of plans to turn them into food and services hubs, the companies said on Thursday (RT)

  • U.S. private lender First Republic Bank (FRC.N) is exploring strategic options including a sale, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter (RT)

  • Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is urging life sciences company Illumina Inc (ILMN.O) to divest cancer test developer Grail Inc (GRAL.O) and said on Wednesday that his director candidates will be best placed to pursue this goal (RT)

  • Mexico's Mifel bank is still in the bidding process for Citigroup's (C.N) Mexican retail bank Citibanamex, Mifel's head Daniel Becker told Reuters on Wednesday (RT)

  • Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) is considering selling its majority stake in Italy's main regasification terminal as part of a wider strategy to divest from noncore assets, the company said in a statement on Wednesday (RT)

  • Microsoft (MSFT.O) signed a 10-year licensing deal to bring Activision's (ATVI.O) Call of Duty franchise to Japanese cloud gaming provider Ubitus on Wednesday, the latest move by the company to address regulatory worries about its bid for the games maker (RT)

  • Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. received a green light to complete its $27 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern, overcoming opposition from shippers and creating the only rail operator serving the US, Canada and Mexico (BBG)

  • T-Mobile US Inc. is buying Mint Mobile, the budget wireless provider partly owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, for as much as $1.35 billion in an effort to bolster its prepaid phone business and reach more lower-income customers (BBG)

  • I Squared Capital is considering selling a minority stake in Think Gas Distribution Pvt. that could value the Indian natural gas supplier at more than $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter (BBG)

  • PLDT Inc. is nearing a deal to sell a portfolio of over 1,000 telecommunications towers to a firm backed by KKR & Co. for more than $200 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter (BBG)

  • Thai Beverage Pcl is exploring options for its spirits business including an initial public offering in Singapore, according to people with knowledge of the matter (BBG)

  • Canadian convenience-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. shares rose as much as 1.7% after it agreed to buy almost 2,200 gasoline stations in Europe from TotalEnergies SE for €3.1 billion ($3.3 billion) (BBG)

VC & Fundraising

  • Private equity investor Crescent Capital Partners is thinking about knocking together a new syndicate of investors to invest in its healthcare staffing business, Healthcare Australia (AFR)

  • Wingate is in the market for $100 million from sophisticated investors for its third corporate credit fund, which would be deployed into mid-market corporate lending (AFR)

Equity Raises

  • Caledonia (Private) Investments-backed Light & Wonder is back toying with the idea of an ASX-listing, wondering whether it could fill a hole left by Crown Resorts and trade like its rival Aristocrat Leisure (AFR)

  • Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) raised 1.259 billion euros ($1.33 billion) via the sale of new shares to help fund its takeover of wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa (RT)

  • Charoen Pokphand Group Co. is exploring an initial public offering of its seed and animal feed business in Thailand that could raise as much as $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter (BBG)

Debt

  • Credit Suisse Group AG sought to arrest a collapse in investor confidence Thursday by opening a 50 billion Swiss franc ($54 billion) credit line with the country’s central bank and offering to buy back debt, as executives and government officials plot the next steps for the troubled lender (BBG)

Daily Picks

  • Kermadec Islands hit by M7.0 earthquake, no tsunami threat for mainland NZ (Stuff)

Job Board

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