Veil of heavy regulation draped over NZ's cannabis clinics

Good Morning,

This week, global markets saw volatility due to geopolitical tensions and mixed corporate earnings. We'll analyze their impact on major indices, delve into key reports from companies like JPMorgan Chase and Netflix, and highlight significant mergers and acquisitions. Plus, we'll cover key regulatory and geopolitical developments, offering concise insights into market forces.

Let’s jump in!

Before The Bell

Markets

• Stocks fell for the third straight week due to Middle East tensions, prolonged higher U.S. interest rates, lagging mega-cap tech shares, ASML Holdings' revenue miss, and ongoing struggles in small caps (TRP)

• STOXX Europe 600 fell 1.18% on Middle East tensions; DAX down 1.08%, FTSE MIB up 0.47%, CAC 40 stable, FTSE 100 declined 1.25%, with European bond yields rising (TRP)

• Japan's stock markets saw significant losses over the week, with the Nikkei 225 down 6.2% and the broader TOPIX Index losing 4.8%, also affected by concerns over declining AI-related demand (TRP)

Earnings & Data

• JPMorgan Chase and Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, who announced plans last year to sell 1 million shares in the lender, sold almost $33 million of stock on Monday, bringing his total sales to that level (BBG)

• Games Global, the UK-based maker of online casino-styled games, recorded a more than 80% jump in revenue in 2023, it revealed on Tuesday in its paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States (RT)

• Blackstone reports 1% rise in first-quarter earnings (RT)

• Weaker agricultural market conditions have forced rural services company PGG Wrightson (PGW) to cut its full-year earnings forecast by $7m (RNZ)

• Netflix posted its best start to the year since 2020, adding 9.33 million customers to the first quarter of 2024. The company delivered sales of $US9.33 billion, rising 15 per cent and beating estimates. Net income grew to $US2.33 billion, or $US5.28 a share, also above projections (AFR)

• Bitcoin slides below $60,000 on reports Israel strikes Iran (RT)

• Asian shares and bond yields sank on Friday while safe-haven currencies, gold and crude oil jumped after reports Israel attacked Iran in a continuing series of assaults that have increased concerns of a wider Middle East conflict (RT)

News Summary

Monday

• 'Lead the way on scams', banks tell Government (NBR)

• Student Cheng Yixuan phoned fiance minutes before Bondi stabbing (AFR)

• Iran says it gave warning before attacking Israel. US says that's not true (RT)

Tuesday

• Job cut proposals at the Ministry of Education are affecting those who work in the school lunch programme, RNZ understands (RNZ)

• New details have emerged about Sydney mall attacker Joel Cauchi’s Google search history in the lead-up to his stabbing spree that left six people dead (Herald)

• The general election is the largest democratic exercise ever - almost one in eight people in the world can vote (BBC)

Wednesday

• The Marlborough gymnastics coach who committed more than 250 offences against young athletes he coached and took away to competitions has been sent to prison for 15 years and nine months (Herald)

• The Federal Court has found stockbroker Adam Blumenthal’s market-rigging breaches of shares in cannabis start-up Creso Pharma were serious, deliberate and repeated (AFR)

• MPs have backed a plan to ban anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, effectively ensuring it will become law (BBC)

Thursday

• Veil of heavy regulation draped over NZ's cannabis clinics (NBR)

• Teen charged with terrorism over church stabbing (Stuff)

• Alpine Energy may face penalties following ComCom investigation (Stuff)

Friday

• The NZ government has committed $41 million to clean energy transition at the Asian Development Bank's Energy Transition Mechanism (RNZ)

• Macquarie pays $10m fine after failing to catch fraudulent withdrawals (AFR)

• Netflix to stop reporting subscriber tally as streaming wars cool (RT)

Weekend

• The controversial businessmen, a top restaurant and a $1.5m claim (Stuff)

• Private equity risks leaving ASX behind, RBA warns (AFR)

• US House passes $95 billion Ukraine, Israel aid package, sends to Senate (RT)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

Australia & New Zealand

• Kiwi Steelmasters acquired by ASX-listed Coventry for A$42m (NBR)

• Mark your calendars. Michael Lukin’s fast-growing investment firm Roc Partners is gearing up to raise $500 million for a new fund to bet on tomorrow’s winners (AFR)

• Australian coal miner to sell Russian mines, port in fire sale (AFR)

• Incitec Pivot fertiliser deal catches political heat (AFR)

• Outdoor advertising play Big Screen Video lights up for investors (AFR)

• UBS’s hedge fund sales desk was out making the most of a slow day on the ASX pushing Iress as a takeover target after Street Talk’s 5 March revelation that US private equity firm Thoma Bravo has enlisted Jarden for a potential tilt (AFR)

• Street Talk understands suitors are set to meet the $619 million-a-year businesses’ top brass, including boss Paul Scurrah and chief financial officer Keith Neate, in meetings that are to be held virtually in May (AFR)

• Street Talk understands the $US101 billion ($157 billion) global investment firm Vista Equity Partners has approached Australian software-as-a-service company CriticalArc, seeking to buy the outfit for up to $US37.5 million ($58.4 million) (AFR)

• UniSuper invests US$400 million into Macquarie green energy fund (NBR)
  

Key Global

• Prysmian to buy Encore Wire in $4.2 bln deal boosting N.America exposure (RT)

• International Paper Co. agreed to buy DS Smith Plc for £5.8 billion ($7.2 billion), besting rival suitor Mondi Plc in the battle for the UK packaging company. (BBG)

Other Global

• Deutsche Bank, Barclays in talks for National Group’s refi (AFR)

• BNP Paribas to acquire Fosun's 9% stake in Belgian insurer Ageas (RT)

• Volpara shareholders vote for South Korean takeover (NBR)

• Xpansiv spin-off pounds pavement with convertibles deal (AFR)

VC & Fundraising

• ShareChat’s valuation drops below $2 billion in new funding (TC)

• Pula raises $20M Series B to provide agricultural insurance to farmers in Africa, Asia and LatAm (TC)

• Business software startup Rippling is in talks to raise new funding at a valuation of between $13 billion and $14 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions (BBG)

Equity Raises

Key Global

• CVC Capital Partners revived plans for an initial public offering in Amsterdam, seeking to raise at least €1.25 billion ($1.3 billion) with its investors in a listing that potentially paves the way for other private equity firms to go public (BBG)

Other Global

• Marex Group Plc and a group of the London-based firm’s shareholders are seeking to raise as much as $323 million in a US initial public offering (BBG)

• Rubrik Inc., a cloud and data security startup backed by Microsoft Corp., is seeking to raise as much as $713 million in its initial public offering, as investor appetite for technology listings continues to rebound (BBG)

• China Vanke Co. is seeking to sell its entire stake in logistics firm GLP Pte, according to people familiar with the matter, as the state-backed developer seeks to amass cash to stave off a debt crisis (BBG)

• Executives at CVC closely watched the conflict in the Middle East over the weekend as they prepared to unveil the buyout group's IPO plans, launching the deal on Monday only after assessing markets' reaction to the latest spike in tensions (RT)

• Walmart-Backed Ibotta, Holders Raise $577 Million in IPO Priced Above Range (BBG)

• Defence biz DroneShield upsizes raise to $100m after strong demand (AFR)

Debt, Restructuring & Bankruptcy

• Two former BNP Paribas bankers have raised almost $100 million for a new fund which aims to unlock billions of dollars of funding for climate-aligned infrastructure projects in Africa (RT)

The Daily Deck is sponsored by Industrial Equity, LLC