Beer prices rise

Good Morning,

NZ deputy PM Carmel Sepuloni has said support is available for food, bedding and accommodation for those affected by the floods in Auckland, Australian beer prices are set for an increase, Australian treasurer Jim Chalmers has pledged to deliver values-based capitalism in Australia by revamping the markets & Perella Weinberg's London HQ has been searched as part of German insider trading investigation.

Watch out for some exciting announcements in the next couple of days!!

Lets jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose as investors welcomed signs of a potential soft landing (TRP)

• Shares in Europe gained after encouraging economic data helped to overcome concerns about monetary policy tightening. The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 index was up 0.67% (TRP)

• Japan's stock market was also up the Nikkei 225 index rising 3.12% (TRP)

• Australian and New Zealand stocks also finished the week up

Earnings

Last weeks earnings:

• Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) revealed a profit for its fourth quarter that increased from the same period last year but missed the Street estimates. The company's bottom line came in at $22 million, or $0.17 per share. This compares with $18 million, or $0.14 per share, in last year's fourth quarter (Nasdaq)

• Alerus Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: ALRS) reported net income of $10.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, or $0.53 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $9.6 million, or $0.47 per diluted common share, for the third quarter of 2022, and net income of $12.7 million, or $0.72 per diluted common share, for the fourth quarter of 2021 (Yahoo)

• American Airlines ’ fourth-quarter profit beat analysts’ expectations as strong travel demand and high fares buoyed results during a turbulent holiday season. Shares of American were down 2%, trading at around $16 on Thursday (CNBC)

• Excluding items, Amphenol Corp. reported adjusted earnings of $481.3 million or $0.78 per share for the period (RTT)

• ASML beats earnings forecasts and is forecasted to produce a 25% increase in 2023 sales (RT)

• Australian CPI rose to a higher than expected 7.8% YoY in December (9 News)

• The Australian Foundation Investment Co Ltd has reported revenues of $178.1 million AUD, up 10.1% over the previous corresponding period (Fool AU)

• AXIS Capital Holdings Limited posted a fourth-quarter 2022 operating income of $1.95 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by about 14.7% and beat our estimate of $1.55. The bottom line dropped 8.5% year over year (Nasdaq)

• Chevron posted disappointing Q4 results missing analyst expectations, just days after announcing a $75B (USD) buyback plan (BBG)

• In January 2023, DG ECFIN's flash estimate of the consumer confidence indicator continued its recovery, improving by 1.4 percentage points, improving by 1.4 percentage points in the EU and 1.1 percentage points in the euro area. At -22.4 (EU) and -20.9 (EA), however, consumer confidence remains at well below its long-term average (EFEC)

• Group 1 Automotive reported strong net income and revenue, driven in part by acquisition of smaller rivals (Automotive News)

• LVMH announced a 9% increase in sales for the final three months of the year (BBC)

• Microsoft posts better than expected results driven by its strength in cloud computing for the December quarter. Although, this has been offset by disappointing guidance for the March quarter (RT)

• New Zealand CPI remained steady at 7.2% YoY for the December quarter (Newshub)

• Origin Energy issued better than expected earnings guidance with as much as 20% increase in gross earnings for its energy markets business however the LNG update was mixed. Overall it was around a $250m (AUD) revision gain (AFR)

• Tesla’s strong orders and weak margins in its latest earnings have analysts conflicted on the stock (CNBC)

• U.S. GDP rose 2.9% in the fourth quarter, more than expected even as recession fears loom (CNBC)

• Verizon's fourth quarter earnings met expectations but were let down by sluggish growth predictions in 2023

• Zip, a buy now pay later company reported revenue of 188 million Australian dollars (US$132 million) for the three months through December, which it said was a record. It said the volume of transactions on its platform rose 22% on quarter to A$2.7 billion, with the number of transactions rising 15% on quarter to 22.6 million (MW)

This weeks earnings:

• Monday: NXP Semiconductors, Ryanair, trade balance (NZ),

• Tuesday: Spotify, Caterpillar, GDP (EU), retail sales & private sector credit (AU), manufacturing PMI & non manufacturing PMI (China),

• Wednesday: UBS, McDonalds,Meta, Pfizer, CPI (EU), CoreLogic dwelling (AU), unemployment rate (NZ), CPI (EU)

• Thursday: Apple, Alphabet, Fed decision (US), Bank of England decision, housing approvals (AU)

• Friday: Regeneron, ECB decision

News Summary

Monday

• The top 20 hedge fund firms collectively generated $22.4 billion USD in profit after fees last year, however Citadel's gain was the largest annual return for a hedge fund manager, surpassing the $15 billion that John Paulson generated in 2007 on his bet against subprime mortgages (BBG)

• Germany's foreign minister Anna Baerbock has said she "would not stand in the way" of Poland if they were to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine (BBC)

Tuesday

• Vic Books has shut after 48 years (Stuff)

• Grog bans have been put in place in Alice Springs to try and tackle the deteriorating law and order situation (AFR)

• The Crown Estate, a British commercial property portfolio historically belonging to the monarch, began court proceedings against Twitter over the tech giant’s alleged non-payment of rent in its London office (CNN)

Wednesday

• Laybuy shareholders rush to exit as Laybuy's shares plummet as they announce plans to be delisted from the ASX (NBR)

• The Kiwi-born Rocket Lab launches its first rocket from its United States pad without a hitch (NBR)

• The U.S and Germany are poised to provide heavy battle tanks to Ukraine (RT)

• U.S firm Hindenburg takes short position in Adani Group Companies causing Adani Groups stocks to fall (CNBC)

Thursday

• Leo Molloy prepares for a scrap with Good Spirits over licensing (NBR)

• The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has written to pet goods suppliers and other industry players, to investigate how Woolworths’ planned move in the sector could impact competition (AFR)

• The New York Stock Exchange said a manual error caused wild price swings and trading halts for hundreds of company stocks when the market opened on Tuesday (AFR)

Friday

• Officials are working to arrange a meeting between Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and his Australian counterpart, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (Herald)

• A state of emergency is now in place for Auckland, following confusion over an "imminent" declaration from Mayor Wayne Brown (Stuff)

• Independent budget airline Bonza has started selling tickets for its maiden flights from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland next week (9 News)

Weekend

• NZ deputy PM Carmel Sepuloni has said support is available for food, bedding and accommodation for those affected by the floods in Auckland (Stuff)

• Australian beer prices are set for an increase as the tax rate is being raised by the ATO. It will cost an average of $12 for a schooner (9 News)

• Australian treasurer Jim Chalmers has pledged to deliver values-based capitalism in Australia by revamping the markets, renovating institutions and urging the private sector to co-invest with the government (BBG)

• UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said significant tax cuts are unlikely in the budget as he set out his plan for the British economy (BBC)

• Perella Weinberg's London HQ has been searched as part of German insider trading investigation (BBG)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

• Britain's competition regulator said on Wednesday it had started the first phase of an investigation into U.S. chipmaker Broadcom Inc's $61B (USD) acquisition of cloud-computing firm VMware Inc (RT)

• Qatar is in talks to acquire a stake from French company TotalEnergies' $27B (USD) cluster of energy projects in Iraq, three sources told Reuters, as Baghdad hopes to stem efforts by Western energy companies to exit the country (RT)

• Xylem is set to acquire Evoqua in a $7.5B (USD) all-stock deal to tap demand for water (BBG)

• News Corp is in talk to sell its online real estate company Move Inc to CoStar Group Inc. The deal is predicted to be worth around $3B (USD) (BBG)

• Activist investor Elliot management Corp has made a multi-billion dollar investment into Salesforce Inc (RT)

• Perpetual chief executive Rob Adams has pledged to retain all Pendal's investment personnel, but warned overall headcount will reduce, after officially completing the $2B takeover of rival Pendal (AFR)

• Qiagen, a diagnostics group, is considering selling its minority stake in its bioinformatics division which could value the division at more than $1B (USD) (BBG)

• Iberdrola is looking to sell a portfolio of gas, wind and solar assets in Spain which could raise more than $700 million, three sources with knowledge of the plans told Reuters (RT)

• Gas explorer Norwest Energy has accepted a revised offer from Mineral Resources, ending a bitter battle between the joint venture partners. Under the revised offer, Mineral Resources offered one of its shares for every 1300 Norwest shares, valuing the smaller company’s stock at about 7.41¢ (AUD) a share, equating to $497m (AUD). Norwest shares had been trading at about 4.7¢ in the preceding three months (AFR)

• Mcwin has announced they have bought a majority stake in Germany's Italian themed restaurant chain L'Osteria for $434m (USD) (RT)

• WiseTech has the support of the Bank of America on it's $230m (USD) acquisition of US-based transport management system software provider Envase Technologies (AFR)

• Australia and Germany have earmarked A$50 million ($35.5 million USD) and 50 million euros ($54.4 million USD), respectively, towards a joint initiative to establish a green hydrogen supply chain, Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said on Friday (RT)

• Monde Nissin Corp, the largest instant noddle maker in the Philippines acquired a 15% stake in Philippine coffee chain Figaro Coffee Group for $15m (USD) (BBG)

• Bosch has agreed to increase its stake in Husqvarna to 12% in a move to strengthen their battery alliance (RT)

• British convenience store operator Bestway Group Ltd. has bought a 3.45% stake in J Sainsbury Plc and said it may look to buy more in a move that will prompt speculation about the future of the UK grocer (BBG)

• Goldman Sachs is considering financing Italy's top football league the Serie A (BBG)

• Hambo Perks SPAC is eyeing a merger with Istesso a biotech company (BBG)

• Danone, a global food company headquartered in Paris,  has put its US yogurt brands Wallaby and Horizon Organic under strategic review (BBG)

• Shell has launched a strategic review of its European energy retail unit (BBG)

• Plug Power has scraped its electrolysed plant partnership with Fortescue Metals after the economics didn't work out (RT)

• Tyro Payments has given Potentia Capital four weeks of due diligence in hopes of a “significantly improved proposal”, six weeks after it shut talks with its two suitors (AFR)

• US investment firm MSP Sports Capital is considering a potential investment in England’s Everton Football Club, people with knowledge of the matter said (BBG)

• Origin Energy suitor Brookfield hunts co-investors for equity cheque (AFR)

• Rogers Communications Inc's long battle to buy smaller rival Shaw Communications Inc overcame a major hurdle after the Canada Competition Bureau dropped plans to kill the deal following two defeats in courts in less than a month (RT)

• Morrison&Co and Brookfield-backed UnitiGroup is set to take on old sparring partner VocusGroup, now owned by Aware Super and Macquarie, and infrastructure funds in the battle for TPG Telecom’s Vision Network (AFR)

• The ownership of The National Business Review, New Zealand’s oldest business publication, is set to change with a new shareholder in the wings (Stuff)

• Strava acquires European 3D mapping platform Fatmap (TC)

• Israel's NewMed energyLP proposed merger with Capricorn Energy Plc is less likely to go forward as the UK company loses several board members including it's CEO (BBG)

• Justin Bieber sells music catalog to Blackstone-Backed Hipgnosis (BBG)

• Provider of global productivity software, Nitro Software’s proposed takeover is on, after the Takeovers Panel opted against acting on complaints from spurned suitor Potentia Capital (AFR)

• Westpac and Colonial First State are at an impasse over terms surrounding the bank’s sale of wealth management platform BT Panorama, as a fair price for the asset apparently remains a sticking point (AFR)

• Spanish power company Iberdrola is considering the sale of its stake in its US renewables business (RT)

• Brookfield and EIG's exclusivity period has lapsed with Origin Energy meaning their is the possibility of rival bids or other restructuring options to be pitched (AFR)

• Hedge funds have further backed off Breville after a rating upgrade and strong sales numbers at Myer (AFR)

• NZX-listed recruitment firm Accordant Group has purchased executive search firm Hobson Leavy (NZX)

• Auckland Real Estate Trust has announced plans to delist from the NZX and ASX. It will pay out minority investors at net asset value (NBR)

• The private equity firm KKR, which already owns biscuit maker Arnott's, is keen to stitch up a deal for Kraft Heinz Australia Pty Ltd (AFR)

VC & Fundraising

• Venture capital fund Square Peg Capital increases it's holdings by 7%, taking it's total assets to $US2.6 billion (AFR)

• Bill Gates has joined a slew of billionaires investing in an Australian climate technology startup that has plans to disrupt to methane-emitting animal agriculture industry with a lab-grown feed additive. Breakthrough Energy Ventures LLC, led by the Microsoft Corp. founder took part in a $12m Phase 2 seed funding round for Rumin8 Pty, according to a statement on Monday. The Perth based firm is developing a supplement for livestock made form synthetically-replicated bromoform, the active ingredient found in a red seaweed (BBG)

• Dubai-based Wafec raises $3 million in seed funding and is exploring opportunities to expand into Egypt and double down on existing markets (TC)

• Start up founders turn to equity crowdfunding as venture capital poses a tighter funding market (AFR)

Equity Raises

• Middle Eastern investors including International Holding Co PJSC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are bidding to buy stock in the $2.5B (USD) follow-on share sale floated by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s flagship, according to people familiar with the matter. (BBG)

• United Internet AG and Warburg Pincus said the initial public offering of Ionos Group will raise gross proceeds of as much as €543m ($590m USD) when the web hosting business lists in Frankfurt (BBG)

• The Market Herald, which owns online stock forum HotCopper, will issue new stock to raise $15m (AUD) (AFR)

• Pakistan's biggest cooking oil manufacturer Dalda Foods Limited looks to raise $14m (USD) in 2023 IPO (BBG)

• New Zealand based property syndicate Centuria Penrose seeks to raise $8.6m for a swap contract to defend against rising costs (NBR)

• Stripe has hired JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs to explore options for raising liquidity (BBG)

• Reddit Inc makes several changes to its executive ranks and adds Chief Revenue Officer a year after filing for an IPO (BBG)

• Goldman Sachs and BOFA have relinquished their roles on Adnoc's IPO which is set to be one of Abu Dhabi's biggest listings (BBG)

• Virgin Australia is set to return to public markets in 2023 via an IPO and will have start interviewing banks this week (BBG)

• The lithium rally has added weight to Mineral Resources spinning off their lithium assets (AFR)

• Airbus SE is seeking outside investment for its high altitude solar-powered drone program called Zephyr in order to accelerate the commercialisation of the technology. The plane-maker has hired Morgan Stanley to lead to the process of finding investors, a spokesman said in an email (BBG)

Debt & Restructuring

• D&Z Media Acquisition Corp has decided to liquidate after raising $287.5m (USD) in 2021. The company expects the pay out to be $10.17 per share (BBG)

• IFM Investors' private equity team locked and loaded its $330m (AUD) debt package to finance its acquisition of Crescent Capital backed radiology business PRP Diagnostic Imaging (AFR)

• Mattress maker Serta Simmons files for chapter 11 bankruptcy as it seeks to cut debt down to $300m (USD) (BBG)

• Sun Cable announces short term $65m (AUD) funding package to help pay it's bills until a new owner is found (AFR)

• Goldman Sachs agrees to sell around $31m (USD) of its Morrisons debt. A fraction of the $40 billion of debt stuck on banks balance sheets (BBG)

• TUI AG has picked banks to arrange a rights offering to help repay part of a German government bailout package, people familiar with the matter said (BBG)

• Holders of bonds issued by the supermarket group Asda are worried as the EG Group Ltd.'s deal would saddle Asda with more debt which could cause a fall in ratings (BBG)

Daily Picks

Want to know more about the Adani short selling then check this article out by Bloomberg

How is banking changing with the rise of sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East, if you are interested to find out check this out

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