The Explorers (of Their Strategic Options)

Good afternoon!

In today’s letter: A handful of (mostly) struggling companies announce they are exploring their strategic options including going private or pursuing a sale (or bankruptcy of course), Splunk & Cisco move closer to the finish line, and JetBlue gets stuck in the takeoff queue.

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This daily newsletter, sent each trading day, will feature a curated summary of the action across IPOs (and other listings) - including rumors, pricings, and performance tracking, as well as public M&A news including daily stats, deal announcements & updates for mid-cap+ transactions and prominent companies. Our aim is to keep you informed on the biggest special events in the US public market.

Note that all market data presented is based on the previous trading session’s closing prices (Oct 30).

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Let’s get into it.

General Market Headlines

• Biden administration aims to cut AI risks with executive order — Reuters

• Jeep Maker Stellantis ($STLA) Says It Lost $3 Billion of Revenue Due to UAW Strike — WSJ

• Stocks rebound to start week, Dow rallies 500 points for best day since June — CNBC

• Zombie firms are filing for bankruptcy as the Fed commits to higher rates — CNBC

• Tesla ($TSLA) Erases $145 Billion in Valuation on Demand Woes — Bloomberg

Pricings/ Filings

• Alpha Technology Group ($ATGL) prices its IPO at $4 per share. — PR

 🗞️ IPO & Other Listing News ($1B+ / Prominent)

Potential IPO Company News

• Shein buys Missguided brand from Britain's Frasers — Reuters

• BlackBerry CEO John Chen to Exit With Software Company Planning Split — Bloomberg

General IPO Commentary & Post-IPO Coverage

• New listing flops drain optimism for IPO market revival — FT

  • Snippet: Several listings have been put off. French software company Planisware and German military contractor Renk halted their plans while companies that had hoped to list in the US in October, such as car-sharing group Turo, have also been delayed.

    “Everyone is revisiting plans,” said Matthew Witheiler, an investor at the $1tn asset manager Wellington Management who specialises in late-stage private companies. “There were companies in my portfolio planning [to list] as early as December, with confidential filings, that are ready to go, and they are revising given everything that has gone on. Why rush out the door?”

• SEC alleges SolarWinds ($SWI) and key executive misled investors about cybersecurity prior to ‘massive’ cyberattack — CNBC

📈 2023 IPO Trading Stats

Daily Moves of the $5B+ (Daily % Chg. among 2023 IPOs with $5B+ Market Cap — 5 total this year)

Deal Announcements / Terminations / Closings

After the mega MSFT & Activision deal closed last week, here’s a list of the largest public M&A deals that are still pending, in case you forgot:

• Broadcom ($AVGO) & VMWare: $69B

• Exxon ($XOM) & Pioneer ($PXD): $64B

• Chevron ($CVX) & Hess ($HES): $60B

• Pfizer ($PFE) & Seagen ($SGEN): $43B

• Kroger ($KR) & Albertsons ($ACI): $25B

🗞️ News

Talks / Rumors and Other Potential Deals

• Pipe and Fittings Distributor MRC ($MRC) Global Explores Potential Sale — Bloomberg

• China Buyout Firm Ascendent Resumes Pursuit of Hollysys ($HOLI) — Bloomberg

• Velo3D ($VLD) Explores Strategic Options Including Sale — Bloomberg

• Cytokinetics exploring options after receiving takeover interest— Reuters by way of… you guessed it, Bloomberg.

Deal Coverage and Updates

• US seeks to block JetBlue ($JBLU), Spirit Airlines ($SAVE) merger at trial — Reuters

• Splunk ($SPLU) sets Nov 29 as the meeting for shareholder approval of its $28B sale to Cisco — SF

• Denbury ($DEN) shareholders approve merger with Exxon Mobil ($XOM) — Reuters

General M&A Commentary / Post M&A Coverage

• X says it is worth $19bn one year after Elon Musk’s $44bn acquisition — FT

  • Snippet: Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has valued its equity at $19bn, the company told employees, a year after Elon Musk acquired it in a $44bn deal. In an internal note sent to staffers on Monday, the company said it was awarding equity, or restricted stock units, to employees at $45 a share, according to two people familiar with the matter. Based on the employee equity plan, that gives it a valuation of around $19bn, the document said.

    The new valuation, first reported by Fortune, comes a year after Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and Tesla chief executive, acquired the company for $44bn, including $13bn of debt, just before a tech stock sell-off.

📈 Live Merger Trading Stats

Daily Gainers & Losers — By Daily % Chg. among the parties (Targets/Acquirers) of active mergers valued at $5B+

SPAC Action

• Ares Acquisition Corporation ($AAC) and X-energy, a modular nuclear reactor company, mutually terminate their planned merger. The SPAC now intends to liquidate. — PR

• Artemis Strategic Investment ($ARTE) & Danam Health mutually agreed to terminate the merger agreement and ARTE will liquidate. — SF

• Forbion European Acquisition Corp. ($FRBN) & enGene are expected to close their business combination today. — SF

🗞️ News

De-SPAC Updates

• Sunlight Financial ($SUNL) Files for Chapter 11, Inks Sale to Investors — Bloomberg

  • Snippet: Sunlight Financial Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US after arranging a deal to be bought by a solar energy industry investor group that includes a lender. The buyers include an affiliate of Greenbacker Capital Management, Sunstone Credit, IGS Ventures and secured lender Cross River Bank, according to a Monday statement from the company, which provides homeowner loans for rooftop solar panel

    Investors sued Apollo and other architects of the blank-check merger earlier this year, claiming shareholders were duped into participating in a deal that made millions for insiders.

• Benson Hill ($BHIL) announced it is evaluating strategic alternatives including going private. — PR

• WeWork ($WE) to withhold interest payment on some notes — Reuters

• Getty Images ($GETY) Warrant Holders Win $88 Million in SPAC Deal Fight — Bloomberg Law

📈 De-SPAC Trading Stats

Daily De-SPAC Gainers & Losers — Top 3 & Bottom 3 (By Daily % Chg. among 2019- De-SPACs)

De-SPAC Best and Worst Performers from IPO Price — Top 3 & Bottom 3 (By Return from IPO Price among 2019- De-SPACs)* 

*only includes companies still trading (not delisted, whether acquired or bankrupt/defunct)

Notable Delistings, Bankruptcies

Delistings/ Suspensions

• Audacy ($AUD) lost its appeal and will be delisted by NYSE due to “abnormally low price levels”. — PR

Bankruptcy News

• Bankruptcy: grave-dancing bankers and lawyers gird for fee bonanza — FT

The People’s Takes — Memes and More from the Interwebs