THE CHRISTMAS RUSH IS ON

Good morning,

Citigroup is finally trading above its book value, SpaceX is eyeing a $1T valuation, and private equity firms are leaning hard on the secondaries market for cash. Meanwhile, regulators are relaxing post-2008 lending rules, and Wells Fargo is flexing its muscles with a massive financing deal for Netflix.

Getting started.

The Pulse

Markets

US stocks rallied on Friday, fueled by solid inflation data and a bump in consumer sentiment.
- The S&P 500 notched its fourth straight winning day.
- The VIX is hovering near year-to-date lows.
US Treasuries had their worst week since April, with the MOVE index hitting lows not seen since early 2021.
Canada's 5-year yield jumped to its highest level since August on strong jobs data.
The Canadian Dollar posted its biggest gain since May.
The Korean Won is trading near a 16-year low, making it Asia's worst performer in Q4. Officials are blaming retail traders buying US stocks.

Earnings

Victoria's Secret delivered a beat-and-raise quarter, proving its turnaround strategy is working. (BBG)
This week's lineup:
- Tuesday: Campbell's, GameStop, Cracker Barrel
- Wednesday: Oracle, Adobe
- Thursday: Broadcom, Costco, lululemon
See the full calendar here.

Prediction Markets

Traders are betting on the timeline and valuation of the highly anticipated SpaceX IPO.
Trade your odds on Polymarket.

Headline Hunt

The Fed's favorite inflation gauge, the PCE index, rose 2.8% year-over-year. (CNBC)
US consumer sentiment ticked up for the first time in five months. (BBG)
Japan's GDP contracted by 2.3% in the third quarter. (BBG)
Global M&A volume has topped $3.3T, putting 2025 on track to be the best year since 2021. (BBG)
Half of private equity firms are turning to the secondaries market for liquidity. (P&I)
Trump warned that the Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery deal could face antitrust hurdles. (BBG)
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos personally lobbied Trump ahead of the bid. (BBG)
The $5.8B breakup fee in the Netflix-WBD deal is the largest ever recorded. (BBG)
Wells Fargo jumped to No. 4 in the M&A league tables thanks to the Netflix deal. (BBG)
Citigroup is trading above its book value for the first time in seven years. (BBG)
A new lawsuit is shining a light on conflicts of interest in PE secondaries. (AX)
EQT is trying to calm LP nerves over its new fee strategy. (BBG)
OpenAI has gone from market savior to potential liability as risks mount. (BBG)
Orlando Bravo warns that FOMO in private markets over AI will lead to mistakes. (BBG)
Wall Street is racing to reduce exposure to AI-related debt. (BBG)
Stock funds are up 13% year-to-date. (WSJ)
Millennium and Jane Street are anchoring Hong Kong IPOs as the market heats up. (BBG)
US regulators are relaxing post-2008 leveraged lending rules. (RT)
European CEOs are bearish on Europe and favor US investment. (RT)
Europe is pressing ahead with its Big Tech crackdown, defying Trump. (RT)
Korean regulators are blaming retail traders for the Won's slide. (BBG)
MSCI launched a new index combining global stocks and private equity. (FT)
Sequoia doesn't want a "king" running its $9B hedge fund. (WSJ)
Gold ETF inflows continue to shatter records. (BBG)
Invesco fell short of the votes needed to flip QQQ into an ETF. (BBG)
Carvana is joining the S&P 500. (BBG)
UBS may cut another 10,000 jobs. (RT)
The Supreme Court will hear a high-stakes birthright citizenship case. (BBG)
Lando Norris is the 2025 F1 World Champion. (ESPN)

The Deal Room

M&A / Investments

Netflix will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in an $82.7B deal.
Biocon agreed to buy out minority shareholders in Biocon Biologics at a $5.5B valuation.
ITT agreed to acquire SPX Flow from Lone Star in a $4.5B deal.
Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds, and RBC are in talks to acquire Evelyn Partners (valued at $3.3B).
Brookfield and GIC agreed to acquire National Storage REIT for $2.7B.
SoftBank is in talks to acquire DigitalBridge.
EQT, PAI Partners, and Stone Point are bidding for Global Group (valued at $2.3B).
Advent's talks to acquire Whirlpool's India unit collapsed.
Telecom Plus is in talks to acquire Ovo's retail energy business for $534M.
India's NIIF is considering selling its stake in IntelliSmart at a $500M valuation.
Anheuser-Busch agreed to acquire a majority stake in BeatBox for $490M.
KKR will invest in Compass Datacenters.
Poste Italiane is weighing a sale of its broadband unit.
Z Capital is considering merging Affinity Interactive with other portfolio companies.
Antenna is in talks to acquire Gedi Gruppo Editoriale.
Sembcorp is in talks to acquire Alinta Energy.
KKR is in talks to acquire a majority stake in Arctos Partners.
Meta acquired Limitless.
iFood is seeking to acquire Ticket.
26North Partners agreed to acquire a majority stake in Middleby's kitchen unit at an $885M valuation.

Venture Flow

SpaceX is selling secondary shares at an $800B valuation.
Cristiano Ronaldo invested in Perplexity.
Castelion raised $350M Series B led by Altimeter and Lightspeed.
ICEYE raised $233M Series E at a $2.8B valuation led by General Catalyst.
Harvey raised $160M Series F at an $8B valuation led by a16z.
N3XT raised $72M from Paradigm and others.
Digital Asset raised $50M from strategic investors.
Modo Energy raised $33M Series B led by Molten Ventures.

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

SpaceX plans to IPO in H2 2026 at an $800B valuation.
Warner Bros. Discovery will spin off CNN and TNT before the Netflix deal closes.
ICICI Prudential is seeking to raise $1.2B in its India IPO.
Clear Street plans to IPO at a $10B-$12B valuation.
Kunlunxin (Baidu's AI chip unit) is planning a Hong Kong IPO.
Moore Threads surged 425% in its debut after raising $1.1B.
EcoCeres is considering a Hong Kong IPO.
HoldCo Asset Management took a $140M stake in KeyCorp and is pushing for changes.
Algeria plans to IPO three more companies next year.

The Debt Desk

Netflix secured a $59B bridge loan from Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas, and HSBC.
Argentina plans to sell a dollar bond.
South Africa raised $3.5B in a dollar-bond sale.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley raised the yield on Sevita Whole Health's bond offering.
PIMCO is in talks to buy a Spanish mortgage portfolio for $525M.
MHP is gauging interest for a corporate bond sale.

Bankruptcy Watch

First Brands' bankruptcy hit a snag over payment confusion.
Vanke proposed delaying another bond repayment.
Canacol Energy is negotiating a short-term loan.
American Airlines filed a notice in Spirit's bankruptcy.
Altice International asked creditors for cooperation agreement details.
Ethiopia plans to finish debt restructuring by 2026.

Fresh Capital

Igneo is raising $4.7B for its fourth infrastructure fund.
Igneo closed its third fund at $6.1B.
Allianz Global Investors raised $1.4B for credit secondaries.
Truelink Capital is raising $1.5B for its second fund.
Lulu Cheng Meservey raised a $40M VC fund.
Millennium and WorldQuant are considering a new hedge fund structure.
Energy & Minerals Group halted its $800M continuation fund after a lawsuit from Mubadala.

Crypto Corner

BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF saw its longest streak of weekly outflows.
Bitcoin is on track to diverge from stocks for the first time since 2014.
Shares of 'crypto treasury' firms are down 43% year-to-date.

Today’s Meme Pick

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