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| Hello Insiders! Today's business newsletter covers: - Softbank reports a $3.3B net loss.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren calls on Goldman Sachs to publish the names of the bankers involved in the SVB deal.
- European Commission confirms it is investigating Adobe's $20B Figma acquisition bid.
Also, tell us how businesses can adapt to changing consumer behaviors and preferences here! If you find this newsletter helpful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Arbër
p/Arber | |
| 1 | | Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has called on Goldman Sachs to publish the names of the bankers involved in the Silicon Valley Bank deal. Goldman reportedly advised SVB to raise funds shortly before it went bankrupt. More: - Warren, who is a member of the Senate Banking Committee, expressed her requests through a public letter.
- In the letter, Warren requests that Goldman names the employees that were involved in advising SVB to raise capital and the employees involved in the debt purchase.
- Furthermore, Warren requests an investigation into whether these two teams communicated with each other before SVB's bankruptcy.
- The senator claims that Goldman Sach is set to earn around $60M from the purchase and the sale of the SVB debt portfolio, thus raising suspicion on whether advice from any Goldman employees could have helped push the company toward insolvency.
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| 2 | | What the numbers say: Softbank has reported a $3.3B Q1 net loss, missing Wall Street's profitability estimates. The trend could hurt the company's upward trajectory it had in 2021, after two years of a consecutive decrease in net sales. Softbank's $43.4B net sales in 2021 was the highest figure the company had reached since 2019. Relevance: Softbank is known for being one of the biggest investors in the tech space. Since 2017, the Japan-based firm has invested over $150B in tech companies, deploying as much as $1.5B in a single transaction. The company's financial situation is usually seen by other tech companies and employees as a barometer for the current status of the industry. More data: The company's investment losses across its three funds amount to $6.3B. The significant loss came as a result of declines in the share prices of Alibaba, Deutsche Telekom, and T-Mobile US, according to Softbank. The company said that its total commitment across Vision Fund 1 and 2 and its LatAm fund is $166.2B, with an acquisition cost of $146.6B. The flagship Vision Fund was profitable after five consecutive quarters of reporting a net loss. Addressing the current difficult macroeconomic conditions, SoftBank said that 94% of its portfolio companies currently have a cash runway of over 12 months. 
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| 3 | | The European Commission has confirmed it is investigating Adobe's $20B acquisition bid for Figma. The institution claims the acquisition would hinder global competition in the design software market. More: - Adobe announced the acquisition of Figma on Sept. 15, 2022. The deal was structured 50% in cash and 50% in stock.
- The European Commission is specifically investigating whether Adobe is removing its biggest competitor in the design software industry, considering the fact that Figma holds a significantly dominant position in the market.
- The deal is also under investigation by the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority and is being monitored by the FTC.
- The European Commission said it would announce its decision on this case by Dec. 14, 2023.
Zoom Out: - Adobe's Figma acquisition bid is not the only one that has been under investigation in recent months. Microsoft's $68B acquisition deal with Activision was the subject of investigation for several months. The deal was approved but with numerous stipulations.
- The European Commission is also investigating Amazon's $1.7B iRobot bid.
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| 4 | | Lucid has missed revenue expectations, reporting $150.9M in revenue compared to the $175M analysts expected. The EV manufacturer also reported $764M in net losses. More: - The company's net loss rose by more than $200M compared to 2022, when it reported a net loss of $555.3M.
- The EV maker delivered 1,404 Air Sedans in Q2, 600 fewer than analysts had expected.
- Lucid has $6.25B in available liquidity, which the company says provides a runway into 2025.
- Lucid raised $3B in a stock offering in May 2023. Most of the funding was secured from Saudi Arabia's Investment Fund, which already owns 60% of the company.
- At the beginning of 2023, Lucid expected to deliver up to 14,000 vehicles, a goal that it confirmed during yesterday's financial earning report.
- Following Tesla's price cuts, the company reduced the price of the base-model Air Pure to $82,400, a $5,000 cut, and the price of the higher-end Touring and Grand Touring by $12,400.
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| 5 | | Paramount announced that its streaming service, Paramount+, now has 61 million users. Paramount+ added around 700,000 subscribers in Q2, boosted by its integration with Showtime. More: - According to the company, viewing hours for both Paramount+ and Pluto TV increased by 35% globally.
- Paramount Global reported a total revenue of $1.67B for its direct-to-consumer service, with streaming adding $1.2B and advertising adding $400M.
- Paramount's Q2 total revenue was $7.6B, a 2% decrease compared to Q2 2022.
- The company recently raised prices for its Essential ad-supported plan from $4.99 to $5.99 per month, which contributed to an increase in revenue. Paramount+ also replaced its premium ad-free plan, which was previously priced at $9.99 per month, with a new plan priced at $11.99 per month.
Zoom Out: - Paramount also announced that it is selling its publishing unit, Simon & Schuster, to KKR for $1.62B.
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| 6 | | Revelstoke Capital Partners has closed a $1.7B fund to invest in healthcare and wellness companies. The company has $5.8B worth of assets under management. More: - Revelstoke invests in companies that have at least $5M in EBIDTA, with an average transaction commitment of $25M-$350M.
- The firm's portfolio includes healthcare companies that specialize in fields such as:
- Behavioral health,
- Healthcare education and training,
- Healthcare consumables and disposables,
- Pharma services, etc.
- Since its inception in 2013, Revelstoke has completed 184 acquisitions.
- Through its portfolio companies, the firm has hired around 40,000 people.
- Revelstoke is based in Denver, Colorado.
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- The European Central Bank has stated that consumers expect inflation over the next year to drop to 3.4%, down from 3.9% in June.
- Roper Technologies, a Florida-based industrial technology company, has acquired California-based enterprise management software provider Syntellis Performance Solutions for $1.25B.
- Snapchat's dark mode on Android will now be available without a paywall. Until now, the feature was available only with Snapchat+, which costs $3.99 per month.
- Bonuses for merger advisers are expected to decrease by as much as 25% in 2023, according to new research.
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Term of the Day Product-led growth (PLG): Product-led growth (PLG) is a marketing and sales strategy that focuses on using the product itself as the primary driver of growth. Question of the Week Do you think the 9-to-5 workday still relevant in today's modern workplace? Join the conversation |
INSIDE BUSINESS LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Writer | | Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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