FTX Goes Shopping Amid Market Turmoil

This article’s GIF essentially represents FTX Founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried pulling up to every struggling company right now. 😏

The highly-capitalized crypto exchange has been on a shopping spree amid the market turmoil, providing cash-strapped firms with a lifeline…for a price. 🏷️

Last week, FTX agreed to provide crypto lender BlockFi with a $250 million revolving credit facility and then started talks to acquire part of the firm just days later. 

Additionally, Bankman-Fried’s quantitative trading firm Alameda provided Voyager Digital with $500 million. 💰

Now, rumors are flying that the company is considering a takeover of Robinhood, which has fallen from a $60 billion valuation last August down to $7 billion today. 📉

FTX diversified its business into stock trading just last month, so making a meal of a struggling competitor doesn’t seem that far-fetched.

$HOOD shares were up 14% in the regular session but fell 5% after hours following FTX’s denied any M&A talks with the company.

Whether a deal comes to fruition remains to be seen. What’s clear is that rumors will likely stick around as long as FTX continues to throw its weight around. 💪

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Dealmakers Rush Before Quarter End

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The world’s largest industrial property real estate investment trust, Prologis, owns 1.2 billion square feet in 19 countries. And it’s about to get even bigger. The company announced today it’s buying a portfolio of U.S. warehouses and distribution properties for $3.1 billion. It signals that industrial properties remain strong in an otherwise shaky commercial property industry. 🏗️

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Biotech Builds Buyout Momentum

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First up is Macy’s, which saw shares soar 20% on reports that the 165-year-old retailer is considering a buyout offer from Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management. It’s unclear how the company’s board feels about the offer, but clearly, these firms have value in Macy’s real estate. Analysts speculate that the investor group may sell off real estate and spin off its e-commerce business to deliver short-term gains. However, that would come at the expense of the core retail business people know and love it for. 🏬

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An M&A-Filled Monday

It was a busy day for dealmaking activity, so let’s quickly review.

Regional banks were buoyed after PacWest Bancorp said it would sell a portfolio of real estate construction loans to shore up its balance sheet. The company will sell 74 loans with an aggregate principal outstanding of $2.6 billion to a unit of Kennedy-Wilson Holdings. It’s also selling them six additional loans with an aggregate balance of around $363 million. While the deal comes at a discount, investors are celebrating PacWest’s steps toward improving its liquidity position. 💵

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