Today's Finance Pulse
Cemex secures $3 bn revolving credit facility
Cemex signed a five‑year, US$3 bn syndicated revolving credit facility to fund general corporate purposes, including refinancing existing obligations. The loan imposes a maximum consolidated leverage ratio of 3.75× net debt to EBITDA and a minimum coverage ratio of 2.75× EBITDA.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Pemberton Asset Management closes $3.7bn fourth vintage fund
Full-Life Technologies Secures $150 Million Series D to Scale Radiotherapeutics Platform
Full-Life Technologies closed a $150 million financing package—$110 million in Series D equity and $40 million in debt—led by Vivo Capital and a slate of strategic investors. The capital will accelerate its alpha‑emitting radiotherapeutics pipeline and bring a GMP‑grade manufacturing site in Belgium online, underscoring growing private‑equity interest in advanced cancer therapies.
Qualtrics Closes $6.75 B Deal for Press Ganey Forsta, Expands Into Healthcare
Qualtrics completed a $6.75 billion acquisition of Press Ganey Forsta, giving it access to more than 41,000 U.S. hospitals and the largest AI‑powered healthcare experience dataset. The deal closed despite a turbulent financing environment that saw a $5.3 billion debt package lose...
Intel Closes to Oracle with $8 B Market‑cap Gap, Reshaping Enterprise Hardware Hierarchy
Intel's market value rose to $546.7 billion, leaving a $8.3 billion gap with Oracle's $554.9 billion valuation. The chipmaker's AI‑related revenue jump and a strong Q1 earnings beat have accelerated the catch‑up, while Oracle leans on cloud contracts worth $553 billion.
Standard Chartered to Trim Over 15% of Corporate Jobs by 2030
Standard Chartered Plc said it will eliminate over 15% of corporate‑functions positions by 2030 as it rolls out a sustainable medium‑term profitability plan. The move follows the bank’s early achievement of its 2026 financial targets and aims to boost productivity...
Beam Global Posts $6.9 M Q1 Loss as Revenue Plunges 51% but Backlog Jumps 50%
Beam Global (BEEM) posted a $6.9 million net loss for the first quarter of 2026, with revenue slashing 51% to $3.1 million. The company said a 50% surge in backlog to $9 million and a stronger Q2 pipeline could stabilize the business, but...
Astron Secures $73.5 Million Series A to Build China’s First Reusable Rocket
Beijing‑based Astron announced a 500 million‑yuan ($73.5 million) Series A round, bringing total funding to 1 billion yuan ($147 million). The cash will fund development of its AS‑1 reusable carrier rocket, with a maiden flight targeted for early 2027.
Chime CEO: Pursuing Bank Charter Is ‘a when, Not If’
Chime’s CEO Chris Britt told investors that obtaining a U.S. bank charter is a matter of "when," not "if," as the fintech re‑evaluates timing amid a regulator‑friendly climate. The company currently serves about 10.2 million monthly active members and partners with...
SEC Proposes Transformative Reforms to Help Public Companies Conduct Registered Offerings and Simplify Reporting Requirements
The SEC announced sweeping rule proposals aimed at modernizing registered offerings and simplifying public‑company reporting. The reforms would let more issuers use shelf offerings, preempt state securities registration, and expand broker‑dealer research coverage. They also raise the large‑accelerated filer threshold...
GSE Loans Shift to Private Label for Better Returns
Mortgage‑backed securities professionals are moving government‑sponsored entity (GSE) loans into private‑label securities to capture better economics, according to remarks at the MBA Secondary and Capital Markets Conference. JPMorgan’s John Sim highlighted that higher loan‑to‑value (LTV) ratios and non‑qualified mortgage products,...
Danone Exits Stake in Lifeway Foods
Danone announced it will divest its 22.7% stake in Lifeway Foods, selling the shares for $19.50 each. The price is markedly lower than the $27 per share Danone offered in a 2024 acquisition bid. Lifeway recently reported record quarterly sales...
What I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before I Started Scaling My Business
Entrepreneurs who rush to scale often ignore basic financial discipline, leading to cash‑flow crises. The article stresses three non‑negotiable habits: separating personal and business accounts from day one, tracking every expense to calculate true profit margins, and holding a monthly...
Value Creation and Post-Deal Due Diligence More Important with Longer Hold Periods; Blackstone Injects $5 Billion Into JV with Google
Private‑equity firms are extending investment horizons, prompting advisers to stress value‑creation initiatives and rigorous post‑deal due diligence. Longer hold periods mean portfolio companies must generate sustainable growth beyond the typical three‑to‑five‑year window. Blackstone announced a $5 billion investment in a joint...
SERB Pays €115 Million for Hansa Biopharma’s Idefirix Rights in Europe and MENA
SERB Pharmaceuticals agreed to buy exclusive rights to Hansa Biopharma's kidney‑transplant drug Idefirix across Europe and the MENA region for €115 million ($124 million). The deal includes an upfront €110 million payment and a €5 million contingent payment tied to EMA approval, positioning SERB...
Doosan Group Nears $3.3 B Deal to Acquire 70% of SK Siltron, Expanding Into Wafer Production
Doosan Group is poised to sign a stock purchase agreement for a 70.6% stake in SK Siltron, valued at roughly $3.3 billion. The move adds front‑end wafer production to Doosan’s existing testing, packaging and materials businesses, positioning the conglomerate for the...
Thales Appoints Former Nissan CFO Jérémie Papin as Senior Finance and IT Chief
Thales announced that Jérémie Papin will take over as Senior Executive Vice-President, Finance and Information Systems on July 1, 2026, succeeding retiring CFO Pascal Bouchiat. Papin arrives from Nissan, where he oversaw finance, M&A and information systems, and will sit on Thales’...
UBS Raises Broadcom Target to $490 After Slashing Anthropic Revenue Forecast
UBS lifted its Broadcom (AVGO) price target to $490 from $475 while trimming its Anthropic-related revenue outlook. The Swiss bank says the deal’s new ASIC structure boosts margins, keeping its bullish case alive despite lower top‑line forecasts.
Analog Devices Eyes $1.5 Bn Cash Acquisition of AI Chipmaker Empower Semiconductor
Analog Devices, Inc. is in advanced negotiations to purchase AI‑chip specialist Empower Semiconductor for roughly $1.5 bn in cash. The deal would add Empower’s FinFast power‑management technology to ADI’s portfolio as data‑center AI spending accelerates.
EXEC: West Marine Files for Bankruptcy, Store Closures Expected
West Marine, the nation’s largest boating and fishing retailer, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware, listing assets and liabilities each between $500 million and $1 billion. The filing cites $166.7 million in future lease obligations and $119.9 million in unpaid trade liabilities as primary drivers...
Anglo Exits Australian Steelmaking Coal for up to $3.9B
Anglo American has agreed to sell its entire Australian steelmaking coal portfolio to UK‑based Dhilmar Limited for up to $3.875 billion. The transaction values the assets at a price‑to‑last‑value breakeven of $295 per tonne, roughly 25% above current market levels. The...
SSAB Boosting Protection Steels with New Quenching Line in Oxelösund
Swedish steelmaker SSAB announced a SEK 3.3 billion ($300 million) investment to build a new quenching‑and‑tempering line at its Oxelösund plant, slated for commissioning in 2030. The line will add roughly 100 000 tonnes of annual capacity, targeting its premium Hardox® 500 Tuf wear steel and...
Blackstone and Google Launch $5 B AI Cloud Venture to Deploy Custom TPUs
Blackstone and Google announced a $5 billion joint venture to create a U.S.-based AI cloud company that will offer Google’s custom Tensor Processing Units as a compute‑as‑a‑service. The venture aims to bring 500 MW of data‑center capacity online in 2027, signaling deep...
US Lenders Write Down Up to 85% on Distressed Commercial‑Real‑Estate Loans
Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and other lenders are taking up to 85% write‑downs on troubled commercial‑real‑estate loans, confronting more than $130 billion of distressed debt. The move ends a three‑year “extend‑and‑pretend” era and could reshape financing for office and multifamily assets.
Japan Plans Massive Bond Issue to Fund Gasoline Subsidies, JGB Yields Spike to 2.8%
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ordered Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama to draft a supplementary budget that will be financed by a multi‑trillion‑yen sovereign bond issuance for gasoline subsidies. The move sent Japan’s 10‑year government bond yield to 2.8%, its highest level...
Berkshire Hathaway’s Cash Pile Swells to $397 B After Q1, Raising Questions on Large‑Cap Capital Use
Berkshire Hathaway announced a $397.4 billion cash and short‑term Treasury balance at the close of Q1 2026, adding $24 billion from the prior quarter. The surge reflects continued equity sales and a disciplined, counter‑cyclical capital strategy under new CEO Greg Abel, and...
India’s 360 ONE Seeks up to $500 Million for Private Credit Fund
India’s 360 ONE Asset Management is seeking up to $500 million for its sixth private‑credit fund, which could launch as early as June. The fund will target wealthy Indian individuals, family offices and overseas institutions to finance mid‑sized companies, acquisition deals, refinancing...
NextEra Energy to Acquire Dominion in $400B All-Stock Deal, Shares Jump and Slip
NextEra Energy agreed to buy Dominion Energy in an all‑stock transaction valued at roughly $400 billion, creating the largest regulated U.S. utility. Dominion stock surged 14.5% in pre‑market trading while NextEra fell about 4% after the announcement. The deal, which gives...
Bank of America Lifts Dell Target to $280, Marking Second Upgrade in Three Weeks
Bank of America raised its Dell Technologies price target to $280 on May 18, up from $246 and following an April 27 upgrade. The move reflects Dell's surging AI‑server backlog, record revenue growth and strong analyst consensus, even as UBS...
Analysts Question $1.75 T SpaceX IPO as Valuation Expert Says $1.22 T Is More Realistic
New York University finance professor Aswath Damodaran estimates SpaceX’s worth at $1.22 trillion, contrasting sharply with the company’s own $1.75 trillion target for its upcoming IPO. The gap fuels a heated debate among investors about whether the launch‑service and satellite‑internet giant is...
Why AI Still Feels Hard for Finance Teams
In this episode of CFO Weekly, Alex Curran, CEO of Aptitude Software, explains that the biggest barrier to AI adoption in finance is not the AI models themselves but outdated finance architecture built on batch‑processed ERPs that create fragmented, delayed...
Company Nears ₹35,000‑Crore SBI Loan for 4G, 5G Expansion
Fundraising Progress: The company is reportedly in advanced discussions with a State Bank of India (SBI)-led consortium for a massive ₹35,000-crore loan to fund 4G expansion and 5G rollout.
Tortilla Mexican Grill Admits Multi-Million Accounting Blunder
Tortilla Mexican Grill, an AIM‑listed hospitality chain, revealed a £2.5 million (≈$3.2 million) accounting error in its French operations that caused it to overstate 2025 profits and breach debt covenants. The disclosure sent the stock down 12% to 64p in early London...
STG Logistics – Reorg Plan Receives Court Approval, ‘Clearing Path to Emergence’
STG Logistics Inc. received court approval for its Chapter 11 reorganization plan, clearing the way for emergence in the coming weeks. The plan will trim more than $1 billion of funded debt and unlock the final $25 million of a previously pledged $150 million...
The Muni Brief: NYC's Pied-À-Terre Tax>
New York City faces a $12.6 billion two‑year budget gap, with a $2.2 billion shortfall in FY2026 and a $10.4 billion deficit in FY2027. The city’s proposed pied‑à‑terre tax would surcharge properties over $5 million owned by non‑residents, targeting roughly 13,000 homes and generating...
S&P Global Launches $2 Bn Private Senior Notes for Mobility Global Spin‑off
S&P Global announced a $2 bn private offering of senior notes by its newly formed Mobility Global holding company, slated to finance the spin‑off of its mobility data business. The three‑tranche issuance, due 2029, 2031 and 2036, will also support a...
Blue Owl Capital Issues Second $400 Million Investment‑Grade Bond in a Month
Blue Owl Capital’s private‑credit vehicle sold a $400 million, five‑year investment‑grade bond at a 2.3% spread over Treasuries, tightening by 0.3 percentage points from earlier talks. The issuance follows a similar $400 million sale to Pacific Investment Management a month earlier and...
Top CIO Warns AI Stock Valuations Are Unsustainable, Cautions on Growth Expectations
Brad Conger, chief investment officer at Hirtle Callaghan, told Barron’s Streetwise that current AI stock valuations assume 100% annual growth for a decade—an unrealistic scenario. He cautioned CIOs that while AI is a lasting technology, pricing must reflect achievable growth,...
Discovery Bank Deploys AI to Double App Engagement, Cut Latency 60%
Discovery Bank has launched Discovery AI, an always‑on generative‑AI engine built on Azure OpenAI and Databricks, that slashes response latency by more than half and pushes personalized next‑best‑action engagement to 70% of its users. The rollout marks a shift from...
UK Bank, FCA and Treasury Unveil AI Resilience Framework for Financial Firms
The Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority and the UK Treasury have published a joint AI resilience framework that obliges banks and other financial institutions to tighten board oversight, cyber‑security investment and third‑party risk management. The guidance warns that...
Mastercard and JD.com Ink Deal to Enhance Global Commerce Ecosystem
Mastercard and JD.com have signed a strategic partnership to build a more connected, secure and intelligent commerce ecosystem. The collaboration will create a global payment infrastructure supporting JD.com’s international expansion and broaden card acceptance for travelers in China. It also...
Expedia to Acquire CarTrawler for $350 Million, Boosting B2B Travel Services
Expedia Group is set to buy Irish B2B ground‑transportation platform CarTrawler for $350 million (€300 million). The deal deepens Expedia’s push into business‑to‑business travel services, following recent acquisitions of Tiqets and other B2B assets. Analysts see the transaction as a bid to...
Neurocrine Biosciences Completes $2.9 Billion Soleno Acquisition
Neurocrine Biosciences has closed a $2.9 billion cash deal to acquire Soleno, bringing the hyperphagia drug VYKAT XR into its portfolio. The transaction was funded with a $53 per‑share tender offer and a new $1 billion revolving credit facility, positioning Neurocrine for growth...
Citi and HPS Launch $16.2 Billion Private Capital Program to Boost Direct Lending in EMEA
Citigroup and HPS Investment Partners, a BlackRock affiliate, unveiled a €15 bn ($16.2 bn) private capital program aimed at financing sub‑investment‑grade debt in the EMEA region over five years. The partnership leverages Citi’s origination network and HPS’s capital to meet rising demand...
Bayer Q1 2026 Earnings Beat EPS, Revenue Miss Triggers Share Surge
Bayer AG released its Q1 2026 earnings slide deck on May 17, showing a non‑GAAP EPS of €2.71 (≈$2.96) that topped analyst expectations, but revenue of $15.74 billion missed the consensus by $180.6 million. The mixed results lifted the stock, reaffirmed the...
NextEra Energy to Acquire Dominion for $67 B, Forming Largest U.S. Utility
NextEra Energy agreed to buy Dominion Energy in a roughly $67 billion transaction, creating a $250 billion utility that will be the largest power company in the United States. The deal gives NextEra control of the nation’s biggest data‑center customer base and...
AI‑Issued Debt Hits 15% of U.S. Corporate Bonds, Raising Concentration Risk
AI‑related corporate debt now accounts for roughly 15% of the U.S. corporate bond universe, overtaking traditional bank issuers. The shift reflects a structural move toward hyperscale tech firms financing AI infrastructure, creating a concentration risk that regulators and investors are...
Shibaura Machine to Acquire Moore Nanotechnology for $150 Million, Expanding Ultra‑Precision Reach
Shibaura Machine Co., Ltd. announced a $150 million acquisition of U.S. ultra‑precision equipment maker Moore Nanotechnology Systems, making the latter an indirect wholly‑owned unit. The deal adds over 1,000 precision machines and a global service network, accelerating Shibaura’s push into North...
Ceragon Networks Ltd (CRNT) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Ceragon Networks reported Q4 2025 revenue of $82.3 million, a 23% decline year‑over‑year, and full‑year revenue of $338.7 million, down 14.1% from the prior year. Despite weaker top‑line results, the company improved its net cash position to $19.4 million and...
Eltek Ltd (ELTK) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Eltek Ltd reported FY 2025 revenue of $51.8 million, an 11% increase driven by strong product demand and an accelerated investment program. However, gross margin contracted to 15% and net profit fell to $0.8 million as U.S. dollar depreciation and operational inefficiencies...
Amer Sports Inc (AS) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Amer Sports reported a 27% revenue jump to $6.6 billion in 2025, driven by double‑digit growth across all brands, channels and regions. Arc’teryx and Salomon led the breakout, with Arc’teryx women’s sales up 40% and Salomon surpassing $2 billion in sales. Adjusted...
Thermon Group Holdings Inc (THR) Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Thermon Group Holdings reported record Q3 fiscal 2026 results, with revenue of $147.3 million, a 10% year‑over‑year increase, and adjusted EBITDA of $35.66 million, up 12%. Gross margin improved to 46.6% as the mix shifted toward design‑and‑supply large projects, while orders rose...