Nexstar-Tegna Reax
Broadcast giants Nexstar and Tegna face a legal challenge over their proposed merger, which critics say would create the largest concentration of TV station ownership in U.S. history. Opponents, including Newsmax and ACA Connects, argue the deal would give Nexstar more stations than CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox combined, violating antitrust law and driving up carriage fees. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez has called for the full commission to vote, warning against a back‑room decision. The lawsuit seeks to block the transaction on competition grounds.
NY Gives Charter-Cox Thumbs Up, CA Still Considering
The New York Public Utilities Commission approved the $34.5 billion Charter‑Cox merger, attaching conditions that require a $100 million investment to deliver symmetric gigabit service and replace 500 outdoor Wi‑Fi nodes. The FCC has already cleared the deal, but California regulators have...
Qualiphi Acquires Career Club to Expand AI-Powered Career Services in MENA
Qualiphi, an Egypt‑based AI career services platform, completed a six‑figure acquisition of Career Club from iCareer in the second half of 2025. The deal expands Qualiphi’s AI‑powered ecosystem across Egypt and the GCC, adding virtual career centre tools and strengthening...
Paris Dealer Kamel Mennour Buys Galerie Malingue, Founded Over Five Decades Ago
Paris dealer Kamel Mennour has purchased the historic Galerie Malingue space at 26 Avenue Matignon. The 4,300‑square‑foot venue will showcase modern, post‑war and contemporary artworks drawn from private, museum‑quality collections. Mennour, who opened his own gallery in 1999 and runs...
After Buying HUB and Partnering with Promega, MilliporeSigma Charts Growth Path in Organoids
MilliporeSigma, the life‑science arm of Merck KGaA, completed its €104 million acquisition of HUB Organoids and has since integrated the business into its Discovery Solutions unit. The company launched a partnership with Promega to develop real‑time reporter assays for organoids, while...
Southfield-Backed Franchise FastLane Acquires Consulting Firm Franchise Creator
Franchise FastLane, a franchise development organization backed by private‑equity firm Southfield, announced the acquisition of consulting firm Franchise Creator. The deal adds brand‑strategy and operational consulting to FastLane’s existing franchise‑development services. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the move expands...
Unilever and Kraft Heinz Held Talks over Food Merger Uniting Ketchup and Mayo
Unilever and Kraft Heinz are in advanced discussions about a potential merger that would bring together their ketchup and mayonnaise businesses. The talks signal a strategic move to combine two of the world’s most recognizable condiment brands under one corporate...
DRC Moves to Approve Chemaf Sale to US Firm Virtus Minerals
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is poised to approve the sale of mining firm Chemaf to U.S.-based Virtus Minerals. Under the deal, Virtus will pay $30 million for equity and commit roughly $750 million to revive the stalled Mutoshi copper‑cobalt project,...
PE-Backed Tech24 Snaps up Pacific Standard Service
Tech24, a commercial foodservice equipment repair and maintenance provider, announced the acquisition of Pacific Standard Service. The deal, backed by private equity, broadens Tech24’s geographic reach and service capabilities. Pacific Standard Service adds a substantial customer base and skilled technicians...
Google’s $32B Wiz Bet: Why Security Consolidation Means You’re Losing Negotiating Power
Google is reported to have renewed its bid for cloud‑security firm Wiz, lifting the offer to roughly $32 billion, which would become the largest cybersecurity acquisition ever. The deal would give Google Cloud a full‑stack security platform covering CSPM, CWPP, CIEM,...
Commission to Probe Showmax Closure
The Competition Commission announced a probe into Canal+'s compliance with the merger conditions attached to its takeover of MultiChoice, focusing on the recent shutdown of the Showmax streaming service. Regulators will assess whether Canal+ adhered to voting‑right caps and the...
UBS Nears Full Credit Suisse Integration by Finishing IT Project
UBS has finished migrating roughly 1.2 million former Credit Suisse clients onto its own platforms, marking a pivotal step in the three‑year integration that began after the 2023 rescue acquisition. The bank now enters the final integration phase, focusing on decommissioning...
Commvault Extends Enterprise Resilience to Structured and AI Data with Real-Time Governance Controls
Commvault announced an expansion of its Cloud platform to include data security posture management for structured data and real‑time access governance, leveraging its recent acquisition of Satori. The new features automatically classify sensitive information, monitor usage of structured and vector...
Truelink-Backed SouthernCarlson Picks up Specialty Distributor Greenwald Supply Direct
SouthernCarlson, a fastener and construction‑supply distributor backed by private‑equity firm Truelink, announced the acquisition of specialty distributor Greenwald Supply Direct. The deal adds Greenwald’s niche product lines and customer base to SouthernCarlson’s existing portfolio. Integration is expected to broaden geographic...
Jana Partners Pushes Six Flags to Explore Sale, Replace Board Chair
Activist hedge fund Jana Partners, holding roughly a 9% economic stake in Six Flags Entertainment, has written to the board urging the company to explore a sale and replace its chair, Marilyn Spiegel. The letter follows Jana’s earlier push for...
Nokia Rebuilds Its Optical Engine, One Building Block at a Time
Nokia’s $2.3 billion acquisition of Infinera is bearing fruit as the company unveils a modular "building‑block" optical engine featuring four new DSPs and interchangeable indium‑phosphide, silicon‑photonic, and lithium‑niobate front ends. The approach lets customers mix and match components to serve 13...
Aramark / Entier Merger Inquiry
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) referred Aramark’s acquisition of Entier to a Phase 2 inquiry after a Phase 1 decision flagged potential competition risks. An interim report in October 2025 provisionally confirmed those concerns, leading to a final report in January 2026...
Spotlight On Alternatives: Timely Opportunities For Merger Arbitrage Strategies
The merger‑arbitrage landscape has markedly improved as 2025 regulatory enforcement shifted toward settlement‑oriented antitrust reviews, reducing deal risk. Calamos Merger Arbitrage Fund (CMRGX) posted a 10.72% return in 2025, outpacing the Morningstar Event‑Driven peer average of 9.03%. The fund’s low...
U Mobile Meets Local Ownership Condition for 5G Rollout
U Mobile satisfied Malaysia’s local‑ownership rule for 5G by letting Mawar Setia acquire a majority stake, while Singapore’s ST Telemedia retained a 20% share. The ownership shift also saw Tunku Tun Aminah become chair. With compliance secured, the operator can...
Summit Stakes $1.2B RIA Signet Financial Management
Summit Financial, a New Jersey‑based RIA backed by Merchant Investment Management, has taken a minority, non‑controlling stake in Signet Financial Management, which manages $1.2 billion in client assets. The partnership is part of Summit’s Growth Partners initiative and allows Signet to...
Unilever Eyes Major Food Split
Unilever is weighing a comprehensive sell‑off of its food division, with advisers already engaged to explore spin‑off options. The potential transaction could be valued in the tens of billions of dollars and may or may not include its drinks brands...
Ghana Studies Bids to Revive Seized Damang Mine
Ghana is evaluating three local bids to acquire the seized Damang gold mine as the current lease with South African miner Gold Fields expires on 18 April. The government rejected Gold Fields' renewal request, citing insufficient reserve data, and will not...
Notable Business Negotiations of 2024
2024 proved a paradoxical year for corporate negotiations: overall deal activity slowed, with M&A volume dropping 18% while total dollar value rose 9% to $3 trillion. High‑profile negotiations spanned sectors, from Google’s antitrust‑driven Android app‑store opening and Amazon’s $12 billion AI partnership...
Microsoft Weighs Legal Action over $50bn Amazon-OpenAI Cloud Deal
Microsoft is reportedly considering legal action after Amazon secured a roughly $50 billion cloud partnership with OpenAI. The deal, which positions Amazon Web Services as the primary infrastructure for OpenAI’s next‑generation models, threatens Microsoft’s dominant role in the AI‑cloud market. Sources...
China Ramps Up Scrutiny of Meta’s Acquisition of Manus
China’s National Development and Reform Commission has summoned Meta and Manus executives to question the $2 billion acquisition of the Singapore‑based AI startup. The move appears aimed at penalising individuals linked to the deal and may include exit bans preventing Manus...
Sutter Health, Allina Explore Merger With Eye on Digital Health
Sutter Health and Allina Health have signed a Letter of Intent to merge, creating a nonprofit system that spans Northern California, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The combined entity will include 39 hospitals, over 400 care sites, 18,000 physicians and 88,000 staff,...
Nevada PERS to Exit Clearlake Exposure Due to ‘Conflicts of Interest’
Nevada's Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS), managing roughly $74.9 billion, announced it will unwind its exposure to Clearlake Capital after identifying a potential conflict of interest. The conflict arises from Clearlake’s recent agreement to acquire Pathway Capital Management, which overlaps with...
A Gaming CEO Asked ChatGPT How to Avoid Paying a $250 Million Bonus. It Didn’t Work
Krafton CEO Changhan Kim used ChatGPT to devise a plan to remove Unknown Worlds Entertainment’s leadership and avoid a $250 million earn‑out bonus tied to Subnautica 2. The AI suggested a multi‑stage “Project X” takeover, which Kim pursued despite warnings from his legal...
North Dallas Divestment Sees ‘Mad Rock’ Readying For Christ
Connoisseur Media is preparing to divest a former Alpha Media property acquired during its debt‑driven merger with the group. The buyer is a North Texas owner of a Christian Contemporary Music station, which will take control of an 18 kW Class...
Canal+ and PPF Consider Taking Viaplay Private
Canal+ and PPF, each holding roughly 29.3% of Viaplay after a €0.36 billion recapitalisation, are exploring a joint move to take the Nordic streamer private. The proposal would give the two investors close to 60% combined control, consolidating their influence over...
Smartly Signs Letter of Intent to Acquire Measurement Platform Incrmntal
Smartly has signed a letter of intent to acquire Incrmntal, a real‑time marketing measurement platform. Smartly’s AI‑driven suite automates campaign creation, while Incrmntal provides incremental lift analytics across channels. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition aims to embed live...
Third-Generation Dealers Branch Out with RBM Automotive Group
Sibling dealers Casey Frames and David Ellis formed RBM Automotive Group after acquiring Porsche of Greenville, Land Rover Greenville, and Crown Nissan from Asbury Automotive Group. The deal requires building separate, state‑of‑the‑art facilities for Porsche and Land Rover, while Nissan...
U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions Monthly Review: February 2026
U.S. M&A activity slowed in February 2026, with announcements dropping 26.7% to 1,013 versus January, yet aggregate deal spending surged 236.8% month‑over‑month. Eleven of FactSet’s 21 tracked sectors posted higher three‑month deal volumes compared with a year earlier, led by...
The Clog in PE’s Exit Pipeline Is Getting Tougher to Clear
Private equity firms are facing a growing bottleneck in their exit pipeline as IPO markets stay muted, M&A activity slows, and secondary‑sale demand wanes. Elevated interest rates and tighter credit conditions are compressing valuations, forcing managers to hold assets longer...
Fat Brands Could Sell Its Assets
Fat Brands, burdened by over $1 billion in debt, has filed a Chapter 11 motion to market and sell all or part of its assets, setting an April 3 deadline for non‑binding indications of interest. The company is pursuing debtor‑in‑possession financing and remains...
HHP Acquires Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center
Highline Hospitality Partners (HHP) has purchased the Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center, a 397‑room hotel on 29 lakeside acres near Dallas‑Fort Worth International Airport. The acquisition expands HHP’s portfolio to 18 hotels, more than 5,000 rooms and roughly $1.5 billion...
FERC Approves SPP Merger of Interconnection, Transmission Planning
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Southwest Power Pool’s Consolidated Planning Process, merging generation interconnection with transmission planning. SPP will launch its first CPP window in April and introduce the GRID‑C rate, giving developers upfront cost certainty for network upgrades....
General Mills Revives Taco Shell Maker La Tiara
General Mills is reviving La Tiara, the Kansas City‑origin taco‑shell brand it bought for $10 million, and will sell the products nationwide for the first time through Walmart starting in April. The company is reopening the Gladstone, Missouri plant, creating more than...
IBM Closes $11 Billion Deal for Confluent
IBM completed an approximately $11 billion acquisition of data‑streaming firm Confluent, aiming to make real‑time data the backbone for AI agents across enterprise environments. The deal, IBM’s second‑largest ever, dovetails with Arvind Krishna’s vision of a hybrid‑cloud platform that can pull data...
PTC Completes Divestiture of Kepware and ThingWorx Businesses
PTC announced the completion of its divestiture of the Kepware industrial connectivity and ThingWorx IoT platforms to TPG, receiving $523 million in cash. After taxes and transaction costs, the net proceeds total roughly $375 million, which the company will allocate to an...
Transitional Year for Contango Gold & Silver
Contango Ore Inc. entered a transitional 2026, with Manh Choh gold output falling to 40‑45 k ounces as the mine shifts from the North Pit to higher‑grade South Pit ore. Production in 2025 delivered 60,200 gold‑equivalent ounces, including 57,315 ounces of silver,...
Synechron Consolidates Australian Acquisitions, Led by Scott Grigg
Synechron has merged its Australian acquisitions—Chamonix IT, Exposé and iGreenData—under the Synechron brand, appointing Scott Grigg as Australia Country Managing Director. The unified unit will target secure, end‑to‑end digital transformation for financial services, government, defence, utilities, education and healthcare. Synechron plans to...
Noah Wyle, Other Industry Figures To Testify At Adam Schiff Hearing On Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger, Tax Incentives
Senator Adam Schiff is convening a spotlight hearing in Burbank to scrutinize Paramount’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery and the broader push for federal film‑production tax incentives. Actor Noah Wyle, IATSE President Matthew Loeb, policy researcher Jax Deluca, and...
Earnout Burnout- Drafting Earnout Agreements to Minimize Disputes Following the Sale of Private Companies
Earnout provisions are increasingly used in private‑company M&A to bridge price gaps, but they often spark post‑closing disputes over performance targets. The article outlines practical steps—selecting clear revenue‑based metrics, defining accounting methods, involving CPAs, attaching detailed financial models, and establishing...
Trump Gets $10 Billion Kickback To The Treasury For Offloading TikTok To His Billionaire Buddies
The Trump administration brokered a sale of TikTok's U.S. operations to a consortium that includes Larry Ellison, Silver Lake and UAE‑controlled MGX. Investors are paying a $10 billion fee to the Treasury, with $2.5 billion already transferred. The fee is far larger...
Goldman Sachs Bullish on Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) Following Strategic Acquisitions
Goldman Sachs resumed coverage of Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) with a Buy rating and a $70 price target, citing the firm’s transformation into a pure‑play banking‑software supplier after its Worldpay and TSYS acquisitions. The bank projects mid‑single‑digit recurring‑revenue growth...
More HVAC Service Providers and Component Makers Are on the Block
Private equity firms are actively targeting HVAC service providers and component manufacturers as deal flow intensifies. Scaled residential HVAC platforms are commanding valuations of 16‑19 times EBITDA, while commercial HVAC transactions span a broader 10‑17 times EBITDA range. The disparity...
ACG Metals Hunts Copper Deals to Build Western Supply
London‑listed ACG Metals is actively pursuing up to ten copper‑mine acquisitions, focusing on assets already producing or near production. The company completed its first 2024 deal, buying Turkey's Gediktepe gold‑silver mine for $300 million and plans to start copper output there...
Blackford Capital Unveils New HVAC and Electrical Services Platform Anchored by Habco and Moro
Blackford Capital has created a new HVAC, electrical and construction services platform by merging its recent acquisitions, Habco Partnership and Moro Corporation, under the Habco brand. The combined entity, led by CEO Andrew Habel, offers design‑build electrical, HVAC, structural steel...
“We Are Acquisitive…and Active in Deals Right Now” – Glacier’s Matt Frost on Europe’s Ice-Cream Market
Glacier, backed by Davidson Kempner and Afendis Capital, has merged Gelato d’Italia and Ysco to create a €600 m private‑label ice‑cream platform across five European factories. The company positions itself as a consolidator in a fragmented market, focusing on co‑manufacturing and avoiding...