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Mergermarket recognized Lincoln International as “Debt Advisor of the Year” for its European private equity financing and capital advisory work, reflecting the team’s breadth of lender access and execution for clients.
Paramount Global has appointed Ynon Kreiz, CEO of Mattel, as co-CEO alongside current CEO David Ellison, effective October 5, 2026. This appointment comes just before the completion of Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, expected to close on October 6, 2026. Kreiz will oversee day-to-day operations and the integration of the two studios, while Ellison will focus on strategy, creative direction, and technology. The merger, valued at over $110 billion, is expected to result in thousands of job cuts, with projected annual synergies of $6 billion within three years. Kreiz previously led a turnaround at Mattel, including job reductions, and is known for orchestrating the successful 'Barbie' movie. The deal faced legal challenges from several states, which were resolved after Paramount committed to increased U.S. production spending and retaining both Los Angeles studio lots. The merger has also raised concerns about CNN's editorial independence given the Ellison family's political ties.
On September 30, 2026, Armada Acquisition Corp. II held an extraordinary general meeting where shareholders approved all key proposals required to execute its proposed business combination. The transaction involves Evernorth Holdings Inc. (Pubco), Pathfinder Digital Assets LLC, and Ripple Labs Inc. A total of 21,877,045 shares (approximately 69% of shares outstanding entitled to vote) established quorum, with the primary Business Combination Proposal passing with 20,514,034 votes in favor versus 1,362,081 against. Furthermore, Class B shareholders unanimously approved the domestication proposal to transfer the company's domicile from the Cayman Islands to Delaware under the name Arrington Capital SPAC I Inc., paving the way for the closing of the merger.
David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Global, announced that Ynon Kreiz, former CEO of Mattel, will join the combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery entity as co-CEO, effective at the expected closing next week. Kreiz will also join the board of directors. The $110 billion merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery is set to complete soon. Ellison will focus on long-term strategy, while Kreiz will handle day-to-day management. Additionally, Cindy Holland, head of Paramount+, is exiting, and Casey Bloys, head of HBO, will lead streaming for the combined company.
AI firm General Intuition has raised an additional $220 million at a $6.2 billion valuation. The round was led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Atreides, 776, Point72, Khosla Ventures, and General Catalyst. This follows a January funding round of $320 million at a $2.3 billion valuation. General Intuition develops foundation models for autonomous systems, trained on billions of action-labelled gameplay videos from Medal, a platform with over 17 million monthly active players and on track to upload 3 billion videos per year. Medal and General Intuition operate as sister companies under a shared parent. The company plans to grow its team in New York and Europe and has opened a waitlist for early access partners.
Payments provider Checkout.com announced that its annualised net revenue jumped 28% year-on-year to $750 million, attributing growth to increased payment volume and geographical expansion. The company, valued at $12 billion, expects to achieve $150 million in adjusted EBITDA profit for 2026, having turned profitable in 2024. Checkout.com operates across 56 countries with 10 acquiring licences and projected payment volume of $480 billion for full-year 2026. The company also plans to expand its money management offering and accelerate its AI strategy in agentic commerce and payments. Additionally, it disclosed an internal $40 million dividend from subsidiary Checkout Limited to the parent, which it clarifies is a treasury transaction, not shareholder distribution. Chief Revenue Officer Antoine Nougué emphasized that sustained profitability enables investment in AI to help merchants generate revenue. The company employs 1,700 people.
Bolt.new acquired Dokai, a San Francisco startup that built autonomous AI agents for enterprise sales teams. The Dokai team joins Bolt's AI and machine learning organization as its first capabilities arrive this fall.
Bain Capital's news page now features two new press releases: 'AAR accelerates its aftermarket platform strategy by agreeing to acquire a controlling interest in MRO Holdings' (Special Situations, Sep 29, 2026) and 'Kahua Secures Strategic Growth Investment from Bain Capital at a Valuation Above $1 Billion' (Tech Opportunities, Sep 29, 2026).
This is a podcast episode from DWDL.de's 'Industry' podcast, where hosts Andrea Zuska and Hanna Huge analyze Paramount's recent deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. The episode discusses how Paramount reached a settlement with US states that had sued to block the deal, with a focus on concessions related to streaming, US production, and cinema windows. The hosts also examine the deal's implications for the UK market, questions about the future of HBO Max, and whether the deal is favorable for various parties involved. The content is presented as a podcast episode, with timestamps for different discussion segments.
Paramount Global has launched a syndication for a proposed $7.4 billion senior secured incremental term loan, part of a larger plan to raise approximately $44.4 billion in additional secured debt. This financing is intended to fund the $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The company will use the proceeds, along with cash on hand and previously announced equity financing, to pay the purchase price and repay existing debt. The deal was previously paused in July due to antitrust concerns but cleared after Paramount settled with California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other states. CEO David Ellison expects the deal to finalize within two weeks. Morgan Stanley analysts estimate the combined company's net debt at $77.2 billion.
The European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) is examining Uber's planned acquisition of Delivery Hero, a deal valued at around €13 billion. The scrutiny focuses on whether to assess the main acquisition and the parallel sale of Delivery Hero's operations in 14 countries to SSW Partners jointly or separately. Uber is financing a large portion of SSW's €1.4 billion purchase of those markets. Industry players are lobbying regulators, and MEP Andreas Schwab has called for careful assessment. The deal involves Uber offering €41.50 per share for Delivery Hero, with an equity value of approximately $14.8 billion, and is expected to close in the second half of 2027. Regulatory approvals are required in several jurisdictions, including South Korea, the Middle East, and Latin America, with concerns remaining in Spain.
Germany's SPRIND and the Netherlands' NADI have launched a joint €40 million program, the AI-Native Chip Design Challenge, to accelerate European chip design and strengthen AI sovereignty. The initiative aims to cut development timelines from years to weeks by leveraging AI-driven design methods and combining Germany's industrial strength with Dutch semiconductor expertise. Running in two stages over 20 months, the first stage will fund seven teams with €2.6 million each, and the second will shortlist three teams for €7 million each, with additional technical and commercial coaching. The program seeks to produce production-ready designs for AI training and inference, enhance energy efficiency, and reduce Europe's dependence on US and Chinese semiconductors. This is the first collaborative funding challenge between the agencies, with NADI formally announced on 15 September 2026.
Australian health AI startup Heidi has closed a Series C round of $100 million, led by Blackbird, with participation from Phoenix Court, Point72 Private Investments, and Headline, valuing the company at $900 million. In parallel, Heidi secured $240 million in growth financing from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund, a revenue-based instrument that covers sales and customer acquisition costs. Combined, these deals provide $340 million in fresh capital. The company has raised $436.6 million to date. Heidi, founded in Melbourne, started as an AI scribe for clinical documentation and now positions itself as an 'AI care partner'. It reports 2.8 million patient encounters per week across 190 countries. The funding will support regulatory work for advanced clinical features in Europe and the UK, and expansion in the DACH region.
Progress Software has completed its acquisition of Domo's AI and data platform business, as announced on September 22, 2026. The company has also added Domo to its product portfolio and updated its AI portfolio navigation.
Agora S.A. has issued multiple regulatory announcements regarding its planned merger with Agora TC sp. z o.o., including the first and second shareholder notices, the convening of an Extraordinary General Meeting scheduled for October 15, 2026, and the publication of draft resolutions. These steps indicate a significant corporate restructuring.
As part of the consent decree for the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, a group of state attorneys general secured a requirement that the combined company, often called 'ParaBros', must continue operating a free, ad-supported streaming service under the name Pluto TV or a comparable successor brand for at least five years. The agreement also stipulates that service and quality standards must not fall below current levels. Other conditions include boosting U.S. production, creating an editorial independence board for CBS News and CNN, and keeping cable carriage negotiations separate. Pluto TV is currently the only free, ad-supported service in either company's portfolio, with usage around 1% of U.S. TV viewing. The goal is to preserve a low-cost viewing option for consumers.
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