Archives

AT&T Completes $5.75 Billion Acquisition of Lumen’s Mass Markets Fiber Business, Adding Over 1 Million Subscribers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

AT&T has completed its previously announced all-cash acquisition of substantially all of Lumen Technologies’s Mass Markets fiber business for $5.75 billion, subject to customary adjustments. The transaction expands AT&T’s fiber home internet footprint across 32 states and adds more than 1 million fiber subscribers spread across more than 4 million fiber locations, including new major metro areas such as Denver, Seattle, and Salt Lake City.

Teciem Launches As Apax Completes Purchase Of Finastra Treasury And Capital Markets Business

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Teciem launched as a new standalone provider of treasury and capital markets software following the completion of Apax Funds’ acquisition of Finastra’s Treasury and Capital Markets (TCM) division. Backed by a significant investment commitment from Apax, Teciem said it will prioritize product development and innovation while expanding and supporting its specialist talent base.

Vision Innovation Partners Buys Ophthalmic Associates Of Alexandria To Expand Mid-Atlantic Eye Care Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Vision Innovation Partners has acquired Ophthalmic Associates of Alexandria, adding a comprehensive ophthalmology practice in downtown Alexandria to its regional network. The deal extends VIP’s footprint in one of its largest metropolitan markets and represents the platform’s 27th add-on acquisition since the company was founded in 2017.

Crestview Partners Acquires Tailwind Hospitality In Airport Concessions Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Crestview Partners has completed the acquisition of Tailwind Hospitality, an aviation services company focused on food, beverage, and retail concessions in non-hub and regional airports, from Palladin Consumer Retail Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Huntington Closes Cadence Bank Merger, Building $279 Billion Franchise And Expanding Across Texas And The South

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Huntington Bancshares has completed its merger with Cadence Bank, uniting two regional banking franchises in a deal the company says immediately scales its footprint across Texas and the broader South while strengthening its competitive position in key growth markets.

Stoneridge Sells Control Devices Segment To Center Rock For $59 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Stoneridge announced it has completed the sale of its Control Devices segment to an affiliate of Center Rock Capital Partners. The deal carried a base purchase price of $59 million. Stoneridge said it plans to use net cash proceeds, after taxes and transaction-related expenses, to repay debt and strengthen its balance sheet.

Bidbus: Interview With Co-Founder & COO Ellson Chen About Car Marketplace Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Bidbus is the infrastructure that enables dealerships to source consumer-owned used cars at scale through competitive private-party auctions. Bidbus runs three weekly auctions where hundreds of dealers compete for vehicles, creating a consistent supply of quality vehicles for dealers and higher payouts for sellers by matching each car to the right demand in real time. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Bidbus co-founder and COO Ellson Chen to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

careCycle: Interview With Founder & CEO Alex Doonanco About The Medicare-Focused Voice AI Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

careCycle is a company that provides a comprehensive suite of voice AI teams for medicare advantage and ACA distributors. Pulse 2.0 interviewed careCycle founder and CEO Alex Doonanco to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Gradiente SGR Closes €180+ Million Gradiente III Fund, Growing 33% Versus Prior Vehicle

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Elm Capital announced Gradiente SGR has reached a final close for Gradiente III, the Italian private equity firm’s third fund, with total commitments exceeding its €180 million target. The firm said the vehicle is 33% larger than its predecessor and drew support from a mix of new and existing institutional investors and family offices across Europe and North America, including public pension funds, foundations, funds of funds, and banks.

XSML Capital Closes $142 Million African Rivers Fund IV Above Hard Cap

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

XSML Capital announced it has reached a final close of African Rivers Fund IV at $142 million, exceeding the fund’s $135 million hard cap, as the manager pointed to sustained investor appetite for SME-focused strategies in African frontier markets despite a tougher fundraising backdrop.

Western Digital Rebrands As WD And Unveils 100TB+ HDD Roadmap And New AI-Era Storage Technologies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Western Digital announced it is repositioning itself for what it calls the AI-driven data economy, including a corporate rebrand to WD and a set of product and platform announcements aimed at raising hard drive capacity, improving performance for AI workloads, and reducing power consumption at scale. The company presented the updates at its Innovation Day 2026 event.

Safe To Eat: Interview With Founder Devin August Sailer About The Food Awareness Nonprofit

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Safe To Eat is a youth-led initiative that advocates for and helps implement allergen-safe food options, labeling, and emergency protocols (like epinephrine awareness) in domestic violence and homeless shelters, especially in crisis settings. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Safe To Eat founder Devin August Sailer to learn more.

Revena: $8 Million Raised To Cut Hospital Revenue Losses With AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Revena, an artificial intelligence platform focused on automating the hospital revenue cycle, has raised a US$8 million seed round backed by Canary, Flourish Ventures, and Caravela Capital. The company said the financing comes after deployment across more than 60 hospitals and a 20x growth in 2025, as providers seek ways to reduce revenue leakage and administrative burden associated with complex billing processes.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Launches DGAM Global Private Equity Fund With Ardian Partnership

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Desjardins Global Asset Management is expanding its private markets lineup with the launch of the DGAM Global Private Equity Fund, a new vehicle designed to give accredited Canadian investors streamlined access to private equity through a flexible structure and diversified exposure.

Disney: Josh D’Amaro Named As Next CEO, With Dana Walden Set for New Chief Creative Role

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

The Walt Disney Company board has elected Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro to become the company’s next chief executive officer, with the appointment set to take effect at Disney’s Annual Meeting on March 18, 2026. D’Amaro will succeed Robert A. Iger, who has led Disney for much of the past two decades and returned to the top job in 2022.

Claros Mortgage Trust Closes $500 Million Secured Term Loan With HPS To Refinance 2026 Debt Maturity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Claros Mortgage Trust has closed a $500 million, four-year secured term loan credit facility provided by investment funds and accounts managed by HPS Investment Partners. The new facility carries a floating interest rate of SOFR plus 675 basis points and can be prepaid at any time, subject to certain conditions.

Raymond James Adds $1 Billion Maryland Advisor Team From Merrill Lynch

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Raymond James has added a four-advisor team in Maryland to its employee advisor channel, bringing roughly $1 billion in client assets from Merrill Lynch as competition for experienced wealth talent continues to intensify across the industry.

Verdane And Scott Capital Partners Back Aquavest’s Majority Investment In Bluewater Bio To Scale Water Reuse Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Verdane and Scott Capital Partners have partnered to make a significant majority investment in Bluewater Bio through Aquavest, as the investors move to build a multinational platform focused on water and wastewater treatment technologies.

GE Vernova Completes $5.275 Billion Buyout of Prolec GE

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

GE Vernova said it has completed its acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in Prolec GE, converting a long-running, formerly unconsolidated joint venture with Xignux into a wholly owned business. The transaction, first announced in October 2025, closed after securing all required regulatory approvals and values the purchased stake at $5.275 billion, funded through an equal mix of cash and debt.

Saudi Arabia Executes First End-to-End Tokenized Property Deed Transfer On droppRWA Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Saudi Arabia announced it has completed what it described as the first sovereign native, end-to-end tokenized property title deed transfer, integrating its official real estate registry directly with a blockchain-based settlement layer to enforce national property law and registry rules inside the transaction infrastructure.

Veremark: $26 Million Series B Raised To Expand Globally And Add Always-On Workplace Trust Services

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Veremark, a London-founded workplace trust company, announced it has raised $26 million in Series B funding as it looks to accelerate international expansion and broaden its product suite across screening, conduct-risk monitoring and credential verification. The round was led by Gresham House Ventures, with participation from existing investors Samaipata, ACF Investors, and Stage 2 Capital.

Blackstone: Q4 Private Equity Inflows Hit $20.3 Billion, Led By $4.2 Billion In Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Blackstone closed the fourth quarter of 2025 with a sharp rebound in private equity fundraising, reporting $20.3 billion of private equity inflows for the period. The quarter stood out for both its scale and its mix, with capital concentrated in strategies that have attracted consistent LP demand amid slower distributions and selective commitment pacing across private markets.

Blue Water Venture Partners To Buy French Children’s Fashion Brand Jacadi Paris

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Blue Water Venture Partners, an investment firm led by New York-based investor Joseph Hernandez, said it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire Jacadi Paris, the Paris-founded children’s fashion brand known for heritage styling and French craftsmanship.

JJG Aero: $30 Million Series B Raised To Expand North Bangalore Manufacturing Footprint

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Bengaluru-based aerospace components manufacturer JJG Aero has raised $30 million in a Series B financing led by Norwest, as the company moves to scale capacity and deepen vertical integration amid rising global demand for aircraft systems and engine parts.

Bits Technology: €12 Million Series A Raised To Unify AML And Fraud Workflows for European Fintechs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Bits Technology announced it has raised a €12 million Series A round to accelerate product development and expand across Europe, positioning its compliance infrastructure platform as a single system for onboarding, risk assessment, and continuous monitoring for regulated financial institutions.

KKR-Led Consortium Nearing Deal To Buy ST Telemedia Global Data Centres At $10B+ Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

A consortium led by KKR is in advanced talks to acquire Singapore-based data-center operator ST Telemedia Global Data Centres in a transaction that would value the company at more than US$10 billion (over S$13 billion), according to The Wall Street Journal.

CloudForge: $3.95 Million Secured To Bring AI Sales And Procurement To The Metals Supply Chain

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

CloudForge, an AI-powered sales and procurement platform built for the metals supply chain, has emerged from stealth with $3.95 million in funding from Zero Infinity Partners, Resolute Ventures, and Bienville Capital.

BizTrip AI Adds $1.5 Million Tranche As Pre-Seed Funding Reaches $2.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

BizTrip AI, a maker of AI-powered travel management technology, has raised $1.5 million in new preseed financing, marking the third tranche of its preseed round and bringing total funding to $2.5 million. The latest tranche was led by RRE Ventures, with participation from AI Fund, BAG Collective, BAG Ventures, and Correlation Ventures. Sabre Corporation also participated, alongside ten individual qualified investors, including Michael Cain, Mike Daly, and Valerie Layman.

Shield Lands $100 Million From Thrive Holdings To Scale AI First IT Services Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

Shield Technology Partners announced it has raised a $100 million in investment from Thrive Holdings to accelerate product development and support additional acquisitions as it expands a national platform of IT services businesses.

CesiumAstro: $470 Million Series C Closed To Scale AI-Enabled Space And Defense Communications

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 3, 2026

CesiumAstro announced it has secured $470 million in Series C growth capital to accelerate U.S. expansion and global deployment of its software-defined, AI-enabled space communications platforms. The Austin, Texas-based space and defense communications provider said the raise combines $270 million in equity and a $200 million financing package structured as a public-private partnership.