Upcoming Mergers and Acquisitions + Recent Big Deals

Paramount Skydance / Warner Bros. Discovery

$110Benterprise value. $81B equity at $31.00 per share, all cash

Cleared by DOJ, enjoined by agreementAnnounced 27 Feb 2026Trial 2 Mar 2027Media & Entertainment

The largest deal on the board, and the most stalled. Paramount is buying 100% of WBD for $31.00 a share in cash, funded with $47 billion of new Ellison family and RedBird equity plus $54 billion of debt. It is a 147% premium to WBD’s unaffected price of $12.54. Netflix had a signed agreement first, for Warner Bros. only after the Discovery Global spin-off at $82.7 billion enterprise value, but WBD’s board declared Paramount’s bid superior on 26 February and Netflix declined to raise. The deal has cleared the Justice Department, which closed its investigation in June 2026 without conditions, and the UK CMA cleared it on 6 August. Twelve state attorneys general and the Writers Guild are suing to block it, and Paramount has agreed not to close until five days after the verdict or 1 June 2027, whichever comes first. Ticking fees of $0.25 a share per quarter accrue in the meantime, roughly $650 million a quarter.

Source: Paramount announcement

Union Pacific / Norfolk Southern

$85Benterprise value. NS holders receive 1.0 UNP share plus $88.82 cash

Held in abeyance at the STBAnnounced 29 Jul 2025Target mid-2027Freight Rail

The first coast-to-coast freight railroad in the United States, connecting more than 50,000 route miles across 43 states and about 100 ports. The regulatory position is unusual and worth understanding precisely. The Surface Transportation Board found the original application incomplete in January 2026 because the railroads submitted 2023 market shares rather than forward-looking projections. It then accepted a revised application on 28 May 2026 but held the entire proceeding in abeyance, including the environmental review, pending supplemental filings across nine areas. Those filings landed on 27 July 2026 with four new shipper protections attached. No procedural schedule has been set for the rest of the case.

Source: STB Decision 26-13

Equity Residential / AvalonBay

$69Bcombined enterprise value. Merger of equals, no purchase price

Awaiting both shareholder votesAnnounced 21 May 2026Expected H2 2026Real Estate

An all-stock merger of equals creating one of the largest apartment landlords in the United States, with more than 180,000 rental units and a pro forma equity market capitalisation of about $52 billion. AvalonBay holders receive 2.793 Equity Residential shares each and end up with roughly 51.2% of the combined company against 48.8% for Equity Residential holders. Because it is a merger of equals there is no purchase price, so the $69 billion figure is the combined entity’s enterprise value. That is the only comparable number available and it should always be labelled as such.

Source: AvalonBay investor relations

NextEra Energy / Dominion Energy

Not disclosed0.8138 NextEra shares per Dominion share plus $360M aggregate cash

Multi-regulator reviewAnnounced 18 May 202612 to 18 monthsUtilities

The largest regulated electric utility combination ever attempted. Neither company disclosed a transaction value, so the figures around $67 billion circulating in the trade press are derived calculations and should be attributed rather than stated as fact. Dominion holders receive a fixed 0.8138 NextEra shares each plus a one-time $360 million cash payment at closing, leaving NextEra holders with about 74.5% of the combined company. The approval list is the constraint: FERC, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Virginia SCC, the North Carolina Utilities Commission, the South Carolina PSC, HSR and both shareholder votes. Virginia is the pressure point given how much data-centre load growth sits in Dominion’s territory.

Source: NextEra newsroom

SpaceX / Cursor (Anysphere)

~$60Ball stock. Reported from an SEC filing, not a company release

Customary closing conditionsAnnounced 16 Jun 2026Guided to Q3 2026Technology / AI

Announced four days after SpaceX’s IPO, this is a newly public company using its stock as acquisition currency almost immediately. Cursor’s AI coding platform slots into the compute and model stack SpaceX picked up when it acquired xAI in February 2026. Cursor had been raising at roughly a $50 billion valuation before the offer, against about $29 billion previously. One caveat for anyone citing the figure: the $60 billion has been reported from an SEC filing rather than a company release, so confirm the filing before presenting it as company-disclosed.

McCormick / Unilever foods business

$44.8Benterprise value at 13.8x FY2025 EBITDA

Antitrust and shareholder approvalsAnnounced 31 Mar 2026Expected mid-2027Food & Beverage

McCormick is combining with Unilever’s foods arm in a deal valued at 13.8 times FY2025 EBITDA. Unilever receives $15.7 billion in cash plus stock representing 65.0% of the combined company, worth roughly $29.1 billion, which means the acquirer’s own shareholders end up in the minority. The mid-2027 close is a long runway even by consumer-staples standards.

Source: McCormick investor relations

Charter Communications / Cox Communications

$34.5Benterprise value for Cox

FCC cleared, CPUC vote pendingAnnounced 16 May 2025CPUC votes 13 Aug 2026Telecommunications

Charter is combining with Cox in a transaction that values Cox at about $34.5 billion of enterprise value: $4 billion cash, $6 billion of convertible preferred units and roughly 33.6 million common units worth about $11.9 billion, leaving Cox Enterprises with about 23% of the combined company. The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau approved it on 27 February 2026 with conditions covering onshoring and a $20 an hour minimum wage. The last substantive step is the California Public Utilities Commission, scheduled to vote on 13 August 2026. A DOJ deadline of 15 September also looms: missing it triggers a refiling fee and a fresh 30-day waiting period.

Source: Charter announcement

GIP and EQT consortium / AES

$33.4Benterprise value. Equity value is $10.7B at $15.00 per share

Stockholders approvedAnnounced 2 Mar 2026Late 2026Energy / Power

A consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners (BlackRock) and EQT, with CalPERS and the Qatar Investment Authority alongside, is taking the power producer private at $15.00 a share. That is a 40.3% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price before 8 July 2025. The gap between the headline and the cheque is worth noting: enterprise value is $33.4 billion but equity value is only $10.7 billion, the difference being AES’s debt load. Stockholders have already approved.

Source: Global Infrastructure Partners

Bouygues, Iliad and Orange / SFR

~$23.4B€20.4 billion, split three ways

Exclusive negotiations signedAnnounced 6 Jun 2026EU review aheadTelecommunications

France’s three remaining mobile operators are carving up the fourth. Bouygues Telecom, Free (Iliad) and Orange entered exclusive negotiations to split Altice France’s SFR between them, taking the French market from four national operators to three. Expect the most closely examined European telecoms review in years. Four-to-three consolidation is precisely the structure competition authorities have historically resisted.

Source: Orange press release

Fox Corporation / Roku

$22Benterprise value at $160.00 per share

Both shareholder votes requiredAnnounced 15 Jun 2026Expected H1 2027Media / Streaming

Fox is buying the streaming platform at $160.00 a share, made up of $96.00 in cash plus 0.9693 Fox Class A shares, leaving Fox holders with about 73% of the combined company. Two things a corporate development reader should notice. The premium is roughly 11% to the prior close, unusually thin for a deal this size and not disclosed in the release itself. And Roku has been trading around 16% below the offer price, which is the market pricing in real completion risk.

Source: Fox investor relations

Fertitta Entertainment / Caesars

$17.6Btake-private

State gaming approvalsAnnounced 28 May 2026PendingConsumer / Gaming

Tilman Fertitta is taking the casino and hospitality operator private, consolidating two of the larger US gaming platforms under single ownership. Gaming regulators in every state where Caesars holds a licence need to approve the change of control, which is typically the slowest part of any transaction in this sector.

Source: Caesars investor relations

Uber / Delivery Hero

~$14.8B€41.50 per share in cash, 100% basis

BaFin, EU merger control, FDIAnnounced 16 Jul 2026Expected H2 2027Technology / Delivery

Uber is bidding €41.50 a share in cash for the German delivery group. The premium depends entirely on the reference you pick: 127% against the three-month volume-weighted average before 8 May, or 34% against the three-month average before announcement. Use the 34%. The larger number is measured to a pre-leak price. Uber has pre-wired the outcome, holding 24.77% outright plus instruments and irrevocables that take it to roughly 53% economic interest against a minimum acceptance of 50% plus one share. It has also pre-agreed the remedy: 14 overlapping markets worth about €11 billion of 2025 gross merchandise value go to SSW Partners for roughly €1.4 billion. Berlin headquarters and workforce are protected until at least 2029.

Source: Uber investor relations

Boston Scientific / Penumbra

$14.5Benterprise value at $374.00 per share, about 73% cash

Shareholders approved 6 May 2026Announced 15 Jan 2026Expected H2 2026Healthcare / Med-tech

The largest med-tech deal of 2026 and Boston Scientific’s entry into stroke and peripheral interventional. Penumbra holders can elect $374.00 in cash or 3.8721 Boston Scientific shares, with the mix landing around 73% cash. Penumbra stockholders approved on 6 May 2026 and antitrust clearance is the only gating item left. No premium was disclosed. Note the announcement date is January 2026, not 2023: the deal is sometimes misfiled to an earlier year.

Source: Boston Scientific announcement

Nuveen / Schroders

~$13.5B£9.9 billion at 590p per share, all cash

Court sanction and FCA approvalAnnounced 12 Feb 2026Expected Q4 2026Financial Services

TIAA’s investment arm is acquiring the British asset manager for 590p a share in cash plus permitted dividends of up to 22p, creating a platform of roughly $2.5 trillion in assets. That is a 29% premium to Schroders’ 456p close on 11 February, or 34% including the dividends. The structure is a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act. Shareholder risk is effectively retired: irrevocables cover about 42% of the share capital including the Schroder family trustees, and the 16 April meetings passed with 99.92% support. What remains is the court sanction hearing and FCA change-of-control approval.

Source: Nuveen announcement

Martin Marietta / Lhoist North America

$13.5Benterprise value at about 15x trailing adjusted EBITDA

Antitrust clearanceAnnounced 29 Jun 2026Expected H2 2026Materials

Martin Marietta is paying $7.0 billion in cash and $6.5 billion in stock for the lime and industrial minerals business, at about 15 times trailing adjusted EBITDA including run-rate cost synergies. The company frames it as advancing its SOAR 2030 objective to expand its upstream Specialties segment. The governance detail worth flagging: the Berghmans family will hold roughly 15% of Martin Marietta on a fully diluted basis, with the right to appoint one director and one board observer.

Source: Martin Marietta investor relations

Santander / Webster Financial

$12.2B$75.59 per share: $48.75 cash plus 2.0548 Santander ADSs

Fed approved 4 Aug 2026Announced 3 Feb 2026Closing 20 Aug 2026Financial Services

Santander’s push into US commercial banking, with a stated goal of 18% return on tangible equity in the US by 2028. This one is days from completion. The OCC approved on 12 June, the European Central Bank authorised it on 21 July and the Federal Reserve approved on 4 August, with closing now expected on 20 August 2026. Two drafting notes. Santander says $12.2 billion and Webster says $12.3 billion in their respective releases, so pick one and stay consistent. And neither party disclosed a premium to the prior close, only 16% to Webster’s 10-day volume-weighted average and more than 2.0 times tangible book value.

Source: Santander, Federal Reserve approval

Sun Pharma / Organon

$11.75Benterprise value at $14.00 per share, all cash

Shareholder and regulatory approvalsAnnounced 26 Apr 2026Expected early 2027Healthcare / Pharma

India’s Sun Pharma is buying the Merck spin-off to build a global women’s health and biosimilars platform, in the largest deal in its history. Be careful with the premium. Organon’s own transaction deck markets a 103% premium, but that is measured to its 9 April closing price, seventeen days before announcement, during which the stock ran hard on deal speculation. The one-day premium to the Friday close before announcement is about 24%. Sun Pharma’s own release states no premium at all.

Source: Sun Pharma announcement (PDF)

Merck KGaA / Bio-Techne

$11.3Benterprise value, €9.9 billion, at $73.00 per share

Shareholder and multi-jurisdiction approvalsAnnounced 25 Jun 2026Late 2026 or early 2027Healthcare / Life Sciences

The German group is paying $73.00 a share in cash to deepen its life-science tools portfolio. The disclosed 36% premium is measured to the one-month volume-weighted average rather than the prior close, so it should not be described as a premium to the last close. Bio-Techne shareholder approval and multi-jurisdiction clearances are outstanding.

Source: Bio-Techne investor relations

AbbVie / Apogee Therapeutics

$10.9Bequity value at $135.11 per share, all cash

Tender offer and HSRAnnounced 22 Jun 2026Expected Q3 2026Healthcare / Biotech

AbbVie is paying $135.11 a share in cash for the immunology biotech, a 49% premium to the prior close and one of the few 2026 biopharma deals to clear a 45% premium. The deal deepens AbbVie’s immunology portfolio ahead of Humira-era revenue erosion.

Source: AbbVie newsroom

SoftBank / ABB Robotics

$5.375Benterprise value for the carve-out division

Foreign investment reviewAnnounced 8 Oct 2025Expected H2 2026Industrial Robotics

SoftBank is buying ABB’s robotics division, not ABB itself, in a carve-out valued at $5.375 billion of enterprise value. The division posted 2024 revenues of $2.3 billion, about 7% of ABB group revenue, with roughly 7,000 employees. ABB confirmed in its Q2 2026 report on 16 July that the sale is anticipated to complete in the second half of 2026. The often-repeated description of ABB as one of the robotics ‘Big 4’ appears in neither company’s release, so attribute it or leave it out.

Source: ABB announcement