Investors looked past a 22% drop in CSX’s third quarter earnings Thursday and focused on the direction the railroad’s new CEO might take it and the possibility of any strategic deals.
CEO Steve Angel promised to focus on making CSX the best-performing railroad. Without promising a merger, Angel said he would consider any strategic opportunities that make sense for shareholders. He also reminded investors that he ran industrial gas supplier Praxair for a decade before the opportunity to merge with rival Linde came up.
“The way these things work — these strategic opportunities — you’ve got to wait for the right timing. You’ve got to wait for when the conditions are right,” Angel said. “So what you do in the interim, you run the company to the best of your ability every day, and you create value that way. And so if and when that time comes, you’re going into that discussion from a position of strength.”
Thursday’s report was the first since Angel took the job late last month. The railroad is under pressure from investors, such as Ancora Holdings, to find another railroad to merge with, so CSX can better compete with the merged Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern railroad if that $85 billion deal gets approved. But both of CSX’s likely merger partners — BNSF and CPKC railroads — have said they aren’t interested in a deal because they believe the industry can better serve customers through cooperative agreements and avoid all the potential headaches that come with a merger.
Most observers believe CSX and BNSF will be at a disadvantage if the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger is approved. That transcontinental railroad will be able to shave more than a day off delivery times because it won’t have to hand off shipments between railroads in the middle of the country. So far, CSX and BNSF say they can achieve most of the benefits of a merger through cooperative agreements instead.
Angel, 70, has not worked at a railroad before although earlier in his career he worked at GE’s locomotive building unit and developed a lifelong appreciation for railroads. He stressed the similarities between industrial gas companies and railroads, saying both focus on safety and invest heavily in the most profitable areas with the highest traffic.
The Jacksonville, Florida-based company said Thursday it earned $694 million, or 37 cents per share, in the quarter. That’s down from $894 million, or 46 cents per share a year ago. But without a $164 million goodwill impairment charge, the railroad would have earned $818 million, or 44 cents per share.
The adjusted figure just topped the 43 cents per share that analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had predicted.
CSX’s performance has suffered over much of the past year because of construction projects that limited the railroad’s flexibility and reduced capacity. CSX completed repairs from Hurricane Helene and a major tunnel renovation in Baltimore last month. Its performance improved significantly throughout the quarter. The average speed of its trains increased to 18.9 mph, the fastest level since 2021. CSX also delivered 87% of its shipments on time in the quarter.
CSX is one of the largest railroads in North America, operating in the eastern United States.
Casino consolidation chatter is alive, but not as vibrant as in past years
Still high interest rates weighing on Las Vegas Strip asset sales
Bolt-on, not transformational deals expected
The casino industry is often a hotbed of consolidation rumors, but if chatter from the recently concluded Global Gaming Expo (G2E) is any indication, large-scale deal-making likely isn’t the near-term cards.
Las Vegas Strip M&A activity is likely to be slow until interest rates fall more. (Image: Shutterstock)
In a new report to clients, Stifel analyst Jeffrey Stantial notes that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) talk at G2E was subdued compared to prior years. That includes a muted outlook for asset sales on the Las Vegas Strip.
Given larger average purchase price, Strip M&A appetite seems limited until interest rates come in further,” observes Stantial.
That’s relevant to Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) and likely priced into the flailing stock. Caesars has long been rumored to be a candidate to offload one of its Strip properties — a move that would help reduce debt — but the pool of credible cash buyers is small, meaning prospective suitors likely need to finance deals and that’s an unattractive proposition when interest rates are high. The potential good news is that rates are expected to fall by 100 to 120 basis points by the end of 2026.
Slim Pickings for Regional Casino M&A, Too
Beyond the Strip, it’s also unlikely that there will be needle-moving transactions among regional casinos over the near-term. Stantial said the bulk of seller interest is for lower quality assets and that could result in limited interest among potential buyers.
That jibes with some operator commentary indicating that would-be buyers of regional casinos simply can’t find assets that meet their standards and that they won’t be rushed into deals just to increase the size of their portfolios.
The analyst noted a possible exception on the seller side is Century Casinos (NASDAQ: CNTY), which is currently in the midst of a strategic review. Stantial said that operator “seemed open to all options in the ongoing strategic review.” The company is holding talks about the long-awaited divestment of its two-thirds interest in Casinos Poland.
“We continue to see an outright sale as unlikely given the variety of assets/markets & challenges under-writing to expected ‘fully-ramped’ earnings power, though see potential for one-off divestitures – in particular CNTY’s Canadian portfolio given increasingly non-core nature & historically higher transaction multiples vs. U.S. assets,” observes the Stifel analyst. “We expect management to be thorough evaluating options, indicating more likely CY26 resolution.”
Eye on Prediction Markets, Sports Betting
Given the recent flurry of financing activity in the prediction markets space, it’s possible that online sports betting (OSB) take closer looks at acquisition candidates in that arena. However, OSB operators could be hamstrung regarding prediction market purchases because some state regulators have warned gaming companies licenses could be at risk if they earnestly move into event contracts.
Related M&A trends to monitor include “undetermined prediction markets strategies for incumbent OSB operators, and efforts to accelerate player deposits/liquidity for exchanges, and brand & odds provider tuck-ins for regulated OSB operators,” concludes Stantial.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison speaks during the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles on Oct. 9, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
For months, it was one of the worst-kept secrets in media circles: Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellisonwas angling to buy The Free Press, the provocative digital outlet founded by a culture warrior who left The New York Times over what she viewed as its anti-conservative groupthink. Yesterday (Oct. 9), just four days after Paramount Skydance confirmed its $150 million acquisition of The Free Press, Ellison finally explained his reasoning in detail at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles.
He described the deal—which also includes naming Free Press founder Bari Weiss the first-ever editor-in-chief of CBS News, the crown jewel of Paramount’s media holdings—as a cornerstone of his plan to rebuild trust in journalism and connect with audiences “where they are.” That means a mix of broadcast, digital and direct-to-consumer platforms aimed at the roughly 70 percent of Americans he believes fall between the ideological extremes.
“Our goal in news is to become the most trusted destination in news media,” Ellison said. “Civil discourse that currently exists is not in a great place. We basically believe in all the things The Free Press believed in—speaking to the 70 percent of the audience that identifies themselves as center-left to center-right. We believe in the open exchange of ideas, and then fundamentally presenting both sides and allowing the audience to ultimately make their determination about how they feel about it. But they’re presented with the facts.”
Ellison praised the heritage of CBS News and 60 Minutes but said the network lacks a cohesive digital strategy—one reason The Free Press became central to the deal. He said Weiss’s publication would continue to operate online while helping Paramount expand across formats such as broadcast, podcasts and eventually a direct-to-consumer platform that unites them all.
Ellison also used the conference to outline a broader vision for Paramount Skydance as a company built for reinvention. He pointed to its 80 million streaming subscribers and what he called “one of the best content libraries in existence.” He drew a distinction between CBS’s broadcast business and the broader decline of linear TV, calling CBS “a remarkable asset that’s been number one in primetime for 17 straight seasons,” one that remains profitable and buoyed by sports rights.
In addition to the Free Press deal, Paramount Skydance has also secured high-profile partnerships in recent weeks with the UFC, Activision’s Call of Duty and filmmaker James Mangold. Ellison called the acquisition of UFC rights a key piece of a “year-long sports strategy” that complements CBS’s existing portfolio of the NFL, March Madness and The Masters.
Pressed about consolidation rumors, particularly speculation over a possible Warner Bros. Discovery merger, Ellison declined to comment. But he emphasized that any acquisition would be guided by storytelling, talent relationships and shareholder value. “Consumers don’t love going to seven different apps,” he said, arguing that any deal would need to produce “more content, not less,” and create something better for audiences.
Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who was briefly the world’s richest person recently, thanks to Oracle’s surging stock. When asked about family dynamics, the Paramount Skydance CEO described their relationship as “phenomenal,” calling Larry Ellison a mentor with an unmatched record of value creation. “He’s the largest shareholder [in Paramount Skydance], but I run the company day-to-day,” Ellison said.
Ellison closed his onstage talk by reflecting on the passion that started it all. “I fell in love with movies as a kid. My mom and I would go to the movies every single weekend. We went 52 weeks a year and just saw anything that was playing,” he said. “I have always loved and believed in this business. I love storytelling. I believe in the value of entertainment and media and what these stories mean, and it’s a privilege to get to tell them in our culture.”
Fifth Third Bancorp agreed to buy Comerica Inc. for about $10.9 billion in stock, the largest US bank deal this year and a sign that the logjam blocking big mergers in the industry may have broken under the Trump administration’s deregulation efforts. The deal will create the ninth-largest bank in the country, with about $288 […]
OpenAI has acquired Roi, an AI-powered personal finance app. In keeping with a recent trend in the AI industry, only the CEO is making the jump.
Chief executive and co-founder Sujith Vishwajith announced the acquisition on Friday, and a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch he is the only one of Roi’s four-person staff to join OpenAI. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company will wind down operations and end its service to customers on October 15.
The Roi deal marks the latest in a string of acqui-hires from OpenAI this year, including Context.ai, Crossing Minds, and Alex.
While it’s not clear whether any of Roi’s technology will transfer over to OpenAI or which unit Vishwajith will join, the acquisition clearly aligns with OpenAI’s bet on personalization and life management as the next layer of AI products. Roi brings a specialized team that has already tried to solve personalization in finance at scale — a challenge whose lessons can be applied more broadly.
New York-based Roi was founded in 2022 and has raised $3.6 million in early-stage funding from investors like Balaji Srinivasan, Spark Capital, Gradient Ventures, and Spacecadet Ventures, according to PitchBook data. Its mission was to aggregate a user’s financial footprint, including stocks, crypto, DeFi, real-estate, and NFTs, into one app that can track funds, provide insights, and help people make trades.
“We started Roi 3 years ago to make investing accessible to everyone by building the most personalized financial experience,” Vishwajith wrote in a post on X. “Along the way we realized personalization isn’t just the future of finance. It’s the future of software.”
Beyond tracking trades, Roi gave users access to a financially savvy AI companion that responded in ways that made sense for them. When signing up, users could personalize Roi by providing information like what they do for a living and how they wanted Roi to respond to them.
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In one telling example that Roi posted on X, the sample user wrote: “Talk to me like I’m a Gen-Z kid with brain rot. Use as little words as possible and roast me as much as you want I don’t mind.” In response to a query about the status of the user’s portfolio, Roi replied: “Suje, you got cooked lil bro. Cause of the tariff announcements, you took an L today of $32,459.12…Based on your risk preference this might be an opportunity to buy the dip.”
The exchange highlights the philosophy behind Roi and its co-founder — that software shouldn’t just provide generic answers but should adapt, learn, and communicate in ways that feel personal, human, and most importantly, keep you engaged.
As the Roi team wrote in a blog post: “The products we use every day won’t remain static, predetermined experiences. They’ll become adaptive, deeply personal companions that understand us, learn from us, and evolve with us.”
That vision dovetails with OpenAI’s existing consumer efforts, including Pulse, which generates personalized news and content reports for users as they sleep; the Sora app, a TikTok competitor filled with AI-generated content, including personal cameos from users; and Instant Checkout, a feature that lets users shop and make purchases directly in ChatGPT.
The deal also comes as OpenAI beefs up its consumer applications team, led by former Instacart CEO Fidji Simo. It’s a further signal that OpenAI isn’t just trying to be an API provider, but wants to build its own end-user apps. Roi’s talent and tech could slot right into these apps and help make them more adaptive.
Vishwajith, alongside his co-founder Chip Davis, used to work at Airbnb, where he developed a knack for optimizing user behavior to drive revenue. By his account, a simple change of 25 lines of code led to $10+ million in additional cash.
Being able to bring in meaningful revenue via consumer apps is more important than ever to OpenAI as it continues to burn through billions on data centers and infrastructure to power its models.
Gaming company said it has approval to increase credit facility to $510 million
Creditors also approved sale-leaseback transaction on Rhode Island casino
Bally’s announced today it secured commitment to increase the borrowing capacity on a revolving credit facility (RCF) maturing on Oct. 1, 2028 by $510 million.
Bally’s Atlantic City. The company won approval for an increased credit facility. (Image: Shutterstock)
That enhancement was made possible by existing RCF creditors representing $670 million in commitments signing off on the regional casino operator’s sale-leaseback (SLB) deal on its Twin River Lincoln Casino Resort in Lincoln, RI. That $735 million transaction was announced earlier this month.
Upon receiving similar consents to the SLB Transaction from holders of approximately $600 million of term loans, which represent approximately 32% of currently outstanding amounts, the Company will have received sufficient consent from its senior secured lenders to proceed with the SLB Transaction,” according to a statement issued by Rhode Island-based Bally’s.
Casino landlord Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ: GLPI) is acquiring the property assets of the Rhode Island casino. The real estate investment trust (REIT) is Bally’s primary landlord in several states.
Why it Matters for Bally’s
Both the increased RCF and the approval to divest the real estate of the Twin River Lincoln Casino Resort are essential to Bally’s efforts to gain financial flexibility and reduce debt.
When the gaming company announced the sale-leaseback, it pledged to “reduce secured debt and credit facilities outstanding by an aggregate amount of $500 million, with first a permanent reduction of outstanding RCF commitments by 7.5%, to approximately $574 million.”
In the Tuesday statement announcing the pair of aforementioned commitments, Bally’s noted it could reduce outstanding balances by as much as 19%. The sale of its interactive unit to Intralot is another avenue through which the casino operator could raise capital with which to lower debt.
“If the SLB Transaction is consummated, based upon the agreed amendments with Bally’s RCF lenders, and if similarly ratified by Bally’s term loan lenders, the combined outstanding balances of Bally’s term loans and first lien notes is expected to be reduced from approximately $2.4 billion to approximately $1.92 billion,” Bally’s said in the press release.
Bally’s Facing Some Big Spending
Bally’s ability to shore up its finances is crucial in any environment, let alone when where interest rates remain high. Additionally, the operator could be facing significant expenditures related to its efforts to grow its land-based casino business.
While the company has solidified financing needed to bring its $1.7 billion Chicago casino hotel across the finish line, it’s in the running for a New York City-area gaming license. If it wins one of those three permits, it’d invest $4 billion in the Bronx.
Additionally, the company could use increased financial flexibility to potentially spruce up existing properties, some of which, according to customers, could use some refreshing.
CSX railroad announced Monday that it had replaced its CEO less than two months after an investment fund urged it to either find another railroad to merge with to better compete with the proposed transcontinental Union Pacific railroad or fire outgoing CEO Joe Hinrichs.
The outgoing CEO, who came to the railroad in 2022 after a long career with Ford, focused on repairing CSX’s relationship with its workers and labor unions and unifying the team after a bitter contract fight. But Ancora Holdings, which helped spur major changes at Norfolk Southern, said CSX’s operating performance deteriorated significantly under Hinrichs’ leadership. Hinrichs resigned to clear the way for Steve Angel to become CEO effective Sunday.
Angel, 70, also comes from outside the rail industry although earlier in his career he oversaw GE’s locomotive building unit, so he does have that experience. CSX said he has 45 years experience leading large public companies, including most recently as CEO of Linde and Praxair that provide industrial gasses to other companies.
“We are excited to welcome Steve as our new CEO. He is a visionary in creating long-term value and an expert in guiding companies through significant transformation,” the railroad’s board Chairman John Zillmer said.
CSX has been under pressure from Ancora and other investors since Union Pacific announced its $85 billion deal to acquire Norfolk Southern, which is CSX’s rival in the eastern United States. But both BNSF and CPKC railroads said they aren’t interested in a merger right now.
Ancora said CSX has delivered disappointing shareholder returns and poor financial performance during Hinrichs’ tenure. But over the past year, CSX was working on two major construction projects — repairs from Hurricane Helene and a major tunnel renovation in Baltimore — that disrupted the railroad. Both those projects were just completed this month, so CSX’s performance was expected to improve in the fourth quarter.
Even though he’s not a railroader, Ancora praised Angel’s hiring because of his experience with mergers and acquisitions. The top executives at Ancora, Frederick D. DiSanto and James Chadwick, said in their statement that they believe Hinrichs “botched the opportunity” to merge with another railroad and may have even fought the idea. They said Angel is expected to be more aggressive at pursuing a deal and that he will re-evaluate the railroad’s leadership team.
“With President Donald Trump and other policymakers recently expressing enthusiasm for the benefits of a transcontinental railroad, CSX and other Class I railroads have no choice but to embrace the industry’s new realities,” the Ancora executives said. “Although Steve Angel is not a railroader by trade, his M&A pedigree and value creation record indicate his appointment is an initial step in the right direction for CSX.”
Angel promised to make improvements at the Jacksonville, Florida-based company, which is one of the six largest railroads in North America.
“My top priorities will be to ensure the safety of the railroad and our employees, deliver reliable service to our customers, and increase value for our shareholders,” Angel said in a statement.
Ancora said it continues to buy more CSX shares and hopes to develop a better relationship with the railroad. Ancora holds three seats on Norfolk Southern’s board after running a proxy campaign there to oust the previous CEO at that railroad, so the investment fund had input on the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger.
CSX shares gained more than 3% Monday after the new CEO was announced.
FIS has completed its acquisition of Chicago-based fintech Amount, marking a strategic expansion of its digital banking capabilities, according to a Sept. 24 announcement. Amount specializes in unified, cloud-native account origination and decisioning for deposits, lending and card services. The platform has processed more than 150 million new account applications across consumers and small to […]
FIS has completed its acquisition of Chicago-based fintech Amount, marking a strategic expansion of its digital banking capabilities, according to a Sept. 24 announcement. Amount specializes in unified, cloud-native account origination and decisioning for deposits, lending and card services. The platform has processed more than 150 million new account applications across consumers and small to […]
FIS has completed its acquisition of Chicago-based fintech Amount, marking a strategic expansion of its digital banking capabilities, according to a Sept. 24 announcement. Amount specializes in unified, cloud-native account origination and decisioning for deposits, lending and card services. The platform has processed more than 150 million new account applications across consumers and small to […]
Oracle has named Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia as CEOs, with current CEO Safra Catz becoming executive vice chair of the technology company’s board.
The announcement comes as Oracle founder Larry Ellison has been named as part of a group that could be part of a deal in which the U.S. will take control of the social video platform TikTok. The group is also said to include media mogul Rupert Murdoch and tech founder Michael Dell.
Ellison currently serves as Oracle’s chairman and chief technology officer.
Oracle said Monday that Magouyrk previously served as president of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. He joined Oracle in 2014 from Amazon Web Services and is a founding member of Oracle’s cloud engineering team.
Sicilia was president of Oracle Industries and joined the company when Oracle acquired Primavera Systems.
“Humanity is investing enormous resources in the race to advance artificial intelligence,” Ellison said in a statement. “Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is playing a major part in that effort. Clay’s years of experience leading Oracle’s large, fast-growing cloud infrastructure business has demonstrated his readiness for a CEO role. Mike has spent the last several years modernizing Oracle’s industry applications businesses—including Oracle Health—by completely rebuilding those applications using the latest AI technologies.”
Catz has served as Oracle’s CEO since 2014. Earlier this month she said that Oracle signed four multi-billion dollar contracts during its latest quarter, and it expects cloud infrastructure revenue to jump 77% to $18 billion this fiscal year. After that, it expects such revenue to soar to $144 billion in just four years.
David Ellison is positioning himself as Hollywood’s newest power broker, with his family preparing a bid that could put Paramount and Warner Bros. under one roof. Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
For years, whispers have percolated around a potential merger or acquisition between Warner Bros. and Paramount (now under Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance, respectively). The tenor of these conversations just rose an octave thanks to reports of the Ellison family preparing for a formal bid. Will this be legacy studios’ best and last chance of creating a real rival to Netflix and YouTube? Or is it simply another experiment that stock-conscious executives hatched? Either way, such a deal would face enormous financial and creative challenges while also holding the potential to transform Hollywood.
Growing a content library for the sake of volume without any consideration for audience fit is like trying to explain the third act of Tenet to your grandmother—it’s just not going to make sense. But on paper, a combined entity would be armed to the teeth with top-notch brands and talents.
A WBD-Paramount merger would trigger an intellectual property field day with DC, Harry Potter,Game of Thrones, Dune, Lord of the Rings, The Conjuring, Top Gun, Mission: Impossible, Transformers, Sonic, A Quiet Place and Star Trek under the same corporate parent. Cartoon Network, which the current WBD leadership downsized, might live once more alongside Nickelodeon as an irresistible one-two punch in kids media (or get sold off). Imagine no longer fretting about your overall TV slate because proven hitmakers Chuck Lorre, Taylor Sheridan and Bill Lawrence all work in-house on existing deals.
“The real test would be creative and product-market fit,” Steve Morris, founder and CEO of digital marketing agency New Media, told Observer.
Theatrical stakes
As of this writing, Warner Bros. accounts for 28 percent of the domestic box office market share while Paramount sits at 6.6 percent. This varies year-to-year, though. Since 2021, Paramount has enjoyed fewer tentpole peaks (Top Gun: Maverick notwithstanding) but delivered steadier conversion of awareness to theatrical intent on a film-by-film basis by opening week, according to Greenlight Analytics, where I work as Director of Insights & Content Strategy. WB’s slate has proven streakier in pre-release tracking, but its impressive highs in awareness, interest and theatrical intent tend to best Paramount’s.
Warner Bros. targets 12 to 14 theatrical releases annually, while Paramount wants to ramp up to 15 to 20 per year. A merger will almost assuredly reduce total output. 20th Century Fox released an average of 14 annual movies theatrically between 2015 and 2019. That number has dropped to around four under The Walt Disney Company’s ownership. Reducing the number of legacy movie studios again at a time when Big Tech grows stronger in entertainment by the day might cause a full-blown panic throughout the industry.
Consolidation of this magnitude usually leads to greater franchise dependency, squeezing out mid-budget and indie fare in the process. In turn, this results in less consistent volume for movie theaters (already a problem), less leverage for talent at the negotiating table, and a race toward the middle in terms of creative programming. Not fun.
Small-screen realities
WBD and Paramount collectively accounted for just over 13 percent of total U.S. TV usage (broadcast, cable, streaming) in July, trailing only YouTube, according to Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge. If we examine combined streaming catalog demand shares, which account for all original and licensed films/TV series on-platform, in the U.S. across 2024, we get a No. 1 ranking at 23.4 percent, according to Parrot Analytics. Even accounting for overlap across both services, the combined customers of WBD (122.3 million worldwide streaming subscribers between HBO Max and Discovery+) and Paramount+ (79 million) would pack a punch.
But WBD thought volume alone would close the gap with Netflix when it smushed together Max and Discovery+. Look at how that turned out. And while select content across Warners and Paramount commands high demand, a potential combo platter wouldn’t necessarily move the engagement needle immediately.
Unlocking the full value of the combined content catalog would require a complete overhaul of the streaming user interface and experience, an endeavor that’s as costly as it is timely. In the 2020s, with subscription fatigue already gnawing at quarterly earnings and FAST growing faster than SVOD, would both leadership and shareholders really have the patience for such an undertaking?
Talent and brand tensions
As kid-in-a-candy-store exciting as it would be for content executives to have so much franchise power and top-tier talent at their disposal, the logistical nightmare of balancing so many high-profile spinning plates boggles the mind. The Ellisons may have deep pockets, but funding always remains finite in Hollywood. Leadership would need to decide how to split the pie between, say, competing talent deals such as Tom Cruise and Timothee Chalamet (WBD) versus Will Smith and the Duffer Brothers (Paramount). How would you like to be the executive tasked with explaining to the talent why one slice is smaller than the other?
No matter which way you cut it, certain talents and brands would inevitably feel shortchanged compared to others. In a town built on egos, you might as well strike a match next to a powder keg. It’s a good problem to have, but the abundance of choice doesn’t guarantee strong strategy and execution.
Speaking generally about media mergers, Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian zeroed in on the brand issue. “Do they get diluted, spun off, marginalized, or are they exploited well to get the best results? That’s got to be part of the equation,” he told Observer.
Regulatory and financial hurdles
The list of reasons why any such deal can’t or won’t happen runs equally long as why it will. The DOJ and FTC emphasize even greater scrutiny on major M&A these days. Governing bodies would almost assuredly require divestitures, especially if a deal happened before WBD officially split off its cable assets. Some percentage of linear networks on both sides would have to go. It’s hard to see CNN existing alongside CBS News, for example. Even after jettisoning TV channels, both companies would still suffer from over-exposure to the rapidly declining linear TV business. Good luck trying to explain those numbers to angry shareholders.
WBD’s streaming division profits in part because it includes linear HBO revenues. Meanwhile, Paramount’s streaming business still wasn’t consistently profitable at the time of the sale to Skydance. On top of all that, both companies are saddled with considerable debt at the moment. It’s highly possible that any potential deal is more trouble than it’s worth.
Any combination of Paramount and Warner Bros. would yield a content slate exploding with blockbuster firepower. The new company (I’m going to start saying WarnerMount from now on) would snatch the franchise crown straight from Mickey Mouse’s head as it fed its streaming and theatrical furnace a steady diet of dynamite. But creative, regulatory, technological and financial challenges rightfully threaten to cloud the starry eyes of ambitious CEOs. (I’d love to see what the Skydance team can do with Paramount on its own).
Mergers and acquisitions have not proven to be the silver bullet Hollywood hoped they would be over the last 20 years. Would Warners and Paramount be any different? Perhaps. But more often than not, this tactic has been more exposing than helpful.
NEW YORK — PNC Financial said Monday that it plans to buy Colorado-based FirstBank for $4.1 billion, giving PNC a substantial presence in the Colorado banking market as well as Arizona.
Based in Lakewood, Colorado., FirstBank, which is also branded as 1stBank, is a midsized bank that operates 120 retail branches with $26.7 billion in assets. The bank is privately held, but the banks disclosed that the stockholders of FirstBank who collectively own 45.7% of the shares have already voted in favor of the merger.
“Its deep retail deposit base, unrivaled branch network in Colorado, growing presence in Arizona, and trusted community relationships make it an ideal partner for PNC,” said Bill Demchak, chairman and chief executive officer of PNC, in a statement.
PNC has been on an acquisition streak in the last few years that has made the Pennsylvania bank one of the biggest players in retail banking in the country, as PNC executives like to say “a coast-to-coast banking franchise.” PNC bought the U.S. operations of Spanish bank BBVA shortly after the pandemic for $11.6 billion. The bank has also been opening new branches in multiple markets, but particularly in the Southwest.
The FirstBank acquisition will make PNC the largest bank in the Denver market, and will give PNC more than 70 branches in Arizona. PNC will also grow to roughly $575 billion in assets.
The FirstBank purchase will put PNC closer in size to Capital One and U.S. Bank, who are PNC’s closest rivals. U.S. Bank, in particular, operates heavily in the Colorado and Arizona market.
Alex Overstrom, head of retail for the bank, said PNC may consider additional acquisitions to build out its franchise.
“We are not slowing down our organic growth but may consider opportunities as they arise,” Overstrom said, in an interview.
PNC is typically referred to as a super regional bank, a group of large national banks that are significant in size, often hundreds of billions in assets and hundreds of branches, but are dwarfed in size by the banking giants Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, who have size and scale that the super regionals cannot replicate.
The super regionals have been growing considerably in recent years in order to better compete with the Wall Street titans in various businesses. For example, Capital One bought Discover Financial, which jointly created the nation’s largest credit card company. Huntington Bancshares bought Detroit’s TCF back in 2021.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie before the body considers the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Board member Robert Primus said on LinkedIn that he received an email from the White House Wednesday night terminating the position he has held since he was appointed by Trump in his first term. The vacancy would allow Trump to appoint two additional Republicans to the board before its decision on the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger though the Senate would have to confirm them.
Primus was named Board Chairman last year by former President Joe Biden and he was the only board member to oppose Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad two years ago when it was approved. Trump elevated Board member Patrick Fuchs to Chairman after he was elected.
“Robert Primus did not align with the President’s America First agenda, and was terminated from his position by the White House,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said. “The administration intends to nominate new, more qualified members to the Surface Transportation Board in short order.”
Primus said the firing is “deeply troubling and legally invalid” so he plans to continue serving until he is blocked and then he will consider legal actions to fight it. Primus has already been removed from the STB website.
“I have worked tirelessly to build bipartisan trust and have demonstrated myself to be truly an independent board member that has consistently rendered fair and impartial decisions,” Primus said. “My record during my four and a half years at the board reflects this and I strongly believe the actions of the White House would weaken the board and adversely affect the freight rail network in a way that may ultimately hurt consumers and the economy.”
The nation’s largest railroad union that represents conductors, SMART-TD, quickly condemned the firing.
“The explanation provided for this decision — that his position has been “eliminated” — is nothing short of outrageous. Appointed bodies established through federal code are not designed to be erased at the whim of powerful corporate interests,” the union said. “This action is unprecedented, unlawful in spirit, and reeks of direct interference from hedge funds and the nation’s largest rail carriers.”
The board is set to consider Union Pacific’s $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern in the next two years before deciding whether to approve the nation’s first transcontinental railroad and reduce the number of major freight railroads in the U.S. to five.
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After three decades in capital markets and entrepreneurial ventures, I’ve learned one hard truth: Most founders wait too long to think about their exit. They’re focused on growing the business, product-market fit, hiring the right people or raising their next round, and understandably so. But here’s the reality: The companies that scale, endure and lead are the ones built with the end in mind.
Having an exit mindset doesn’t mean you’re planning to abandon ship. It means you’re architecting your business with intention and strategic foresight. Whether your future includes an IPO, a SPAC merger, a venture-backed acquisition or simply attracting long-term capital, an exit mindset forces clarity. It requires discipline. And it ensures you’re building not just for now but for what comes next.
During the Great Recession, I lost everything. Years of work and millions in value disappeared seemingly overnight. That moment was both devastating and instructive. I realized that while I had been focused on growth and momentum, I hadn’t built with durability in mind. I hadn’t built to exit; I’d built to run.
Coming back from that loss forced me to rebuild from the ground up and reimagine what success really meant. I leaned into the volatility instead of resisting it, and over time, that shift led me to support other founders navigating the capital markets, helping them structure for growth and prepare for their own exits.
I noticed a pattern: The most successful entrepreneurs weren’t necessarily the smartest or the most well-funded. They were the ones who led with clarity, who built their businesses with the intention to exit, whether that meant selling, stepping back or scaling beyond themselves.
Exit is a mindset, not a milestone
Going public or selling your company shouldn’t be a last-minute decision. It can (and should) take years, as a natural progression of a business built on solid fundamentals. That starts with a clear answer to one question: What are you building toward?
If your answer is vague or reactive, it’s time to revisit your strategy.
An exit mindset helps you:
Build toward investor-grade readiness: This includes predictable revenue, clean cap tables, strong corporate governance and a scalable operating model.
Attract the right capital partners: Investors can sense when a business has long-term value versus short-term hustle.
Avoid short-term traps: When you’re playing the long game, you’re less likely to overpromise, overhire or overextend.
Think like a public company (even if you’re not one yet)
Entrepreneurs often underestimate the rigor and transparency required to go public or raise institutional capital and often think of an IPO or acquisition as a finish line. But it’s not a finish line, it’s a new starting gate. And the market doesn’t hand out second chances.
If you want public markets, investors or strategic acquirers to take you seriously, you need to demonstrate:
Financial maturity: Are your books audit-ready? Do you understand your KPI and unit economics? Can you forecast with precision?
Strategic clarity: Do you have a clearly articulated long-term vision? Can you tell a compelling growth story?
Operational resilience: Have you built processes that scale? Do you have a team that can lead beyond you?
I tell the entrepreneurs I work with that the stock doesn’t trade itself. A great business is not the same as a great public company. The companies that perform post-IPO are the ones that prepared for the scrutiny long before the bell rang.
Lessons from the frontlines
Over the past few years, I’ve seen how volatile and unforgiving the IPO and public markets can be. In 2021, deal flow was booming. In 2022 and 2023, it all but froze. Yet in that same period, a handful of companies thrived. Why? Because they had built with optionality in mind.
Take CAVA Group, for instance. In a tough IPO market, they went public in 2023 and saw their stock jump 37% on the first day. That didn’t happen by accident. It was the result of strategic decisions made years earlier: disciplined growth, strong financial performance, well-crafted storytelling, focused leadership and the ability to meet investor expectations.
Don’t just raise capital. Rehearse the exit.
Too many founders treat fundraising like a finish line. But capital is a tool, not a strategy. If you raise money without a clear exit roadmap, you risk dilution, misalignment, or worse, getting stuck in the middle.
Instead, start with the exit in mind. Ask yourself:
What would a strategic acquirer find most valuable about my business?
If I were to list tomorrow, are my systems, controls and structures ready?
Do I have the right team and board to guide me through a real transition?
The earlier you ask these questions, the more optionality you create. And in this volatile market, optionality isn’t a nice-to-have. It is your edge.
The paradox is real: The strongest exits come from businesses that aren’t built just to exit. They’re built to endure. They have resilient models, committed teams and founders who lead with transparency and purpose.
An exit mindset doesn’t mean you’re pulling back. It means you’re more strategic and leading with vision. It doesn’t mean you’re ready to walk away; it means you’re building something that can outlast you.
So, whether you’re on your first round or your fifth, ask yourself: If I had to exit tomorrow, would I be ready?
If the answer is no, you’re not alone. The time to start building with that end in mind is now.
After three decades in capital markets and entrepreneurial ventures, I’ve learned one hard truth: Most founders wait too long to think about their exit. They’re focused on growing the business, product-market fit, hiring the right people or raising their next round, and understandably so. But here’s the reality: The companies that scale, endure and lead are the ones built with the end in mind.
Having an exit mindset doesn’t mean you’re planning to abandon ship. It means you’re architecting your business with intention and strategic foresight. Whether your future includes an IPO, a SPAC merger, a venture-backed acquisition or simply attracting long-term capital, an exit mindset forces clarity. It requires discipline. And it ensures you’re building not just for now but for what comes next.
Technology provider nCino Oct. 30 announced plans to acquire SaaS platform FullCircl for $135 million cash. The acquisition will create an entity that enables financial institution customers to “unify and intelligently manage the entire client lifecycle across information intake, document collection and customer due diligence in one place, regardless of the entity’s complexity,” Pierre […]
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Thursday it is launching a broad investigation into the state of competition in air travel, including the effect of mergers and joint ventures between airlines.
The investigation is being handled by the Justice Department’s antitrust division and the Transportation Department.
The administration has successfully blocked three airline deals in the past four years, and President Joe Biden has criticized airlines for charging “junk fees.”
However, the timing of Thursday’s announcement — less than three months before Biden leaves office, and with the race to succeed him considered a toss-up — casts uncertainty over the fate of the investigation.
“Unfortunately, the timing of this ‘broad inquiry’, which was announced 12 days before a national election, suggests political motivations,” trade group Airlines for America said in a statement.
Four airlines dominate the U.S. airline industry — United, Delta, American and Southwest. They are the product of mergers that eliminated several major airlines.
The airline industry says that there is plenty of competition, however. The industry points to Transportation Department data that shows average U.S. airfares have generally declined for many years, although that has been partly offset by higher fees for baggage, premium seats and other items.
“Survey after survey shows that airline customer satisfaction is at an all-time,” Airlines for America said. “Air travel is at an all-time high.”
In the second quarter of this year, the average ticket was $382, according to the government figures. That is down from $404 in the same quarter of last year and $438 in the same period of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.
The departments said they would they also look into the way air travel is priced and sold, and airline frequent-flyer programs.
The agencies said they will take public comments until Dec. 23.
LONDON — Cybersecurity firm Wiz is seeking to hit $1 billion of annual recurring revenues next year, the company’s billionaire co-founder Roy Reznik told CNBC, adding that the firm will go public “when the stars align.”
Wiz makes software that connects to cloud storage providers like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure and scans for everything it stores in the cloud, helping organizations identify and remove risks in their cloud environments. It was founded by four Israeli friends while they served in 8200, the intelligence unit of Israel’s army, and most of Wiz’s engineering personnel are still based in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Earlier this year, the company rejected a $23-billion acquisition bid from Google, which would have marked the tech giant’s largest-ever takeover. At the time, Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport said the startup was “flattered” by the offer, but would remain an independent company and aim to list instead.
Speaking with CNBC at Wiz’s new office space in London, Reznik said that the company has received offers from “many people that want to get their hands on Wiz stock” — but that, while “very flattering,” the firm still thinks it can do it alone by going public.
“We’ve already broken a few records as a private company, and we believe we can also break a few more records as an independent public company as well,” Reznik said.
Four-year-old Wiz has raised $1.9 billion in venture capital to date, including $1 billion secured this year in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Thrive Capital at a valuation of $12 billion.
In 2022, Wiz said it had reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), up from just $1 million in 18 months. At the time, the startup said it was “the fastest software company to achieve this feat.”
Reznik, who is the vice president of research and development at Wiz, said the firm now hopes to double from the $500 million of ARR it achieved this year and hit $1 billion in ARR in 2025, which CEO Rappaport cited as a key condition before the company goes public.
Wiz has been expanding its presence internationally, with a particular focus on Europe, from where it sources 35% of its revenues. Last month, the firm opened its first European office in London.
“I think the talent here is amazing, and the ecosystem is amazing,” Reznik told CNBC. “We have always been very much involved in Europe — and specifically the U.K. — and I feel like it’s a natural evolvement of Wiz to double down even more here in London and the U.K.”
The U.K. represents a major growth opportunity when it comes to cybersecurity, Reznik said, adding that recent events like the cyberattack on National Health Service hospitals and an incident affecting Transport for London have “roof topped” the level of interest in the kinds of products Wiz offers.
“The cloud market is going to reach $1 trillion over the next next few years,” Reznik, who moved from Israel to the U.K. just three months ago, told CNBC. “This year is going to be around $700 million, while security is just 4% out of that, I would say. So that makes it a $30 billion market, which is huge.”
Speaking about the U.K. market, Reznik said: “We see a lot of interest here. Many of the largest banks and retailers, are Wiz customers. But we’re also seeing a huge potential for growth.”
Wiz’s customers include online retailer ASOS and digital bank Revolut as customers in the U.K.
People walk along London Bridge past the City of London skyline.
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London-based online trading platform Freetrade told CNBC Tuesday that it’s agreed to buy the U.K. customer book of Stake, an Australian investing app.
The move is part of a broader bid from Freetrade to bolster its domestic business and comes as British digital investment platforms face rising competition from new entrants — not least U.S. heavyweight Robinhood.
The startup told CNBC exclusively that it entered into a transaction with Stake to take on all of the company’s clients and move all assets the firm manages in the U.K. over to its own platform.
Freetrade and Stake declined to disclose financial information of the deal, including the value of Stake’s U.K. customer book.
Stake, which is based in Sydney, Australia, was founded in 2017 by entrepreneurs Matt Leibowitz, Dan Silver and Jon Abitz with the aim of providing low-cost brokerage services to retail investors in Australia.
The company, which also operates in New Zealand, launched its services in the U.K. in 2020. However, after a recent business review, Stake decided to focus primarily on its Australia and New Zealand operations.
Following the deal, customers of Stake U.K. will be contacted with details about how to move their money and other assets over to Freetrade in “the coming weeks,” the companies said. Customers will still be able to use their Stake account until assets and cash are transferred to Freetrade in November.
Freetrade operates primarily in the U.K. but has sought to expand into the European Union. It offers a range of investment products on its platform, including stocks, exchange-traded funds, individual savings accounts, and government bonds. As of April 2024, it had more than 1.4 million users.
Earlier this year, CNBC reported that the startup’s co-founder and CEO, Adam Dodds, had decided to depart the company after six years at the helm. He was replaced by Viktor Nebehaj, the firm’s then-chief operating officer.
Freetrade was a beneficiary of the 2020 and 2021 retail stock investing frenzy, which saw GameStop and other so-called “meme stocks” jump to wild highs. In the years that followed, Freetrade and its rivals, including Robinhood were impacted by higher interest rates which hammered investor sentiment.
In 2022, Freetrade announced plans to lay off 15% of its workforce. The following year, the firm saw its valuation slump 65% to £225 million ($301 million) in an equity crowdfunding round. Freetrade at the time blamed a “different market environment” for the reduction in its market value.
More recently, though, things have been turning around for the startup. Freetradereported its first-ever half year of profit in 2024, with adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization hitting £91,000 in the six months through June. Revenues climbed 34% year-over-year, to £13.1 million.
“I’m focused on scaling Freetrade into the leading commission-free investment platform in the UK market,” CEO Nebehaj said in a statement shared with CNBC. “This deal shows our commitment to capitalise on opportunities for inorganic growth to reach that goal.”
“Over the last few months, we have worked closely with Stake to ensure a smooth transition and good outcomes for their UK customers. We look forward to welcoming them and continuing to support them on their investment journeys.”
Freetrade currently manages more than £2 billion worth of assets for U.K. clients. Globally, Stake has over $2.9 billion in assets under administration.
First Citizens Bank and Silicon Valley Bank are slowly integrating their tech stacks while keeping their individual digital road maps relatively separate. “There has been a period of isolation where First Citizens wanted us to complete our digital journey and road map,” Milton Santiago, head of global digital solutions at SVB, told Bank Automation News. […]
