Pulse 2.0 | Business news, profiles, and deal flow coverage

Oracle Details $45 Billion-$50 Billion Equity And Debt Funding Plan For 2026 OCI Expansion

Tesla’s $2 Billion xAI Bet Comes With A Big Pivot: Retiring Model S/X As Robots And AI Infrastructure Take Center Stage

Fifth Third Closes Comerica Merger, Creating Ninth Largest U.S. Bank With $294 Billion in Assets

OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners Adds $700 Million Minneapolis Firm Voyage Wealth Architects

Intesa Sanpaolo Targets €50 Billion Shareholder Returns Through 2029 As It Unveils New Growth Plan

BlueFive Capital Closes $3 Billion Onyx Fund I For Opportunistic US And Europe Tech Bets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:04 AM

BlueFive Capital announced it has closed its $3 billion Onyx Fund I, a vehicle registered with the Abu Dhabi Global Market that will pursue opportunistic technology and growth capital investments across the United States and Europe. The firm said the fund will focus on businesses operating at the frontier of innovation, with an emphasis on artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and advanced computing, where it sees disruptive potential increasingly translating into scalable commercial applications.

Patria Investments Buying WP Global Partners, Adding $1.8 Billion In Fee-Earning AUM

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:58 AM

Patria Investments announced it has agreed to acquire WP Global Partners, a U.S.-based private equity solutions manager focused on the lower middle market, in a move aimed at deepening Patria’s North American footprint and strengthening its middle-market primary, secondary, and co-investment capabilities.

CVC To Sell FineToday To Bain In About $1.29 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:55 AM

CVC Asia Fund V and other shareholders have reached an agreement for Bain Capital to acquire 100% of FineToday's outstanding shares, positioning the personal care and beauty company for its next phase of growth under new ownership.

DXC Taps Rob Le Busque To Lead Asia Pacific And Japan Growth Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:49 AM

DXC Technology has appointed Rob Le Busque as President of Asia Pacific and Japan, effective immediately, expanding its regional leadership bench as the company seeks to deepen executive client relationships and accelerate go-to-market execution across APJ.

MicroVision To Acquire Luminar Lidar Assets For $33 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:48 AM

MicroVision announced it has agreed to acquire certain assets from Luminar Technologies that it believes will accelerate its commercial strategy and broaden its lidar product lineup. The company said the deal includes intellectual property and inventory tied to Luminar’s Iris and Halo lidar sensors, along with key engineering and operations talent and certain commercial contracts and orders.

Polestar Secures $400 Million Equity Investment From SMBC And Standard Chartered

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:47 AM

Polestar announced it has agreed to a $400 million equity financing backed by two financial institutions, with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited each investing $200 million. The transaction is structured with put option arrangements that provide investors with a potential exit in three years, via a wholly owned subsidiary of Geely Sweden Holdings AB, with certain returns as part of the overall financing package.

BCKD Capital’s SVCV Holding Company Acquires Hong Kong Media Firm Hyped Media

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:46 AM

Global financial hybrid firm BCKD Capital said it is acquiring Hyped Media, a Hong Kong-based media company with a portfolio of digital outlets, including TheBritExpress, CelebDispatch, TheWorldExpress, The Pose, and Le Protagonist. The deal is described as the first acquisition in the media portfolio of SVCV's newly launched multinational holding company.

LeadDesk Acquires Fluentic To Expand Multilingual Customer Service Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:41 AM

LeadDesk announced it has acquired the Finnish AI-powered translation solution Fluentic from Fluentic Oy in a trade sale, adding AI-based translation and automation tools aimed at helping contact centers deliver more consistent customer service across multiple languages while improving efficiency.

Diald AI: Interview With COO Samantha Um About The AI-Based Investment Analysis Platform for Real Estate

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:00 AM

Diald AI is an AI-powered investment analysis platform used by teams making real estate and site selection decisions. The platform acts as an automated analyst, scanning over 1.7 million data sources–including zoning filings, market comps, public records, local news–to generate comprehensive, institutional-grade due diligence and underwriting reports in just hours rather than weeks. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Diald AI's COO Samantha Um to learn more.

J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s 2026 Family Office Report Finds AI Interest High And Portfolio Exposure Still Limited

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:00 AM

J.P. Morgan Private Bank published its 2026 Global Family Office Report, a study of 333 family offices across 30 countries with an average participant net worth of $1.6 billion.

IAB Names NBCUniversal’s Alison Levin As 2026 Board Chair And Amazon Ads’ Alan Moss As Vice Chair

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:48 AM

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), a trade association representing the digital advertising industry, has appointed Alison Levin, President of Advertising and Partnerships at NBCUniversal, as Chair of its 2026 Board of Directors. Levin has served on the IAB Board since 2022 and most recently served as Vice Chair, with IAB citing her leadership experience across streaming, television, and digital advertising, including prior experience at Roku.

Spring Health To Acquire Alma, Pairing Employer And Payer Benefits With Clinician Insurance Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:34 AM

Spring Health announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Alma, bringing together two mental health companies on opposite sides of the care-delivery equation: Spring Health’s employer and health plan benefit platform and Alma’s membership model that helps independent clinicians accept insurance and operate in-network private practices.

Dentons Launches Thailand Combination With Pisut & Partners, Expanding ASEAN Footprint To Seven Economies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:27 AM

Dentons has officially launched its combination with Pisut & Partners, bringing one of the world’s largest global law firms into Thailand and extending its on-the-ground reach across seven of ASEAN’s largest economies. The move adds Thailand to Dentons’ existing ASEAN presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam, positioning the firm to deliver cross-border legal support with local execution across one of the world’s most active regional trading blocs.

Ovintiv Appoints Gregory P. Hill To Board of Directors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 11:28 PM

Ovintiv announced it has appointed Gregory P. Hill as an independent member of its board of directors, effective January 30, 2026, adding a veteran upstream operator with decades of global exploration and production leadership.

University Of Alberta Partners With City of Edmonton And Diesel Tech Industries To Pilot Hydrogen-Diesel Bus Retrofits

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 11:26 PM

The University of Alberta is partnering with the City of Edmonton and Diesel Tech Industries to cut carbon emissions from Edmonton’s fleet of diesel-powered buses by integrating hydrogen fuel into existing combustion engines.

Volvo Construction Equipment Completes Swecon Acquisition In Sweden, Germany, And the Baltics In 7 Billion SEK Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 11:24 PM

Volvo Construction Equipment has completed its previously announced acquisition of Swecon after receiving approval from the European Commission. The transaction, valued at an enterprise value of 7 billion SEK, brings Swecon’s business operations in Sweden, Germany, and the Baltics under Volvo CE’s ownership, including Entrack.

Tarabut Acquires Servable To Build AI-Native Financial Infrastructure Across MENA

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 11:11 PM

Tarabut, a regulated open banking platform operating across Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, has acquired Servable.dev, a Bahrain-founded full-stack AI engineering company built for regulated industries. The deal positions Tarabut to expand from open banking connectivity into what it describes as a full-stack, AI-native financial platform, aiming to help banks and fintechs move beyond basic data access into real-time, intelligent financial decisioning delivered securely, compliantly, and at scale.

ViCentra Names Reman McDonagh As Vice President Of Global Marketing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 11:08 PM

ViCentra has appointed Reman McDonagh, PhD, as Vice President, Global Marketing, to provide senior commercialization leadership as the company scales execution across Europe and advances preparations for its next-generation Kaleido insulin patch pump system, including planned launches in the EU and the U.S.

Drupal CMS 2.0 Launches Visual Builder, Optional AI Tools, And Site Templates For Faster Website Creation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 11:06 PM

Drupal CMS 2.0 represents one of the most significant updates in Drupal’s history, introducing a new visual building experience, optional AI assistance, and ready-made site templates designed to help teams launch polished, fully branded websites much faster, while still being built on Drupal core and retaining the enterprise-grade security, scalability, and flexibility the platform is known for.

Playfly Sports Names Chris Marinak As President As The Company Expands Commercial Leadership

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 11:04 PM

Playfly Sports has created a new strategic leadership role and appointed Chris Marinak as president, effective March 2, 2026, as the company looks to extend its momentum and capitalize on shifting dynamics in sports media and marketing. Marinak will oversee the company’s commercial engine across three business divisions: Media, Sponsorship, and Advisory and Services, reporting to Craig Sloan.

Sngular Names Chris Brown As Managing Director To Lead U.S. Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 11:00 AM

Sngular has appointed Chris Brown as Managing Director, United States, tasking the veteran technology-services executive with leading the company’s U.S. growth strategy and client execution as enterprises push to turn advanced-technology experiments into production-grade outcomes.

New Charter Technologies Names Michelle Curtis As Chief Revenue Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:55 AM

New Charter Technologies has appointed Michelle Curtis as chief revenue officer, adding a veteran channel leader to help accelerate growth, deepen client engagement, and formalize a more modern, scalable go-to-market engine. The company, a portfolio business of Oval Partners, said Curtis will oversee all revenue functions and lead the evolution of New Charter’s commercial strategy across SMB, mid-market, and enterprise customers.

Omnicom Names Jantzen Bridges As Global President Of Credera

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:53 AM

Omnicom has appointed Jantzen Bridges as Global President of Credera, positioning her to lead large-scale, AI-enabled enterprise transformation work for clients seeking to modernize how marketing, sales, technology, and operations work together. In this role, Bridges will shape Credera’s service and delivery strategy while partnering with senior enterprise leaders on programs to redesign data platforms, technology strategies, and operating processes as AI becomes increasingly central to value creation.

OnePay Taps Patrick O’Connell As CFO As Consumer Fintech Expands Product Suite

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:51 AM

CAQH Names Melissa Frieswick As First Chief Commercial Officer To Expand Growth And Partnerships

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:49 AM

CAQH announced it has appointed Melissa Frieswick as its first Chief Commercial Officer, creating a new executive role designed to accelerate the organization’s next phase of growth and deepen how it works with providers, health plans, and industry partners. The move signals a sharper commercial focus as healthcare stakeholders look to extract greater impact from the data, connectivity, and operational solutions that underpin day-to-day administrative and clinical workflows across the system.

IBM Adds PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta To Board

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 9:04 AM

International Business Machines (IBM) has elected Ramon L. Laguarta to its board of directors, expanding the company’s outside leadership bench as it continues to position itself for long-term growth and governance oversight. The appointment takes effect March 1, 2026, and adds a seasoned global operator from the consumer and supply chain-intensive world to IBM’s boardroom.

OpenText Names Ayman Antoun As CEO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 9:03 AM

OpenText announced its board has appointed Ayman Antoun as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board, effective April 20, 2026, positioning the veteran technology executive to lead the company’s next phase of cloud modernization and enterprise AI-focused growth.

Lyric Health Names Bill Schmitt As Chief Growth Officer To Expand AI-Based Virtual Care And Enterprise Partnerships

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 9:01 AM

Lyric Health has appointed Bill Schmitt as Chief Growth Officer, a newly created role aimed at accelerating growth for the company’s AI-powered virtual care and integrated health navigation platform. The appointment was announced as Lyric looks to expand its market presence and deepen enterprise partnerships across healthcare, employer benefits, and plan sponsor ecosystems.

OPSWAT Names Bill Carey CFO As Cybersecurity Firm Scales Critical Infrastructure Protection

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 8:59 AM

OPSWAT has appointed Bill Carey as chief financial officer, bringing on a veteran technology finance leader with public company and IPO experience to lead financial strategy and governance as the company expands its cybersecurity offerings for critical infrastructure protection.

Juniper Square Names Jason Sheller Global Head Of Go To Market For Fund Administration

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 8:57 AM

Juniper Square has appointed Jason Sheller as Global Head of Go To Market, Fund Administration, tasking the longtime financial services sales and business development executive with leading the global go-to-market strategy for the company’s fund administration business.