Parker Gale Releases Note on Evaluating AI Opportunity and Risk in B2B Software

Chicago, IL-based Parker Gale is a buyout firm specializing in acquiring founder-owned B2B software companies where a hands-on approach (to help "close the gap between potential and performance") is adopted. 

Profitable businesses with $10-30m ARR are targeted to industries where the Chicago firm can point to a specific edge (through a thesis, an executive on-boarded or past experience with similar challenges).

In this field, evaluation of AI opportunity and risk (and where the pendulum eventually swings) is crucial. 

In this respect, Parker Gale have published an AI Resilience Scorecard (Summer 2026) to guide assessment.  Things they look out for:

1. What cannot be copied - software is becoming easier to reproduce.  Harder to copy are datasets, regulatory position, network, relationships.

2. Switching costs - can the company change its mind about its AI provider.

3. High retention not taken as proof of safety - not all organizations will willingly rip out their software and replace with an AI native version. However, the threat of AI-native competition will add pressure to pricing and scope.

AI implementation (and having AI-enabled features) is no longer a differentiating factor.

Bending Spoons Acquries Miro - What Next?

What will Bending Spoons do with this SaaS company?

Citdal Opts In On Appital (as Liquidity Bud)

Citadel Securities has said YES to becoming a liquidity provider on Appital led by Mark Badyra (in their own words - "redefining the scale of electronic liquidity"). 

Rumours S&P May Spin off Capital IQ

Speculated Capital IQ Spinoff

Bloomberg reported that S&P Global may spin off Capital IQ - following its spin off of automotive data and analytics business Mobility Global (which includes the vehicle history data division CARFAX) - for a target price in the "single-digit billions". 

Capital IQ is a data, intelligence and workflow product.  It provides company and industry research as well as people intelligence on management teams.

A Specialist "Software Portfolio" Spinoff Earlier in the Year

Earlier in the year (April 2026), SLB (formerly Schlumberger) agreed to acquire the geoscience and petroleum engineering software portfolio of S&P Global Energy, a leading provider of subsurface software, with strong US clientele.

WTI Touches Local High of $94.25; Brent hits almost $100

ICE Brent (Dec 26 futures) has touched $99.88 a barrel; roughly a $5 premium to WTI. 

Volumes on Brent - front month volume on Brent is 42K contracts; vs 22K on the second-month; 11K on third-month.

Volumes on WTI are higher - front month volume is 435K contracts; vs 250K, then 188K. Roughly a factor of 10.

Brent tends to trade at a premium to WTI.

This was not always the case. In 2010-2011 the US shale boom created a glut of crude oil (collected in Cushing) faster than the pipelines could move the crude out to the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally the US crude export ban prevented excess barrels leaving the country. The US export ban was lifted in Dec 2015.

Jane Street Gets Into Physical Natural Gas

While Jane Street has been dipping into commodity derivatives for some time now, it's foray into physical natural gas is more recent. Jane Street has hired in Houston for "gas origination" (sourcing gas to trade) as well as hired directly for trading. Texas is also home to one of Jane's massive data centres in Dallas.

FNZ raises $450m from existing shareholders

FNZ has raised new equity funding to the tune of $450m from its existing swathe of institutional shareholders including, in no particular order, CPP Investments of Canada, La Caisse, Motive Partners and Generation Investment Management.

FNZ brags over USD $2.5 trillion assets on platform (AoP).

It provides a platform to large banks, insurers and wealth/asset managers to run investment, pension and wealth management services.