$6.4bn Take-Private of OneStream by Hg to Accelerate AI Growth

Orbex in Talks to Sell its business to The Exploration Company

The Exploration Company (backed by investors such as EQT and Red River West) is reputedly in talks to acquire Orbex, a Scotland-based rocket launch startup (which builds rockets powered by BioLPG instead of kerosene).

Netflix updates bid to all-cash offer for Warner Bros

Netflix has offered an all cash for Warner Bros.

The aim is to push off  repeat bids from Paramount Skydance (PSKY, backed by Larry Ellison, whose son David founded Skydance, and produced Top Gun -Maverick) which have been repeatedly rebuffed.

The deal would include Warner Bros film and TV studios, HBO and HBO Max, content library and streaming operations. 

However, Warner Brothers (currently Warner Bros Discovery) would lose the Discovery brand (which includes CNN, Discovery Channel and Food Network, making it one of the largest linear TV operators in the world). Discovery would be taken public mid 2026.

Warner Bros has stuck with Netflix's bid and questioned Skydance's financing.

Netflix stock is up, Paramount down.

Suedzucker performance improves despite weak sugar prices

Suedzucker, Europe's largest sugar producer (it produces beet sugar which is table sugar or sucrose, extracted from the sugar beet plant), reported 3Q earnings improvement, driven by its non-sugar businesses such as biofuels, starch and fresh fruit (protecting itself against a weak EU sugar market).

Suedzucker warned that the EU sugar market is likely to remain depressed and hence forecasts a fall in operating profit from the previous year.

80% of world sugar production comes from sugarcane (grown in tropical and subtropical regions) and 20% comes from sugar beet (grown in temperate climates like EU, Russia, UK, US). 

Sugar beet is very important for Europe's sugar supply.

Worldwide sugar production is roughly 181 million tons (2024/25).

Loss-making Costa Coffee Calls off Sale from Coca Cola

Coca-Cola has called off plans to sell Costa Coffee to private equity after low valuations manifested from wannabe bidders.  

Coca-Cola was said to be selling Costa for £2bn, a discount from the £3.9bn it paid for the business from Whitbread, its previous owner.  Bidders included TDR Capital (which owns ASDA) and Bain Capital (which owns Gail's - which it bought for £200m - and Pizza Express).

Costa has faced competition from cheaper rivals like Greggs, and brands like Blank Street and Black Sheep Coffee.

James Quincey, CEO of Coca-Cola, admitted the Costa transaction had not delivered. Henrique Braun (California-born COO) will come in as new CEO from March 2026.

BitGo Eyes up IPO

BitGo, based in Palo Alto and founded in 2013, is targeting a valuation of $1.96 billion for its upcoming IPO on the NYSE. 

GS and Citi are lead underwriters. 

BitGo bills itself as "The Digital Asset Infrastructure Company" with a reputed $104bn of assets on the platform. They provide a number of services, including digital wallets and prime services (the latter services promise best execution with low capital commitment).

There is investor appetite for IPOs however a crypto selloff last October has risen the bar for crypto firms.

Accenture to Acquire Faculty, Gets AI Talent Boost

Accenture is acquiring Faculty, a UK-based AI services company, for over $1bn.  

Faculty emphasises safe and ethical AI systems build with customer collaboration, and profiles a number of clients on its website including the UK's National Health Service.

CEO of Faculty, Marc Warner, will become CTO of Accenture. 

Accenture will acquire 400 AI native professionals, including data scientists and AI engineers.