Markets & Finance

Reuters reported on August 13, 2026, that Silver Lake is in early discussions to acquire Workday, whose shares rose nearly 18% on the news. No offer price, financing terms, co-investors, or signed agreement exist in the public record as of August 15, 2026. A completed transaction faces structural hurdles, including a dual-class share structure that gives co-founders David Duffield and Aneel Bhusri approximately 70% of total voting power and requires majority Class B shareholder approval for any change of control.

Fenway Sports Group has signed a definitive agreement to sell a minority stake in Liverpool FC to 1892 Holdings, a consortium led by Amit Bhatia whose investors include Jeff Bezos through K5 Sports and the family office of Eduardo and Elaine Saverin. The official announcement did not disclose the stake size, purchase price, or valuation; the approximately 30% stake and just-over-$7 billion whole-club figure come from secondary reporting by Sportico and The Guardian. FSG retains majority ownership and operational control, the deal has not yet closed, and the specific regulatory approvals required have not been publicly confirmed.

Earlier in 2026, Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum held and then abandoned discussions about a merger that would have created a roughly $180 billion company controlling an estimated quarter of U.S. refining capacity, according to a single-source Semafor report neither company confirmed. A deal would have faced structural complications including Chevron's conditional right to purchase Phillips 66's 50% stake in Chevron Phillips Chemical upon a change of control, as well as the presence of Marathon's publicly traded subsidiary MPLX. The reported capacity overlap would also have triggered antitrust review under Section 7 of the Clayton Act, though the current enforcement environment under the Trump administration has trended toward shorter reviews and settlements.

Diginex amended its all-share acquisition of Resulticks on August 14, 2026, reducing the purchase price from $1.5 billion to $1.05 billion and the proposed share issuance from 1.13 billion shares to 600 million at $1.75 per share. Shareholders will vote on the deal at an Extraordinary General Meeting on October 8, 2026, with closing targeted by October 30, subject to Nasdaq listing approval, at least $70 million in private funding commitments, and other conditions. No public explanation for the reduction has been provided, and the amended agreement text had not been located as of August 15, leaving key terms including termination provisions and ownership allocation unverified.

GoldenTree Asset Management received 7.87 million QVC Group shares through the company's Chapter 11 reorganization plan, which became effective August 6, 2026, and purchased an additional 674,129 shares on the open market through August 13, bringing its total to 8.56 million shares or 17.1% of the company. The stake triggered a stockholder agreement giving GoldenTree the right to designate one board member, a seat filled by Jonathan Seth Zinman per QVC's Form 8-K. QVC reported a net loss of $2.13 billion in fiscal 2025 on revenue of $8.29 billion, providing the financial backdrop against which the restructuring and new ownership structure took shape.

Jana Partners' August 2026 13F filing shows it trimmed 773,525 Fiserv shares as of June 30, reducing its position to 3.66 million shares valued at roughly $180 million. Days after the quarter closed, Jana sent Fiserv's board a public letter urging a company-wide strategic review and additional board changes, though Fiserv's most recent 10-Q confirms only a student-loan-servicing sale and a debit-network joint venture, not the comprehensive review Jana requested. The gap between Jana's demands and Fiserv's disclosed actions remains unresolved in the public record.

Digital Asset Acquisition Corp. and Old Glory Holding Company cancelled their business combination on August 13, 2026, one day before a shareholder vote was scheduled, with each party bearing its own costs and no termination fee payable by either side. The deal's end leaves DAAQ holding roughly $180 million in trust and facing a January 30, 2027 deadline to complete an alternative transaction or liquidate. No reason for the termination was disclosed in SEC filings, and no replacement target has been identified.