Markets & Finance

Brookfield Asset Management agreed on September 15, 2026, to acquire ASX-listed plumbing solutions company Reliance Worldwide Corporation at US$3.38 per share, representing a 31.5% premium to the undisturbed closing price and a US$2.8 billion enterprise value. The all-cash deal, unanimously recommended by RWC's board, is funded by US$1.5 billion in equity and US$1.65 billion in debt, with closing expected in Q1 2027 pending shareholder, court, and regulatory approvals across Australia, the United States, Germany, and Ukraine. A 30-day go-shop period ending October 16, 2026, allows RWC to solicit competing bids, with a US$25.3 million break fee payable to Brookfield if the board changes its recommendation or a rival deal closes.

May Mobility and ACP Holdings Acquisition Corp. signed a definitive business combination agreement on September 15, 2026, targeting a pro forma enterprise value of approximately $1.48 billion and a Nasdaq listing under the ticker MAY. The deal structure includes up to $337 million in gross proceeds, combining a fully committed $120 million PIPE with up to $217 million from ACP's trust account, subject to shareholder redemptions. The transaction has not closed, Nasdaq approval remains a condition, and expected closing timelines differ between year-end 2026 and Q1 2027, with a contractual outside date of May 26, 2027.

The National Stock Exchange of India launched public bidding on September 17, 2026, for an offer for sale of up to 126,436,650 shares priced between Rs 1,700 and Rs 1,785, with BSE trading targeted for September 24. Because the offer is entirely a sale by existing shareholders, NSE itself receives none of the approximately Rs 22,562 crore in proceeds at the cap price. The IPO follows a July 2026 settlement of Rs 1,491 crore with SEBI over co-location and dark-fibre disputes that had delayed the listing for years, though the settlement does not extinguish separate individual or criminal proceedings.

AGNC Investment, a mortgage REIT holding over 98% of its portfolio in Agency mortgage-backed securities and carrying 7.2x leverage, will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 before trading opens on September 21, 2026, as part of the quarterly rebalance. The addition also makes AGNC a constituent of the S&P Composite 1500, S&P 900, and S&P 1000. The change takes effect one business day after the Federal Reserve raised its federal-funds target range to 3.75%–4.00%, a relevant backdrop for a rate-sensitive, leveraged business, though no conclusion about price direction or passive-fund demand is established by the available evidence.

Two days after filing for Chapter 11 on September 14, 2026, airBaltic received U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval for first-day operating relief and interim access to €140 million of a structured €350 million debtor-in-possession facility, allowing the airline to maintain flights, pay staff, and honor customer bookings. The remaining €210 million is divided across two further tranches subject to additional court approvals, milestone conditions, and, for Tranche 2, a priming order over prepetition bondholder collateral. Key elements of the restructuring remain unresolved, including lessor agreements, a reported fleet reduction from 54 to 36 aircraft, and an approximately $49 million EU emissions trading obligation that the company warned could trigger licence revocation if unpaid.