By Blanche Delaunay, Huseyn Badalbayli, Kristiyan Nedelchev, Martin Tropchev, and Robin van der Werf (Rotterdam School of Management); Gilles Michaud and Marc Bellon (HEC Paris) Photo: Louis Reed (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) Target: Arcellx, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACLX) Implied Equity Value: $7.8 billion ($115 per share in cash + $5 CVR per share) Total Transaction Size: $7.8 billion Closed Date: April 28, 2026 Target Advisor: Centerv

By Haci Eren Sidar, Mustafa Arda Sis, Muthu Ramanathan, Josh Lai (University of Nottingham) Photo: Vida Huang (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) Target: National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE: NSA) Implied Equity Value: $8.1 billion Total Transaction Size: $10.5 billion Closed date: Announced March 16, 2026. Expected to close Q3 2026 Target advisor: Morgan Stanley (financial), Clifford Chance US LLP (legal) Acquirer advisor: Goldman Sachs,

By Agastya Mittal, Ethan Abebe, Erin Kandiyoti, and Ella Wang (Columbia University) Photo: Rhii Photography (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: Cintas Corporation Target: UniFirst Corporation Implied Equity Value: $5.63 bn Total Transaction Size: $5.5 bn Closed date: Deal has not closed yet, expected to close within the second half of the calendar year. Was announced (03/11/2026) Target advisor: Morgan Stanley & Co. (financial), Davis Polk & Wardwell (legal) Acquirer a

By Tomiwa Oshai, Utku Kaya, Harvey Han, Omar Kanaa, and Nayoung Kim (King’s College London); Shahmir Ahmed (Bocconi University) Photo: Scott Blake (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: Sidara Target: John Wood Group plc Implied Equity Value: ~£216 million (c.$265 million) Total Transaction Size: ~£210 million (excluding committed $450 million capital injection) Closed date: March 2026 Target advisor: Rothschild & Co, Europa Partners, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley (Financia

By Tomiwa Oshai, Harvey Han, Omar Kanaa, Utku Kaya and Nayoung Kim (King’s College London); Mateo Roman Sy, Nathaline Marielle, Jeongmin Oh, Linh Nguyen and Parth Talwar (Hong Kong University) Photo: Avi Waxman (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: Affinius Capital (lead) and Vista Hill Partners Target: Veris Residential, Inc. Implied Equity Value: USD $1.78 billion Total Transaction Size : USD $3.4 billion Close Date: Q2 2026 (Expected) Target Advisor: J.P. Morgan

By Shahmir Ahmed, Alp Ceylan, and Francesco del Sesto (Bocconi University); Alvaro Aguilar De Nalda (ESADE); Diana Usova, Dylan Stiassny, Oli Cedar, Obianuju Okafor (University of Bristol) Photo: Volodymyr Hryshchenko (Unsplash) Summary of IPO As the pharmaceutical industry looks to artificial intelligence to accelerate drug discovery, Generate Biomedicines are positioning themselves as a force to be reckoned with in this growing market. Through what the company has dubbed “G

By Edoardo Roveda and Cooper Wu (UCL); Alvaro Aguilar De Nalda (ESADE); Rasmus Sjögren, Alexander Henje, Haris Jasarevic and Nikolas Kakona (Stockholm School of Economics) Photo: Red John (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: Mubadala Capital Target: Clear Channel Outdo Implied Equity Value: $2.43 per share Total Transaction Size: $7.80B Expected Close Date: Q3 2026 Target Advisor: Morgan Stanley; Moelis & Company (financial), Kirkland & Ellis LLP (legal) Acquirer Adviso

By Ben Motamed, Charlie Bark, Archie Clarke, Emmanuel Olowe, James Midgley (Durham University); Alvaro Aguilar De Nalda (ESADE); Lisa Dai, Larry Cao, Jeffrey Kim, and Milan Agarwala (Columbia University) Photo: Piron Gillaume (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: EQT Target: Coller Capital Transaction Type : All-stock acquisition funded thoroughly newly issued shares Total Transaction Size: $3.2 billion Closing Date: Q3 2026, subject to regulatory approval Target Advi

By Aman Prasad, Jiaqi Tang, Oliver Greenhalgh (University of Birmingham), Alvaro Aguilar De Nalda (ESADE); Freya ZHANG, Akshi Bansal, Jacky CHAN, Sharon Liu, Chak Li (HKUST) Photo: Adi Goldstein (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: IBM Target: Confluent Implied Equity Value: $ 31 per share Total Transaction Size: $11.9 billion Closing Date: Expected mid-2026 Target Advisor: Morgan Stanley (financial), Cooley LLP (legal) Acquirer Advisor: Centerview Partners (fina

By Alp Ceylan, Elisa Nicoletti, and Victor Varela (Bocconi University); Alvaro Aguilar De Nalda (ESADE); Jiaqi Tang, Oli Greenhalgh and Ibrahim Demir (University of Birmingham) Photo: Acton Crawford (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: Union Pacific Corp Target: Norfolk Southern Corp Transaction Type : Stock-and-cash acquisition Total Transaction Size: $84.4 billion Closing Date: The first half of 2027 (subject to regulatory approval) Target Advisor: BofA Securitie

By Rasmus Sjögren, Alexander Henje, Haris Jasarevic, Nikolas Kakona (Stockholm School of Economics), Shivam Gujral (University of Cambridge) Photo: Brett Jordan (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: T-Mobile US, Inc. – a leading American wireless carrier and subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom Target: Uscellular’s Wireless Operations – a regional wireless business of United States Cellular Implied Equity Value: US$4.3 billion Total Transaction Size: ~US$4.3 billion, includ

By Shahmir Ahmed, Alp Ceylan, and Francesco del Sesto (Bocconi University); Alvaro Aguilar De Nalda (ESADE); Nikhil Freiherr Raitz Von Frentz, Max Fischer, Daniel Barker, Moritz Ibe (University of St Andrews) Photo: Farzad (Unsplash) Summary of IPO Meesho is a Bangalore-based start-up that was founded by two IIT Delhi graduates in December 2015. It went public on the BSE and NSE the 10th of December 2025. It is a mobile-app-based e-commerce marketplace that lets small busines

By Alexander Svanidze, Ava Singer, Ryan Leo, Julianna Zelnhefer (Boston University); Alvaro Aguilar De Nalda (ESADE); Rasmus Sjögren, Alexander Henje, Haris Jasarevic, Nikolas Kakona (SSE) Photo: Quick PS (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: Omnicom Group Target: Interpublic Group Implied Equity Value : $13.25 billion USD Total Transaction Size: $13.25 billion USD Closing Date: November 26, 2025 Target Advisor: Morgan Stanley (Financial), Willkie Farr & Gallagher L

By Mateo Sy, Linh Nguyen, Nathaline Marielle, Jeongmin Oh, Parth Talwar (HKUST); Alvaro Aguilar De Nalda (ESADE); Benedict Murphy, Shivam Gujral (University of Cambridge) Photo: Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: Jardine Strategic Limited (“Bidco”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited Target: Mandarin Oriental International Ltd Implied Equity Value : US$4.2 billion Total Transaction Size: The remaining 11.96%

By Amya Hillis, Jacob Liu, Agastya Mittal, and Dirk Harrison (Columbia University); Shahmir Ahmed and Francesco Del Sesto (Bocconi University) Photo: Jonas Leupe (Unsplash) Summary of IPO The buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) model and broader shift to online commerce have reshaped consumer finance over the past decade, and Klarna has been one of the central players in that transition. Founded in 2005 in Stockholm, Klarna built a platform that lets consumers split payments, pay later,

By Parth Talwar, Mateo Sy, Grace Pui, Karson Shi (HKU) Photo: Arpad Czapp (Unsplash) Overview of the deal Acquirer: Sycamore Partners...

By Zoe Thaller, Arthus Marande (ESCP); Amya Hillis, Abraham Vongkhamdy, Irene Souny Bihr, Leo Fridjhon, Janira Martinez, Christian...

By Moritz Ibe, Ben Preece, Avital Anoff, Annant Bhargava (University of St Andrews); Haci Eren Sidar, Leon Gaster, Adalia Melvin, Aviral...

By Anna Chesca, Aditya Tatwawadi, Ahyaan Malik, and Alex Scothorn (University of Cambridge); Edward Mazin, Charlie Hogshire, Caden Viehe,...

By Sam Elfström, Elliot Christophers and Jens Bager (Stockholm School of Economics); Zoe Thaller, Nesrine Gharbe, Stanislas Chamaud, and...