Public Markets

Former DowDuPont division Corteva Inc., an Indianapolis-based agricultural chemical and seed company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire one of the largest independent biologicals firms in the industry, Stoller Group, Inc., for $1.2 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023, pending regulatory approvals and customary closing requirements...

Cybersecurity company Cycurion will merge with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Western Acquisitions Venture Corp. (WAVC) and go public, the companies announced in November. Virginia-based Cycurion provides managed security, managed IT, and consulting services, featuring a multilayer software platform that offers several layers of protection against cyberattacks...

Following a spate of rumors, multinational cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks has announced it will buy Israel-based Cider Security for about $195 million in an all-cash deal. Cider focuses on application security, including technology that monitors suspicious activity around live applications in the cloud and the full ecosystem surrounding them...

In an unusual move into the technology sector, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. purchased more than $4.1 billion of stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), the conglomerate said. TSMC is the world’s largest contract chipmaker. Its stock fell to a two-year low in October as global demand for chips slowed, but with the announcement in mid-November, shares jumped 7.9%...

Exploration and production company Marathon Oil has announced it will buy natural gas-focused assets from Ensign Natural Resources in a $3 billion cash deal. The transaction will double Marathon’s position in the Eagle Ford shale basin of South Texas...

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire The Binding Site Group, a global leader in specialty diagnostics. The all-cash transaction is valued at $2.6 billion...

Jewelry distributor Quality Gold, Inc. will merge with blank-check firm Tastemaker Acquisition Corp. and go public, the companies said. The deal values the combined entity at $989 million and included proceeds of $279 million from Tastemaker’s trust account. Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) such as Tastemaker are hitting roadblocks these days, as government regulations have become more stringent and economic volatility has made investors cautious, resulting in higher redemptions...

In the largest ever renewable gas acquisition, BP will purchase Houston-based Archaea Energy Inc. for $4.1 billion, the companies announced. Earlier in 2022, Chevron Corp bought biodiesel maker Renewable Energy Group for $3.15 billion. With the deal, BP hopes to expand its alternative fuels business, as it pledged in early 2020 to cut greenhouse gas emissions and oil and gas production...

Private jet company Flexjet has announced a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Horizon Acquisition Corp. II in a transaction that will value the combined entity at $3.1 billion, including debt. Flexjet offers fractional ownership and leasing of private jets on a subscription basis to high-net-worth individuals and Fortune 500 companies through approximately 10,000 committed contracts...

Mobileye, Intel’s self-driving technology company, is going public, according to a late-September IPO filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, which is based in Israel, produces the brain of the autonomous vehicle—the software and chips that tell it where to go and what to do...