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COVER STORY

Cyber exposures: third-party risk in a hyperconnected world

As reliance on third parties continues to increase, organisations must understand and manage the security risks inherent in hyperconnected, multi‑partner ecosystems. These risks originate primarily from cyber and compliance exposures.

FEATURES

Regulatory whiplash: shifting enforcement priorities changing deal strategy

Alongside the broader rebound in dealmaking, there have been notable shifts in regulatory enforcement affecting deal structuring and execution. Recent years have seen heightened scrutiny of data protection, financial crime, sanctions and competition.

Shifting sands: dealmaking dynamics in EMEA

Although the region continues to experience shifting dynamics, the outlook for EMEA dealmaking in the months ahead remains broadly positive, with a range of investment opportunities and transformation programmes set to gather momentum.

Appetite for risk: UK business confidence rebounds

Despite the backdrop, most UK business leaders remain confident about the year ahead for their organisations. The process of navigating uncertainty has become the new normal, and businesses are prepared to adopt measured risk in pursuit of long term resilience.

Innovation, regulation and credit risks in APAC financial services

Financial crime regulations across APAC are shifting toward risk‑based, technology‑enabled monitoring to combat sophisticated fraud and AI‑driven identity threats.

Taming threats: protection via advanced intelligence

The rapid adoption of cloud computing and AI has significantly broadened the digital attack surface, creating new and complex security challenges for organisations. In this environment, threat intelligence has become a critical capability.

WORLDWATCH

Mergers & acquisitions

Amid heightened geopolitical tensions – including ongoing conflicts and new regulatory measures that have increased market volatility and risk aversion – the global M&A landscape has shifted from a subdued cycle to a K-shaped recovery led largely by megadeals and well-capitalised strategic buyers. FW moderates a discussion between Rohit Maheshwari at Deloitte Middle East, Alex Hartley at KPMG in the UK, Filipe B. Areno at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Frank Aquila at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, and Thyl N. Haßler at White & Case LLP.

SPECIAL REPORT

Infrastructure & project finance

Q&A: Investment in nuclear

Emerging technologies are reshaping nuclear investment, primarily through risk reduction, scalability and new delivery models. FW discusses nuclear investment with Matthew Honeyben at CMS, Ben Shorten at Gibson Dunn, and Amy Roma at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

The legal playbook behind America’s new industrial equity deals

Haynes and Boone, LLP The US government has entered into an unprecedented string of complex transactions securing equity stakes in industries including rare earth mining, semiconductors, steel and energy. A broad array of governmental powers has been deployed in innovative ways to execute these deals.

Using infrastructure unbundling as a financing tool

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP At its core, infrastructure unbundling responds to a structural mismatch between the economic characteristics of particular assets and the blended cost of capital applied to them when they remain embedded within a larger corporate structure.

Energy transition and renewables financing: capital at the core of decarbonisation

TaylorWessing As the use of renewable energy increases, ensuring system stability becomes a key investment consideration. Investors now consider not only generation costs, but also the value of flexibility.

Powering the infrastructure supercycle with private capital

Freshfields Simply making funds available is not enough and does not in itself create bankable investment opportunities. Translating headline funding figures into a pipeline of shovel-ready, bankable projects presents a substantial challenge.

Curtailment in Brazil: from operational constraint to market redesign

Campos Mello Advogados The accelerated expansion of wind and solar capacity, combined with delays in grid reinforcement and the rapid growth of distributed generation, has transformed curtailment into a persistent feature of system operation.

RIGI and energy projects in Argentina: managing contractual and regulatory risks

Marval O’Farrell Mairal The RIGI sets out an incentives and stability framework for admitted projects, coupled with dedicated dispute resolution mechanisms for certain controversies arising between the national state and the admitted vehicle in connection with the regime.

TALKINGpoint

Post-merger value capture: operating models, cost synergies and transformation

Aligning decision-making structures, agreeing on what processes genuinely need to be standardised, and designing customer journeys that feel coherent post close all accelerate value capture. FW discusses operating models, cost synergies and transformation in the post-merger value capture process with Paul Merrey and Laura Shearer at KPMG UK.

BRIEFINGroom

Evolving dynamics in ESOP M&A

The material tax benefits provided to selling shareholders and sponsoring companies are an important piece of the decision and can make the ESOP, in many situations, the highest price buyer available. FW discusses evolving dynamics in ESOP M&A with Blake Head at BDO Capital Advisors, LLC and Richard A. Glassman at ESOP Plus LLP.

DEALfront

mergers & acquisitions

Zijin Gold to buy Allied Gold for around $4bn

In late January, China’s largest gold miner Zijin Gold announced it had agreed to acquire Canadian mining company Allied Gold in an all‑cash deal valued at about $4bn.

ESAB acquires Eddyfi in $1.45bn deal

ESAB Corporation has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Eddyfi Technologies for $1.45bn.

private equity & venture capital

KKR-led consortium acquires ST Telemedia in S$6.6bn transaction

A consortium comprising global investment firm KKR and Singapore Telecommunications is to take full control of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres in a transaction valued at S$6.6bn for the remaining 82 percent stake owned by ST Telemedia.

Bain to acquire FineToday for around $1.29bn

Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners has agreed to sell Japanese personal care company

bankruptcy & corporate restructuring

FAT Brands enters bankruptcy

In late January, FAT Brands, the parent of Fatburger, Johnny Rockets, Round Table Pizza and Twin Peaks, filed for Chapter 11 protection amid a mounting debt load built up through recent acquisitions.

Nine Energy Service files for Chapter 11

Nine Energy Service, a US‑based onshore completion solutions provider, has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

SPOTlight

Labour reform in Argentina and its impact on M&A transactions

Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal For international investors, private equity sponsors and strategic acquirers, the relevance of this reform extends well beyond technical legal refinement.

National security reviews in Canada: are we set for a change in approach?

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP The question now is whether policy developments that have occurred outside the ICA context and since the period covered by the annual report will have an impact on the Canadian government’s approach to national security reviews going forward.

Digital transformation in investor communications: how AI is amplifying investor communications

Alliance Advisors IR As AI becomes more embedded in capital markets, both regulators and investors are sharpening their focus on how it is used.

The new rules of engagement: trends reshaping shareholder activism in 2026

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP In 2026, the shareholder activism landscape is being reshaped by a resurgence of M&A‑driven campaigns, a growing activist field, regulatory pressures on passive investors, settlement dynamics and the declining influence of proxy advisers.

AI and cyber security: risks and opportunities for organisations

Gibson Dunn AI’s role in cyber security, both as a risk factor and as a defensive tool, is likely to continue evolving. New applications will emerge, and the capabilities of both attackers and defenders will shift over time.

Proposed legislative amendments to modernise Canada’s transfer pricing regime

Gowling WLG The proposed reforms would introduce significant changes to Canada’s TP framework. Central to the package is the replacement of the current bifurcated system – where TP adjustments and recharacterisation rules operate separately – with a single, unified adjustment rule.

Building Europe’s digital backbone: growth, grid and global competition

Milbank If grid investment accelerates, planning processes become more predictable and sustainability innovation scales effectively, Europe can transform today’s constraints into structural strengths.

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CONTRIBUTORS

Alliance Advisors IR

BDO Capital Advisors, LLC

Campos Mello Advogados

CMS

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Deloitte Middle East

ESOP Plus LLP

Freshfields

Gibson Dunn

Gowling WLG

Haynes and Boone, LLP

KPMG UK

Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal

Milbank

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

TaylorWessing

White & Case LLP