THE 2026 CAPITAL OUTLOOK Where Money Moves - And Why Control Matters More Than Ever Capital is flowing again — but not without conditions. From disciplined M&A and selective private equity acquisitions to strategic balance-sheet recalibration, this issue examines how capital is being deployed — and where risk is no longer tolerated Inside the Deal How today’s transactions are being structured Market & Deal Context Rates, credit and why execution quality now defines outcomes Leadership & Capital The executives and advisers driving strategic direction
Finance Monthly. Editor’s Note Why 2026 Is Becoming a Defining Year for Capital, Control and Corporate Strategy As we enter 2026, global dealmaking is no longer driven by optimism alone. It is being shaped by discipline, selectivity and strategic urgency. After several years of volatility — marked by inflation shocks, rate resets, geopolitical risk and uneven capital markets — boards, sponsors and strategic buyers are once again deploying capital with intent. But they are doing so differently. The transactions shaping this moment are not speculative. They are structural. Across banking, logistics, energy, life sciences, sports infrastructure and digital media, this month’s featured transactions point to a common theme: scale, capability and control matter more than speed. Large financial institutions are acquiring platforms that deepen customer relationships and generate resilient fee income. Private equity sponsors are building national leaders through disciplined add-on strategies in fragmented markets. Strategic buyers are using acquisitions to leapfrog years of internal R&D or reposition balance sheets for the next cycle. Public companies are turning to stock-for-stock mergers to consolidate industries, unlock synergies and withstand capital intensity. What unites these moves is a clear recalibration of risk. Dealmakers are no longer chasing growth at any price. Instead, they are structuring transactions that prioritise execution certainty, operational resilience and long-term value creation. For Finance Monthly, this moment matters. Our readers — investors, advisers, executives and policymakers — operate at the intersection of money, power and decision-making. Understanding why capital is flowing where it is, how deals are being structured, and what those choices signal about the future of industries is essential to navigating what comes next. This issue reflects FM’s core mission: not simply to report transactions, but to explain their significance. From strategic acquisitions and platform build-outs to transformative mergers and innovation-driven buyouts, we examine how capital is being deployed — and why those decisions carry consequences far beyond the deal table. As markets adjust and confidence returns selectively, 2026 is shaping up to be a year defined less by volume and more by intentionality. The deals featured in this issue are early markers of that shift. Mark Palmer Editor editor@finance-monthly.com Universal Media Ltd Watling Court Orbital Plaza, Watling Street, Bridgtown, Birmingham, West Midlands, WS11 0EL, United Kingdom enquiries@universalmedia365.com Copyright 2026 Published by Universal Media Ltd The views expressed in the articles within Finance Monthly are the contributors’ own, nothing within the announcements or articles should be construed as a profit forecast. All rights reserved. Material contained within this publication is not to be reproduced in whole or part without the prior permission of Finance Monthly. Circulation details can be found at www.finance-monthly.com 3 Find us on Facebook Finance Monthly Stay Connected www.linkedin.com/finance-monthly Tweet us @Finance_Monthly Follow us on Instagram Financemonthly FOLLOW US /finance-monthly @financemonthly @finance_monthly @financemonthly @finance-monthly Finance Monthly Follow us on social media to receive the latest financial updates, news and online features on the go. www.finance-monthly.com Editor’s Note. Watch us on You Tube @Finance-monthly Find us on TikTok Finance Monthly
Finance Monthly. Contents Finance Monthly. 4 5 Contents CONTENTS 10. 20 Eudia’a $105M Series A to Transform Legal Work Through AI-Powered Augmented Intelligence CAPITAL IS AVAILABLE BUT CONTROL HAS REPLACED CONFIDENCE MARKET DEALS ANALYSIS BEYOND THE DEAL Eudia’a $105M Series A to Transform Legal Work Through AI-Powered Augmented Intelligence Adaption Labs Secures $50M Seed to Redefine Enterprise AI Economics Inside the Strategy with Sara Hooker Wrisk Completes Strategic Acquisition of Atto Following £12M+ Series B Inside the Strategy with Rob Knight and Nimeshh Patel Athens International Airport Secures €806M Bond Loan for €1.35BN Expansion Strategic Financing Insight With Ioannis Kaptanis ACG Advisors’ €18M Luxembourg Securitisation to Finance Entertainment Sector Acquisition Securitisation Strategy With Viviane De Moreau D’Andoy Efeso Acquires a Majority Stake in Tsetinis Consulting Cross-Border Acquistion Insight With Bernd Taucher 20 INSIDE THE DEAL Advent-Led Consortium Agrees €7.8bn Take-Private of InPost Vasco Adds Schubert Tennis in Midwest Platform Expansion Lilly Agrees Up to $2.4bn Acquisition of Orna Therapeutics NatWest Group Has Agreed to Acquire Evelyn Partners From Funds Advised by Permira and Warburg Pincus for an Enterprise Value of £2.7 Billion. Transocean Agrees All-Stock Acquisition of Valaris Genius Sports to Acquire Legend in $1.2bn Deal 36 38 40 42 Trust & Corporate Services in the Middle East: Structuring, Risk and Strategic Growth With Marina Zevedeou 10 Athens International Airport Secures €806M Bon Loan for €1.35BN Expansion Strategic Financing Insight With Ioannis Kaptanis 26 EXPERT INSIGHT Trust & Corporate Services in the Middle East: Structuring, Risk and Strategic Growth An Interview With Marina Zevedeou - Aspen Trust Group Tax Advice Has Become a Deal Risk Discipline — Not a Cost-Saving Exercise An Interview With Dan Neidle - Founder of Tax Policy Associates 10 14 22 24 26 30 32 44 46
6 7 Finance Monthly. Finance Monthly. Markets & Deals Analysis Markets & Deals Analysis BUT CONTROL HAS REPLACED CONFIDENCE CAPITAL IS AVAILABLE Entering 2026, global dealmaking is no longer defined by the absence of capital, nor by the urgency that characterised earlier cycles. Instead, it is being shaped by a more measured convergence of stabilising — yet uneven — forces. Inflation across the UK, US and Europe is easing. Interest rates have begun to drift lower. Credit markets are open. But confidence remains conditional. Central banks have made it clear that the ultra-low-rate era that underpinned a decade of leverage-driven expansion is unlikely to return. Policy rates remain high enough to influence valuation discipline, leverage tolerance and deal structure, particularly in capital-intensive sectors. For boards and sponsors alike, this has reinforced a renewed emphasis on downside protection, funding certainty and assets with visible, defensible cash flows. As a result, capital is flowing — but it is flowing selectively. Across banking, infrastructure, energy, healthcare, services and technology, the transactions moving forward share common characteristics. They prioritise scale, capability and control over speed. They favour platforms, consolidation and strategic adjacency rather than speculative growth. And they are increasingly structured to withstand scrutiny, stress and longer holding periods. This is not a stalled market. It is a recalibrated one. RATES AND CREDIT: Open Markets, Narrower Tolerance Credit conditions entering 2026 are broadly supportive, but unevenly distributed. Large corporates and sponsorbacked platforms with strong earnings visibility continue to access financing without material difficulty. By contrast, smaller, weaker-performing or highly cyclical businesses face tighter underwriting, higher equity requirements and more conservative leverage assumptions. Importantly, subdued borrowing appetite is not driven by a lack of available capital. It reflects a strategic choice by many businesses to prioritise balance-sheet repair, operational resilience and margin protection over aggressive expansion. This dynamic has favoured addon acquisitions, platform extensions and structured transactions over highly levered, transformational deals. Private credit remains a central feature of the financing landscape. Sponsors continue to value its speed, certainty and flexibility, particularly where syndicated markets remain sensitive to volatility or regulatory capital constraints limit bank appetite. However, intensifying competition among private lenders is compressing spreads and, in some cases, loosening protections — placing greater emphasis on asset quality, governance and manager discipline. At the same time, increased regulatory attention on private markets, particularly around valuation practices and systemic interconnectedness, is adding complexity to deal execution. Financing remains available, but the margin for error has narrowed. CAPITAL DEPLOYMENT: Dry Powder, With Conditions Attached Private equity capital remains abundant, but it is not uniformly deployable. Much of the current activity is being driven by older fund vintages facing deployment and exit pressures, particularly through platform consolidation and disciplined buy-and-build strategies. These sponsors are prioritising transactions that can be executed with operational certainty and clear value-creation levers. Newer funds are proceeding more cautiously. Higher entry multiples, increased financing costs and longer hold assumptions are forcing a reassessment of return expectations. In many cases, this has shifted strategy away from headline growth toward margin expansion, integration, pricing power and scale efficiencies. Strategic buyers are also re-emerging — quietly and selectively. Public companies are using M&A to reinforce competitive positioning, secure infrastructure and accelerate capability build-out rather than pursue transformational growth. Stock-for-stock mergers, targeted bolt-ons and technology acquisitions are increasingly preferred over debt-heavy cash transactions. Across both sponsor and corporate activity, the recalibration is clear. Capital is available, but conviction must be earned. CROSS-BORDER DEAL FLOW: Selective, Not Dormant Cross-border transactions continue, but they are more tightly filtered than in previous cycles. Geopolitical tension, sanctions regimes, trade policy uncertainty and divergent regulatory approaches are now embedded into transaction planning from the outset. Deals involving infrastructure, energy, technology and financial services face longer timelines, heightened scrutiny and more complex approval processes. As a result, international transactions that do proceed tend to involve established platforms, experienced sponsors and jurisdictions with regulatory familiarity. European infrastructure, energy transition assets, digital platforms, healthcare services and selected financial services businesses continue to attract international interest — particularly where regulatory frameworks are clear and long-term demand is resilient. Opportunistic expansion has largely given way to deliberate, wellstructured entry strategies. Tax and regulatory considerations are playing a more prominent role in deal structuring. Governments are seeking to balance growth objectives with fiscal constraints, leading to targeted reform rather than wholesale deregulation. For dealmakers, this has elevated the importance of jurisdictional planning, early regulatory engagement and robust governance frameworks. WHAT THIS SIGNALS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD The defining feature of the current market is not volume. It is intentionality. Deals are being done, but they are designed to endure. Capital is flowing toward assets that offer scale, resilience and strategic relevance. Execution certainty has become a competitive advantage, and structure now matters as much as headline valuation. For Finance Monthly readers — investors, advisers, executives and policymakers — this shift is critical. Understanding why capital is moving, how transactions are being structured and what risks are being consciously avoided is more valuable than tracking deal counts alone. 2026 is shaping up not as a year of exuberance, but as a year of considered control. The transactions featured in this issue are early markers of a market that is adapting — not retreating — and one where discipline, not momentum, defines success.
Trust & Corporate Services in the Middle East: Structuring, Risk and Strategic Growth An Interview With Marina Zevedeou - Aspen Trust Group Tax Advice Has Become a Deal Risk Discipline — Not a Cost-Saving Exercise An Interview With Dan Neidle - Founder of Tax Policy Associates Expert Insight Contact us today to find out more. Visit www.infotrack.co.uk/REVEAL or call 0207 186 8090 Analysing company information and identifying links with individuals is time consuming. REVEAL interprets data from trusted sources including Companies House Direct and Companies House Beta and turns it into an interactive workspace making it faster and simpler to analyse. At the touch of a button, REVEAL makes analysis beautifully simple, reducing the process by hours. REVEAL: corporate structures simplified, beautifully. Company Shareholder Director 10. 14.
Finance Monthly. Expert Insight Expert Insight Finance Monthly. TRUST & CORPORATE SERVICES IN THE MIDDLE EAST Financial Architecture in a Higher-Scrutiny Era Cross-border structuring is no longer about optimisation alone. In today’s enforcement climate, it is about defensibility, documentation and longterm sustainability. For corporates and private clients operating between Europe and the Middle East, advisory support has evolved into strategic infrastructure — embedded into governance, transaction planning and capital flow management. Founded in Nicosia, Cyprus in 1998, Aspen Trust Group positions itself as a global financial architect — structuring international transactions, building compliant frameworks and guiding businesses through planning, implementation and long-term management. At the centre of that strategy is Marina Zevedeou, a Chartered Accountant and London School of Economics graduate whose career spans PwC in London and Athens, senior advisory roles in Cyprus, and more than two decades in international structuring, tax advisory and family office services. Finance Monthly spoke with Zevedeou about regulatory pressure, Middle East market dynamics and why professional financial advice has shifted from a cost-saving exercise to a risk discipline. 10 11 Structuring, Risk and Strategic Growth What does disciplined cross-border structuring look like in today’s regulatory climate? It begins with clarity. Clients want certainty around compliance, transparency in reporting and structures that can withstand regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions. Disciplined structuring means aligning legal, tax and operational frameworks from the outset — not retrofitting them later. It also means anticipating how decisions taken today will be examined during an audit, refinancing, IPO or sale years down the line. Our role is to ensure structures are efficient but also defensible. What differentiates advisory firms that succeed in the Middle East from those that struggle? The region is dynamic, sophisticated and relationship-driven. Success requires three things: regional understanding, global connectivity and rigorous compliance. We have built a network of trusted associates across the UK, US, UAE, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mauritius. That allows us to coordinate international structuring seamlessly. Equally important is service integration. Clients do not want fragmented advice. They require entity formation, reporting, cross-border mergers, family office structuring, residency support and intellectual property advisory delivered cohesively. Firms that cannot integrate these services under strong governance frameworks often struggle. How do you ensure innovation does not outpace regulatory defensibility? Innovation must strengthen compliance, not undermine it. We invest in digital reporting systems and operational efficiencies, but every technological enhancement is assessed against regulatory requirements. We continuously monitor global developments and adapt accordingly. Transparency, internal controls and documentation standards remain central. Innovation without compliance discipline creates long-term risk. Where are the next regulatory and reputational pressure points emerging in the region? Two areas stand out: enhanced cross-border information exchange and ESG integration. International transparency initiatives mean structures must be coherent and well documented. At the same time, investors and stakeholders increasingly examine governance and sustainability practices. Advisory firms must align structuring strategies with both regulatory obligations and reputational expectations. That alignment is becoming essential for investor confidence. What governance controls become critical as advisory firms expand internationally? Expansion requires robust internal systems. Clear reporting lines, independent compliance oversight, documented processes and secure data management are fundamental. “We have built a network of trusted associates across the UK, US, UAE, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mauritius. That allows us to coordinate international structuring seamlessly.
Finance Monthly. Expert Insight Expert Insight 12 13 Finance Monthly. We have grown strategically, building relationships with trusted partners rather than pursuing uncontrolled scale. Personalised service and disciplined oversight must evolve together. Governance cannot be an afterthought — it must scale with the business. How do trust and corporate structures influence investor confidence in the Middle East? Sound structures underpin capital flow. When governance frameworks are transparent and compliant, investors operate with greater certainty. Trust and corporate services contribute directly to financial ecosystem stability. By ensuring regulatory alignment and supporting cross-border structuring, we help create conditions where businesses can expand confidently. What are the most expensive mistakes businesses make when they avoid professional advice? The most costly errors often stem from incomplete documentation, inadequate cross-border tax analysis or poorly implemented structures. Problems may remain dormant until a transaction, regulatory review or dispute forces disclosure. At that stage, they can affect valuation, delay deals or create reputational consequences. Professional advice early in the lifecycle of a structure reduces uncertainty and protects enterprise value. From Planning to Long-Term Management Since its establishment in 1998, Aspen Trust Group has operated on a three-stage philosophy: planning, implementation and management. Planning involves tailoring structures to each client’s commercial objectives and jurisdictional exposure. Implementation ensures that entities, reporting systems and governance controls are executed correctly across relevant jurisdictions. Management recognises that financial structures must evolve as markets, regulations and corporate priorities shift. The firm’s multidisciplinary team — including Chartered Accountants, former bankers and international tax specialists — operates across more than ten languages, reflecting the crossborder nature of its client base. For Zevedeou, the objective remains consistent: efficient, compliant and forward-looking structuring that allows clients to focus on growth without regulatory uncertainty. Professional Advice as Strategic Infrastructure In an era of heightened transparency, professional advisory services are no longer viewed purely as administrative support. They form part of a company’s risk architecture. Boards entering new jurisdictions, restructuring group entities or preparing for capital events increasingly prioritise defensibility and governance clarity. In that environment, structured financial planning and corporate services are not optional — they are foundational.
Finance Monthly. Expert Insight Expert Insight 15 Finance Monthly. TAX ADVICE HAS BECOME A DEAL RISK DISCIPLINE — NOT A COST-SAVING EXERCISE Before founding his own policy-focused organisation, Dan Neidle spent more than two decades at Clifford Chance, rising to become the firm’s senior London tax partner. During that time, he advised multinational corporates, financial sponsors and boards on some of the most complex tax questions embedded in major transactions. Today, his perspective on tax advice reflects how dramatically the role of the tax lawyer has changed — particularly for dealmakers navigating acquisitions, exits and reputational exposure. Finance Monthly spoke with Neidle about why tax advice is no longer about optimisation, how historic decisions now shape deal outcomes, and what sophisticated clients really want from their legal advisers. DAN NEIDLE - FOUNDER OF TAX POLICY ASSOCIATES 14 When dealmakers think about tax, many still assume it’s about minimising liabilities. Is that how clients approach it today? Not at the serious end of the market. Large corporates, institutional investors and private equity sponsors are not looking for clever tricks. They’re looking for certainty. “Tax advice today is fundamentally about risk. Clients want to know what could go wrong, what might be challenged, and whether something done years ago could suddenly become a problem in the middle of a transaction.” That’s a very different mindset from the past. The emphasis has shifted from optimisation to exposure management, particularly when deals are under scrutiny from regulators, investors and the public. How does that change play out in M&A and investment due diligence? Tax advisers are increasingly focused on the past rather than the future. In acquisitions, the key question is often not how to structure the deal, but what the buyer is inheriting. Historic tax positions — sometimes taken decades ago — can sit quietly until a sale, IPO or refinancing forces everything into the open. Some of those positions were taken in a very different legal and enforcement environment, and they don’t always stand up well today. For buyers, that can affect valuation, warranties, indemnities, insurance, and occasionally whether the deal goes ahead at all. Is enforcement really tougher now, or is that perception overstated? It’s very real. Tax authorities are better resourced, better coordinated internationally and much more confident about litigating. “The era when large companies could rely on complexity or opacity to manage tax exposure has gone. If something is aggressive, it will eventually be challenged — and in most cases, the taxpayer will lose.” Courts are also far less tolerant of artificial arrangements. That reality feeds directly into how boards and deal teams think about risk. How much does reputational risk now influence tax advice? In many cases, more than the legal risk itself. Clients don’t just ask whether something is lawful. They ask how it would look if it were public, how it would read in a prospectus, or how it might be interpreted by a regulator or parliamentary committee years later. Tax behaviour has become a proxy for governance. Advisers have to factor that in, because a technically defensible position can still be commercially disastrous if it undermines trust. Do you still see aggressive tax planning among major corporates? Very rarely — at least where serious capital is involved. “The cost-benefit calculation no longer makes sense. You might save some tax, but you introduce uncertainty, delay transactions, and potentially invite scrutiny that far outweighs the upside.” What clients increasingly want are boring, defensible positions. That may not sound exciting, but when you’re executing a complex deal or preparing for an exit, boring is exactly what you want. How does this affect founders or private equity sponsors preparing for exits? Exits are where historic decisions really surface. When you prepare for a sale or IPO, everything is reviewed in detail — often far more closely than when those decisions were originally made. Structures that were put in place early on, sometimes with limited documentation or poor advice, can suddenly become very visible. Even if they don’t derail a transaction, they can slow it down or reduce value.
16 17 Finance Monthly. Finance Monthly. Expert Insight Expert Insight Good advisers help clients identify and address those issues early, before buyers start asking uncomfortable questions. You’ve spoken publicly about the misuse of legal pressure. Does that have lessons for dealmakers? Yes — particularly around strategy and judgement. There’s a tendency to assume that legal force automatically gives you control over a situation. “Threatening litigation can be a spectacularly bad move, especially in matters that touch on public interest or governance. Instead of containing an issue, it can amplify it.” Part of modern legal advice is telling clients when not to escalate. Just because something is legally possible doesn’t mean it’s strategically sensible. Does complexity in the tax system itself create deal friction? Absolutely. Decades of anti-avoidance legislation have produced a very dense system that increases compliance costs without necessarily improving outcomes. From a deal perspective, complexity slows transactions, increases advisory spend and creates uncertainty. Simplification would benefit business without materially reducing tax revenue — but it requires political will. How do you see the role of the tax lawyer evolving? Technical expertise will always matter, but judgement matters more. As automation and AI take over routine analysis, the value of advisers lies in assessing risk, anticipating scrutiny and guiding clients through grey areas with confidence. Tax lawyers are increasingly strategic advisers embedded in deal teams from the outset. If you were advising a board entering a major transaction today, what would you tell them to prioritise? Defensibility and clarity. Understand your historic positions, document your reasoning and avoid anything that relies on optimism rather than evidence. Deals are hard enough without carrying unnecessary tax uncertainty into the process. WHAT DAN NEIDLE DOES NOW After leaving Clifford Chance in 2022, Neidle founded Tax Policy Associates, a non-profit organisation that works with a network of tax and legal professionals to investigate tax avoidance, enforcement failures and systemic weaknesses in the UK tax system. Rather than advising individual transactions, his work now focuses on evidence-based analysis for policymakers, journalists and institutions — bringing transparency to areas of tax risk that often only surface once deals are already done. For dealmakers and advisers alike, his career arc reflects a broader shift in the profession: from clever structuring behind closed doors to accountability, defensibility and long-term risk awareness
Finance Monthly. XXX Eudia’a $105M Series A to Transform Legal Work Through AI-Powered Augmented Intelligence Adaption Labs Secures $50M Seed to Redefine Enterprise AI Economics Inside the Strategy with Sara Hooker Wrisk Completes Strategic Acquisition of Atto Following £12M+ Series B Inside the Strategy with Rob Knight and Nimeshh Patel Athens International Airport Secures €806M Bond Loan for €1.35BN Expansion Strategic Financing Insight With Ioannis Kaptanis ACG Advisors’ €18M Luxembourg Securitisation to Finance Entertainment Sector Acquisition Securitisation Strategy With Viviane De Moreau D’Andoy Efeso Acquires a Majority Stake in Tsetinis Consulting Cross-Border Acquistion Insight With Bernd Taucher Deal Beyond the 22. 24. 20. 26. 30. 32.
20 21 Finance Monthly. Finance Monthly. Beyond the Deal Beyond the Deal In February 2025, Palo Alto–based legal technology company Eudia closed a Series A funding round of up to $105 million, led by General Catalyst, with participation from Floodgate, Sierra Ventures, Hakluyt Capital, Defy, Everywhere Ventures, B3 Capital, Backbone, Firsthand, and a group of prominent angel investors. The financing marked Eudia’s first public step after 18 months operating in stealth — and immediately positioned the company as one of the most heavily capitalised new entrants in enterprise legal AI. Rather than emerging gradually through pilots or limited releases, Eudia chose to debut alongside a growth-scale funding round, signalling both product maturity and investor conviction. The round reflects a broader shift in how capital is flowing into legal technology: away from narrow point solutions and toward platforms capable of reshaping how in-house legal teams operate at enterprise scale. GROWTH CAPITAL EXECUTION EUDIA’S $105M SERIES A TO TRANSFORM LEGAL WORK THROUGH AI-POWERED AUGMENTED INTELLIGENCE Eudia cofounders (left to right) Ashish Agrawal, Omar Haroun, and David Van Reyk. Eudia Strategic Rationale Behind the Raise Legal departments face a growing structural problem. They are expected to move at business speed while maintaining near-zero tolerance for risk — all while managing ballooning external legal spend and fragmented internal knowledge. Eudia’s platform is built around what it calls Augmented Intelligence: AI agents designed to work alongside experienced legal professionals rather than replace them. The system allows organisations to retain, structure, and deploy institutional legal knowledge securely across workflows. CEO and co-founder Omar Haroun has been explicit about the problem the company is trying to solve. “Most legal departments have lost control of their budgets and their knowledge,” he has said publicly — a view that underpins Eudia’s strategy of targeting not just software budgets, but the far larger legal services market. That positioning was central to the Series A. For General Catalyst, the appeal was not incremental automation, but the opportunity to fundamentally change how legal work is delivered, scaled, and governed inside large organisations. Execution and Enterprise Readiness Unlike many early-stage AI platforms, Eudia entered the market with active deployments inside Fortune 500 legal departments. Organisations including Cargill, DHL, Duracell, and Coherent were already using the platform prior to the funding announcement, providing live validation in risksensitive environments. That traction shaped how the financing was executed. Rather than staging capital against experimental milestones, the round was structured to support rapid enterprise rollout — funding product expansion, customer onboarding, and international growth in parallel. Haroun has previously described the company’s emergence from stealth as a decisive moment. “We launched Eudia out of stealth, raised more than $100M in funding, welcomed an incredible group of new teammates, and pushed hard to bring Augmented Intelligence into the world in a meaningful way,” he said in a public post following the raise. From an execution standpoint, the move reduced signalling risk in a crowded AI market. The scale of the Series A immediately differentiated Eudia from smaller legal AI vendors still proving enterprise viability. Technology Philosophy and Risk Management A defining feature of Eudia’s approach is its emphasis on human-in-the-loop design — a critical factor in legal environments where accuracy, provenance, and accountability are non-negotiable. CTO and co-founder Ashish Agrawal has repeatedly stressed that pure automation is insufficient in high-stakes domains. “In domains where humans are doing things manually, the accuracy needs to be 100 percent — and therefore AI out of the box will never actually work without human involvement,” he has said in prior interviews. Agrawal has also highlighted the importance of traceability in AI outputs. “It’s a problem when [an AI platform] doesn’t have citations. You don’t know where it’s drawing from,” he noted — a concern that has shaped Eudia’s emphasis on transparency and contextual grounding. This philosophy resonated with enterprise customers and investors alike, particularly as regulators and boards scrutinise AI adoption more closely. Operational Discipline and Scaling Operationally, the Series A reflects confidence not just in the technology, but in Eudia’s ability to scale responsibly. COO and co-founder David Van Reyk, a former private equity investor at CVC Capital Partners, brings a discipline more typical of later-stage growth companies. His background in executing complex transformations and M&A has helped position Eudia to manage enterprise deployments, long sales cycles, and operational scaling simultaneously. While Van Reyk maintains a lower public profile than his cofounders, his role has been central to translating product ambition into execution — ensuring the organisation can support global customers without compromising security, reliability, or trust. What the Deal Signals Eudia’s Series A is emblematic of a broader recalibration in legal technology investment. Capital is increasingly backing platforms that can embed deeply into enterprise operations, reduce reliance on external counsel, and preserve institutional knowledge over time. As Haroun has observed, legal expertise is often fragile — lost when people leave, siloed in documents, or trapped behind billable hours. Eudia’s bet, supported by this financing, is that AI-augmented systems can finally change that dynamic. The deal underscores a key point: the next phase of AI adoption in professional services will be defined less by novelty and more by execution, governance, and trust. Eudia’s Series A suggests investors believe those hurdles are now surmountable. Sector: Legal Technology / Enterprise AI Transaction Type: Series A Growth Financing Deal Size: Up to $105 million Lead Investor: General Catalyst Deal Status: Completed Completion Date: February 2025
22 23 Finance Monthly. Finance Monthly. Beyond the Deal Beyond the Deal In an exclusive conversation with cofounder Sara Hooker, a leading voice in modern AI research, Finance Monthly explores the strategy behind the raise and the company’s ambition to move the industry beyond the “bigger is better” paradigm. We examine how the financing was executed, the technical philosophy driving Adaption Labs, and what the transaction signals for the next phase of enterprise AI investment. You’ve raised $50 million to challenge the “bigger is better” dogma. Why is the industry at a “reckoning point” regarding model size? Most labs won’t quadruple the size of their model each year, mainly because we’re seeing saturation in the architecture. We are moving away from it just being a model. This is part of the profound notion—it’s based on the interaction, and a model should change in real time based on what the task is. The deal highlights your focus on “gradient-free learning.” How does this change the unit economics for an enterprise? The most costly compute is pretraining compute, largely because it is a massive amount of compute and a massive amount of time. With inference compute, you get way more bang for each unit of power. How do you update a model without touching the weights? There’s really interesting innovation in the architecture space, and it’s leveraging compute in a much more efficient way. You’ve been vocal about eliminating “prompt acrobatics.” What is the goal for the end-user experience? My goal is to eliminate prompt engineering. Most enterprises currently use extensive prompt and context engineering to adapt models, but these prompts often stop working when a new ADAPTION LABS SECURES $50M SEED TO REDEFINE ENTERPRISE AI ECONOMICS version of the model is released. I want to create models that learn continuously without expensive retraining or finetuning. Adaption Labs is built on three “adaptive pillars.” How do these differentiate you from the frontier labs? Proving that AI can efficiently learn from an environment will completely change the dynamics of who gets to control and shape AI. Our pillars—adaptive data, adaptive intelligence, and adaptive interfaces—couldn’t be achieved within a traditional frontier lab because those areas are split across different teams. This is probably the most important problem that I’ve worked on. You’ve expressed skepticism regarding how current models handle hardware. How does that shape your work with Sudip Roy? Ideas in AI often succeed or fail based on whether they happen to fit existing hardware, rather than their inherent merit. My cofounder makes GPUs go extremely fast, which is important for us because of the real-time component. Sector: Enterprise AI / Foundation Models Transaction Type: Seed Growth Financing Deal Size: $50 million Lead Investor: Emergence Capital Partners Deal Status: Completed Completion Date: February 2026 INSIDE THE STRATEGY WITH SARA HOOKER In February 2026, San Francisco–based Adaption Labs closed a $50 million seed round, led by Emergence Capital Partners. The financing marks one of the largest seed commitments in the “neolab” sector, featuring participation from Mozilla Ventures, Fifty Years, Threshold Ventures, Alpha Intelligence Capital, E14 Fund, and Neo. The deal signals a strategic pivot in AI investment, moving away from the “scaling laws” that defined the OpenAI era. Adaption Labs, founded by former Cohere executives Sara Hooker and Sudip Roy, is focused on “gradient-free” learning—a method that allows models to adapt in real-time without the multi-million dollar costs of traditional retraining. While the company declined to disclose its post-money valuation, the scale of the seed round positions Adaption Labs as a primary challenger to the industry’s reliance on massive, static LLMs. Execution and Technical Philosophy The transaction reflects investor confidence in Adaption’s ability to solve the “continuous learning” problem. Traditional models are “frozen” after training; Adaption’s systems use dynamic decoding and on-the-fly merging to select specific “adapters” based on a user’s query. • Adaptive Data: Systems generate and manipulate the data they need to answer a problem on the fly, rather than relying on large static datasets. • Adaptive Intelligence: Models automatically adjust how much compute to spend based on the difficulty of the task. • Adaptive Interfaces: The system evolves based on how users interact with the system, moving beyond the standard “chat bar.” What the Deal Signals The success of the Adaption Labs raise suggests that the “Hardware Lottery”—a concept Hooker pioneered— is entering a new phase. Capital is now flowing toward efficiency and “inference-time” intelligence rather than raw horsepower. This deal underscores a vital trend: the next generation of AI value will be found in ownership and control. By lowering the cost of adaptation, Adaption Labs aims to allow companies to “shape and own” their AI rather than renting a generic, static model from a centralized provider. Corporate Insight: Beyond the Lab Adaption Labs operates as a multi-disciplinary architect of transformative solutions, positioning itself at the intersection of productivity and financial intelligence. While the core laboratory focuses on frontier AI research, the company’s broader ecosystem delivers tools designed for immediate executive decision-making. Key specialized offerings include: • Humility: A mobile application built for fundamental investors. It enables users to uncover and refine the intrinsic value of company shares, facilitating high conviction investment choices in a volatile market. • Risk Aversion: A precision tool for value investors that provides company-specific checklists and customizable risk factor templates. This allows for rigorous, audit-ready research and clear buy/sell recommendations. The firm’s philosophy emphasizes a seamless fusion of simplicity and design, ensuring that complex backend innovations remain accessible to the end-user. By fostering a collaborative ecosystem, Adaption Labs aims to move technology from a static service to a dynamic partner in enterprise growth. Deal Overview
24 25 Finance Monthly. Finance Monthly. Beyond the Deal Beyond the Deal Following its £12 million Series B raise and strategic backing from Allianz Holdings, London-based insurtech Wrisk has moved to deepen its embedded finance capabilities with the acquisition of open banking intelligence platform Atto. The deal signals a broader consolidation of decisioning and delivery infrastructure across automotive finance and insurance. Here, we speak with Wrisk CEO Nimeshh Patel and Atto Strategic Advisor Rob Knight about the strategic rationale behind the transaction, how open banking data is reshaping credit and insurance journeys, and what the partnership means for the next phase of embedded finance. How does the acquisition of Atto change the value proposition for Wrisk’s automotive partners? Nimeshh Patel (CEO, Wrisk): Atto has built a credible financial intelligence and credit scoring platform with real-world enterprise use. Joining Wrisk allows us to combine that intelligence with a delivery layer that serves brands and other partners at scale. Together, we can better support customer journeys that span finance, insurance and protection seamlessly. WRISK COMPLETES STRATEGIC ACQUISITION OF ATTO FOLLOWING £12M+ SERIES B Rob, how does Atto’s technology improve the decisioning process compared to traditional methods? Rob Knight (Strategic Advisor, Atto): We have proven the value of open banking–driven credit intelligence with enterprise clients. Atto delivers credit insight grounded in transactional behavior over and above the static bureau data. Together, we can embed credit decisioning, affordability, and actionable insight directly into live finance and protection journeys. How does this deal bridge the gap between finance and insurance for the end-user? Nimeshh Patel: The acquisition brings financial intelligence further upstream into Wrisk’s platform. This creates a single integrated layer that supports embedded finance, insurance and protection services within the same ecosystem. Decisioning and execution now sit together, allowing more responsive and personalized journeys without the need to stitch together disconnected tools or vendors. Why was Wrisk the right partner for Atto’s next growth phase? Rob Knight: Joining Wrisk represents a natural next phase in Atto’s growth. Wrisk brings the regulated operating framework and delivery capability required to deploy that intelligence at scale. Our technology transforms raw financial data into actionable insights that can be embedded directly into regulated, enterprise-grade customer journeys. Sector: Embedded Finance / Insurtech Transaction Type: Strategic M&A Deal Size: Undisclosed (following £12m+ Series B) Buyer: Wrisk Limited Seller: Atto (The IDCO Limited) Deal Status: Completed Completion Date: February 2026 INSIDE THE STRATEGY WITH WITH ROB KNIGHT & NIMESHH PATEL In February 2026, London-based insurtech leader Wrisk announced the acquisition of Atto, a real-time financial intelligence platform specializing in open banking data. The transaction follows Wrisk’s successful Series B funding round, which secured £12 million (led by Mundi Ventures and Opera Tech Ventures) and additional strategic backing from Allianz Holdings plc in early 2026. The acquisition marks a decisive move to consolidate the “embedded” stack. By integrating Atto’s credit scoring, affordability assessment, and income verification tools, Wrisk is evolving from a pure-play digital insurance provider into a unified embedded finance and protection platform. Atto will continue to operate as a dedicated product and team within the Wrisk group, preserving its specialized roadmap while leveraging Wrisk’s massive enterprise footprint with global automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Execution and Enterprise Readiness The acquisition arrives at a moment of significant commercial momentum. Wrisk recorded triple-digit revenue growth in 2024 and has written over 100,000 policies. Its established relationships with brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar Land Rover, and Suzuki provide an immediate, high-volume environment for Atto’s technology. By housing decisioning (Atto) and execution (Wrisk) under one roof, the group reduces the integration burden for OEMs. This allows automotive partners to design more responsive, personalized journeys that can adapt to a customer’s realtime financial behavior. What the Deal Signals The Wrisk-Atto deal is emblematic of the “Second Wave” of embedded finance. The focus has shifted from merely placing a product at the point of sale to creating a context-aware ecosystem that understands the customer’s total financial capacity. As automotive brands move toward direct-to-consumer digital sales, the ability to offer “one-click” finance and insurance—backed by real-time credit and risk intelligence— becomes a major competitive differentiator. Corporate Insight: Wrisk operates as a multi-disciplinary architect of transformative solutions, positioning itself at the intersection of productivity and financial intelligence. Its broader ecosystem delivers tools designed for immediate executive decision-making. Key specialized offerings include: • Humility: A mobile application built for fundamental investors. It enables users to uncover and refine the intrinsic value of company shares, facilitating high-conviction investment choices in a volatile market. • Risk Aversion: A precision tool for value investors that provides company-specific checklists and customizable risk factor templates. This allows for rigorous, audit-ready research and clear buy/sell recommendations. Deal Overview
Finance Monthly. Beyond the Deal Beyond the Deal 26 27 Finance Monthly. Athens International Airport’s €806 million secured bond financing marks a major milestone in the long-term expansion of Greece’s primary aviation hub, supporting a €1.35 billion infrastructure programme designed to meet rising passenger demand. Here, we speak with Ioannis Kaptanis, Partner at Koutalidis, about the structuring of the transaction, the legal and financial complexities of integrating the new bond into AIA’s existing facilities, and what the financing means for the airport’s next phase of growth. How was the €806M secured bond integrated into AIA’s existing multi tranche financing structure? We advised Alpha Bank on the €806 million secured bond loan and, in parallel, advised the syndicate of four Greek systemic banks on amendments and restatements of four existing bond loans issued by Athens International Airport. These amendments were necessary in light of the new financing. They involved adjustments across the entire set of finance and security documents to ensure alignment between the existing loans and the new bond loan, while preserving their autonomy and individual characteristics. The work was extensive and carried out under tight deadlines. The alignment process required careful structuring to maintain consistency across multiple instruments without compromising the integrity of each facility. ATHENS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SECURES €806M BOND LOAN FOR €1.35BN EXPANSION What were the principal legal and structural complexities in synchronising the new bond with AIA’s legacy facilities? Although the new bond loan followed the precedent framework of previous AIA financings, negotiations took place regarding both business and structural issues. One particular complexity was the classification of the expansion bond loan as “Designated Debt” for the purposes of the Airport Development Agreement. This required additional contractual documentation and coordination between stakeholders. At the same time, a parallel workstream focused on ensuring that amendments to existing bond loans were properly synchronised with the terms of the new financing. This dual-track process demanded close collaboration between the company, Alpha Bank, the banking syndicate, and both local and international counsel. What additional structuring considerations arose from the ‘Designated Debt’ classification under the Airport Development Agreement? Publicly announced plans indicate that the first phase of expansion will begin in early 2025 and be completed by 2028, increasing annual capacity to 33 million passengers. The broader plan targets capacity of 50 million passengers by 2045. The project includes terminal expansion, additional aircraft slots, runway enhancements, VIP facilities, parking infrastructure, and surrounding road network upgrades. The bond loan structure allows for multiple drawdowns aligned with the progress of construction works, ensuring that financing is deployed efficiently throughout the project lifecycle. The final maturity date in 2042 aligns with the long-term infrastructure horizon of the expansion. How were lender protections and drawdown mechanics structured to support a long-dated infrastructure financing through 2042? The expansion of Greece’s primary international gateway is expected to have a direct impact on tourism and transport sectors. Increased capacity will allow Athens to accommodate growing passenger volumes, particularly during peak tourist seasons. Enhanced facilities and expanded runway capacity may also attract additional airlines and new routes, strengthening Greece’s connectivity with global markets. Sector: Infrastructure / Aviation / Project Finance Transaction Type: Secured Bond Loan Financing Deal Size: €806 million Lender: Alpha Bank Deal Status: Completed Completion Date: October 2025 Final Maturity: 2042 STRATEGIC FINANCING INSIGHT WITH IOANNIS KAPTANIS
Finance Monthly. Beyond the Deal Beyond aviation, increased passenger flows typically generate multiplier effects across hospitality, retail, transport services, and regional economies. Infrastructure expansion of this scale can also generate direct and indirect employment opportunities during both construction and operational phases. As tourism remains a significant contributor to Greece’s GDP, airport capacity expansion may serve as a catalyst for broader economic growth and regional development. What ongoing legal oversight is required during the phased implementation of the expansion financing? We will continue advising Alpha Bank on drawdowns throughout the duration of the bond loan. This includes reviewing conditions precedent, preparing necessary documentation, and issuing legal opinions as required. We will also support any post-closing amendments or technical adjustments that may arise during the implementation of the expansion plan. Long-term infrastructure financings require ongoing legal coordination, and we remain engaged throughout the lifecycle of the project. Deal Overview Athens International Airport has secured an €806 million secured bond loan to finance a major multi-phase expansion programme that will increase the airport’s capacity to 50 million passengers annually by 2045. The financing, backed by Alpha Bank, forms part of a broader €1.35 billion infrastructure investment plan aimed at upgrading Greece’s largest and busiest airport. The first phase of works is expected to commence in early 2025 and run through 2028, increasing annual passenger capacity from approximately 26 million to 33 million. The expansion includes an 81,000 square metre enlargement of the main terminal, additional aircraft stands and passenger gates, upgraded baggage handling systems, a new runway with 32 aircraft slots, a new VIP terminal, expanded road access, and a multi-storey parking facility. Alongside the new bond loan, amendments and restatements were implemented across four existing major bond loans originally issued in 2019, 2022, and 2024. The transaction required coordination between multiple Greek systemic banks and involved complex alignment of existing finance and security documentation. Koutalidis advised Alpha Bank on the new financing and also advised the syndicate of Greek systemic banks on the amendment and restatement of the existing bond loans. The transaction reflects continued investment in aviation infrastructure across Europe, underpinned by strong passenger growth and rising tourism demand in Greece. Transaction Context Passenger traffic at Athens International Airport reached 24.6 million in the first nine months of 2024 — a 13.3% increase compared to the same period in 2023. Total revenues rose 9.8% to €509 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased 16.9% to €339.9 million. The airport’s financial performance strengthened the foundation for long-term infrastructure financing, supporting the structuring of the new secured bond loan with a final maturity extending to 2042. The financing structure allows for multiple drawdowns aligned with construction milestones. At the same time, amendments to existing bond loans were required to ensure consistency across the broader financing framework while preserving the autonomy of each individual instrument. The designation of the new expansion bond loan as “Designated Debt” under the Airport Development Agreement added an additional layer of structural complexity. The project includes terminal expansion, additional aircraft slots, runway enhancements, VIP facilities, parking infrastructure, and surrounding road network upgrades.
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