Top Ten Tech M&A Transactions This Week by Ascento 5/15/26

Ascento Capital Invest @ www.techbanking.com

Deal of the Week

5/14/26 Arm and SoftBank approach Cerebras for acquisition ahead of IPO

Currently priced at 94% YES for a market cap of at least $50B on IPO day, indicating strong sentiment for a high valuation. Other sub-markets show minimal YES pricing, consistent with a high market cap expectation.

The approach by Arm and SoftBank suggests potential changes in Cerebras’ IPO trajectory, impacting market expectations. – Current market pricing indicates a strong belief in a high market cap for Cerebras, supportive of a $50B+ valuation. – The acquisition approach appears to reflect strategic interest by SoftBank within the US-centric AI ecosystem

Crypto Briefing

5/14/26 Boomi Plans Lunar.dev Acquisition to Expand AI Governance and Connectivity

Boomi has announced it has signed a letter of intent to acquire Lunar.dev, an innovator in AI and MCP gateway. The proposed acquisition is expected to enrich the Boomi Enterprise Platform and Boomi Connect with advanced capabilities to govern and scale AI usage across enterprise systems.

As organizations move from AI experimentation to production, controlling how agents and AI applications interact with LLMs at scale has become critical. Lunar.dev addresses this need with an AI gateway that delivers granular, policy-driven control over AI interactions, with the visibility, security, and performance required for enterprise environments. These capabilities enable organizations to move from pilot to production with confidence, ensuring AI operates reliably, securely, and within defined guardrails.

HPC Wire

5/12/26 Celonis buys decision-intelligence startup Ikigai Labs to provide operational context for enterprise AI

Process mining software company Celonis SE said today it has snapped up the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-linked decision intelligence startup Ikigai Labs Inc., planning to use it to power a new “context model” developed by Celonis that’s designed to function as a real-time digital twin of its customers’ business operations.

Celonis says enterprises are facing a critical challenge in their efforts to successfully deploy artificial intelligence agents at scale. There’s an urgent need to ensure AI doesn’t have any “blind spots” in their understanding of how businesses operate, as any deficiencies would almost certainly undermine their potential.

Silicon Angle

5/12/26 Akamai in advanced talks to acquire Israeli startup LayerX for $250 million

Akamai Technologies is in advanced negotiations to acquire Israeli cybersecurity startup LayerX Security for approximately $250 million, according to sources familiar with the matter. LayerX has raised $45 million to date from investors including Jump Capital, Glilot Capital Partners and Dell Technologies Capital.

LayerX currently employs more than 80 people. The company develops a platform that enables security managers to secure work conducted through existing enterprise browsers. Its security extension can be installed within minutes without user intervention and is compatible with widely used browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari.

CalCalisTech

5/11/26 Will $475M Alkira Buyout Boost LUMN's Cloud & Security Revenues?

Lumen Technologies LUMN is set to acquire Alkira for $475 million in cash, transforming it from a bandwidth provider into a software-driven enterprise infrastructure platform. Alkira offers a cloud-native networking platform that acts as a centralized control plane for enterprise connectivity. Instead of manually stitching together networking environments across different providers, enterprises can orchestrate their entire infrastructure through a single software layer. By combining Alkira’s orchestration platform with Lumen’s extensive fiber infrastructure, the companies aim to create a “programmable network” for the AI era.

Lumen’s current NaaS business focuses on “north-south” traffic, which involves connections between enterprise sites and cloud environments. However, AI applications produce huge amounts of east-west traffic because workloads frequently exchange data across distributed systems. By acquiring Alkira, Lumen strengthens its position in this rapidly growing enterprise networking segment. The company estimates the expanded addressable market could reach about $70 billion.

Yahoo Finance

5/11/26 Ascensus to Acquire AmericanTCS in Retirement Tech Expansion

Ascensus announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AmericanTCS, a provider of retirement, trust and custody, and technology automation solutions, in a deal bringing together two highly complementary organizations.

The acquisition strengthens Ascensus’ platform within retirement with greater scale and a wider array of services by extending reach of its best-in-class capabilities, expanding its PEP solutions, broadening its trust and custody capabilities, and growing technology and service offerings.

401kSpecialist

5/11/26 Drone Manufacturer Targets Military Demand With Battery Innovator Acquisition

Leading NDAA-compliant drone component manufacturer Unusual Machines Inc. announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire DroneNX LLC, which operates as Upgrade Energy, a company specializing in the manufacture of battery and power systems for unmanned aerial systems, according to a May 11 release.

The deal, valued at around US$52 million, will be settled through a mix of cash and stock, with additional performance-based earnout considerations. This acquisition is set to enhance Unusual Machines' existing domestic production and engineering framework by integrating advanced battery technology and expanding its range of drone components.

Streetwise

5/11/26 Moonpay Moves Into AI-Native Trading With Dawn Labs Acquisition and Dawn CLI Launch

Moonpay revealed it acquired Dawn Labs on Monday and launched Dawn CLI, an artificial intelligence (AI)-native trading tool that converts plain English strategy descriptions into autonomous trade execution on supported venues.

Prediction markets have grown into one of the fastest-expanding categories in crypto, drawing active traders to platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi. Those traders rely on social media signals, automated strategies, and cross-platform positioning. The infrastructure needed to compete, however, has remained fragmented, manual, and technically demanding.

BitcoinNews

5/8/26 Kraken parent (Payward) boosts card capabilities in $600M Reap acquisition

Payward isn’t the only party to benefit geographically from the Reap tie-up. Joining Payward will help Reap expand into the U.S. and Europe through licenses the Kraken parent already holds. The companies together aim to extend stablecoin-powered payments infrastructure into high-growth markets across the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America, according to Thursday’s release.

“Finance is moving in one direction. Continuous markets. Programmable money. Autonomous execution. Stablecoins are the settlement substrate. AI agents are the new participants,” Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in a statement. “Reap is the payments layer for what comes next.”

BankingDive

5/8/26 Freo to acquire credit marketplace IndiaLends

Money app Freo has inked an agreement to acquire IndiaLends in a bid to scale existing lending capabilities. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the proposed deal remains subject to regulatory approval.

IndiaLends is a digital marketplace that helps consumers find and apply for personal loans, credit cards, and credit-building products. It works with more than 80 banks and non-banking finance companies, providing distribution and credit discovery for lenders and borrowers.

Fintech Futures