APM and Synergy One merge, Majerus set for president role

Procter & Gamble (PG) agreed to buy Thorne, a health and wellness brand, from L Catterton for $3.8B in cash, expected to close in Q4 2026. The deal follows an Aug 3 outlook update for fiscal 2027 with core EPS of $6.89 to $7.11, implying 0% to 3% growth, hurt by about $1B in after-tax cost headwinds.

Reuters reports a senior source close to the matter said there are no ongoing discussions or deal between AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb, following earlier reports of potential preliminary talks. Both companies declined comment. AstraZeneca shares rose 2.9% and BMS fell 2.6% after the update, after prior speculation of a near $400 billion tie-up.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) reported higher Q2 operating and maintenance costs, up about $5.1M (3.5%) year over year, mainly from employee costs and higher water and wastewater production, partly offset by lower insurance and bad-debt expenses. The company said its American Water merger has regulatory approvals in KY, OH and VA, targeting Q1 2027 close. It also outlined 2026 infrastructure spending of $1.7B, rate-case updates, acquisitions, and a 5.25% dividend increase.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) discussed Q2 plans to support grid expansion via rapid deployment, scale, and hybrid structures. It formed a Power Innovation JV with Blackstone with $5.34B committed capital and capped 6.35% cost of equity. Williams also agreed to buy Momentum Midstream for $5.5B, adding 6 Bcf/d gathering and 4 Bcf/d pipeline capacity, plus Shelby Connector and Delta Access projects.

U.S. upstream M&A slowed to $9.1B in Q2 as crude price volatility eased, though Enverus expects acceleration in H2 2026. Deal highlights include Magnolia Oil & Gas buying WildFire Energy for about $4.06B, Crescent Energy acquiring Vital Energy for ~$3.1B and Eagle Ford assets for $905M, and Baytex selling Eagle Ford assets for $2.14B.

AMD agreed to acquire Toronto startup Taalas, which designs model-specific AI chips that etch neural network weights into transistors to avoid weight transfers during inference. Taalas’ first test chip reportedly ran Meta’s Llama 3.1 8B at 16,960 tokens per second. Closing is expected in Q4, with chips planned for AMD Helios racks using ROCm.