The week in deals, 2 to 8 November 2026: the five biggest verified deals of the week across AI, biopharma, defence tech and drone delivery, one deal explained in depth, what to watch in the coming days, and every other verified deal of the week by sector. Every item links to its original source.
AI chips & optics M&A · US · 2 Nov
Week in deals: Marvell’s $115B Lumentum deal leads a week of AI infrastructure and China licensing
Marvell agrees to buy Lumentum in an all-stock deal worth about $115B. Lumentum shareholders receive 4.5 Marvell shares for each share, about $1,132, a premium of roughly 24%. After closing, Marvell shareholders own about 67% of the combined company and Lumentum shareholders about 33%.
Why it matters: Optical links between chips are now a bottleneck for AI data centres, and the biggest deal of the week buys exactly that. Light Reading reports it as the largest public tech acquisition on record.
Source: Light Reading
Pharma licensing · Germany / China · 4 Nov
Boehringer Ingelheim pays $358M upfront for options on six preclinical cancer programmes from Sino Biopharm
The deal is worth up to $7.4B: $358M upfront and up to $7B in milestones, plus royalties. The six programmes are antibody-drug conjugates and T-cell engagers, five from Sino Biopharm’s subsidiary LaNova Medicines and one from Beijing Tide. Four come with rights outside Greater China and two with global rights.
Why it matters: By potential value it is the largest of Sino Biopharm’s 2026 licensing deals with big pharma; the earlier ones with Sanofi, GSK and AstraZeneca each stayed under $2B. More below in “The deal explained”.
Source: Pharmaceutical Technology
Defence AI M&A · US · 5 Nov
Shield AI agrees to buy radar maker Echodyne for about $5.3B and raises $2.5B
Shield AI pays about $4.8B at closing, plus up to $500M on performance targets. It funds the deal with a $1B Series H at a $28.8B post-money valuation, $1B in structured equity from Blackstone funds and $500M in debt led by JPMorgan. Closing is expected in early 2027.
Why it matters: An AI autonomy company now has the balance sheet to buy the sensors it depends on. Shield AI was valued at $12.7B in March.
Source: Shield AI via PR Newswire
AI infrastructure · Saudi Arabia · 2 Nov
Aramco completes its purchase of 49% of HUMAIN for about $2.6B in cash plus AI assets
Aramco contributes about SAR 9.9B ($2.6B) in cash during 2026, plus AI, compute and digital assets. The Public Investment Fund keeps 51%. HUMAIN plans 3 GW of AI data centre capacity by 2030.
Why it matters: One of the world’s largest energy companies now co-owns a national AI compute platform, and energy and compute move onto one balance sheet.
Source: Wamda
Robotics & physical AI financing · US · 5 Nov
Zipline raises $1.5B at a $21.5B valuation to build a nationwide drone delivery network
Paradigm, WCM Investment Management and Layer Global led the round, joined by Uber, Tiger Global, Fidelity, JPMorgan, ARK Invest and Salesforce Ventures. All of it is new capital for the company. Walmart adds about 300 more delivery sites under a multiyear agreement.
Why it matters: Investors now price drone delivery as infrastructure, and the largest venture round of the week went to physical AI.
Source: Zipline
The deal explained: why Boehringer pays $358M for programmes that have not reached the clinic
Boehringer Ingelheim does not buy the six programmes. It buys the right to take them later. Sino Biopharm runs the early development itself. Once a programme meets agreed clinical milestones, Boehringer can exercise its option and take exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and sell it.
The structure splits the work in a clear way. The developer does the early science and keeps control while the data comes in. The partner pays a large sum today to stand first in line, and pays the big money only for programmes that prove themselves.
The timing tells its own story. Boehringer opened an R&D centre in Shanghai in October 2026. Sino Biopharm bought LaNova, the source of five of the six programmes, for $951M in July 2025. A 2025 GlobalData report counted China-based companies behind 20% of the drugs in development worldwide.
For a European biotech leadership team, the useful question is a practical one: which clinical milestone would a large partner pay for in our pipeline, and what data do we need to reach it?
Source: Pharmaceutical Technology
The week ahead
- Rezera IPO. The Boston biotech is expected to price its Nasdaq IPO this week: 16.67M shares at $11 to $13, about $200M, proposed ticker RZRA. Its lead drug, ruvonoflast, is an oral NLRP3 inhibitor for peripheral artery disease, with a Phase 3 trial planned for the first half of 2027. Source: IPOScoop
- 14 Nov: FDA decision for Summit Therapeutics. The goal date for ivonescimab with chemotherapy in EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer after TKI therapy, based on the Phase III HARMONi trial. Source: Summit Therapeutics
- 16 Nov: Viatris tender offer for Pacira. The $36.50 per share cash offer, about $1.65B in equity value, is set to expire at the end of 16 November. Source: Viatris, Pulse 2.0
- 16 to 19 Nov: Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference, London. One of the busiest weeks of the year for European biotech meetings with investors and partners. Source: Forbion
- From about 20 Nov: ANI’s offer for Egetis opens. The acceptance period for the SEK 11.25 per share offer runs to about 18 December and needs 90% acceptance. Source: GlobeNewswire
More deals of the week
Pharma & biotech
- ANI Pharmaceuticals offers about $560M (SEK 11.25 per share) for Egetis Therapeutics (Sweden) and its rare-disease drug Emcitate. 5 Nov. Source: GlobeNewswire
- AbbVie licenses Nxera’s oral EP4 agonist for inflammatory bowel disease: $100M upfront, up to $1.37B in milestones, plus royalties. 4 Nov. Source: GlobeNewswire
- Lonza agrees to buy Merck KGaA’s CDMO business, including US sites for bioconjugation, for a mid-triple-digit million euro sum. 3 Nov. Source: Merck KGaA via GlobeNewswire
- Rhythm Pharmaceuticals and LG Chem amend their bivamelagon license: $350M in fixed payments to LG Chem in place of the variable royalty, plus a 1% royalty on Rhythm’s MC4R portfolio from 2029. 3 Nov. Source: GlobeNewswire
- Fresenius (Germany) and WuXi Biologics sign an exclusive agreement to develop up to 37 biosimilar candidates over the next decade. 2 Nov. Source: BioPharm International
- Evommune licenses Hinova’s oral VAV1 molecular glue degrader: $30M upfront, up to $1.1B in milestones. 4 Nov. Source: BioSpace
- Formation Bio (New York) closes a $600M debut fund to acquire up to 15 clinical-stage drugs over five years. 2 Nov. Source: AltAssets
- T-Therapeutics (Cambridge, UK) raises a $133M Series B co-led by Advent Life Sciences and the British Business Bank, with Eli Lilly and J&J Innovation joining. 5 Nov. Source: GlobeNewswire
- Alethio Therapeutics (Oxford) raises a $90M Series A co-led by Sofinnova Partners and RA Capital. 5 Nov. Source: BioPharma Dive
- Anaheim Bio (Leiden) launches with a €40M Series A from Droia, Frazier, RTW, Novartis Venture Fund and others. 5 Nov. Source: Drug Discovery World
- Specific Biologics (Toronto) raises a $35M Series A led by Hatteras Venture Partners for its gene editing therapy in ALS. 2 Nov. Source: Specific Biologics via BioSpace
- Thryv Therapeutics raises a $30M Series B led by InClin to start its heart failure study. 3 Nov. Source: Thryv via BioSpace
- bit.bio (Cambridge, UK) raises a $25M Series D from M&G Investments and Jonathan Milner. 4 Nov. Source: bit.bio
MedTech
- Boston Scientific gets up to $455M from Blackstone Life Sciences to co-fund its Vitalyst heart pump. 2 Nov. Source: Blackstone
- Laza Medical (Los Gatos) raises up to $160M in a structured Series B led by GE HealthCare for AI imaging in the cath lab. 4 Nov. Source: Laza Medical
- Rockwell Medical agrees to buy most of Vantive’s hemodialysis business, including a plant in Medolla, Italy, for $125M plus up to $45M in contingent payments. 3 Nov. Source: Rockwell Medical
- MMI (Medical Microinstruments) raises a $125M Series D led by BioStar Capital for its Symani microsurgery robot. 1 Nov. Source: MedCity News
AI & semiconductors
- Google takes over Crusoe’s Wyoming data centre project, planned to scale to 10 GW, and plans to invest $17B in the campus. Price not disclosed. 6 Nov. Source: TechCrunch
- Brookfield, Drax and Radiant plan an AI data centre of more than 1 GW at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, with potential investment above £20B and a £2.5B first phase. 3 Nov. Source: DCD
- Salesforce agrees to buy Cresta, a voice AI platform for customer service. Price not disclosed. 4 Nov. Source: Salesforce
- Fal raises $1.3B at a $16B valuation led by Bessemer, with Nvidia among the investors, for its generative media inference platform. 3 Nov. Source: The Next Web
- CrowdStrike agrees to buy Fiddler AI and Dreadnode to secure AI agents. Terms not disclosed. 3 to 4 Nov. Source: Tech Monitor
- Agility Robotics completes its merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI at about $2.5B equity value and lists on Nasdaq as AGLT. 4 Nov. Source: Agility Robotics
- Sand.ai (Beijing) raises a $200M Series A+ for video foundation models. 5 Nov. Source: Pedaily
- Sentra raises a $150M Series C led by Capital One Ventures to secure the data AI agents can reach. 4 Nov. Source: SecurityWeek
- Salience Labs (UK) raises a $125M Series B led by Bullhound Capital, with AMD Ventures and Intel Capital, for photonic switching in AI data centres. 2 Nov. Source: Evertiq
- Traversal (New York) raises a $120M Series B at a $1B valuation co-led by Kleiner Perkins, Redpoint and Khosla. 4 Nov. Source: Traversal
- Ocient (Chicago) raises a $100M Series C led by BOKA Capital and OCA Ventures. 5 Nov. Source: AIwire
- Kalepa (New York) raises a $75M Series B led by Updata Partners for AI in insurance underwriting. 5 Nov. Source: Kalepa
- Humble Robotics (San Francisco) raises a $51M Series A led by Obvious Ventures for its cabless electric freight truck. 5 Nov. Source: FreightWaves
- Trajectory raises a $45M Series A at a $300M valuation led by Sequoia. 2 Nov. Source: TechCrunch
Energy, planet & space
- CesiumAstro raises a $730M Series D at a valuation above $4.5B led by Janus Henderson, for a planned constellation of 737 AI-enabled satellites. 5 Nov. Source: CesiumAstro
- Harbinger (Los Angeles) raises a $240M Series D co-led by Tiger Global, Capricorn and Ridgeline, with FedEx investing. 5 Nov. Source: TechCrunch
- VÆRIDION (Munich) raises a €30M Series A2 led by SHIFT Invest and Invest-NL for its battery electric Microliner. 5 Nov. Source: VÆRIDION
- FluoRok (Oxford) raises a $30M Series A led by the Orano Venture Fund for fluorochemicals including battery electrolyte salts. 5 Nov. Source: FluoRok
- Green Voltis (Stockholm) raises a €13.5M Series A led by Lochpine Capital for AI trading of battery storage. 5 Nov. Source: ArcticStartup
- Vensum Power (Finland) raises a €9M Series A for power conversion in EV charging, storage and AI data centres. 6 Nov. Source: Tech.eu
Every earlier day is in the Deals archive.
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For information only. Not investment advice.