Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz partners review 2025 global M&A trends and outline expectations for dealmaking, regulation, financing and activism heading into 2026.

• M&A volumes surged in 2025 to $2.3 trillion US deal value (up 49% vs. 2024) and 63 global $10B+ megadeals, driven by large strategic combinations, record private equity activity (~$2T PE volume), bank consolidation, AI- and infrastructure-related transactions, and open debt markets supporting record leveraged buyouts and complex financings.
• The memo details sector hotspots (tech/AI, energy & infrastructure, banks, healthcare, media, oil & gas, crypto), regulatory shifts under the Trump administration (more traditional antitrust, SEC easing disclosures, CFIUS conditions), U.S. government equity investments (e.g., $8.9B for 9.9% of Intel, rare earths, chips), M&A-focused shareholder activism, spin-offs, CVRs, hostile bids, sovereign wealth fund participation, new HSR Act filing rules, and Delaware corporate law changes impacting future deals.

Alexa News Nigeria has announced a strategic media partnership with the Niger Delta Advancement Awards (NDAA) 8.0 to provide comprehensive, multi-phased coverage of the 2025 edition across the nine Niger Delta states.

• Partnership scope: Alexa News Nigeria will deliver pre-event promotion, real-time live updates from Port Harcourt, and post-event expert analyses and recaps, including nominee profiles, category highlights, winner announcements, and policy-focused reviews connecting awardees’ work to infrastructure development, youth empowerment, environmental sustainability, economic diversification, and social inclusion across Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Ondo, Abia, and Imo states.
• Awards focus and governance: NDAA 8.0, powered by JUVENIS Magazine/TV, will benchmark states, individuals, and institutions on governance performance, infrastructural development, peace and security, youth and women inclusion, education, healthcare delivery, environmental responsibility, and socio-economic growth, using independent assessment processes to promote accountability, best-practice adoption, and sustainable development in the Niger Delta.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan has hosted the “Central Asia + Japan” Business Forum in Tokyo, where 158 memoranda of understanding between Japanese and Central Asian entities were announced and presented.

• Forum focus and outcomes: The event, co-hosted by METI, ROTOBO, and JETRO, gathered government and business representatives from Japan and five Central Asian countries and announced 158 cooperation documents/MOUs signed since January 2025, covering green transition, industrial resilience, digital transformation, connectivity, finance, human resource development, and social systems.
• High-level participation and thematic sessions: Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi, METI Minister Akazawa, and the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan attended, while three thematic sessions showcased cooperation plans on green growth and renewable energy, digital industries and regional connectivity (including AI and digital assets), and finance and HR development, with participation from major Japanese firms such as Itochu, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Marubeni, Toyota Tsusho, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Central Asian institutions including Turkmengas, Freedom Holding, FinJust, and relevant ministries.

The Government of Brazil has inaugurated the Brazil–Paraguay Integration Bridge over the Paraná River, co-financed by Brazil and Paraguay and mainly funded via Itaipu Binacional under the PAC infrastructure programme.

• Bridge investment R$ 1.9 billion, with R$ 712 million from Itaipu (R$ 372m for the cable‑stayed bridge, R$ 340m for the 14.7 km Perimetral Leste access road and new customs facilities), creating a second road link between Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) and Presidente Franco (Paraguay); initial operation from 20 December allows only empty trucks under schedules coordinated by Receita Federal and Polícia Rodoviária Federal, with full cargo traffic targeted end‑2026 to early‑2027 once Paraguay’s Corredor Metropolitano del Este is completed.
• The bridge is 760 m long with a 470 m main span (largest in the continent), twin 3.6 m lanes and 190 m towers; the project, planned since the 1990s, became a PAC strategic priority in 2012, received its environmental licence from Ibama in 2017, construction ran 2019–2023, and Itaipu’s 2023 management provided final funds and completed customs works; Itaipu also announced starting tilapia aquaculture in its reservoir under a Brazil‑Paraguay partnership, while the PAC overall is investing R$ 67 billion in Paraná across multiple sectors.

The Ministry of Environment (MOENV) of Taiwan has announced draft review principles defining which industries qualify as high carbon leakage risk entities eligible for up to 80% reductions in carbon fees if they have approved self-determined reduction plans.

• High carbon leakage risk industries include 17 sectors (e.g., steel, concrete, oil refining, chemicals, pulp and paperboard, plastics, glass, textiles, PCBs, optoelectronics, computers, data storage media) and a second category where annual carbon fees exceed 30% of gross profit, gross profit is negative, products face anti-dumping duties, or are significantly affected by U.S. reciprocal tariffs in 2025–2026; firms must submit documentation to MOENV by Jan. 31 of the fee payment year, and applications will be jointly reviewed with the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
• Under Taiwan’s carbon fee program, emitters above 25,000 metric tons/year CO₂ pay NT$300 (US$9.50) per tonne, reducible to NT$100 or NT$50 per tonne with approved reduction plans, and a further 80% cut for high-leakage industries; the draft, modeled on EU and South Korean carbon leakage methods, will be open for 14 days of public comment before finalization.

The research article reports a Pd-doped Cu electrocatalyst that enables highly selective electrocatalytic hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) via improved hydrogen coverage and adsorption behavior.

• Pd–Cu dual sites enhance H* availability and HMF activation, suppress the hydrogen evolution reaction, and achieve 99.3% selectivity and 97.5% Faradaic efficiency for BHMF at −1.15 V vs Ag/AgCl under neutral conditions, following a Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism.
• Density functional theory (DFT) shows that Pd doping strengthens adsorption of H* and HMF* intermediates and regulates multistep protonation kinetics, providing a catalyst design paradigm and fundamental insights for biomass electrorefining and green synthesis of bio-based chemicals.

The Government of Canada and CUTRIC have announced a joint investment of over $1.2 million to fund a national study and performance assessment of battery electric buses used by transit agencies across Canada.

• Over $1.2 million joint investment comprises a $990,246 contribution from the Government of Canada via the Zero Emission Transit Fund (ZETF) and $247,562 from CUTRIC membership, supporting research on battery degradation, charger efficiency and diesel-to-electric powertrain conversion efficiency to guide transit agencies’ transition to zero-emission fleets.
• The project is part of the broader ZETF and Canada Public Transit Fund, under which Canada will provide an average of $3 billion annually on a permanent basis for public transit; additionally, through an agreement with CUTRIC, the federal government is investing $10 million over five years via ZETF to help transit bus operators complete planning work and increase readiness to adopt zero emission bus fleets.

Governor Gavin Newsom has announced $52.6 million in federal Community Development Block Grants and Emergency Solutions Grants to fund 90 projects across California that improve local infrastructure and address homelessness in 53 counties.

• CDBG 2024 awards include 38 projects in 20 counties, providing improved sewer and street infrastructure, public facilities, and recreation for 160,000+ Californians, covering public service grants ($4.6m), economic development and homebuyer assistance ($3m), public facilities ($18m), infrastructure ($9.9m), and planning/technical assistance ($2.5m) including two fully funded colonias-focused projects in Imperial County.
• ESG 2024 awards total $14.3m for 52 projects serving 25–36 counties (text gives both figures) to support outreach, emergency shelters, rapid rehousing, and homelessness prevention, as part of a broader Newsom administration strategy that also includes a $6.4 billion Behavioral Health Bond (Proposition 1), updated conservatorship laws, a new CARE Court system, housing-construction streamlining, and state directives on homeless encampment clearance following a supportive U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

The African Energy Chamber (AEC) announces that its Executive Chairman, NJ Ayuk, has been named to New African magazine’s list of The Most Influential Africans of 2025 for his advocacy on Africa’s right to determine its energy future.

• Ayuk’s recognition highlights his pro‑hydrocarbon, development-focused stance, emphasizing that with 600+ million Africans lacking electricity and nearly 1 billion without clean cooking, natural gas and oil remain central to Africa’s energy pathway, and criticizing global double standards that allow Western oil and gas investment while pressuring African nations to leave resources undeveloped.
• The article underscores the AEC’s role in unifying Africa’s oil and gas industry, its flagship African Energy Week and policy advocacy, and quotes Ayuk’s pledge to defend the energy industry in 2026, champion free enterprise and limited government, and push for financing of African energy projects as part of the goal of Making Energy Poverty History across countries from Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda, Mauritania, Cape to Cairo.

Utah State University researcher Alice Carter reports on filamentous algae blooms (FABs) in Western U.S. rivers, finding that large structural changes from FABs do not significantly alter river ecosystem metabolism and function.

• Study details: Researchers from Utah State University, University of Montana, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution examined filamentous algae blooms (FABs) in the Upper Clark Fork River (western Montana), reporting in the Dec. 9, 2025 online issue of Ecology; they found FABs produce roughly the same carbon as smaller epilithic algae despite their much larger biomass and footprint, implying a decoupling of ecosystem structure and function in rivers.
• Management implications & outreach: Carter suggests that factors other than nutrient overabundance may be tipping rivers into large algal bloom states, raising the possibility of management solutions that do not require massive nutrient reduction campaigns; she will present these findings at the 2026 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting (July 26–31, Salt Lake City), with the work supported by the National Science Foundation and communicated by USU’s College of Arts & Sciences.

Utah State University researchers and U.S. agencies have launched the first basin-wide sediment fingerprinting database for the Mississippi River Basin and extended associated tools to the entire contiguous United States.

• Database & tools: Resource compiles 225,000+ samples and 3.7 million geochemical measurements from federal, state and academic sources into a geospatial, open-source, map-based tool, aligned with NRCS Conservation Planning Process, covering nearly 2 million miles of Mississippi River streams and extended to 8.5 million miles of riverscape in the lower 48 states.
• Findings & guidance: Analysis shows much Mississippi sediment originates from river channel bank erosion driven by increased precipitation and artificial drainage, identifies sediment sinks, and includes a review of prior sediment fingerprinting studies plus guidelines for future data collection and consolidation.

RMI highlights flexible service connections as a grid-friendly solution that enables expanded charging of electric freight trucks without major grid upgrades.

• RMI’s analysis in California shows that heavy-duty trucks (traveling <300 miles/day) are typically parked from 4 p.m.–5 a.m., but need only about half that time to fully charge; by shifting charging by roughly two hours during one high-demand month (July) under formal utility agreements, fleets can avoid peak periods with minimal operational impact and benefit from lower electricity costs.
• The article notes that PG&E’s Flex Connect program in California is one of the few active flexible service connection offerings, with SCE and National Grid running pilots; by improving use of existing grid infrastructure, such programs can reduce grid upgrade needs, limit stress on the grid, and facilitate more electric truck adoption and cleaner air across the United States.

The Government of Canada has announced an investment of over $14.9 million through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program to rebuild the net-zero, fire-resistant Chief Spintlum Elders Lodge in Lytton, British Columbia.

• Project details: Federal funding of $14,937,829 will rebuild the Chief Spintlum Elders Lodge on its original site with 6 assisted living units (replacing those lost in the 2021 wildfire) and 7 additional independent Elder living units, using fire-resistant materials, renewable energy, battery storage, and net-zero building standards to improve climate resilience.
• Program and context: This funding is part of a previously announced $64 million federal package (June 14, 2022) to rebuild Lytton with net-zero and fire-resistant public buildings, delivered via the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program, which supports Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, boosting energy efficiency, and enhancing resilience to climate change, in collaboration with Kanaka Bar Indian Band and five surrounding First Nations communities.

The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet highlights 2025 progress on expanding clean energy access and mobilizing climate finance to support people without reliable electricity.

• Alliance impact: Over 90 million people are now on track to gain clean energy access, 3.1 million jobs are being created or improved, and $7.8 billion in climate finance has been unlocked, even as 2025 saw rollbacks in international aid and extreme weather events.
• Context and outlook: The message notes that global renewable energy surpassed coal, solar remained the fastest growing source of new power, battery storage expanded as costs fell, and nearly 700 million people still lack electricity, with billions more facing unaffordable or unreliable access, underscoring ongoing Alliance efforts into 2026 and beyond.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has launched engagement on changes to the minimum national stringency standards for industrial carbon pricing (the federal benchmark criteria), aiming to update them in 2026.

• Engagement launched to revise federal benchmark criteria for industrial carbon pricing in 2026, with the goal that all systems in Canada drive emission reductions, secure clean energy and decarbonization investments, and maintain industrial competitiveness.
• Article highlights that industrial carbon pricing is a key pillar of Budget 2025’s Climate Competitiveness Strategy, supports 70 major decarbonization projects valued at over $57 billion, and notes Canada’s clean technology industry GDP contribution of $40.6 billion and 224,000 jobs in 2023, alongside global context of 113 carbon pricing instruments covering 28% of global emissions.

The World Bank and HR Wallingford present a modelling and engineering study on how Kazakhstan’s Aktau Port can adapt to climate-driven declines in Caspian Sea water levels.

• Caspian water levels have fallen from -26.6 m to -29.66 m BD (1995–2024), already forcing vessels at Aktau to load only 80% of capacity, damaging ~70% of fenders, and prompting proposals for immediate dredging plus new fender systems, followed by quay wall upgrades and potential port relocation or offshore facilities under projected further declines of up to ~7 m by 2100.
• The paper develops and calibrates a Caspian–Kara-Bogaz-Göl water balance model using ERA5, CMIP6 SSP1-1.9/2-4.5/5-8.5 scenarios, explores sensitivity to KBG closure and desalination abstractions, and outlines phased adaptation pathways (immediate, 2027–2050, post‑2050), including capital dredging, multiple quay-wall and fender concepts, and shallow-draft vessel redesign, to maintain TITR trade connectivity under uncertain climate futures.

Governor Gavin Newsom has directed California state agencies to implement proactive winter storm preparedness measures and launched a centralized Storm Season Safety resource for residents and visitors.

• State agencies including Cal OES, Caltrans, DWR, CHP, and CAL FIRE are prepositioning assets (e.g., 4 million sandbags and 55,000 super sacks, storm drain clearance, strategic crew and equipment placement) and providing real-time road condition tools and public safety guidance for the upcoming month of seasonal winter rains.
• The article also criticizes the Trump administration’s effort to dissolve NCAR in Colorado, highlighting California’s continued investment in earthquake early warning, upgraded flood defenses, and coastal monitoring, and calling for a coordinated local-state-federal partnership grounded in science-based disaster preparedness.

Hongruida announces its 2025 global exhibition and technology rollout plan for photovoltaic intelligent manufacturing equipment across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, highlighting new flat-panel laminator and component recycling technologies to support zero-carbon energy transformation.

• Main actions & technologies: In 2025 Hongruida will participate in five major solar/energy exhibitions (North American Solar Energy and Energy Storage Expo, Istanbul Solar Energy Exhibition, European Smart Energy Exhibition in Munich, SNEC in Shanghai, and RE+ in the United States), showcasing complete-line PV intelligent equipment, a world-first flat-panel laminator (≈30% accuracy improvement, 25% energy reduction, later cited 99.9% yield, 30% efficiency increase, 20% energy reduction, and 5 million yuan annual cost savings per GW), and a component recycling line, and it signed its first PV component recycling line project in Europe and won the “Technological Achievement Award” of the APVIA Asian Optical Storage Award at SNEC.
• Background & deployment details: Hongruida leverages technical service centers and localized support in 25 countries, targeting North American high-end markets, the Eurasian market via Istanbul, European smart energy leadership via Munich and Nordic customers, and domestic innovation benchmarks in Shanghai, positioning its PV intelligent equipment and turnkey production lines (including automatic serial rework machines, coating machines, and perovskite PV module turnkey solutions) as enablers of global green development and a smart, zero-carbon ecosystem.

The preprint by Peter D. Warwick, Robert C. Reedy, and Bridget R. Scanlon presents a regional resource assessment of U.S. Gulf Coast and related lignite/bituminous coals as potential sources of critical minerals (CM) and rare earth elements (REE).

• Main findings: Using kriging of data from 31,181 drill holes, the study estimates about 83 billion metric tons of coal within the upper 90 m (~300 ft) of the subsurface in the U.S. Gulf Coast, with major state-level resources in Texas (32 billion t, 40%), Mississippi (20 billion t, 24%), Louisiana (12 billion t, 14%), Tennessee (8.5 billion t, 10%), and Arkansas (5.1 billion t, 6%), and first state-wide lignite estimates for Georgia, Kentucky (820 million t), and Missouri (1,800 million t).
• Background/details: Motivated by overreliance on imported REE, the study evaluates in-place coal as a CM/REE source, notes methodological differences with prior Gulf Coast and Williston Basin assessments (data sources, overburden depths, qualifying coal thicknesses), and highlights that declining coal-power generation could shift mining focus toward CM/REE recovery alongside co-products like activated carbon and potential fertilizer/soil enhancers.

The Government of the Republic of Moldova has announced that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide an additional €150 million to modernize national road infrastructure.

• The new €150 million EBRD funding will modernize and expand the M2 ring road in Chisinau, rehabilitate the M1 Chisinau–Leuseni segment to the Romanian border, and finance specialized equipment for a Road Asset Management System, as part of a wider EBRD-funded road rehabilitation programme; it comes on top of €150 million provided in 2024 for road improvements.
• Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu and EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso also discussed expanding cooperation in energy, agriculture, waste management, PPPs, and SME support; the EBRD currently has 67 active projects worth €1.1 million in Moldova, has provided €1.7 billion in the last 3 years to address impacts of the war in Ukraine, and has cumulatively invested almost €2.9 billion in 193 projects, with 64% of its portfolio in infrastructure and 24% in the private sector.