Globally, several tech acquisitions and mergers in 2022 turned the tables on previous corporate structures. Actually, these global tech deals continued at a heightened pace in 2021, crossing into 2022. Analysts predict these deals were worth almost $3 trillion, which is the calculation before we reached the final financial quarter. Many wondered whether 2022 would match this astonishing blockbuster activity. According to Global Data research, various global tech M&A deals almost hit $3 trillion by Q3; tech, telecom, and media corporates were the most active sectors.

Consider this: Even though nothing could rival the $35 billion that Xilinx paid to acquire Advanced Micro Devices in 2020, there were exciting developments in 2021-2022. Think of it: Intuit went ahead to buy Mailchimp for a whopping $12 billion, Square also splashed out a handsome $29 billion to get Afterpay. The early signs in 2022 clearly suggested that the year would proceed with similar deals doing the rounds in various places. Some of the hottest, most promising sectors that would drive the big deal era include collaboration software and cybersecurity.

So, in April 2022, the security software company Kaseya bought Datto for a princely $6.5 billion; this means Kaseya took the latter into the private enterprise division once again. Datto had already joined the New York Stock Exchange listings in 2020. Datto, founded in 2007, is well-known for providing security software and data backup to several managed service providers.

Following the high-profile, big-money acquisitions, Kaseya's CEO, Fred Voccola had this to say: "This came as exciting news for our global customers; as a result of the purchase, they can expect to see more innovative, functional, and integrated solutions." Then there was the big news of AMD acquiring Pensando for $1.9 billion. Pensando generally specializes in DPUs ( data processing unites; this includes programmable, intelligent software which supports the software-defined cloud, compute, storage, security, and networking services that can be rolled out to edge, service-provider networks, or colocation. Pensando's co-founder and chief business officer Soni Jiandani said this: "There are plenty of use cases-like 5G and IoT- that should support many low-latency traffic. As such, we've assumed a ground-up approach to offer enterprise customers a fully programmable system that can support complex infrastructure systems without dedicated CPUs."

Earlier on, in March 2021, Celonis paid out $100 million to acquire Process Analytics, Factory, a fellow German software company. Celonis has generally concentrated on helping various enterprises optimize their processes around the ERP systems. More recently, Celonis expanded its services to help enterprises optimize the use of workflow automation platforms. With their new acquisition of [Process Analytics Factory, Celonis expects to improve its own process mining offering. It also expects to help various enterprises upgrade and automate with the help of Microsoft's Power Platform systems. Consequently, Celonis launched its own Execution Management System ( EMS) in October 2020. The idea was to visualize and design efficient processes. Thus, Celonis formed a new partnership in collaboration with Microsoft; the pair would unite to deliver efficient process analytics using Power BI; it would also integrate its various process improvement tools with the Microsoft Power Platform. Later still, in October 2021, Celonis went into partnership with ServiceNow- it also aimed to deliver process mining capacities to the Now Platform. Celonis has other technology partnership arrangements with Coupa, Appian, Oracle, Snowflake, Salesforce, Splunk, IBM, and a few other software vendors.

Other news in March 2021 indicated HP was poised to acquire Poly for $3.3 billion. Poly generally specializes in audio equipment and video accessories; the purchase price was projected at $1.7 billion, and the total transaction value would be $3.3 billion, inclusive of debt. It was expected that this deal would be concluded at the close of 2022. Analysts note that this latest acquisition will accelerate HP's determined break into the world of hybrid work. The deal came only eight months after HP had purchased Teradici, a remote desktop software provider.

HP President and CEO Enrique Lores said: " The emergence of the hybrid office has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to redefine the way modern work gets done. Consequently, the combination of Poly and HP will create a leading portfolio of modern hybrid work solutions that cut across large and growing markets. Poly's strong complementary go-to-market, technology, and the super-talented team will help us drive longer-term profitable growth. This is especially essential as we continue to build a stronger, more efficient HP.

Reference is made to the stock exchange announcement made by Nordic Nanovector ASA (OSE: NANOV) (the "Company") on 23 March 2022 regarding the settlement of 42,675 PSUs.

The share capital increase pertaining to the settled PSUs has now been registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises (the "NRBE") on 25 March 2022. The Company's share capital has been increased with NOK 8,535 through the issuance of 42,675 new shares.

Following registration of the share capital increase related to the new shares in the NRBE, the Company has an issued share capital of NOK 23,207,059.60, divided into 116,035,298 shares, each with a par value of NOK 0.20. Each share represents one vote in the Company's general meeting.

Nordic Nanovector is committed to develop and deliver innovative therapies to patients to address major unmet medical needs and advance cancer care. The Company aspires to become a leader in the development of CD37-targeted therapies for haematological cancers and immune diseases. Nordic Nanovector's lead clinical-stage candidate is Betalutin®, a novel CD37-targeting radioimmunotherapy designed to advance the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). NHL is an indication with substantial unmet medical need, representing a growing market forecast to be worth nearly USD 27 billion by 2029. Nordic Nanovector retains global marketing rights to Betalutin® and intends to actively participate in the commercialisation of Betalutin® in the US and other major markets.

Nordic Nanovector's vision is to significantly advance the treatment of cancer patients with innovative targeted therapies.

We are a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to extending and improving the lives of patients with haematological cancers through the development and commercialisation of innovative targeted therapeutics.

We develop innovative targeted therapies using our proprietary CD37 platform that are designed to advance the treatment of patients with haematological cancers and immunological diseases.

The company's lead clinical-stage product is Betalutin®, a next generation radioimmunoconjugate (RIC), designed to improve upon and complement current options for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Nordic Nanovector intends to retain marketing rights and to actively participate in the commercialisation of Betalutin® in core markets, while exploring potential distribution agreements in selected geographies.

We are committed to building a pipeline of novel radionuclide therapies.

FNZ, the global wealth management platform, today announces that it has secured US$1.4 billion in new equity funding from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPP Investments") and Motive Partners ("Motive"), in one of the largest ever primary equity raises in the wealth management sector. The fundraising values FNZ at over US$20 billion as it continues its record of innovation and geographical expansion.

FNZ combines technology, infrastructure and investment operations in a single state-of-the-art platform that frees its institutional customers to create hyper-personalized and innovative products and services that are seamlessly aligned with the needs of their clients.

This investment reflects both CPP Investments' and Motive's confidence in FNZ's business model and future growth prospects both geographically and through market consolidation. The capital raise will help FNZ further accelerate its growth through increased R&D, as well as driving growth in markets that FNZ have recently entered, in particular North America. CPP Investments is investing a total of US$1.1 billion.

Since its foundation in 2003 in New Zealand, FNZ has demonstrated exponential growth. In the last five years, it has grown assets under administration over seven-fold from US$212 billion to over US$1.5 trillion. The company now partners with over 650 large financial institutions and over 8,000 wealth management firms in 21 countries including abrdn, Allianz, Aviva, Barclays, BNP Paribas Cardif, BNZ, Colonial First State, Generali, Jarden, Lloyds, Momentum, NAB, Quilter, Swedbank, UOB and Vanguard. This growth is set to continue as FNZ accelerates its market penetration, targeting a greater share of the c.US$100 trillion global wealth market.

The company has consistently attracted strong investment interest and CPP Investments and Motive Partners represent the fifth and sixth external shareholders in FNZ. In 2018, CDPQ and Generation Investment Management acquired a majority stake in the company, in a partnership built around long-term and sustainable investment. They were joined in 2021 by Temasek, enhancing FNZ's reach into Asian markets. All investors remain long-term and committed shareholders, alongside more than 800 employee-shareholders. No investors will be selling any secondary shares in the transaction.

Commenting on today's transaction, Adrian Durham, Founder & Group CEO of FNZ, said: "Today's announcement represents a resounding endorsement of FNZ's track record and future strategy. The company has successfully demonstrated exponential growth in the scale and depth of customer relationships and geographic expansion with platform revenues more than quadrupling in the past three years to over US$1billion per annum, whilst also growing profitably and sustainably.

"Our growth trajectory shows no signs of slowing down, and we are delighted to welcome CPP Investments and Motive Partners to FNZ and look forward to working with them as we further invest in and enhance our core platform, delivering substantial incremental benefits to our customers and their clients."

Hafiz Lalani, Managing Director, Head of Europe, Direct Private Equity at CPP Investments, said: "FNZ offers a unique, end-to-end value proposition which enables the world's leading wealth managers to provide personalised, transparent and accessible solutions to enhance consumers' long-term savings while reducing cost and complexity. FNZ has seen considerable success and we are excited to support FNZ and its leadership in continuing to deliver on their vision to expand FNZ's global footprint, while at the same time delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns for CPP contributors and beneficiaries.

"Partnered with Motive, we believe we bring a unique combination of long-term capital and specialised expertise in the wealth management sector. We look forward to being a strategic and value-added partner to FNZ and to joining the business' existing investors."

Rob Heyvaert, Founder & Managing Partner at Motive Partners, who will join the FNZ Group board as a Non-Executive Director on completion, said: "We could not be more excited about our collective opportunity to work alongside the FNZ team. Since FNZ's inception, its growth trajectory has been extraordinary, and as we combine our strength of expertise, knowledge and access to the global financial services ecosystem, we have the opportunity to deliver an exceptional value-proposition to wealth and asset management customers all over the world to meet growing demand."

FNZ is the global platform provider in the wealth management sector, partnering with over 650 of the world's leading financial institutions and over 8,000 wealth management firms. With over 4,000 employees in 21 countries, FNZ's mission is to open-up wealth, empowering all people to create wealth through personal investment, aligned with things they care about the most, on their own terms.

FNZ combines technology, infrastructure and investment operations in a single state-of-the-art platform that frees its institutional customers to create hyper-personalized and innovative products and services, that are seamlessly aligned with the needs of their clients. To date, FNZ has enabled over 20 million people, from all wealth segments, to invest in an effective, simple and transparent way, making wealth management accessible to everyone.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP InvestmentsTM) is a professional investment management organization that manages the fund in the best interest of the more than 20 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, investments are made around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. At December 31, 2021, the Fund totalled C$550.4 billion.

We already know Mark Zuckerberg would like all Facebook users to call his company using a brand new name- Meta. Facebook has endured troubled times in recent years. How does this company's originator plan to turn the tide?

At the recent Facebook Company's Connect conference, Mark Zuckerberg had this to say: "We're today widely regarded as a social media company; people think of us as a company that builds the technological means to connect people. Well, isn't it time to adopt a wholly new company brand? We want to encompass everything else we do. Let's reflect on who we are- reflect on what we plan to do." Zuckerberg said this just before making public Facebook's new name- Meta.

No one doubts that Facebook ranks among the world's most iconic brands. Once upon a time, this used to suit Zuckerberg just fine. Think of it- In 2019, the digital mega entrepreneur slapped the dominating Facebook name on the company's other brands- Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Oculus. Hopefully, this would remind everyone that Facebook wasn't merely Facebook. Instead, it comprised a family of apps. But there's something else coming up. Zuckerberg says: Our brand is tightly linked to a single product. I don't think this can possibly represent everything we're currently doing. Of course, this cannot reflect what we'll do in the future either. In view of this, we expect our new name to signal the future. We want to go beyond social media; yes, let's go beyond the bad news."

Generally, companies tend to go for a rename for certain select reasons. There are times when a name change signals new business ambitions. This was the case when Apple came up with the iPhone- thus, the company needed to change its name from Apple Computer. Sometimes a name merely symbolizes a reflection of corporate restructuring. Again, this was the case when Google changed the parent company name to Alphabet. So, in a moment, Larry Page became the Alphabet-not Google- CEO. What was the idea? The corporate giant was clarifying that its business was moving ahead- beyond merely the search business. And sometimes, a company basically wishes to distance itself from a brand gone rogue. This was the case when the famous cigarette-maker Philip Morris changed names to Altria way back in 2001.

So, Facebook's rebranding to Meta carries some characteristics of all three. The new company wishes to define itself as a metaverse enterprise. It doesn't want to be merely known as a producer of social media products. And rather than simply oversee the Facebook app, Mark Zuckerberg now wants to have his imprints on the new larger company's pursuits. Of course, Zuckerberg also wants Meta to get away from the big bashes of Facebook- Facebook blunders that have had the company taking blows left, right, and center. Yes, Zuckerbeg wants a company that will not be synonymous with skepticism, mistrust, genocide, and conspiracy theories.

Analysts, however, say that if Zuckerberg's company wishes to move beyond many years of backlash, it must do much more- a new name is certainly not enough. They note that a new brand constitutes key decisions, behaviours, actions, graphical elements, and digital interactions. So, "if Meta still looks like Facebook, runs its operations like Facebook and sounds like Facebook, chances are most people will see it as just that- a ressurected Facebook." The CEO and founder of Rebrand Anaezi Modu says.

For a company that hopes to bring its billions of people on board into Metaverse, the question of brand perception certainly matters. As noted, Facebook has lately been in a trust crisis. Many have expressed their displeasure with Facebook's policies. Many won't trust Facebook to keep their data. Due to various scandals, many try to use the platform much less than they used to. And none of these challenges can be casually wished away by merely renaming the company to something else.

Of course, despite the bad tidings, billions still use Facebook products on a regular basis. Yes, as one analyst noted, the more intimate a person becomes with a brand, the more willing the person becomes to pay for its services and the less the person becomes willing to do without it. Yes, this means there's a business and ROI importance to intimacy.