e-commerce
The Warner Bros-Netflix-Paramount scrap: The real winners
NEW YORK: In the high-stakes poker game for Warner Bros Discovery, there’s one guaranteed winner: the bankers. While Netflix and Paramount Skydance slug it out over the media giant’s carcass, JPMorgan and Allen & Company are already counting their chips—a cool $90 million each, win or lose.
It’s the ultimate hedge. No matter which suitor carries Warner Bros Discovery down the aisle, the investment banks walk away with bulging pockets. Talk about having your cake and eating it too.
JPMorgan has been particularly busy feathering its nest. The bank pocketed roughly $189 million in fees over the past two years for “financial advisory and other services”—a wonderfully vague phrase that covers everything from strategic counsel to arranging a whopping $17.5 billion bridge loan. That loan, incidentally, holds the dubious honour of being Wall Street’s largest-ever non-investment-grade bridge facility. Warner Bros Discovery used it to buy back about half its bonds at a discount, part of a cunning plan to split itself in two.
For over two years, JPMorgan boffins huddled with Warner Bros Discovery executives, war-gaming merger-and-acquisition scenarios. The grand result? A plan to carve the company into separate entities—streaming and studios on one side, legacy assets on the other.
Now Netflix has upped the ante this week with a sweetened bid for the streaming and studio bits, whilst Paramount Skydance’s tender offer for the whole enchilada closes on Wednesday. Investors are glued to their screens, waiting to see who blinks first.
But the real drama? That’s already been written. Whatever happens next, the bankers have already secured their happy ending.
e-commerce
American Express to acquire AI startup Hyper to boost automation
Deal targets expense management as AI reshapes corporate spending tools.
MUMBAI: From receipts to robots, the expense sheet is getting a brain upgrade as American Express moves to bring artificial intelligence into the heart of corporate spending. The company has announced plans to acquire Hyper, a relatively young but fast-rising startup founded in 2022 that builds AI-powered agents capable of organising expenses, generating reports, verifying compliance with budgets and policies, and nudging users with timely reminders. The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, underscores a growing shift among financial institutions to automate traditionally manual, time-heavy workflows.
Hyper counts Sam Altman among its backers, adding a layer of Silicon Valley credibility to the acquisition. While financial details remain undisclosed, the strategic intent is clear: deepen automation capabilities and sharpen American Express’s position in the competitive corporate spending ecosystem.
The two companies are not strangers. They previously collaborated in 2024 on a co-branded credit card product, suggesting that the acquisition is less a cold buy and more an extension of an existing relationship. With this move, American Express is effectively bringing that capability in-house, aiming to embed AI directly into its commercial services stack.
Chief executive Stephen Squeri had already signalled the direction of travel in a recent shareholder letter, describing AI as a “structural shift” in how businesses operate. The Hyper acquisition appears to be a direct response to that shift, particularly in expense management, where processes such as approvals, compliance checks and reporting remain ripe for automation.
Alongside the acquisition, the company is also expanding its product suite. A recently launched business credit card offers cashback and benefits at an annual fee of $295, with another card expected later this year moves that complement its broader push into commercial services.
Taken together, the strategy points to a future where managing expenses may require fewer spreadsheets and more algorithms. For American Express, the bet is simple, if businesses are rethinking how work gets done, the tools that power that work need to evolve just as quickly.
