Merger mania
Banking mergers and acquisitions are picking back up again after the slowest year in recent history, and Virginia is no exception. Last year marked a modern low in merger and acquisition activity, with only 98 deals completed nationwide. That’s not just the lowest level of activity since the pandemic — it’s the slowest year since […]
The wedding day
When Alondra Rodriguez considered which school to attend for pre-med, she found herself puzzled by Old Dominion University — and why it didn’t have an affiliated medical school. “U.Va. has their own med school,” she thought. “Why don’t they just do that?” Rodriguez, who already had a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Liberty University, ultimately […]
Woods Rogers returns to original name
Call it a strategy of going back to the future — the merged Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black law firm is shortening its name back to its original appellation of Woods Rogers, executives announced Monday. In 2022, Roanoke-based Woods Rogers merged with Vandeventer Black in Norfolk, creating the state’s fifth largest law firm, with more than […]
Sterling drone-jamming firm to be acquired by Taser maker Axon
Dedrone, a Sterling-based maker of drone-jamming and detection devices, has reached an agreement to be acquired by Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser manufacturer Axon Enterprise. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2024, the companies announced Monday, and terms of the deal were not disclosed. Dedrone’s portable gunlike jammers can thwart aerial drones […]
Burke & Herbert completes merger
Alexandria-based Burke & Herbert Financial Services has completed a merger with West Virginia’s Summit Financial Group, the company announced May 3. The $371.5 million deal, first announced in August 2024, created a bank holding company with more than $8 billion in assets. The combined company will have more than 75 branches across Virginia, West Virginia, […]
Intelsat to be acquired by SES for $3.1B
McLean-based satellite services provider Intelsat announced Tuesday that it has made a deal to be acquired by SES, a Luxembourg-based competitor, for $3.1 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close during the second half of 2025, depending on regulatory clearances and other factors, according to a news release. Intelsat CEO David Wajsgras will […]
Capital One-Discover deal faces federal scrutiny
McLean-based Capital One Financial announced plans in February to buy Discover Financial Services for $35.3 billion in an all-stock deal that would mark Capital One’s largest ever acquisition and make it the nation’s biggest credit card lender. The transaction is expected to close in late 2024 or early 2025, according to the banks. At close, […]
First National to acquire Prince George-based community bank
Strasburg-based First National has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Prince George-based Touchstone Bankshares in an all-stock transaction worth approximately $47 million, First National announced Tuesday. The parent companies’ merger combines community banks First Bank and Touchstone Bank to create a bank with expected total assets of about $2.1 billion, $1.5 billion in [...]
Top Five February 2024
The top five most-read daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from Dec. 15, 2023, to Jan. 15 were led by the announcement that Fortune 500 IT company DXC Technology replaced its top executive. 1 | DXC Technology replaces Mike Salvino The Ashburn-based company replaced Salvino, its chairman, president and CEO, with interim President and […]
Babel Street acquires Ohio data insights firm
Reston-based data analytics and threat intelligence tech company Babel Street has acquired Vertical Knowledge, a data products, insights and intelligence company based in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The acquisition — which has already closed — expands Babel Street’s data sourcing, enrichment and analysis capabilities, according to a news release from the two companies. Babel Street has [&hellip[...]
Virginia Credit Union, Member One announce merger
Chesterfield County-based Virginia Credit Union and Roanoke-based Member One Federal Credit Union announced plans to merge Thursday, a deal that would create the state’s third largest credit union, with a combined $6.7 billion in assets and 500,000 members. VACU is currently the fourth largest Virginia-based credit union, with $5.18 billion in assets, according to the […]
Lynchburg and Danville law firms to merge
The law firms of Petty, Livingston, Dawson & Richards in Lynchburg and Southern Virginia Legal (SoVa Legal) in Danville will merge to become PLDR Law beginning Jan. 1, 2024, the two law firms announced Wednesday. Together, the two firms will jointly have 16 attorneys and have offices in Lynchburg and Danville, serving communities across Central […]