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Apollo, HSG, Jane Street Join Kraken’s $500 Million Fundraising Round Valued at $15 Billion

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Major financial players Apollo Global Management, Oppenheimer, Jane Street, and HSG — formerly Sequoia Capital China — have invested in crypto exchange Kraken’s September funding round that valued the company at $15 billion, according to two people familiar with the deal.

The $500 million fundraising, first reported by Fortune, marks one of the largest private rounds in the crypto sector this year. Reuters has now confirmed the participation of these heavyweight investors, signaling rising institutional confidence in digital assets amid a friendlier U.S. regulatory climate under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Other participants included Qube Research & Technologies, Kraken’s co-CEO Arjun Sethi, and Tribe Capital, a venture capital firm co-founded by Sethi. The round is seen as a precursor to Kraken’s initial public offering (IPO), expected to be filed confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before year-end, with a potential listing in the first quarter of next year — though the timeline could be affected by the ongoing government shutdown.

The funding highlights the growing institutional embrace of crypto. Kraken, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has been expanding aggressively through acquisitions: it bought NinjaTrader, a retail futures trading platform, for $1.5 billion in May, and recently acquired Small Exchange from IG Group for $100 million, strengthening its U.S.-based derivatives business.

The move comes amid a wave of crypto IPOs this year from firms like Circle, Gemini, and Bullish, which have capitalized on renewed optimism in the digital asset market.

Institutional enthusiasm has also helped lift crypto prices, with Bitcoin up over 20% this year, reaching a record high above $126,000 in October.

The involvement of Wall Street and Asia’s top investors in Kraken’s latest round underlines a broader shift: crypto is no longer a fringe asset — it’s becoming part of the mainstream financial ecosystem.

Yahoo Nears $1.4 Billion Deal to Sell AOL to Italy’s Bending Spoons

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Yahoo is close to finalizing a deal to sell its AOL unit to Italian technology company Bending Spoons for about $1.4 billion, according to four sources familiar with the matter. The sale would mark the latest chapter in the decline — and reinvention — of one of the internet’s earliest giants.

The Milan-based app developer is in advanced negotiations to purchase AOL, the sources said, but cautioned that no final agreement has been signed, and the talks could still collapse.

Yahoo, owned by Apollo Global Management, did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment, while both Bending Spoons and Apollo declined to discuss the ongoing talks. Apollo acquired a 90% stake in Yahoo from Verizon in 2021 in a $5 billion deal.

FROM INTERNET ICON TO REVAMP OPPORTUNITY

Once the dominant force of the early internet, AOL was synonymous with the “You’ve Got Mail” era and played a defining role in the online revolution of the late 1990s. Its 2000 merger with Time Warner, then the largest corporate deal in history, ended in massive losses and regulatory scrutiny — symbolizing the collapse of the first dot-com boom.

A successful sale to Bending Spoons would be a fresh start for the AOL brand, adding its advertising and subscription-based services — including LifeLock, LastPass, and McAfee Multi Access — to the Italian company’s fast-expanding portfolio.

A source familiar with AOL’s recent performance said the company has seen 20% year-over-year website traffic growth, driven primarily by users aged 25 to 54, a shift from its traditionally older demographic. The rise is attributed to new content verticals such as Health, Science & Tech, Home & Garden, and True Crime.

BENDING SPOONS: EUROPE’S RISING TECH STAR

Founded in 2013 by Luca Ferrari, Bending Spoons has become one of Europe’s most prominent tech firms, known for acquiring struggling digital platforms and modernizing them. Its apps now attract 300 million monthly users worldwide.

The company was valued at $2.55 billion after a February 2024 funding round, earning it “unicorn” status — a rarity in Italy’s tech ecosystem.

Bending Spoons has recently been on an acquisition spree, purchasing WeTransfer earlier this year and agreeing to take Vimeo private for $1.38 billion in what is currently its largest deal.

Adding AOL’s global reach would further bolster the company’s ambitions and position it as a potential IPO candidate in the United States. CEO Luca Ferrari previously told Reuters that while no immediate plans exist for a public listing, the firm is “working to be ready” and looking to expand beyond Europe.

If completed, the $1.4 billion AOL acquisition would cement Bending Spoons’ role as a new European powerhouse reviving legacy internet brands for the AI and mobile era.

Meta Partners with PIMCO and Blue Owl for $29 Billion Data Center Expansion in Louisiana

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Meta (META.O) has enlisted U.S. bond giant PIMCO and alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital (OWL.N) to lead a $29 billion financing effort for its data center expansion project in rural Louisiana, according to a source familiar with the matter. PIMCO is expected to manage approximately $26 billion in debt financing, likely issued through bonds, while Blue Owl will contribute around $3 billion in equity.

Bloomberg News earlier reported that Meta had been working with Morgan Stanley (MS.N) on raising funds, with Apollo Global Management (APO.N) and KKR (KKR.N) also in contention to lead the financing until the final stages of negotiations. Meta, PIMCO, and Blue Owl declined to comment on the details.

This financing move supports Meta’s broader push to build AI infrastructure. Recently, the company disclosed plans to divest about $2 billion in data center assets as part of a co-development strategy to share construction costs for generative AI facilities. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced intentions to invest hundreds of billions into AI data centers, including the upcoming Prometheus and Hyperion centers—expected to come online in 2026 and scale to 5 gigawatts respectively.

The initiative underscores Meta’s aggressive investment in AI technology amid an ongoing talent war for engineers and competition in the AI sector.