News

Boston – September 15, 2026 -- Aerospace & Defense M&A deal value jumped 37% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026 to $47.1 billion in disclosed enterprise value, according to Capstone Partners' annual Aerospace, Defense, Government & Security (ADGS) Industry M&A Report.

Full-year 2025 deal count rose 10.3% while disclosed enterprise value surged 73.1%

Aerospace & Defense M&A expanded throughout 2025 despite a volatile macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop that dampened dealmaking elsewhere. Valuations averaged 3.0x EV/Revenue and 11.4x EV/EBITDA for the year, reflecting sustained buyer appetite across manufacturing, maintenance and leasing segments amid depressed aircraft production levels.

Visalia, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- Crunch Fitness franchisee Fitness Ventures LLC will open a $5 million, 50,000-square-foot club in Visalia, California, in late 2026, marking the company's 26th location in the state.

Crunch Visalia debuts the brand's new 3.0 design format

Located at 3535 S. Mooney Boulevard, the facility will feature Power Half Hour Circuit Training, Olympic lifting platforms, hot yoga, a functional HIITZone with indoor turf, HydroMassage beds, an infrared sauna, a Frost Locker, and Kids Crunch babysitting. Pre-sales open in late 2026, with memberships starting at $9.99 per month. The first 500 founding members will get $1 down, one month free, a t-shirt, and discounts on training packages.

Milford, Utah – September 15, 2026 -- Milford Mining Company Utah (MMCU) has received a conditional commitment for $25 million in financing under the USDA Rural Development Business & Industry Loan Guarantee Program, funds it will use to double copper throughput and valuation by the end of next year.

USDA-backed loan targets facility expansion and job creation

The 16.5-year financing arrangement will be privately funded through Magnolia Guaranteed Lending, a division of Kentucky-based Magnolia Bank and a USDA-approved lender. MMCU plans to use the capital to modernize processing equipment, remove operational bottlenecks and double production capacity at its Milford, Utah facility. The expansion is expected to create approximately 100 new jobs, adding to the company's current 180-person workforce.

Miami – September 15, 2026 -- Nicklaus Children's Hospital Heart Institute has completed one of the first transcatheter-based Fontan procedures performed in the United States, allowing a 2-year-old patient with double-outlet right ventricle to avoid an additional open-heart surgery. The child, born with a complex congenital heart defect, is recovering at home following the procedure.

Catheter-based technique replaces traditional open-heart surgery for Fontan completion

The care team used a catheter-based approach, guiding specialized equipment through a blood vessel to complete the child's Fontan circulation rather than performing conventional open-heart surgery. The Fontan procedure is typically the final stage in a multi-step surgical series for children born with single-ventricle heart defects, rerouting oxygen-poor blood from the body directly to the lungs without passing through a pumping chamber.

Las Vegas – September 15, 2026 -- Oakwell Beer Spa has signed its first-ever franchise agreement, bringing the Denver-born wellness concept to Las Vegas through husband-and-wife operators Andrew and Gina Lanzino. The deal marks the Colorado-based brand's initial expansion outside its home state since it began offering franchises earlier this year.

New Orleans – September 15, 2026 -- David Vicknair, founding partner of Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers, has been named to the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, the publication confirmed on August 20, 2026.

Peer Review Process Excludes Paid Nominations

The Best Lawyers in America® selection relies exclusively on the Purely Peer Review® methodology, drawing confidential evaluations from attorneys practicing in the same field and geographic region rather than applications or paid submissions.

Vicknair Credits Firm-Wide Culture for Recognition

"To receive recognition from other attorneys who understand the work, preparation, and responsibility that go into representing an injured client is incredibly meaningful," Vicknair said, attributing the honor to the firm's broader team culture around client advocacy.

Moriarty, New Mexico – September 15, 2026 -- Sceye's ST1 high-altitude platform station (HAPS) completed a nearly 30,000-km round trip between New Mexico and Japan, returning to continental US airspace on September 4, 2026, and reaching its Moriarty headquarters airspace on September 5, 2026, for additional testing and a planned descent.

ST1 marks Sceye's first flight to Asia under a SoftBank partnership

The mission, conducted in partnership with Japanese telecom operator SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434), represented Sceye's first flight into Asia and a milestone toward commercial deployment of HAPS as stratospheric infrastructure. The platform carried a SceyeCELL module, described as a first-of-its-kind 'cell tower in the sky' designed to deliver broadband mobile access from the stratosphere directly to standard devices across wide areas. Sceye states a fully deployed HAPS platform can cover an area equivalent to roughly 500 ground-based cell towers.

Limassol – September 15, 2026 -- FP Markets, a multi-asset Forex and CFD broker founded in Australia, has obtained a Category 5 license from the United Arab Emirates' Capital Markets Authority (CMA), formerly known as the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), extending its global regulatory footprint into one of the world's fastest-growing financial hubs.

License holder FP Markets MENA Securities L.L.C. S.O.C. gains rights to market and onboard clients across the UAE

The license permits FP Markets to conduct marketing, promotion and client acquisition activities in Dubai and across all seven Emirates. The UAE has drawn a growing number of brokers, fintech firms and financial service providers seeking to operate under a more robust regulatory framework as they expand regional client bases.

Abu Dhabi – September 15, 2026 -- Assets under management at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) climbed 54% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, while active business licenses reached 13,974, cementing the emirate's position as the largest international financial centre by license count in the MEASA region.

Fund manager base expands 23% as capital inflows accelerate

The number of fund and asset managers based at ADGM rose to 190, up from 154 in H1 2025, with 11 new managers added in the second quarter alone -- the sharpest quarterly increase on record for the centre. Funds domiciled at ADGM grew to 276, a 32% increase from 209 a year earlier. Collectively, asset managers that set up at ADGM during the period oversee more than $2.1 trillion in assets globally.

Moriarty, New Mexico – September 15, 2026 -- Sceye's stratospheric platform ST1 has completed a nearly 30,000-kilometer round trip between New Mexico and Japan, re-entering continental U.S. airspace on September 4, 2026, and reaching the company's Moriarty headquarters the following day for final testing and controlled descent.

ST1 logged over seven days in Japanese controlled airspace during a month-long mission

The high-altitude platform station (HAPS), developed with SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434), marked Sceye's first flight into Asia and a key step toward commercial HAPS deployment. ST1 maintained a station-keeping radius of just 5 kilometers off the Japanese coast while operating continuously at 16.5 to 17 kilometers altitude.