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Life sciences group Thermo Fisher is nearing a takeover of drug trial software maker Clario in a deal that could value the healthcare technology group at approximately $10bn.

The all-cash deal could be announced as early as Wednesday provided it does not hit any last-minute snags, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The acquisition would give Thermo Fisher access to a platform that is playing an increasingly critical role in managing the clinical data essential to drug trials. Clario’s technology has been used across 26,000 trials in more than 100 countries, generating as much as $400mn a year in adjusted earnings.

If a sale materialises, it would mark one of the biggest full private equity exits of the year.

Founded in 2021 by a merger of health tech groups ERT and Bioclinica, Clario is majority owned by Stockholm-based private equity group Nordic Capital. It also counts Astorg Partners, Novo Holdings and Cinven as minority investors. Clario’s private equity backers had until recently been considering a public listing for the group.

Thermo Fisher, Clario, Nordic, Astorg, Novo Holdings and Cinven did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The deal would mark Thermo Fisher’s biggest acquisition since 2021 when the Massachusetts-based group bought contract research organisation PPD in a deal worth $17.4bn. Earlier this year, Thermo Fisher struck a $4.1bn deal to buy Solventum’s filtration unit.

It comes amid a volatile period for Thermo Fisher and the wider healthcare sector. Shares in Thermo Fisher dropped earlier this year as investors fretted over the impact of President Donald Trump’s cuts to the National Institutes of Health on its sales, but they have since rallied.

Thermo Fisher shares are up 6 per cent this year, giving it a market capitalisation of $210bn.

(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks advanced on optimism that artificial intelligence will continue to drive profits at megacap technology companies reporting earnings this week, amid growing bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.

Shares in Japan and South Korea rose at the open, while Hong Kong is shut for a public holiday. While the S&P 500 posted a modest gain and closed at an all-time high, a gauge of the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech companies climbed 1.3%. Nvidia Corp. added almost 5% after Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang announced a flurry of new partnerships and dismissed concerns about an AI bubble. Its supplier SK Hynix Inc. jumped as much as 4% in Seoul after reporting a record profit Wednesday.

The yen gained after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent weighed in on the Bank of Japan’s policy space, which fueled rate-hike bets. A gauge of the dollar edged lower for a third day. Oil held a three-day drop amid mounting signs of oversupply, while gold inched up after three days of losses.

With five big tech companies — representing roughly a quarter of the US equity benchmark — set to report between Wednesday and Thursday, investors will soon gauge whether the billions poured into computing infrastructure will keep flowing and ultimately deliver returns. Adding to the week’s momentum, Fed officials are poised to announce their rate decision on Wednesday, with Wall Street largely betting on a quarter-point cut.

“The markets have a massive wall of event risk to scale this week,” wrote Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com in Melbourne.

That’s all happening as President Donald Trump tours Asia, which includes a scheduled meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The Wall Street Journal reported the US would roll back some tariffs if Beijing cracks down on the export of chemicals that produce fentanyl. Optimism around a deal has boosted copper to near record levels, and seen gold pull back from recent highs.

The Trump administration is also slated to sign a deal with South Korea aimed at bolstering cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and 6G, according to a US official — part of a bid to maintain a competitive edge with China in an expanding race for tech supremacy.

Technology sector remains the key focus of market participants. The so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ group is projected to deliver profit growth of 14% in the third quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

That’s nearly twice the 8% expected profit growth for the broader S&P 500, but it also would be the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2023.

However, big techs have a history of reporting earnings that far exceed Wall Street estimates. And that’s what many investors are counting on.

Over Wednesday and Thursday, Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. will all report results.

“We expect another strong round of megacap tech earnings reports, given the relentless demand for AI technology and infrastructure,” said Clark Bellin at Bellwether Wealth. “While profitability in AI remains an unknown, investors for now are willing to overlook this as the AI arms race heats up.”

Also buoying sentiment were bets the Fed will cut rates Wednesday, with traders hoping for clarity as to when officials will stop shrinking the central bank’s portfolio of securities. Bets have grown they may end quantitative tightening as soon as this month.

Expectations are set for two things from this week’s Fed meeting — officials will lower rates by a quarter percentage point and Chair Jerome Powell will offer little guidance as a growing divide among policymakers blurs the path ahead.

Corporate News:

OpenAI is giving its long-time backer Microsoft Corp. a 27% ownership stake as part of a restructuring plan that took nearly a year to negotiate. Private equity firm Boyu Capital has emerged as the frontrunner in Starbucks Corp.’s search for a partner in its China business. Apple Inc. is preparing major changes to its MacBook Air, iPad mini and iPad Air lines, with a plan to give the popular devices higher-end displays. Visa Inc. reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that topped estimates as consumers continued to swipe, tap and insert their credit cards to transact globally. Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. said profit rose 11.5% in the first nine months of this year, as a stock market rally lifted investment returns and policy sales expanded. Bank of China Ltd. reported a 5% increase in third-quarter profit, as the lender managed to stabilize its net interest margin despite mounting challenges from weakening credit demand. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 10:14 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures rose 0.9% Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 1% Japan’s Topix was little changed Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.1% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1653 The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 151.69 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0937 per dollar The Australian dollar rose 0.2% to $0.6597 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $112,403.04 Ether was little changed at $3,977.32 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.98% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 1.650% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.21% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $60.26 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.7% to $3,978.38 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Tencent today announced the top 50 finalists, coming from 12 countries and regions around the world, for its CarbonX Program 2.0 (CarbonX 2.0), a landmark initiative to accelerate next generation climate technologies and the essential capabilities needed for a net-zero world by 2050.

These innovators, selected from more than 660 applicants across 54 countries and regions, are competing for a share of RMB200 million (approximately US$28 million) in catalytic funding. Winners will also receive technical resources, expert mentorship, and opportunities to pilot their solutions in real-world environments, including in climate vulnerable regions such as Kenya, the Maldives, and Serbia.

Bridging the “Valley of Death” in Climate Innovation 

The path from breakthrough discovery to real-world impact is often blocked by what experts call the ‘Valley of Death’ – the critical gap between early-stage innovation and large-scale deployment. Many climate technologies fail to progress due to limited funding, partnerships, and testing environments.

The CarbonX Program was created to close this gap. It does this by building a global ecosystem where scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders work together to accelerate the scaling of climate solutions, offering comprehensive support beyond mere financing.

“The climate crisis is the defining challenge of our time and tackling it demands both bold innovation and collective action across the global ecosystem,” said Davis Lin, Senior Vice President of Tencent. “With CarbonX, we are not only investing in groundbreaking ideas, but also creating the pathways to turn them into real-world solutions. By bridging the gap between research and deployment, we aim to accelerate technologies that can store, transform, and reduce CO₂ emissions at scale, laying the foundation for a truly low-carbon future.” 

Scaling Climate Innovation Across Borders

Building on the success of its inaugural program focused on China, CarbonX 2.0 has expanded globally to identify and support promising early-stage climate technologies. The 50 finalists represent a diverse mix of universities, research institutes, and startups working at the forefront of four key areas:

1. Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR): Supporting pilots in Kenya to accelerate scalable, cost-effective solutions for permanently removing historic CO₂ emissions, with the potential to reduce direct air capture (DAC) costs substantially.

2. Industrial Decarbonization (CCUS for Steel): Advancing breakthrough approaches to reduce lifecycle emissions in steel production with pilots in Serbia. The focus is on developing cost-effective and scalable industrial carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) solutions for hard-to-abate industries.

3. Carbon Capture and Utilization (CarbonXmade): Transforming captured carbon into chemicals, and ultimately into consumer products. This creates a circular value chain that turns waste into consumer goods, with early market adoption supported by brand premiums in China.

4. Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES): Providing real-world scenarios in the Maldives to refine and validate emerging technologies, to meet the growing demands of renewable energy expansion – with flow batteries showing strong promise for commercially viable, long-duration storage.

In early 2026, a global panel of multi-disciplinary experts will evaluate and select the winning teams to receive grants and other resources to pilot their technologies in those regions and create measurable impact.

CarbonX Summit 2025: Inspiring Collective Action

The announcement was made at the CarbonX Summit 2025 in Shenzhen, a convening of finalist teams and leaders from business, academia, and policy to explore how innovation ecosystems can accelerate climate action globally. The Summit spotlighted the role of catalytic finance, inclusive deployment, and multilateral collaboration in achieving the Paris Agreement targets. 

“Sustainability can only be achieved through innovation,” said Hao Xu, Head of Climate Innovation at Tencent. “By supporting the world’s brightest climate entrepreneurs, we aim to harness technology as a force for good — addressing one of humanity’s most urgent challenges while creating shared value for future generations.” 

For more information about CarbonX 2.0, please visit the program website.

Appendix: List of Top 50 Finalists of CarbonX Program 2.0