AmexGBT, Santander & Goldman Sachs: M&As and the Bottom Line

Acquisition, for some, is the mark of a success. This doesn’t negate the importance of a merger. Essentially, both revolve around the fundamental principle of growing via absorption.

As a company merging into another, your skills are desired; calculated into the growth strategy to enhance the bottom line at the end of the year. As the company acquiring, your product, and indeed vision, only grows stronger. 

For example, NextSlide, a relatively young company founded in only 2025, publicly announced it was being acquired by popular AI company OpenAI.

The acquisition serves to bolster OpenAI’s most popular product: ChatGPT. AI continues its steady climb into businesses with this latest acquisition, as it incorporates NextSlide’s mission to turn notes and documents into polished slides.

The advisors and financial statements were not disclosed, and in fact, NextSlide Founder Ahmed Beshry confirmed that the announcement was late, and that the acquisition had taken place earlier in the year. The acquisition sees the AI presentation start-up add to OpenAI’s vision as the two combine to create an easier, more accessible user experience.

Banks and their role in M&A

Five types of banks provide the most expertise in these areas. Finance chiefs seek advice from either: Bulge Bracket banks, Elite Boutiques, Middle-Market banks, Regional/Niche boutiques or Independent advisory specialists.

Investment banks provide vital market liquidity, capital allocation and strategic advisory across the corporate lifecycle.

• Bulge Bracket (eg, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley): Provide full-service, global capabilities, underwriting massive capital raises and advising on complex, multi-billion-pound cross-border M&A transactions
• Elite Boutiques: Deliver high-conflict-free, pure strategic advisory for mega-cap deals, competing directly with bulge brackets on high-stakes transactions
• Middle-Market Banks: Serve mid-sized enterprises (US$50M–US$500M enterprise value), driving regional growth through focused M&A execution and debt/equity financing
• Regional/Niche Boutiques: Focus strictly on specific geographic regions or specialised sectors (eg, healthcare, tech), providing tailored industry expertise
• Independent Advisory Specialists: Provide unbundled, objective advice on restructurings, fairness opinions and valuation without underwriting conflicts.

Advisors in M&As provide much-needed oversight on a financial transaction that could support the growth of a business, sometimes utilising decades of advisory expertise. 

Investment banks provide wealth not only in the traditional sense but also in terms of market advice. Sitting at the forefront of capital markets day-to-day, investment banks have the opportunity to see something that most CFOs do not: market opportunity among unsteady waters. 

That experience provides unbeatable expertise for CFOs looking for advice on how to improve capital structure.

A challenge for HR

For payroll, finance and HR, some mergers pose a significant challenge. According to research from Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), between 70% and 90% of mergers and acquisitions do not manage to attain their strategic and financial targets. The people aspect is just as important. 

Mohamed Omaizat, CFO at Taxfix  notes that: “Good M&A starts with cultural fit and shared passion. When I first met the TaxScouts team, what struck me wasn't numbers presented beautifully on a slide - it was a whiteboard covered in real customer questions. That's the exact same obsession we have at Taxfix. Of course a deal still has to earn its place: open a new market, add a service, and make the numbers work." 

“But numbers open the door; shared purpose keeps you in the room. That's what tells me we're onto a great partnership  – especially in tech scale-ups.”

Santander - Community

Santander recently won federal approval for the acquisition of Webster Financial Corporation, which  held Webster Bank. Webster owned over US$80bn in total assets, which falls under Spanish banking giant Banco Santander after closing the deal in late August earlier this year. 

Ana Botín, Executive Chair of Santander, notes: “Santander US and Webster are a perfect match. Together, supported by Santander’s global platforms, technology and expertise, we will create a stronger bank with the scale to better serve our customers and communities. This combination will strengthen our position in one of the world’s most attractive banking markets and put us firmly on track to build one of the highest-performing banks among our US peers.”

The acquisition, costing Santander US$12.2bn, is set to ensure that Santander’s performance in the US is stronger; building its customer presence in addition to accelerating financial objectives.

Santander expects its US arm to achieve an 18% return on tangible equity by 2028. The combined franchise will bring a stronger bank to US clients and communities.

Amex GBT - Technology

Long Lake Management’s US$6.3bn all-cash acquisition of American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) marks a transformative shift for the world’s largest corporate travel platform as it transitions from a NYSE-listed public entity into a privately held company. 

Under the deal, backed by investors like General Catalyst, Alpha Wave, and Koch Equity Development, Amex GBT gains access to private capital and Long Lake’s proprietary Nexus AI platform.

This technology integration aims to combine frontier AI with human travel expertise to deliver faster booking times, proactive disruption resolution and automated travel administration.

Paul Abbott, CEO of Amex GBT, notes: “This transaction is a testament to the value of Amex GBT, the success of our strategy and the strength of our incredible team. This agreement delivers a compelling outcome for our shareholders, providing them a substantial, certain cash value at an attractive premium. Our customers have always been at the heart of Amex GBT, and this partnership with Long Lake is about serving them even better. Together with Long Lake's applied AI capabilities and our travel expertise, global scale and trusted customer and supplier relationships built over decades, Amex GBT is driving the transformation of business travel.”

Goldman Sachs - Demand

Goldman Sachs has made recent waves with its acquisition of NEOS Investments. The fast-growing investment platform manages US$30tn in assets, and it specialises in providing systematic opinions-based income exchange-traded-funds (ETFs). 

It will add its active income ETF’s, which amount to US$30m, to Goldman Sachs’ US$40m in ETF solutions.

The acquisition by Goldman Sachs’ Asset Management division is to ensure that not only does the group expand its offerings, but directly responds to the demand from investors and advisors. Another relatively new company, NEOS was founded only in 2022; demonstrating Goldman Sachs’ eagle eye for growing potential.

According to Morningstar, the acquisition will create the eighth-largest active ETF manager as of 30 June, 2026. Morningstar also notes that across the sector, derivative income ETFs now command roughly US$180bn in assets under management, ranking among the fastest-expanding ETF segments. 

Additionally, Goldman Sachs says that it believes “there are significant opportunities to grow the firm’s overall ETF franchise” in response to the growing global demand of wealth. Expected to close in Q1 of 2027, the transaction is priced at US$2.25bn in cash, subject to performance and service commitments.