Hardware and software

Eli Lilly acquires Demira. Goldman Sachs' merchant banking division buys Aptos. Visa purchases plaid.

After 2019's deluge of financial technology megadeals, investors wondered if the boom could continue into 2020.

Call for Nominations: Deadline is Feb. 7 for M&A Mid-Market Awards. We've named the 2020 Most Influential Women. What's ahead for M&A in 2020? We ask bankers from Stifel, Piper Jaffray, William Blair. In fundraising news, Siguler Guff raised its fourth fund that focuses on lower mid-market deals.

Plaid’s developer tools help power a range of popular financial apps, such as Venmo, Coinbase and Acorns, by channeling the banking data they need for their apps and websites.

Walmart, Shopify, TH Lee, Hitachi and others are relying on robots to increase the speed and accuracy of online orders in the fourth installment of Mergers & Acquisitions' weekly 7-part series on retail technology M&A.

The robots, designed by San Francisco-based Bossa Nova Robotics, join the ranks of Walmart’s increasingly automated workforce which also includes devices to scrub floors, unload trucks and gather online-grocery orders.

With holiday shopping in full swing, Shopify and TH Lee invest in robots to help retailers fill orders faster. Warner Music and Providence back music catalog company. PE news from AEI, Gryphon and CVC.

Grocery stores are opening mini warehouses and "dark stores" in order to keep up with rising online orders, and investing in robots to help them. Kroger bought a stake in Ocado.

2019 is a record fundraising year for U.S. PE firms. Apollo, led by Leon Black, sees assets doubling in five years. RealPage, Madison Dearborn make real estate-related deals. PE news from Arlington, Olympus, Sterling Group.

PE-backed Insightsoftware makes third deal of the year. Rockefeller Capital picks up wealth management firm. Nominations due Oct. 14 for Most Influential Women.