This article was written by

Follow

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of MFC:CA, SLF:CA either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

The author is not an investment advisor and offers no advice here. He shares his own analysis solely for the interest of readers.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

This article was written by

Follow

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of SWK either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Alphabet has unveiled plans to spend between $175bn and $185bn this year, sharply exceeding Wall Street expectations as it intensifies its push in the global artificial intelligence race.

The capital expenditure target is well above analysts’ average forecast of about $115bn, according to LSEG data, and marks another escalation in spending among the world’s technology hyperscalers.

The announcement came alongside strong fourth-quarter results. Revenue rose 18 per cent year-on-year to $113.8bn, narrowly ahead of forecasts of $111.3bn. Net income climbed 30 per cent to $34.5bn, comfortably beating expectations of $31.9bn.

Despite the earnings beat, Alphabet shares slipped 1.4 per cent in after-hours trading, reflecting investor unease over the scale of spending commitments.

Under chief executive Sundar Pichai, Alphabet has repositioned itself as a leading force in AI after earlier concerns that start-ups such as OpenAI might disrupt its core search business.

Google’s Gemini model has become a central pillar of its strategy, with the Gemini AI assistant app exceeding 650 million monthly users in November. Its AI Overviews feature within search has reached more than 2 billion monthly users.

The company is also investing heavily in custom AI chips and data centre infrastructure, which investors hope will drive future growth.

Last month, Google secured a high-profile partnership with Apple to power an upgraded version of Siri with Gemini models, opening access to Apple’s installed base of more than 2.5 billion devices.

Nikhil Lai, principal analyst at Forrester, said the results demonstrated resilience in Alphabet’s core advertising business. “Record ad revenue signals sustained momentum in search and solid performance from YouTube,” he said, noting that YouTube’s scale now exceeds that of Netflix.

Alphabet’s shares have surged over the past year, rising more than 64 per cent and pushing its market capitalisation above $4tn — second only to Nvidia, valued at around $4.3tn.

However, wider market sentiment towards AI stocks has turned more cautious. Last week, Microsoft reported slower cloud growth, prompting a sell-off amid concerns about the sustainability of heavy AI investment. While Meta reassured investors with upbeat revenue guidance, other names struggled.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both declined as investors reassessed lofty valuations. Shares in Advanced Micro Devices fell sharply after a weak revenue outlook, while Palantir also dropped on AI spending concerns.

Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital, said the scale of AI infrastructure build-out was unprecedented. “The market is having a hard time knowing where to price these stocks and what the future looks like,” he said. “There’s growing scepticism about whether the rally has peaked.”

For Alphabet, the strategy is clear: double down on infrastructure to secure long-term AI leadership. Whether investors remain willing to fund that ambition at such scale will depend on how quickly those vast capital commitments translate into durable returns.

Amy Ingham

Amy is a newly qualified journalist specialising in business journalism at Business Matters with responsibility for news content for what is now the UK’s largest print and online source of current business news.

As European regulators refine the next chapter of the digital economy, the conversation has moved decisively away from speculative hype cycles toward the institutional realities of compliance and consumer protection.

Against this backdrop, Cassator Corp., a US-incorporated firm with deep Ukrainian roots, is positioning its flagship “SocialFi” platform, Sl8, as a privacy-forward alternative to the data-extractive models of traditional social media.

The company’s strategic pivot toward Europe comes at a critical juncture for the industry. With the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation setting a new global gold standard for digital asset oversight, Cassator is betting that its “compliance-first” architecture will provide a competitive edge in a region increasingly wary of unregulated Big Tech and volatile Web3 experiments.

Incorporated in Delaware to facilitate global fundraising, Cassator Corp. maintains a distinct Ukrainian engineering identity. This combination of US corporate structure and Eastern European technical resilience has become a hallmark of the company’s narrative. Currently raising capital through a Regulation Crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder, the firm has reported significant fiscal momentum, citing a revenue jump from $450,000 in 2023 to $910,000 in 2024 – a 120% year-on-year increase.

For the European market, however, the pitch focuses less on growth and more on governance. In late 2024, the company announced it had entered an agreement to establish a European subsidiary equipped with a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence.

“Social media needs a fundamental reset,” says Dmytro Ivanov, CEO of Cassator Corp. “We believe the financial layer of the internet can be built in a way that is efficient, user-centric, and aligned with how regulation is evolving – not in opposition to it. For us, Europe is a regulatory benchmark.”

Sl8 defines itself as a SocialFi platform: a social network where financial tools – such as peer-to-peer payments and creator monetisation – are native to the user experience rather than “bolted on” as third-party additions. Technically, the platform leverages the Stellar Development Foundation ecosystem, utilising distributed ledger technology to ensure fast, low-cost transactions and predictable settlement.

From a product philosophy standpoint, Sl8 is designed to dismantle the “attention economy” by adhering to several core principles:

• Algorithmic Transparency: Eliminating manipulative content-ranking systems.
• Privacy Sovereignty: A strict “no data harvesting” policy that forbids the sale of user information.
• Ad-Free Environment: Rejecting micro-targeted advertising in favour of direct value exchange.
• User Autonomy: Giving participants full control over their news feed composition and data footprint.

By removing the reliance on advertising networks, Sl8 aims to create a circular economy where users can support creators and exchange value directly within the platform’s interface.

The company’s expansion is backed by reported traction that suggests it is moving beyond the “experimental” phase. With 500,000 registered users and 260,000 monthly active users, Cassator is focused on institutional-scale growth.

A key component of this strategy involves a massive influencer outreach programme. The company has reportedly signed Letters of Intent (LOIs) with more than 50 global influencers, whose combined reach exceeds 400 million followers. To convert these into long-term partnerships, Cassator plans to allocate a significant pool of corporate shares over the next four years to selected brand ambassadors, ensuring that those who drive the platform’s growth have a vested interest in its governance and success.

As MiCA begins to dictate the terms of engagement for crypto-assets in Europe – covering everything from AML/CTF responsibilities to wallet architecture – platforms like Sl8 that lead with transparency are likely to find a more receptive audience. Whether Sl8 can successfully disrupt the dominance of legacy social networks remains to be seen, but Cassator Corp. is making a clear wager: that the future of social interaction belongs to platforms that treat user privacy and regulatory alignment as features, not bugs.

Over 3,907 organizations now manage $1.571 trillion in impact investing assets under management worldwide, according to Global Impact Investing Network estimates.

That figure reflects a 21 percent compound annual growth rate since 2019, but the more consequential shift lies not in volume but in structure. Capital once deployed through informal networks and trust-based relationships now flows through institutional channels demanding auditable governance, standardized reporting, and third-party verification.

Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, Chairman of Inmā Emirates Holdings, recently restructured a decade-long private family office into an institutional holding company headquartered in Dubai. The reorganization responds to a specific market constraint: pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth vehicles cannot co-invest alongside structures lacking formal investment committees, independent oversight, and externally validated impact assessments.

The Structural Gap Institutionalization Addresses

Gulf family offices historically excelled at bilateral deal-making precisely because they operated outside institutional constraints. Decisions moved quickly, relationships substituted for due diligence committees, and flexibility enabled creative structuring that rigid institutional mandates could not accommodate.

This model fails when family offices seek to scale through co-investment. A $50 million port concession can proceed on relationship capital, but a $500 million infrastructure program requiring pension fund participation cannot. Institutional allocators face fiduciary obligations, regulatory scrutiny, and board-level accountability that demand documented processes regardless of counterparty reputation.

Nearly 50,000 European companies must now publish audited impact metrics under the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. ESG-focused institutional investments are projected to reach $33.9 trillion by 2026, comprising 21.5 percent of global assets under management, per KEY ESG analysis. Capital at this scale requires standardized interfaces: governance frameworks that translate relationship-driven deal flow into formats institutional compliance departments can process.

How Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum Structures Governance for Scale

Inmā operates under an investment committee with independent oversight and publishes project-specific performance indicators subject to external validation. Metrics track service delivery uptime, employment generated, and environmental outcomes, benchmarks that match development finance institution frameworks and enable direct comparison with competing capital sources.

Such architecture serves a specific function: it makes Gulf impact capital fungible with institutional money. A Dutch pension fund evaluating emerging market infrastructure exposure can now assess Inmā-structured deals using the same criteria applied to IFC or African Development Bank co-financing opportunities. The governance wrapper, not the underlying asset or geography, determines institutional accessibility.

The 50-year Karachi Port Trust concession with Abu Dhabi Ports illustrates this dynamic. Long-duration infrastructure assets generate predictable cash flows institutional investors require, while governance frameworks provide the audit trails their compliance functions demand.

The 94 Percent Performance Metric

GIIN’s 2024 Impact Investor Survey found that 94 percent of respondents reported both financial and impact performance meeting expectations, a data point that addresses the persistent assumption that impact investments require concessionary returns.

The implications extend beyond marketing into fiduciary territory. Institutional allocators operating under fiduciary duty cannot accept below-market returns regardless of social benefit, which historically confined impact investing to philanthropic carve-outs or ESG-specific mandates with lower return thresholds. The 94 percent figure permits impact investments to compete for general allocation alongside conventional asset classes.

Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum structures investments around four thematic pillars that function as both screening criteria and measurement frameworks:

• Public-sector modernization: Digital infrastructure and governance systems that improve state capacity
• Private enterprise development: Commercial ventures generating employment and tax revenue
• Environmental sustainability: Clean energy and climate-resilient infrastructure
• Community inclusion: Projects expanding access to essential services

Institutional partners can map these categories onto their own sustainability mandates and report outcomes through existing ESG disclosure channels.

Blended Finance and Risk-Return Calculations

Blended finance structures combine concessional capital from development institutions with commercial tranches from private investors. Development finance institutions absorb first-loss positions or provide guarantees that shift risk-adjusted returns into ranges acceptable to commercial capital, fundamentally altering project economics.

Multilateral development banks and DFIs co-financed approximately 30 percent of private investment in low- and middle-income country infrastructure during 2024, per Delphos analysis, while MDBs mobilized a record $137 billion in climate finance for emerging markets that same year. Each concessional dollar deployed through these structures mobilizes multiples of private financing that would otherwise remain in developed market assets.

Over 50 percent of private infrastructure investment in 2024 was classified as green, led by renewable energy projects. Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund blends donor-backed capital, DFI support, and private investment to finance solar, wind, and grid projects that individual capital sources could not underwrite alone. When Gulf investors adopt comparable governance standards, competitive dynamics shift: projects previously dependent on DFI participation gain alternative capital sources, and DFIs themselves gain co-investment partners who bring both capital and regional relationships unavailable through traditional development finance channels.

What Constraints Limit Institutional Deployment?

Two primary constraints limit the pace of institutional capital deployment into impact investments:

• Standardized metrics: Without universally accepted measurement frameworks, institutional investors cannot compare impact opportunities or verify fund manager claims against consistent benchmarks. GIIN’s IRIS system and emerging ESRS standards address this gap, but adoption remains uneven across geographies and asset classes.
• Liquidity: Impact investments typically involve illiquid assets like infrastructure, real estate, and private companies that institutional portfolios can accommodate only in limited quantities. Secondary markets for impact assets remain underdeveloped, constraining capital recycling and limiting total allocation capacity.

Inmā’s focus on revenue-generating infrastructure partially addresses both constraints. Port concessions and power plants produce measurable outputs like container throughput and megawatt-hours delivered that translate directly into performance metrics, while long-duration concessions provide predictable exit timelines that substitute for liquid secondary markets.

Implications for Emerging Market Capital Access

Institutionalization of impact investing creates a new financing layer between traditional development assistance and commercial project finance, one that offers emerging market governments access to capital without the conditionality of multilateral lending or the return thresholds of purely commercial investment.

Western official development assistance contracted by 9 percent in 2024, marking the first decline in six years per OECD data. Alternative capital sources fill an expanding gap, and Gulf investors with operational track records and government relationships can participate in this space, provided they demonstrate credibility through governance frameworks that institutional partners require.

The open question is velocity. Institutional capital seeking impact exposure exceeds the supply of investment-ready opportunities meeting governance standards, creating a bottleneck at the project preparation stage rather than the capital formation stage. Family offices that institutionalize early gain first-mover access to co-investment opportunities and the relationship capital that accumulates from successful joint deployments. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum’s restructuring of Inmā Emirates Holdings offers a template for how Gulf capital can bridge this gap by converting relationship-based deal flow into institutional-grade investment products.

Plenty of businesses nowadays rely on software that used to work well in the past, but now holds them back. They slow down innovation, increase maintenance costs, and make it harder to scale or adapt to changing market demands.

However, businesses choose to stay in this “toxic relationship” rather than break free of legacy constraints because the “breakup” is associated with risks, such as potential system downtime, data loss, disruption of fragile business logic, security vulnerabilities, and temporary drops in productivity — risks that can be significantly reduced with a preliminary software audit.

If you are looking for a reliable legacy system modernization partner to mitigate the risks, explore the list below. We gathered the 5 best risk-controlled software transformation companies to help you get a system that will support the sustainable growth of your company.

Corsac Technologies

Corsac Technologies

is a leading provider of legacy systems modernization services with over 18 years of experience. Corsac has been working with companies in healthcare, finance, GIS, charity, media, and more, helping businesses transform legacy systems into modern, scalable solutions.

Corsac team owns the entire cycle of system renovation, from software audit to post-release support. Their experts carefully audit the existing software to identify structural weaknesses, hidden tech debt, and compliance issues before crafting a phased, risk-controlled plan tailored to the goals of each customer.

Corsac team integrates into your CI/CD pipeline and makes every change documented and reversible to minimize downtime. Their process prioritizes business continuity and includes knowledge transfer and post-release support so clients can independently maintain modernized systems over the long term.

Intellias

Intellias is a global technology partner with more than two decades of experience in risk-controlled legacy software modernization. The company combines industry expertise and modern technologies to develop custom solutions for businesses in finance, retail, high tech, and more.

Intellias team modernizes legacy systems through replatforming, refactoring, and cloud migration. Their focus is on performance, security, and system stability throughout the process. Intellias applies phased releases and parallel environments to update legacy systems without disrupting business daily operations. This approach helps organizations reduce technical debt and keep systems reliable during transformation.

Devox Software

Devox is an outcome-driven software development company that uses a modular, low-risk modernization approach with minimal downtime. Their focus is AI-driven approach to system modernization to rebuild outdated products into brilliant future-ready ones.

Devox team starts with detailed diagnostics of a product to understand the weaknesses, security gaps, and scalability limitations to draft a phased modernization plan tied to measurable outcomes from both technical and business perspectives. Beyond code refinement, Devox experts shape your entire software lifecycle and fuel enterprise productivity, which makes them an especially good choice for SMEs and large enterprises.

RadixWEB

RadixWEB blends 25 years of expertise in delivering digital intelligence through AI, cloud, and Data. Instead of long, disruptive programs, the team focuses on early results that can be measured and validated as the transformation progresses. Each step is planned to modernize your legacy system while your critical business processes remain untouched.

RadixWEB relies on cloud-native and automation-driven delivery practices, with strong attention to user experience, so modernized systems remain reliable, efficient, and easier to work with over time. The company is trusted by 3,000 customers in over 20 sectors, including EdTech, Fintech, Healthcare, Insurtech, and more.

Innowise

Innowise is one of the leading legacy service update agencies with an extensive team of professionals and a strong track record in risk-controlled legacy system modernization. Since its founding in 2007, the company has grown to over 2,500 engineers and over 1600 legacy systems modernization services under its belt.

Innowise helps businesses, from startups to mature corporations, reimagine their IT infrastructure with reduced transformational risks. Innowise team guides clients in consulting, custom development, modernization, and post-launch support of modernized systems.

Wrapping up, legacy software modernization is no longer a matter of if, but when. As systems age, the risks of doing nothing quickly outweigh the risks of transformation itself. Each company featured in this list applies a risk-controlled approach to legacy system transformation, using phased delivery, thorough audits, and business-continuity-first practices to ensure stability throughout the process.

Greene King is weighing up a fresh round of job cuts as Britain’s second-largest pub chain grapples with rising taxes, higher operating costs and mounting pressure on consumer spending.

The 227-year-old company, which operates around 2,600 pubs across the UK, is understood to be reviewing its head office and central functions, with up to 100 roles potentially affected. No final decision has been taken.

The move would mark the second major restructuring in under two years. In 2023, Greene King cut significant numbers of head office and field-based staff, saying the overhaul was necessary to help the business “thrive in challenging times”.

Founded in 1799 by Benjamin Greene in Bury St Edmunds, the company is one of Britain’s oldest brewing and pub groups, known for brands including Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale. It operates a mix of managed pubs, which it runs directly, alongside leased and tenanted sites.

Like much of the hospitality sector, Greene King has faced a sharp escalation in costs. Energy bills, food and drink ingredients and wages have all risen significantly in recent years.

Industry leaders have been particularly vocal about changes to employer national insurance contributions (NICs), including the lowering of the threshold at which they are paid, a move that disproportionately affects sectors reliant on part-time and lower-paid staff.

Many pubs are also bracing for higher business rates from April. While the government has introduced a support package, campaigners argue it may not be sufficient to offset the burden.

At the same time, alcohol consumption in Britain has softened as households face tighter budgets and shifting health trends.

In December, Greene King’s chief executive Nick Mackenzie warned of a “constant layering of costs” and urged ministers to provide further support for the sector.

Despite a 3.2 per cent increase in sales to £2.45bn in 2024, Greene King reported a pre-tax loss of £147.1m in its latest accounts. Adjusted operating profits stood at £198m. The company employed around 1,000 head office staff during the year.

Greene King was taken private in 2019 in a £2.7bn deal by Hong Kong-based CK Asset Holdings, owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing.

The group has continued to invest in its estate, including plans to relocate its historic Bury St Edmunds brewery to a new £40m site by 2027, where it will produce both traditional cask ales and newer beer ranges.

Greene King is not alone in cutting costs. Rival Stonegate Group, Britain’s largest pub operator and owner of the Slug & Lettuce chain, has also appointed advisers to restructure its operations. It has already cut 95 roles, with further reductions under review.

Stonegate, owned by private equity firm TDR Capital, is reportedly considering selling a package of up to 1,000 pubs to reduce debt and has been linked to a potential £1bn valuation.

For Greene King and its peers, the challenge is clear: balancing investment in heritage brands and estate upgrades with the harsh reality of rising costs and fragile consumer demand in Britain’s pubs.

Amy Ingham

Amy is a newly qualified journalist specialising in business journalism at Business Matters with responsibility for news content for what is now the UK’s largest print and online source of current business news.