Jun 15, 2026 – 2.52pmA billion-dollar PIPE deal run by Goldman Sachs, revealed by Street Talk on Sunday, is the biggest item on Sharon AI boss James Manning’s to-do list this week.Sharon AI co-founder and CEO James Manning. Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column.Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?
Sharon AI’s pre-IPO investors lick their lips for discounted shares
Sharon AI last week started collecting so-called conversion elections from fund managers who cut cheques for its $US100 million ($141 million) pre-IPO round in December.
TL;DRAI
Goldman Sachs orchestrated a $1B PIPE deal for Sharon AI pre-IPO, enabling early investors to acquire discounted equity before public listing. The transaction flags rapid AI unicorn maturation cycles and resets valuation benchmarks for generative AI infrastructure companies.
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