Cohere and Aleph Alpha sign definitive business-combination agreement

Cohere and Aleph Alpha have signed a definitive business-combination agreement, advancing their planned tie-up while leaving the transaction subject to final regulatory approvals. If the deal closes, the combined company would operate globally under the Cohere name.

Cohere said the combined business would have headquarters in Toronto and Berlin, retain Aleph Alpha’s Heidelberg office as a research center, and employ more than 1,000 people across North America and Europe. Those arrangements have not taken effect because the transaction remains open.

The signing follows the companies’ April 24 announcement of a proposed combination. The September announcement did not disclose financial terms, the ownership structure, or which regulators and jurisdictions must still approve the deal. The companies expect closing later in 2026, but said that timing remains contingent on regulatory approval.

Cohere also said the combined company would expand work with Schwarz Group companies to deliver sovereign AI through Schwarz Digits’ STACKIT cloud service. For broader product context, DataPhoenix recently covered Cohere’s North Small Translate release.

The announced management changes are also conditional on closing. Aleph Alpha co-CEO Ilhan Scheer is slated to become Cohere’s chief operating officer, while Aleph Alpha co-founder and co-chief research officer Samuel Weinbach is slated to become Cohere’s chief research officer.