Deal Dispatch: Pitney Bowes Explores Options, Grant Thornton Snaps Up CBIZ, Storj Labs Files Bankruptcy

MarketDash

Jul 31, 4:56 PM • 1 hour ago

This week's M&A roundup includes Brookfield's $7 billion Aypa Power purchase, Dentalcorp's Northstar Dental acquisition, and KKR's Energy Capital deal.

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Welcome back to Deal Dispatch, your weekly tour through the world of mergers, acquisitions, and the occasional corporate fire sale. This week, we've got a little bit of everything: a legacy tech company mulling its future, a big accounting play, a natural gas giant making a move, and a couple of bankruptcy filings that might surprise you. Let's dive in.

New On The Block

First up, Onfolio Holdings Inc. Onfolio Holdings (ONFO), an owner-operator of cash-generative online businesses, is actively evaluating a range of strategic opportunities. That's corporate-speak for "we're looking at our options," which here includes acquisitions, transformational transactions, and the divestiture of underperforming assets. The goal, as always, is to enhance shareholder value while keeping its public listing. So, no delisting plans just yet.

Next, SEACOR Marine Holdings SEACOR Marine (SMHI), a provider of marine and support transportation services, is also evaluating strategic alternatives. This time, the menu includes a sale of the company, a merger, other business combinations, or selling off assets. The board has brought in independent financial advisors to help navigate the process. When a company says "maximizing value for shareholders," it often means "we think the stock is undervalued and someone might pay more for the whole thing."

VSee Health VSee Health (VSEE) has launched a strategic review aimed at accelerating growth and maximizing shareholder value. The company is in late-stage talks with potential strategic partners and is weighing options like partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, business combinations, licensing deals, and capital-raising initiatives. They're casting a wide net, hoping to find the option that offers the strongest long-term value for shareholders.

And then there's Pitney Bowes Inc. Pitney Bowes (PBI), the company that brought you the postage meter. It's now evaluating a range of strategic alternatives, including acquisitions, divestitures, partnerships, and a potential sale as part of its long-term business plan. Pitney Bowes has been around forever, but it's been struggling to find its footing in the digital age. A sale could be in the cards, but nothing is certain yet.

Updates From The Block

Now, let's get to the deals that actually got done this week.

Brookfield Asset Management Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) has agreed to buy Aypa Power from Blackstone Energy Transition Partners for $7 billion, including debt, with an equity value of $3 billion. Bloomberg reported the news. Aypa Power is in the energy transition space, so this fits with Brookfield's push into renewable and transition assets.

In a big accounting move, Grant Thornton Advisors has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CBIZ CBIZ (CBZ) in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of $5 billion. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. After the closing, Grant Thornton plans to separate CBIZ's Benefits and Insurance Services segment into a new stand-alone entity backed by New Mountain Capital. So, it's a buy-and-break-up play.

Expand Energy Corp Expand Energy (EXE), the largest natural gas producer in North America, has agreed to acquire Twin Eagle Holdings, N.A. for $1.25 billion from Five Point Infrastructure. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals. Twin Eagle is likely in the midstream or trading space, which would complement Expand's production.

In the tech world, Procore Technologies, Inc. Procore Technologies (PCOR), a construction management software provider, has agreed to acquire DroneDeploy, Inc., a robotics and visual intelligence platform, for approximately $845 million in cash. The deal is expected to close later this year, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. Drones are becoming a big deal in construction, so this makes sense.

Over in the music industry, Influence Media Partners has agreed to buy Anthem Entertainment for more than $600 million, as reported by Music Week. The deal includes music rights for 24,000 released songs and 60,000 additional unexploited works, including artists like Britney Spears, OneRepublic, and Justin Timberlake. That's a lot of royalty checks.

KKR & Co. KKR (KKR) and Energy Capital Partners have agreed to acquire DCC Energy Plc in a deal valued at $7.6 billion, after months of negotiations. DCC Energy is a distributor, so this is a big bet on the energy distribution space.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group Carlyle Group (CG) has bought Secturion Systems, a tech company that builds secure hardware boxes for secret computer data. Financial terms weren't disclosed, but it's a niche play in cybersecurity.

Bloomberg LP has acquired Canoe Intelligence, a platform providing private markets data to institutional investors, wealth managers, and family offices. Terms weren't disclosed, but it's a data play that fits Bloomberg's wheelhouse.

In the dental world, Dentalcorp has acquired Northstar Dental Partners, a group with 21 supported dental practices headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. Terms weren't disclosed, but it's another roll-up in the dental space.

Shell has agreed to sell its BG Cyprus Unit to MOL Group, a Hungarian oil and gas firm, for approximately $720 million, per Reuters. Shell said it decided to exit due to "disciplined capital allocation and portfolio choices," focusing on "opportunities that strengthen our integrated LNG value chain." So, they're trimming the fat to focus on LNG.

And Sargento Foods has bought California-based La Terra Fina, a regional provider of dairy-based dips, spreads, and quiches. Terms weren't disclosed, but it's a tasty addition to Sargento's portfolio.

Off The Block

Some deals have already closed. AT&T AT&T (T) has completed its $23 billion acquisition of wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar EchoStar (ECHO), finalizing a deal first announced in August 2025, per Reuters. The deal gives the telecom giant about 50 MHz of low- and mid-band spectrum covering virtually every U.S. market. That's a lot of spectrum, and it should help AT&T improve its network.

Bankruptcy Block

Not all news is good news. Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to explore potential sale transactions and implement a wind-down of its remaining operations. National Distributing Company is not part of the filing. "This decision was not made lightly. Over time, our industry has evolved, consumer preferences have shifted, and the wholesale environment has grown increasingly challenging," the company wrote in a statement. It's a tough environment for distributors.

Omnis Pleasants, dba Pleasants Power Station, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company is taking this action to facilitate restructuring negotiations between stakeholders and to support a sale process. It listed assets between $50 and $100 million, with liabilities in the same range, and estimated creditors between 200 and 999, according to bankruptcy filings.

And Storj Labs Inc., a decentralized cloud storage company, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The restructuring is intended to resolve certain legacy liabilities while allowing it to continue its business operations. Storj said it expects to maintain normal operations during the bankruptcy process and does not anticipate any impact to customer access or service availability. So, if you're a Storj customer, your data should be safe.

That's it for this week's Deal Dispatch. We'll be back next week with more deals, more drama, and maybe a few more bankruptcies. Until then, keep your eyes on the ticker.