Deal Dispatch: Beauty Brand Seeks Pretty Price Tag, Behavioral Health Firms Hit Auction Block

New On The Block

• Revolution Beauty is putting itself in the shop window. The UK cosmetics brand has kicked off a formal sale process and is considering funding options as part of a broader strategic review, including a potential sale. Advisors are on board and talks with interested parties have begun. The news comes as CEO Lauren Brindley departs the company. Brindley, who became CEO in September 2023, accepted a leadership position at Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA).

• Also for sale: Apryse, a Denver-based document processing software provider, is on the auction block. Thoma Bravo hired Lazard to fetch a buyer willing to pay over $3 billion, according to Reuters.

Updates From The Block

• E.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) just made a billion-dollar bet on lip gloss and blush. The company acquired Hailey Bieber's cosmetics brand, Rhode, for a cool $1 billion. And now Hailey officially out-earns her pop-star husband, Justin. Founded in 2022 and named after her middle name (and stylized with a lowercase "r"), the startup owes its hefty price tag to a Gen Z following and $212 million in sales in just the last year.
  
• Acrisure lands a $2.1 billion investment from Bain Capital at a $32 billion valuation. The Michigan-based insurance giant raised fresh capital and is putting it to work—agreeing to acquire the payroll business of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) for $1.1 billion.

• According to Financial Times, Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) rejected an unsolicited $16 billion takeover bid from Blackstone and TPG.

• MBK Partners, Northeast Asia’s largest private equity firm, is set to acquire Japanese machine tool maker Makino Milling Machine in a deal estimated at over 2 trillion won ($1.75 billion). MBK has secured exclusive negotiation rights, beating out Carlyle Group, and plans to proceed via a tender offer at 11,000 yen per share. The same price was previously offered by Nidec in a hostile takeover attempt in April 2025, which was withdrawn in May due to Makino's resistance. The exact scope of MBK's tender offer hasn't been revealed. MBK will finance the acquisition using its sixth blind fund, launched in 2024. Makino, founded in 1937 and headquartered in Tokyo, is a global leader in precision machine tools.
  
• Private equity firm H.I.G. Capital is set to take over Rentokil's French workwear division for $464 million.

Off The Block

• E2open (NYSE:ETWO) is no longer for sale. The supply chain software firm just got picked up by Australia's WiseTech Global in a $2.1 billion deal. Shareholders will receive $3.30 a share in cold, hard cash—about 28% more than the stock's pre-announcement price and a whopping 68% premium over the closing stock price on April 30. E2open’s shares rose on the heels of the announcement and four analysts shared their evaluations.

• Energy company EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) inked a deal to acquire Encino Acquisition Partners (EAP) for $5.6 billion, including EAP’s net debt. EOG agreed to pay the sellers, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP) and Encino Energy, with cash and debt. The purchase price includes $3.5 billion in new debt and $2.1 billion in cash. The company expects the transaction to close in the latter half of 2025, upon clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

• Scopely has officially completed its $3.5 billion acquisition of Niantic's games business, according to Mobile Gamer. The deal brings in over 400 new staff and a blockbuster portfolio that includes “Pokémon Go” and Wayfarer apps. The acquired titles collectively attracted more than 30 million monthly active users and generated over $1 billion in revenue last year. Announcing the deal’s close on May 29, Scopely emphasized its commitment to continuity, stating that longtime Niantic leaders Kei Kawai and Ed Wu will continue to lead the game teams, ensuring stability for Pokémon fans and other titles. Niantic's remaining titles, “Ingress” and “Peridot,” will remain under the newly formed Niantic Spatial, still led by CEO John Hanke. Scopely's co-CEOs hinted at more acquisitions ahead, noting they evaluated over 800 companies last year.

Bankruptcy Block

• At Home, a home-goods retailer owned by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Bloomberg reported that the company did not make its interest payment on May 15 and entered a forbearance pact with lenders on May 23, citing sources. The reprieve runs through June 30,

• All 500 hand-scooped Thrifty Ice Cream counters inside Rite Aid locations are set to close. The beloved brand, founded in 1940, will still be available at some standalone shops and retailers. Rite Aid, which acquired the brand in 1996 and proudly served its signature cylindrical scoops across the West Coast, is now scooping out hundreds of store closures and looking to sell off assets as part of a bankruptcy process, including Thrifty and its El Monte, California-based factory.

• Everstream, a business-only fiber network, is selling most of its operations to stalking horse bidder Bluebird Fiber as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction. This follows earlier sales of its Illinois and St. Louis networks and plans to exit Pennsylvania. The sale to Bluebird includes most assets and comes with a $55 million lifeline in debtor-in-possession financing. Everstream remains open to better offers.

Notes From The Block

New data suggests that, after several volatile years, the behavioral health sector is regaining favor among strategic and financial buyers.

In the first quarter, 47 transactions were reported, including 34 mergers and acquisitions. That’s the highest M&A volume since the fourth quarter of 2022, according to investment banker Kevin Taggart.

In a blog post published this week, Taggart explained that renewed interest in the intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and autism segments was a key driver of the momentum. The firm tallied 12 transactions in Q1, the highest level since 2021.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy providers, in particular, are back in high demand.

"The dust has seemed to settle" following the pandemic-era wage inflation and a wave of bankruptcies among large ABA providers, Taggart, a managing partner at Mertz Taggart, wrote. That shift has led to heightened buyer interest, especially in the wake of major exits.

The mental health subsector continues to show strong and steady deal flow, too. Twenty-nine transactions (19 M&A and 10 growth investments) were announced in Q1, roughly matching the 30 deals reported in Q4 2024.

Demand for psychiatric hospitals is particularly robust, though limited supply constrains deal volume. "We've had more groups ask us for psych hospitals since Q1 this year than probably any quarter in the last three or four years," Taggart said. "But there are fewer smaller operators out there."

Taggart also pointed to an ongoing trend: sustained investor appetite for high-valuation growth deals. "Money has continued to pour into these growth deals, which surprised us a bit," he said, signaling continued bullish sentiment across behavioral health verticals.

For last week’s edition of the Deal Dispatch, click here.

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