Deal Dispatch: Boeing Done With Drones? Plus BP To Sell Lubricants, 7-Eleven Parent Nixes $58 Billion Bid

New On The Block

Boeing (NYSE:BA) is seeking to sell Insitu, a maker of small, long-range military drones, per Bloomberg.

The Arlington County, Virginia-based aerospace company acquired Insitu in 2008. Since then, the business has gone on to make drones for various military, including Ukraine’s. The price tag? $500 million, analysts say.

Meanwhile, BP (LSE: BP) will seek to sell its Castrol lubricants business, noted Bloomberg. It could be worth about $10 billion – a that sum that could help strengthen the company's balance sheet, which is reportedly weaker than its peers.

Cantaloupe (NASDAQ:CTLP), a Malvern, Pennsylvania-based payments processor is exploring a sale or go-private transaction, Reuters reported. Its market cap is currently $713-million.

Private Equity

Sycamore Partners is planning a buyout of Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA). If it succeeds, the firm will prepare a three-part breakup, according to the Financial Times.

The private equity firm envisions three separate businesses with distinct capital structures: the U.S. retail pharmacy, Boots UK and U.S. healthcare. Each division will operate independently.

Updates From The Block

Seven & i (TYO:3382), the owner of 7-Eleven, is under pressure from Artisan Partners to consider a competitive bidding process. The retailer's response to Alimentation Couche-Tard's offer is seen as a test case for Japan's evolving M&A landscape.

Seven & i’s founders, the Ito family, had explored a management buyout that would have been the largest in history but ultimately failed to secure financing. Meanwhile, Couche-Tard remains committed to buying Seven & i’s North American stores. But Japanese franchisees are likely to resist foreign ownership.

Despite being deemed “core” to Japan's national security, the government has stated it would not obstruct a buyout. Separately, Seven & i is close to selling non-core assets to Bain Capital, according to Reuters.

Off The Block

TKO Group (NYSE:TKO), created a year ago from the merger of the WWE and UFC, completed its purchase of IMG, On Location and Professional Bull Riders from Endeavor Group (NYSE:EDR). The acquisition was first announced in October.

Bankruptcy Block

Looks like even the aerospace industry isn't immune to crash landings. Dynamic Aerostructures, which makes high-tech parts for U.S. fighter jets and SpaceX rockets, recently filed for bankruptcy. The company plans to auction itself off in a court-supervised sale.

The company, backed by Endeavour Capital, blames its financial nosedive on quality-control issues, inflation-driven inventory costs and bad customer contracts. The search is on for a buyer, with an April 7 bid deadline set for potential suitors.

With $55 million in debt, FMI Aerostructures has been a key supplier for Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, including making parts for the stealthy B-2 Spirit bomber.

Fast fashion retailer Forever 21 is coming to a screeching halt. The company is expected to shutter all of its stores and liquidate its assets, Debtwire reports. A bankruptcy filing is not yet official. In the event that it is, expect the company’s workforce in shopping malls nationwide to feel the effects. Bloomberg projects that at least 200 locations are preparing to close.

Notes From The Block

M&A activity is rising in digital health, biotech and provider groups as companies seek scale, data integration and new care models, according to consulting firm LBMC. Private equity-backed consolidations in healthcare services remain under scrutiny, while regulatory shifts and a new administration could reshape hospital and tech acquisitions.

Lisa Nix, LBMC shareholder, expects a resurgence in healthcare M&A in 2025, driven by declining interest rates, PE dry powder and a more lenient regulatory environment, setting the stage for transformative deals that could redefine patient care.

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