Bending Spoons' $1.36B Miro Buy, J&J's $20B Orthopedics Talks, and Four More Deals

Six transactions announced between September 10 and September 16, 2026 carry enough public detail to compare. Two of them are talks rather than signed agreements, and the week's largest number belongs to a company selling a business. The entries run below from the largest disclosed or reported value to the smallest.

Bloomberg News reported on September 11 that Apollo Global Management is in talks to acquire Johnson & Johnson's orthopedics unit in a deal that could value it at close to $20 billion, and that an agreement could be reached within several weeks. Johnson & Johnson has also kept open the option of spinning the unit off as a publicly traded company, and several private equity firms have expressed interest. Neither company commented on the report. 1

The unit, DePuy Synthes, makes joint implants and surgical devices and generated $9.3 billion of revenue in 2025. It also carries thousands of lawsuits tied to hip replacement devices. 1

Johnson & Johnson said last year that it planned to separate DePuy Synthes into a standalone company within 18 to 24 months. Chief Financial Officer Joe Wolk has said the company's primary focus was a tax-free spin-off, while remaining open to other routes, and that the separation process was already under way. 1

Grab said on September 15 that it had signed definitive agreements to acquire a controlling 60% equity interest in Atome Financial, the digital financial services arm of Advance Intelligence Group, for $1.49 billion in cash. Of that, $260 million is primary growth capital going into the business. Grab expects the first phase to complete by the third quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals, after which it will consolidate Atome into its financial services segment and keep Atome's management team in place. 3

The remaining 40% is priced later. Grab agreed to buy it roughly two years after the first closing, under a pre-agreed valuation framework instead of a fixed price: a multiple of 13.0 times annualised adjusted EBITDA weighted at 75%, and 2.5 times annualised revenue weighted at 25%, each measured on the six months immediately before the second closing. At least half of that later consideration is to be settled in cash, and Reuters reported the framework values Atome at between $2 billion and $4.5 billion. 23

Atome was founded eight years ago and lends in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand through buy now, pay later loans, consumer cash loans, buy now, pay later cards and digital lending. The company reports 25 million cumulative transacted users, a $1 billion gross loan portfolio and a merchant network of more than 30,000 brands. 3

Grab's stated reason for buying rather than building is speed. President and Chief Operating Officer Alex Hungate said the acquisition lets Grab "leapfrog the timeline" for expansion into the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, and that developing the credit models itself would have taken years and absorbed the losses that come with refining them. Grab operates in more than 900 Southeast Asian cities and runs licensed digital lenders in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and Hungate said the company's three digital banks could lower the cost of funding Atome's loan book. 2 Alongside the announcement, Grab raised its 2028 targets to $1.7 billion in adjusted EBITDA and revenue growth above 30% a year from 2025, with the financial services segment contributing $500 million of adjusted EBITDA and a gross loan portfolio above $6 billion. 3

Grab said the purchase is funded entirely from existing cash and is expected to add to group adjusted EBITDA once the deal completes. 3

Bending Spoons, the Milan-based software group that listed on Nasdaq in July, agreed on September 10 to acquire Miro for $1.355 billion in enterprise value. Including Miro's net cash, the transaction implies an equity value of about $1.79 billion. The deal is all cash and covers 100% of Miro's shares, and the two boards approved it unanimously. Closing is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. 45

Some Miro shareholders are staying in: they agreed to invest $295 million of their proceeds into newly issued Bending Spoons equity, a sum that is separate from the purchase price and returns part of it to the buyer in the form of new shares. 4

Miro started in 2011 as a whiteboarding tool and now sells an AI workspace for brainstorming, product design, workflow mapping and project management. It reports about $600 million in annual recurring revenue, close to 90% of it from business and enterprise customers, more than 250,000 customer organizations, more than 100 million users of whom roughly 4 million pay, and more than 750 customers each worth over $100,000 a year. 45 TechCrunch reported that Miro is profitable and holds about $435 million in net cash, and that the company was valued at $17.5 billion in late 2021, which puts this price roughly 90% lower. 10

Bending Spoons describes its method plainly: it buys digital businesses, restructures teams, technology, interfaces and monetisation, then reinvests the earnings in further acquisitions. Its portfolio already includes Airtable, AOL, Brightcove, Eventbrite, Evernote, Tractive, Vimeo and WeTransfer, and it completed the Airtable purchase in the week before this one. Chief Executive Luca Ferrari said the company plans to invest substantially in performance, reliability and functionality after closing, and that it intends to own and operate Miro for the long term. 45

The Financial Times reported on September 13 that GE HealthCare is in talks over a possible $1 billion acquisition of Sofie Biosciences, and that an announcement could come as soon as the following week. Reuters, which carried the report, could not verify it independently; GE HealthCare declined to comment and Sofie Biosciences could not be reached. 6

Sofie, based in Dulles, Virginia, manufactures and develops radiopharmaceuticals, the radioactive chemicals used in scans, and runs a contract manufacturing business alongside a production and distribution network. Its pipeline is led by [18F]FAPI-74, a fluorine-18 labelled tracer targeting fibroblast activation protein, which is in two Phase 3 diagnostic studies: one in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, where the first patient was dosed in February 2026 across a planned 18 sites and about 200 subjects, and a companion study in gastroesophageal cancers that began dosing in December 2025. 7

The buyer logic runs through GE HealthCare's pharmaceutical diagnostics division, which supplies the agents and chemicals used in scans. GE HealthCare has been buying capacity since it separated from General Electric in the 2024 three-way split: it bought imaging software provider Intelerad for $2.3 billion, and Sofie would be its second major acquisition as an independent company. 611

GSK said on September 15 that it had agreed to acquire a trispecific T cell-engager from Chimagen Biosciences, a privately held biotechnology company, together with full global rights to the program. The agreement has a total potential value of up to $750 million, made up of an upfront fee that GSK did not quantify and success-based development and commercial milestones. It remains subject to customary closing conditions, and the program is expected to enter Phase 1 trials in 2027. 8

The asset is a T cell-engager built to bind T cells while targeting two tumour-associated antigens, a design GSK says is meant to produce a deeper and more durable response than existing T cell-engagers, which have shown strong efficacy in multiple myeloma alongside difficult tolerability. GSK plans to develop and commercialise it for multiple myeloma, the third most common blood cancer, with about 180,000 new cases diagnosed worldwide each year. 8

Chimagen is a clinical-stage company that engineers multi-specific T cell-engagers and natural killer cell-engagers. GSK has bought from it before: the two companies signed an earlier agreement covering CMG1A46, a clinical-stage dual CD19 and CD20-targeted T cell-engager in Phase 1 for B-cell malignancies and autoimmune disorders. 8

Because the upfront payment is undisclosed, the split between cash paid at signing and value contingent on the program reaching the clinic and the market cannot be established from GSK's announcement. 8

Axogen said on September 10 that it had entered a definitive agreement to acquire BioCircuit Technologies for $200 million in cash at closing, subject to customary adjustments for cash, debt, transaction expenses and net working capital, with $1 million of the estimated consideration withheld until the post-closing purchase price adjustment is settled. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, after BioCircuit completes the spin-out of its electronics research and development business, and Axogen expects to fund it with the proceeds of a public share offering it announced the same day. 9

BioCircuit, based in Atlanta, develops devices for peripheral nerve repair and neuromodulation, with work in biomaterials, precision Nitinol design and manufacturing, and bioelectronics. Its first commercial product, NerveTape, is the first FDA-cleared sutureless device for repairing transected nerves, letting surgeons align, connect and protect a severed nerve without microsutures. 9

Axogen sells peripheral nerve repair products and describes its reason for buying as reach. NerveTape reduces a surgeon's dependence on microsurgical skill, which opens nerve repair to more surgeons and more care settings, and Axogen expects to accelerate adoption through its own sales force, surgeon relationships and hospital contracts. The company says the acquisition should add to revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA margin and adjusted earnings per share in the first year after closing while it remains free cash flow positive. 9

Three of this week's entries show the gap between a stated value and the amount committed. Grab pays $1.49 billion now and prices the remaining 40% of Atome two years later off a formula tied to EBITDA and revenue, with the eventual total somewhere between $2 billion and $4.5 billion on Reuters's reading. GSK's $750 million is a maximum that includes milestones, against an upfront payment the company did not disclose. Bending Spoons's $1.355 billion is an enterprise value, and the equity value including Miro's net cash is about $1.79 billion, while $295 million of the sellers' proceeds comes back into Bending Spoons shares. Axogen's $200 million is cash at closing, still subject to working capital and other adjustments. Reading these figures side by side requires the structure beside each one. 3489

What the buyers picked up this week was scale that already exists. Miro brings 250,000 customer organizations and roughly $600 million of recurring revenue. Atome brings 25 million cumulative users, a $1 billion loan book and a merchant network of more than 30,000 brands. Sofie would bring a radiopharmaceutical production and distribution network and a contract manufacturing business. DePuy Synthes is a $9.3 billion revenue unit with an installed base of joint implants. BioCircuit brings a device that has already cleared the FDA, which Axogen intends to push through its existing hospital contracts. Each acquirer contributes distribution, capital or a sales force to an asset that is already selling. 1349

Apollo's approach to DePuy Synthes and GE HealthCare's approach to Sofie Biosciences are both reported negotiations, sourced to Bloomberg News and the Financial Times respectively and unconfirmed by the companies involved. Neither has a signed agreement, neither has disclosed terms, and Johnson & Johnson retains the spin-off alternative. Both reports put a value on the target before any deal exists, which makes them indications of what the assets might fetch rather than committed prices. The four signed transactions in this issue — Grab, Bending Spoons, GSK and Axogen — each carry their own execution risk in the form of regulatory approvals or closing conditions, but their economics are on the record. 16

This issue covers announcement and report dates from September 10 through September 16, 2026 inclusive, and lists entries in descending order of disclosed or reported value. It draws on Reuters reporting, the buyer and seller announcements published by Bending Spoons, Grab, GSK and Axogen, the Financial Times report as carried by Reuters, the Bloomberg News report as carried by Reuters, TechCrunch, and SOFIE's own pipeline disclosure. Two announcements from immediately before this window, the Cegid–Silae software merger above €10 billion and PayTabs' $100 million purchase of Amazon Payment Services MENA, fall in the previous issue's period.

Candidates considered and left out for want of terms: Envestnet's agreement to acquire Vestmark, announced September 9, where the price was not disclosed; Superhuman's acquisition of the notetaker Fathom on September 14, also without a disclosed price; and a reported take-private approach to SPS Commerce that has not produced any figure. OpenAI's reported purchase of camera-technology startup Glass Imaging, at more than $300 million, sits outside this channel's three sectors.