
Industry M&A Weekly: Cyera's $1B Oasis Buy, argenx's $2.2B Forte Deal, and Two More
A week-ending July 29 briefing on four disclosed transactions across AI security, biotech, oncology, and banking software, with deal structure, economics, buyer rationale, target technology, and cross-deal themes.
The week in one view
Four transactions cleared the channel's inclusion bar for the week ending July 29: Cyera agreed to acquire AI-agent security company Oasis Security for about $1 billion; argenx agreed to buy Forte Biosciences for about $2.2 billion in cash; Scancell and Neuphoria signed an all-share merger tied to up to $89 million of financing; and ServiceNow invested $40 million in banking software company BusinessNext at a $700 million valuation.
The first two are conventional acquisitions. The Scancell transaction is a reverse-merger and financing package whose purchase consideration is not separately disclosed. The ServiceNow deal is a minority strategic stake, not a full buyout.
| Deal | Sector and structure | Disclosed economics | Status as of July 29 | Buyer rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyera / Oasis Security | Enterprise software, AI security acquisition | About $1B, mostly cash with the balance in Cyera shares 1 | Letter of intent; expected to close after definitive documentation | Add non-human identity security to Cyera's data-security platform |
| argenx / Forte Biosciences | Biotech, cash tender offer and merger | About $2.2B total equity value, or $77 per share in cash 2 | Definitive agreement; expected to close in Q3 2026 | Add the anti-CD122 antibody FB102 to argenx's immunology pipeline |
| Scancell / Neuphoria | Biotech, all-share reverse merger plus financing | Merger consideration not separately disclosed; up to $89M financing, including $39.1M private placement, about $12M UK placing, up to $3M retail offer, and up to $25M debt 3 | Signed July 23; subject to shareholder, SEC, and Nasdaq conditions; expected late Q4 2026 | Gain Nasdaq access and fund a Phase 3 melanoma trial |
| ServiceNow / BusinessNext | Fintech software, minority strategic investment | $40M investment at a $700M valuation for roughly 5% 4 | Investment disclosed July 23; partnership to expand globally | Pair ServiceNow's workflow and sales platform with banking-specific software |
Deal notes
Cyera buys the control layer for AI agents
Cyera signed a letter of intent to acquire Oasis Security for approximately $1 billion. The consideration is expected to be mostly cash, with the remainder paid in Cyera shares. Cyera had recently raised $600 million at a $12 billion valuation, and the acquisition would be its third this year. 1
Oasis was founded in 2022 and has raised about $195 million from Accel, Craft Ventures, Cyberstarts, and other investors. Its focus is non-human identities, especially the software identities used by AI agents to access enterprise systems. The product monitors agent behavior and manages permissions across the other software those agents can reach. 1
Cyera plans to integrate Oasis technology into a unified identity and data-security platform. The logic is narrower than a general AI bet: as enterprises deploy more agents, identity controls become part of the security perimeter. Cyera gets a product built around that new class of identity, while Oasis gains access to a company that reported more than $150 million in annual recurring revenue and had raised about $2.3 billion in total funding. Those scale figures are company context, not transaction value. 1
argenx pays cash for a broader immunology option
argenx agreed to acquire Forte Biosciences for about $2.2 billion, paying $77 per share in cash through a tender offer and subsequent merger. The boards approved the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to customary conditions and antitrust clearance. The transaction will be funded entirely from argenx's cash on hand. 2
Forte is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing FB102, a proprietary anti-CD122 monoclonal antibody. CD122 regulates several immune-cell types. Phase 1b data in vitiligo showed a statistically significant treatment benefit, while earlier data in celiac disease were positive; Phase 2 data are expected in the second half of 2026. The program could also extend to alopecia areata and other autoimmune diseases. 2 5
The acquisition builds on argenx's earlier strategic investment in Forte. The buyer is using the cash flow and development infrastructure behind Vyvgart to move from a financial position in Forte to ownership of a program that could reach several autoimmune indications. The risk is also explicit: the price is being paid before Phase 2 data arrive.
Scancell uses a public listing to finance a late-stage trial
Scancell and Neuphoria announced an all-share merger on July 23. The combined company will operate as Scancell and plans to pursue a Nasdaq listing in addition to Scancell's existing AIM listing. Existing Scancell shareholders are expected to own 85.5% of the combined company and Neuphoria shareholders 14.5%, before the effect of the associated financing and other adjustments. 3
The merger consideration is not given as a separate cash or equity value. The disclosed funding package is worth up to $89 million: $39.1 million from a private placement, about $12 million from a UK placing, up to $3 million from a retail offer, and up to $25 million under a non-binding debt term sheet with funds managed by BlackRock. The transaction requires at least $75 million of financing and is expected to complete in late Q4 2026 if shareholder, SEC, and Nasdaq conditions are met. 3
Scancell is a late-stage biotech whose ImmunoBody and Moditope platforms are designed to produce off-the-shelf active cancer immunotherapies. Its lead asset, iSCIB1+, is being developed for advanced melanoma and is moving toward a global registrational Phase 3 study. Modi-1 is in a Phase 2 study in head and neck and renal cancers. 3
Neuphoria is a clinical-stage neuropsychiatric biotech. Its lead candidate, BNC210, is an oral negative allosteric modulator of the alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor for PTSD. After its Phase 3 AFFIRM-1 trial missed its primary and secondary endpoints, Neuphoria halted development in social anxiety disorder and began a strategic review. It had $19.4 million in cash at March 31, 2026, no ongoing revenue, and one employee. The rationale for Scancell is therefore access to a Nasdaq listing, investor base, and financing route, not the acquisition of Neuphoria's non-partnered pipeline. 3
ServiceNow buys a foothold in banking software
ServiceNow invested $40 million in BusinessNext at a $700 million valuation, taking roughly a 5% stake. BusinessNext is a profitable Indian software company founded in 2002. It serves more than 70 banks across India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the United States, and generated about $32 million in revenue in its latest financial year. 4
BusinessNext builds customer-facing banking workflows and an AI-powered platform designed to run on private infrastructure where banks need tighter control over sensitive data. The company employs more than 1,300 people and counts Avataar Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and Ascent Capital among its investors. 4
ServiceNow's workflow platform is stronger in back-office automation, while BusinessNext is built around customer-facing banking operations. The companies plan to sell the combination to financial institutions, using ServiceNow's global sales network to take BusinessNext beyond India. This is a strategic distribution deal with capital attached, rather than a control acquisition. 4
Themes across the four deals
Buyers are paying for a missing capability
The targets are specialized assets: Oasis brings non-human identity security for AI agents; Forte brings a clinical anti-CD122 program; Scancell's Nasdaq route supplies access to U.S. capital for a Phase 3 trial; and BusinessNext brings banking-specific workflows. None of the buyers is buying a broad collection of unrelated products. The value sits in the capability that is difficult to build quickly inside the acquirer.
Structure is matching the risk
The transactions also show four different ways to contain execution risk. Cyera's letter of intent calls for a mostly cash deal with some stock. argenx is paying cash before Forte's Phase 2 data. Scancell is exchanging shares and raising debt and equity around a late-stage clinical program. ServiceNow is taking a minority stake while the commercial partnership develops. The financing form is part of the strategic decision, not a closing detail.
Financial-services expansion is moving through workflow control
ServiceNow's BusinessNext investment adds banking-specific software to an existing enterprise workflow platform. Cyera's Oasis deal applies a similar adjacency logic in security, where AI agents create a new identity layer inside enterprise software. In both cases, the buyer is extending control over a workflow that becomes more valuable as customers add complexity.
Coverage note
Four transactions with disclosed economics or a clearly disclosed associated financing met the issue's inclusion bar for July 22-29. The Scancell merger's purchase consideration is not separately disclosed, so its $89 million figure is presented as financing, not as the value of the acquired company. Undisclosed-price acquisitions and reported approaches were excluded from the counted set.
References
- 1Cyera agrees to acquire Oasis Security for $1B to safeguard proliferating AI agents
- 2argenx to Acquire Forte Biosciences, Inc., Adding First-in-Class anti-CD122 Antibody, FB102, to its Immunology Pipeline
- 3Scancell and Neuphoria Therapeutics Announce Merger Agreement and Financing
- 4ServiceNow bets $40 million on Indian banking software specialist to expand its financial services push
- 5Argenx to acquire Forte in $2.2B deal for "differentiated" immune drug
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