Aon's $17B USI Bet, Lilly's $2.875B Merida Buy, and Two More Deals

The week ending September 2, 2026, brought four disclosed transactions with enough public detail to qualify for this briefing. The largest was Aon's planned $17 billion purchase of USI Insurance Services; Eli Lilly agreed to buy Merida Biosciences for up to $2.875 billion; First Financial agreed to merge with First Illinois in a deal valued at about $111.3 million; and BitGo completed its purchase of NYDIG's institutional trading business. The mix is heavier in biotech and adjacent financial services than in enterprise software: no SaaS transaction in the window cleared the evidence bar for disclosed economics and usable deal detail.

Aon said on August 31 that it would buy USI Insurance Services from KKR for $17 billion. The definitive agreement is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Aon plans to fund the purchase with debt and has said that debt repayment will take priority over near-term share buybacks. 1

USI was founded in 1994 and provides property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal risk, program, and retirement services. Reuters described USI as the tenth-largest U.S. insurance brokerage, with about $3 billion in annual revenue. Aon said the acquisition will expand its U.S. middle-market footprint and access to the excess-and-surplus segment, while also adding scale to its health, talent, and human-capital advisory offerings. 1

The asset being bought is distribution and advisory reach in a fragmented brokerage market. The $17 billion headline therefore sits alongside a financing choice: Aon is adding a large operating platform while taking on debt and delaying buybacks as it works through the purchase. 1

Eli Lilly and Merida Biosciences announced a definitive acquisition agreement on August 31. Lilly will pay up to $2.875 billion in cash, with the total including an upfront payment and contingent milestone payments. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. 2

Merida is developing biologics that selectively degrade pathogenic autoantibodies, the antibodies that drive some autoimmune and allergic diseases. The approach is designed to remove those disease drivers while preserving normal immune function, rather than broadly suppressing the immune system. Merida's lead asset, MER511, is in Phase 1 development for Graves' disease and thyroid eye disease. The pipeline also includes preclinical MER769 for food allergy, asthma, and chronic spontaneous urticaria, alongside earlier kidney-disease programs. 2

Lilly is buying a precision-immunology platform with a clinical lead asset and possible applications across several antibody-driven diseases. The economics place the upfront consideration and the future milestones in one maximum value, so the headline amount describes the full potential payment rather than cash delivered at signing. 2

First Financial Corporation and First Illinois Corporation announced a definitive merger agreement on August 27. First Illinois will merge into First Financial in a stock/cash transaction valued at approximately $111.3 million, based on First Financial's August 26 closing share price. First Illinois shareholders may elect 0.5727 First Financial shares or $44.35 in cash per share, subject to a 70% stock and 30% cash mix. The parties expect to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. 3

First Illinois is the holding company for Hickory Point Bank and Trust, a community bank founded in 1979. Hickory Point operates eight branches in Decatur, Springfield, and Champaign. As of June 30, 2026, the bank had approximately $717 million in assets, $438 million in loans, and $627 million in deposits. 3

First Financial said the combination will expand its Illinois franchise, add core deposits, and improve funding liquidity. The target's value sits in branch coverage, deposit funding, and relationship banking across three central Illinois markets. The transaction is a bank merger with a mixed stock/cash consideration, rather than a cash purchase of a standalone technology asset. 3

BitGo entered into a two-step merger agreement with NYDIG IHC LLC and NYDIG IF Holdings LLC on August 27 and completed the mergers promptly after execution. The disclosed consideration was $7 million in cash plus approximately $35.5 million in BitGo common stock. The sellers also received a contingent right to $10 million in cash if one revenue milestone is reached, plus up to $5 million in cash and additional shares tied to a second milestone. Employee retention awards are separate from purchase consideration. 4

The acquired asset was NYDIG's institutional trading business and related assets, rather than NYDIG as a whole. About 30 NYDIG employees and the business's institutional client trading relationships joined BitGo. The business adds derivatives, structured products, financing, and capital-markets services for asset managers, hedge funds, corporates, family offices, and other institutional clients. 5

BitGo said the acquisition complements its regulated custody, settlement, wallet, and existing trading infrastructure by adding financing and derivatives capabilities. NYDIG said the transaction lets it focus on power generation, bitcoin mining, and high-performance-computing data-center development; its stated development pipeline exceeds 3 GW, with more than 1 GW deliverable in 2027 and 2028. 5

The transaction gives BitGo a completed operating capability and client franchise on day one, while its maximum economics remain partly tied to future revenue milestones. That combination makes the transaction structurally different from Lilly's pending acquisition: BitGo acquired a defined business unit and closed it immediately, while Lilly agreed to buy an entire biotech company subject to closing conditions. 245

Aon is buying USI's reach into U.S. middle-market insurance and the excess-and-surplus segment. First Financial is adding branches, deposits, loans, and local customer relationships in central Illinois. BitGo is adding NYDIG's institutional trading team and client franchise to its custody and settlement platform. Lilly is adding Merida's platform, clinical program, and pipeline across autoimmune and allergic disease. Across four different deal types, the purchased capability is a route to customers, assets, or future products that can be combined with the buyer's existing platform. 1235

The four headline amounts cannot be read as one comparable cash measure. Aon's $17 billion purchase is debt-funded. Lilly's $2.875 billion is a maximum cash amount that includes milestones. First Financial's $111.3 million value is based on a reference share price and a 70% stock / 30% cash mix. BitGo's consideration combines cash, buyer shares, and future milestone payments. The structure determines how much value is delivered at signing, how much depends on closing, and how much depends on future performance. 1234

This issue covers governing announcement or closing dates from August 27 through September 2, 2026, inclusive. The four entries use Reuters, an original company release distributed through PRNewswire, an original company release distributed through GlobeNewswire, and BitGo's SEC filing and filed exhibit. No enterprise SaaS transaction with disclosed economics and enough accessible detail qualified for inclusion in this window; the issue therefore carries three adjacent financial-services or banking entries alongside one biotech acquisition rather than filling the count with terms-undisclosed software deals.