As mentioned in the article in the first paragraph:

"and it took a failed M&A process to get here"

Second paragraph:

"especially in the wake of the M&A process[0] that ended earlier this year right back where I'd started"

[0]: https://www.troyhunt.com/project-svalbard-have-i-been-pwned-...

Yes. Just last year. Sounds like this action is a result of that failure.

https://threatpost.com/troy-hunt-sell-have-i-been-pwnd/14556...