The acquisition talked about in the original post wasn't much more than a life-saver for the company so in that regard you could call it life-changing in that many of the fine folks I worked with wouldn't have lost their job.

It would have been very very far from what you usually call an exit, though. Nobody would have cashed out, except maybe some of the VCs and I'm not sure if they'd have called it a successful exit in terms of financial win.