M&A Science

Jeff Wald, co-founder of Bento Engine, shares best practices when selling a business, including thinking about an exit, engaging with investors, and negotiating law firm prices. He also discusses the importance of communication with employees during the deal process and shares tips for successful integration. The podcast episode provides valuable insights and real-life experiences in M&A.

Brent Campbell, Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Alight Solutions (NYSE: ALIT) This episode is sponsored by the M&A Science Academy, DealRoom, and FirmRoom. To join our growing online community of M&A practitioners, visit https://www.mascience.com/academy. Don’t forget to use the code “podcast” at checkout. Ready to take your M&A to the next level with software made to manage each stage of the deal process? See how DealRoom can facilitate your next deal at https://www.dealroom.net. FirmRoom provides 80% cost savings over VDRs that bill by page and delivers a far better user experience to boot. Sign up in under 2 minutes by going to https://www.firmroom.com Episode Timestamps 00:00 Intro 05:46 Importance of Integration 07:38 Gaining integration perspective 10:12 Negative consequences of neglecting integration 12:53 How corporate development can focus on integration 15:38 Challenges in integration 18:22 Challenges in aligning stakeholders 21:04 HSR restrictions 22:27 Integration structure 24:19 Building the integration muscle 32:06 Business sponsor 34:02 How to measure integration success 37:13 Craziest thing in M&A  

Klint Kendrick, HR and M&A Leader | Keynote Speaker | Author of the HR Practitioners Guides to Mergers & Acquisitions This episode is sponsored by the M&A Science Academy, DealRoom, and FirmRoom.  To join our growing online community of M&A practitioners, visit https://www.mascience.com/academy. Don’t forget to use code “podcast” at checkout.  Ready to take your M&A to the next level with software made to manage each stage of the deal process? See how DealRoom can facilitate your next deal at https://www.dealroom.net. FirmRoom provides 80% cost savings over VDRs that bill by page and delivers a far better user experience to boot. Sign up in under 2 minutes by going to https://www.firmroom.com. EPISODE TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 05:30 The role of HR in M&A 09:55 Importance of identifying a potential culture clash 12:40 Cultural due diligence 17:27 Pre-LOI cultural diligence 22:09 Finding culture fit 24:48 Five Areas of culture clash 49:39 Deal-specific considerations 59:48 Taking findings that impact the deal terms 1:02:55 Assessing the level of cultural diligence 1:05:40 Transformative deals 1:09:44 The secret sauce to overcoming culture clash 1:12:44 Craziest thing in M&A  

PJ Patel, Co-CEO & Senior Managing Director at Valuation Research Corporation (VRC) This episode is sponsored by the M&A Science Academy, DealRoom, and FirmRoom. To join our growing online community of M&A practitioners, visit https://www.mascience.com/academy. Don’t forget to use code “podcast” at checkout. Ready to take your M&A to the next level with software made to manage each stage of the deal process? See how DealRoom can facilitate your next deal at https://www.dealroom.net FirmRoom provides 80% cost savings over VDRs that bill by page and delivers a far better user experience to boot. Sign up in under 2 minutes by going to https://www.firmroom.com EPISODE TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 08:37 Market Trends 11:15 Maximizing your company’s valuation 12:24 Growth vs Cash flow 13:35 The effect of Storytelling on valuations 14:27 Investor’s Influence on Valuation 17:14 Things to avoid as an operator 19:14 Common Mistakes in Valuation 20:53 Impairment 23:42 Implications of impairment 25:49 Purchase price allocation 29:05 Earnout structures 32:34 Length of earnouts 32:51 Computing for Earnouts 38:33 Negotiating Earnouts 41:06 Craziest thing in M&A  

Sam Youssef,  Founder and CEO at Valsoft Corporation This episode is sponsored by the M&A Science Academy, DealRoom, and FirmRoom. To join our growing online community of M&A practitioners, visit https://www.mascience.com/academy. Don’t forget to use code “podcast” at checkout. Ready to take your M&A to the next level with software made to manage each stage of the deal process? See how DealRoom can facilitate your next deal at https://www.dealroom.net FirmRoom provides 80% cost savings over VDRs that bill by page and delivers a far better user experience to boot. Sign up in under 2 minutes by going to https://www.firmroom.com EPISODE TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 05:44 Looking at business through a different lens 09:19 Distinguishing good acquirers 11:17 Identifying the right segment and deal size 15:07 Platform play acquisition 19:57 Approaching target companies 23:16 Financial structure 26:09 Challenges in building an M&A muscle 29:42 Driving value from synergies 30:56 Getting the right people 32:49 Sharing learnings 38:39 Craziest thing in M&A  

Kevin Griffin, Executive Director, Corporate Development at JLL (NYSE: JLL) This episode is sponsored by the M&A Science Academy, DealRoom, and FirmRoom. To join our growing online community of M&A practitioners, visit https://www.mascience.com/academy. Don’t forget to use code “podcast” at checkout. Ready to take your M&A to the next level with software made to manage each stage of the deal process? See how DealRoom can facilitate your next deal at https://www.dealroom.net  FirmRoom provides 80% cost savings over VDRs that bill by page and delivers a far better user experience to boot. Sign up in under 2 minutes by going to https://www.firmroom.com EPISODE TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 04:15 Focusing on smaller deals 06:48 Sourcing deals 08:10 Pros and cons of a competitive auction process 15:47 Cons of doing a proprietary deal 18:35 Benefits of doing a proprietary deal 22:15 Relationship problems 23:24 Proprietary deals vs auctions 25:32 Educating founders on the deal process 26:13 Working with lawyers 27:40 Biggest challenge when educating founders 29:42 Valuation 31:09 Negotiation 34:49 Earnouts 41:45 Making earnouts successful 43:19 Retention with smaller companies 44:17 Best Practices to retain people 46:08 Craziest thing in M&A  

Marilyne H. O'Hara, Global Head of M&A Integration at Block (NYSE: SQ) This episode is sponsored by the M&A Science Academy, DealRoom, and FirmRoom.  To join our growing online community of M&A practitioners, visit https://www.mascience.com/academy. Don’t forget to use code “podcast” at checkout.  Ready to take your M&A to the next level with software made to manage each stage of the deal process? See how DealRoom can facilitate your next deal at https://www.dealroom.net  FirmRoom provides 80% cost savings over VDRs that bill by page and delivers a far better user experience to boot. Sign up in under 2 minutes by going to https://firmroom.com  If you’re a head of corporate development and looking to build up a world-class M&A team, reach out to me at kison@mascience.com EPISODE TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 05:20 What is People-Focused Integration 06:02 Ideal Integration Process 08:46 Strong Partnerships With Deal Leads 12:25 Consequences of Late Integration 14:53 Building the Integration Team 20:41 Involving the Integration Team 22:29 Integration Led Diligence 24:07 Building an Agile Team 28:30 Understanding Culture 30:49 Culture Shaping Integration 31:44 Red Flags in Culture Fit 32:46 Best Practices When Onboarding People  39:06 Working with Vendors for People-Focused Integration 40:12 Biggest Challenge 40:36 Advice for First Timer 41:23 Craziest thing in M&A  

Nadia Gil, Chief of Strategic Planning and Corporate Development at Brady, discusses why large companies acquire startups for innovation, challenges in identifying unsuccessful acquisitions, importance of communication during integration, unexpected funding stories, and networking opportunities through golf.

Michael Farlekas is the CEO at E2open Have someone in mind that would be perfect to help build out a new on-demand talent service line at M&A Science? Reach out to Kison at kison@mascience.com   EPISODE TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Introduction 02:24 Background 04:58 14 transactions without a dedicated Corp Dev team 08:47 Networking and scoring the deals 14:34 The hunting part 20:45 Restructuring the business for faster integration 22:04 Approach to due diligence 24:10 Key things to look at pre and post-LOI 25:15 Considering the culture and the people aspect 27:34 Integration 30:20 Budgeting Integration cost 32:19 Go-to-Market Integration 34:14 Acquiring away from the core 36:13 Keys to success 37:38 Go-To-Market Framework 39:54 Advice for first-time acquirers 44:33 Craziest thing in M&A  

Chris Evans, Former Head of Corporate Development Integration at Amazon, shares insights on setting up Day One for a successful acquisition, addressing the importance of communication and integration planning. Other topics include keeping managers engaged, identifying key faces of the acquiring company, and the significance of open and honest communication during the integration process.