Due diligence for assets that are changing underneath the deal
Why commercial, operational and technology diligence must increasingly test future scenarios rather than validate historical performance.
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M&A strategy
Shape M&A strategy from portfolio rationale and target priorities through diligence, value creation and integration.
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Articles
M&A strategy when the obvious targets are gone
How companies can build a stronger acquisition radar by connecting portfolio logic, target intelligence and strategic fit before competition intensifies.
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Buy-and-build works only when scale creates more than a larger collection of assets
The strategy depends on whether acquisitions can improve economics, capabilities, market position or operating leverage across the platform.
Target screening should begin with acquisition criteria, not company databases
A useful radar translates strategic priorities into observable characteristics that distinguish relevant targets from merely available ones.
Strategic challenges
What technology risks are hidden beneath the target's current performance?
The challenge is identifying where architecture, technical debt or cyber exposure may constrain growth or increase post-close investment.
What must integrate first for the deal thesis to remain credible?
The challenge is sequencing change around value drivers and critical dependencies instead of trying to combine everything at once.
POV
A forecast is not commercially credible because the spreadsheet balances
The revenue case should be supported by observable customer and market behavior, not by internal consistency alone.
A synergy without an owner, action and baseline is not value; it is optimism
Deal economics should include only benefits that can be traced to specific changes the combined business can realistically execute.
Strategic impact
A clear consolidation thesis defines where successive deals can reinforce one another
Explicit scale and capability logic helps buyers distinguish coherent platform building from opportunistic asset accumulation.
Failure analysis makes critical deal assumptions easier to challenge
Testing downside pathways helps leadership identify where the transaction is most exposed to execution, market or integration risk.
What we observe
Buy-and-build programs often acquire faster than the platform can integrate
Deal cadence can outrun systems, management capacity and operating-model maturity, leaving value trapped across disconnected assets.
M&A pipelines often become target lists disconnected from portfolio choices
Deal activity can build momentum around available assets even when the strategic reason to own them remains weak or outdated.