Wolfgang Schenk, VP of M&A at Belden

Opportunistic M&A can lead to bad acquisitions that don’t align with the company’s overall strategic goals. This creates a disjointed portfolio and integration challenges that could cause massive value leaks.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Wolfgang Schenk, VP of M&A at Belden, discusses the art of executing programmatic M&A to increase chances of M&A success.

Things you will learn in this episode:

• Benefits of programmatic M&A

• Required team for programmatic M&A

• Collaborating with the M&A team

• Transitioning to programmatic M&A

• Achieving team alignment

This episode is sponsored by DealRoom.

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://dealroom.net

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Episode Timestamps

00:00 Intro
05:57 Programmatic M&A
10:32 Benefits of programmatic M&A
12:39 Formulating the strategy
15:32 Challenging the strategy
16:24 Required team for programmatic M&A
18:37 Collaborating with the M&A team
24:02 Transitioning to programmatic M&A
26:08 Achieving team alignment
28:23 Success metrics in programmatic M&A
31:32 Pitching deals to executive
32:23 The hardest part of doing programmatic M&A
33:18 AI in M&A
40:45 Craziest thing in M&A

Tobias Gwisdalla, Head of Group M&A at GEA Group (G1A:FRA)

Transformative M&A is becoming increasingly critical in today's business landscape, especially for industries facing significant regulatory and market pressures.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, we will discuss how to execute transformative M&A to change business models, featuring Tobias Gwisdalla, Head of Group M&A at GEA Group.

Things you will learn in this episode:

• Transformative M&A

• Employee unions

• Biggest challenges in transformative M&A

• Success metrics

• Transforming business models

This episode is sponsored by the DealRoom.

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://dealroom.net

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Episode Timestamps

00:00 Intro
04:20 Transformative M&A
05:00 Governance
05:52 A story of a transformative deal
11:38 Employee unions - germany per history
17:36 Supervisory board
20:35 Biggest challenges in transformative M&A
25:59 Success metrics
28:50 Internal rate of return
35:05 Complexities of deals in Germany
40:48 Transforming business models
43:06 Promoting change as a shareholder
45:01 Craziest thing in M&A

M&A processes can vary from country to country, making cross-border deals extremely challenging. Understanding the cultural differences is crucial for a smooth transaction.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, we focus on how to do M&A deals in Germany, featuring Frank Tepper-Sawicki, Partner, Corporate M&A, Private Equity, and Venture Capital at Dentons.

Things you will learn:

• How dealmaking is different in Germany

• Structuring Deals in Germany

• Letter of Intent in Germany

• Prioritizations during deals in Germany

• Regulatory issues in Germany

This episode is sponsored by the DealRoom

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://dealroom.net

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Episode Timestamps

00:00 Intro

03:49 How dealmaking is different in Germany

05:48 Private Equity Emerging in Germany

07:47 Structuring Deals in Germany

16:33 Letter of Intent in Germany

22:11 Prioritizations during deals in Germany

24:59 Transparency in Germany

26:17 Regulatory issues in Germany

28:17 Laying off people in Germany

30:15 Biggest risk when doing deals in Germany

32:43 M&A culture in Germany

35:00 Dealing with people from Germany

37:28 M&A process in Germany

39:18 Craziest thing in M&A

Artificial Intelligence has taken the world by storm, and there seems to be no way of stopping it. Every industry in the world has adopted AI, and M&A is no different. The integration of AI is revolutionizing how deals are sourced, evaluated, and executed. In short, AI is becoming an indispensable tool for M&A professionals.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, we discuss how to make AI practical in M&A featuring two AI specialists: Michael Bachman, Head of Research, Architecture, and AI Strategy at Boomi, Chris Cappetta, Principal Solutions Architect at Boomi.

Things you will learn:

• Retrieval augmented generation

• Large language models

• Discriminative vs Generative AI

• Fine-tuning

• Agents

This episode is sponsored by FirmRoom.

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

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Episode Timestamps

00:00 Intro
03:07 Making AI practical
04:36 Retrieval augmented generation
10:07 Large language models
13:15 Discriminative vs. Generative AI
16:37 Fine tuning
22:14 Agents
28:46 Real-life use cases of AI

Steve Lucas, CEO of Boomi

The technology industry is currently experiencing significant growth, particularly with the emergence of artificial intelligence. This trend has not only attracted significant investments but has also intensified the competition among tech companies striving to lead the market. This has made the tech space a prime area for M&A. Boomi is one of those companies who have recently made a significant move via acquisitions.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, we will discuss how to source deals in the tech space with Steve Lucas, CEO of Boomi.

Things you will learn:

• Approach on strategy

• Acquiring capabilities

• Deal sourcing in M&A

• Building relationships

• Negotiations during M&A

This episode is sponsored by DealRoom.

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://dealroom.net

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Episode Timestamps

00:00 Intro
10:16 Boomi’s approach on strategy
16:32 Acquiring capabilities
18:55 Deal sourcing in M&A
22:12 Building relationships
25:45 Convincing someone to sell their business
30:51 Example of pitch
32:31 Negotiations during M&A
36:08 Tips on negotiating
38:45 M&A at Boomi
41:43 Making integration successful
47:26 AI in M&A
52:44 Boomi’s future
45:26 Craziest thing in M&A

Michael Frankel, Founder and Managing Partner of Trajectory Capital.

Here at M&A Science, our goal is to bring you the best and most effective techniques to improve your M&A practice.

In light of our 300th podcast episode, we have compiled the top 10 things that make M&A successful, together with Michael Frankel, Founder and Managing Partner of Trajectory Capital.

Things you will learn:

• Alignment in the shared vision of the end-state

• Cultural alignment

• Reverse Diligence

• Continuous learning and improvement

• Empathetic leadership

This episode is sponsored by FirmRoom.

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

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Episode Bookmarks

00:00 Intro
05:58 Alignment in the shared vision of the end-state
10:51 Cultural alignment
15:03 Joint Go-to-market planning pre-LOI
20:24 Parallel diligence and integration planning
24:33 Reverse Diligence
27:13 Communication strategy with stakeholders
32:37 Continuous learning and improvement
35:16 Anticipate functional challenges
39:52 Empathetic leadership
44:47 Proper preparation
47:56 Craziest thing in M&A

Jeremy Segal, Executive Vice President Corporate Development at Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS)

When it comes to M&A, time is of the essence. As a buyer, it’s best to identify whether to pursue the deal or not as soon as possible, to avoid wasting money and time. Also, if the seller is a good target company, procrastinating could lead to more competition.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Jeremy Segal, Executive Vice President Corporate Development at Progress, shares their strategy on how to close deals in 30 days.

Things you will learn:

• Initial conversations with the target company

• Price negotiations

• Preliminary due diligence list

• Deal specific adjustments

• Confirmatory due diligence

This episode is sponsored by the DealRoom.

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://dealroom.net

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Episode Bookmarks

00:00 Intro
04:16 Initial conversations with the target company
08:56 Price negotiations
12:33 Preliminary due diligence list
17:05 When to ask questions
18:34 People Involved
19:10 Sales and Go-to-Market
21:02 Revenue Synergies
23:43 Customer Journey
24:26 Surprises
27:40 Customer Success
28:46 Financials
32:11 Red flags in people
32:47 Information Technology
34:28 Legal
36:48 Marketing
39:19 Breakdown of COGS
41:30 Benefits Template
42:56 Operating Expenses
43:58 General
44:58 Deal specific adjustments
45:56 Processing the preliminary diligence information
47:11 Confirmatory due diligence
50:40 Craziest thing in M&A

Steven Freidkin, CEO and Founder of Ntiva, Inc. and Christopher Vollmond-Carstens, Chief M&A Officer at Ntiva, Inc.

In a highly fragmented industry, roll-ups are a great growth strategy. But integrating multiple entities can be difficult, especially if you don’t have a proven framework. Ntiva has been successful in its M&A strategy and has completed 15 acquisitions as of today.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Steven Freidkin, CEO and Founder of Ntiva, Inc. and Christopher Vollmond-Carstens, Chief M&A Officer at Ntiva, Inc., share their strategy on how to execute the roll-up strategy in the tech industry.

Things you will learn:

• Creating value using a roll-up strategy

• Evaluating a target company

• Importance of recurring revenue

• Red flags pre-LOI

• Biggest advice for first-timers

This episode is sponsored by the DealRoom.

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://dealroom.net

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Episode Bookmarks

00:00 Intro

08:04 Creating value using roll-up strategy

12:38 Pitching to private equity

18:32 Evaluating a target company

22:30 Importance of recurring revenue

23:35 Customer Concentration

26:42 Challenges of doing roll-ups

30:36 Mismanaging M&A

37:52 Deal Sourcing

43:46 Red flags pre-LOI

46:53 Deal structure on roll-ups

51:52 Biggest advice for first-timers

52:46 Craziest thing in M&A