M&A Science

Matt Arsenault, VP of Corporate Development at Jamf

Too many times, we've seen M&A used as a strategy to grow businesses. But in fact, M&A is not a strategy, it's a tool that organizations use to achieve their corporate strategy.

But once you understand your true north, having an M&A strategy is just as important.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Matt Arsenault, VP of Corporate Development at Jamf, talks about how to formulate an M&A strategy.

You will also learn:

- The importance of an M&A strategy

- How socializing your strategy can help you source deals

- Creating your own M&A scorecard

- Challenges in developing your M&A strategy

- Lessons learned along the way

To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.

Ian Burk, EVP of integration at Upland Software (NASDAQ: UPLD)

The importance of integration has never been more prevalent. And standing up a dedicated function to oversee integration is becoming more of a necessity as a company grows more prominent.

Having an integration management office (IMO) might be a good fit for your company. But how do you stand up to such a function?

In this episode of the M&A Science podcast, Ian Burk, EVP of integration at Upland Software, talks about how to stand up an IMO.

You will also learn:

-What is the primary role of an integration management office

-The actual steps in standing up an IMO

-How to build playbooks

-Best practices during integration

-The importance of executive sponsorship

To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.

Austin Woody, Senior Vice President of M&A and Corporate Development at Upland Software(NASDAQ: UPLD)

From zero revenue to a billion-dollar market capitalization, Upland Software has exponentially grown its business through acquisitions. How did Upland Software do it?

In this episode of the M&A Science podcast, Austin Woody, Senior Vice President of M&A and Corporate Development at Upland Software, explains how to grow purely on acquisitions.

You will also learn:

- How Upland Software source deals

- Standing up an M&A function

- What their integration process looks like

- How they look at culture

- Biggest lessons learned

To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.

Scott Hile, Senior Director - Corporate Strategy & Development at Enviva (NYSE: EVA)

With so many companies out there, how do you know who to approach as a potential M&A target? Having a solid origination process helps teams save time and money by enabling them to target the right entities. In this episode of the M&A science podcast, Scott Hile, Senior Director, Corporate Strategy & Development at Enviva, talks about how to tie deal origination to strategy development.

Things you will learn in this episode:

- How to funnel a target list

- Importance of trust during outreach

- Tools that can help source deals

- How to do cold outreach

- Effective messaging during first interactions with a target company

To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.

Sreepathy Viswanathan, Chief Corporate Development Officer, HGS Healthcare (HGS.NS)

An M&A transaction can be an expensive mistake, and you can waste a lot of time and money if you pursue a transaction without a solid M&A strategy.

On the other hand, a solid strategy allows you to pick the right targets and pursue them proactively.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Sreepathy Viswanathan, Chief Corporate Development Officer, HGS Healthcare, who has 25 years of experience in Corp Dev, talks about how to build a great M&A strategy.

Things you will learn in this episode:

- The Importance of M&A strategy

- How to shape your M&A strategy

- The difference between M&A strategy and corporate strategy

- The integration's role in strategy

- How relationships affect M&A deals

To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.

Daniel Burseth, Vice President at Eckhart, Inc.

Roll-ups are one of the fastest ways to grow a business in a fragmented industry. But combining several entities with different cultures can be challenging and may lead to inefficiencies.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Daniel Burseth, Vice President at Eckhart, talks about the opportunities and challenges of rolling up small manufacturing companies.

Things you will learn in this episode:

- The great wealth transfer

- Challenges in buying a business

- How to grow technical leadership talent

- The significant trends of automation

- Change management challenge

To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.

John Morada, COO at M&A Science + DealRoom Are you looking to pivot into an M&A integration career? Over the past decade, the importance of integration has become more prevalent. Practitioners have realized that integration is where you make or break value. However, the role and skills needed for integration leaders remain the same.

In this episode of the M&A Science podcast, John Morada, COO at M&A Science, will be sharing how to pivot into an M&A integration career, and the essential skills needed for the role.

Things you will learn in this episode:

- How to transition to an M&A integration role

- Attributes of a good integration leader

- Primary role of an integration leader

- Future of M&A integration

- Importance and function of an IMO

To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.

Larry Forman, Senior Manager at Deloitte

It's no secret that M&A transactions require negotiations. But what most people don't realize is how you approach negotiations can determine the success of the overall transaction and your future relationship with the other party.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Larry Forman, Senior Manager at Deloitte, helps us understand how to approach M&A negotiations to increase deal success.

Things you will learn in this episode:

- The three pillars of negotiating

- How to negotiate an LOI

- Negotiating sensitive information during diligence

- How to handle limitations of liability

- Things to watch out for in non-compete clauses

To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.

Naomi O'Brien, Head of M&A Integration at Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON)

Is your company's M&A process out of date? M&A has dramatically changed over the past few years, and practitioners have realized that there are better ways to go about acquisitions.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Naomi O'Brien, Head of M&A Integration at Honeywell, talks about modernizing a process-based company.

- Things you will learn in this episode:

- The biggest challenge in a process-based company

- How to train people for M&A

- Ensuring integration success

- Selecting integration leaders

- The effect of the great resignation to M&A

To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.

Kerry Perez, Head of Diligence and Integration Management Office (M&A) at AMN Healthcare Corporate development typically involves their integration team a couple of weeks before closing a deal. And while this is good practice, we are here to take things further.

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Kerry Perez, Head of Diligence and Integration Management Office (M&A) at AMN Healthcare, talks about the benefits of involving integration earlier and how to stand up a diligence and integration management office.

Things you will learn in this episode:

-The difference between DIMO and IMO

-How they pick the integration lead

-What their diligence team looks like

-Kerry's role in every deal

-How to build a steering committee

To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.