A Comparison of Buy-Side and Sell-Side Virtual Deal Rooms

Intro: When it comes to confidential data transfers for M&A and other types of corporate dealmaking, virtual data rooms (VDRs) have become an invaluable tool for corporations, investors and other entities that need to securely share large amounts of information. The two major types of deal rooms have different use cases. Buy-side VDRs and sell-side … Read more

4 Ways an M&A Platform Can Enable Efficient, Collaborative Due Diligence

Introduction: Playbooks, virtual data rooms, and project management platforms all address the never ending quest to ease the overwhelming and disjointed nature of due diligence. Undoubtedly, advancements in technology have allowed for the largest improvements. More specifically, platforms designed for M&A deal management eliminate siloed teams and disjointed communications that have long plagued deal flow. Moreover, leveraging … Read more

7+ M&A Pipeline Metrics You Should Be Tracking Part 2

7+ M&A Pipeline Metrics

Introduction: Streamlining and assessing your pipeline management is non-negotiable if you are a serial acquirer or serious about leveraging M&A for growth or value creation. The data you can capture from your pipeline is critical to extracting value from the deal. In addition, it provides an opportunity for the M&A team to learn and continue … Read more

Developing a Systematic & Repeatable M&A Process: From Strategy to Acquisition Management

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Portions of this post were originally published in 2019 and have been updated to include more in-depth and up-to-date information. The most successful acquirers in M&A take a proactive, systematic, and repeatable approach to screening targets and originating deals. They actively manage an M&A pipeline of suitable acquisition targets rather than making knee-jerk reactions to deals. They … Read more

Doing Multiple Deals a Year: The Case for M&A Pipeline Software

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Undoubtedly, leveraging M&A activity can bring unprecedented value to companies. More specifically, frequent buyers (sometimes referred to as serial acquirers) — no matter their size — increase company value faster than infrequent acquirers. However, simply entering the M&A arena does not guarantee value creation — especially in the competitive post COVID-19 marketplace. In fact, it is only … Read more

Cybersecurity Due Diligence in M&A Transactions

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Introduction Each year the financial consequence of data breaches creeps higher and higher. On average in 2021, a data breach cost a company $4.24 million, which is a 10% increase in the average cost compared to 2019. Of course, for companies in specific industries such as finance and healthcare, the damages can be even higher. … Read more

M&A Target Scoring Best Practices & Current Trends

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This post was originally published in November 2021 and updated in August 2022 to include up-to-date information. Introduction Companies engaged in the world of M&A need to be focused in their intent and execution of deals if they are to realize maximum value from deals. How best to do this?  First, an overarching strategy must … Read more

How to Select Deal Flow Management Software

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Properly leveraging M&A software is one of the foundational elements of building internal M&A capabilities and extracting deal value, but with so many offerings on the market, the process of selecting the best one has become cumbersome. Unfortunately, the price of choosing the wrong deal management software is quite high.  According to Bain & Company, current key trends … Read more

Expert Insights: M&A Strategies for Frequent Acquirers

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Introduction: Located in North Carolina, CREO, Inc. is an innovative management consulting firm that provides expertise throughout the M&A process to companies engaging in inorganic growth. CREO is led by Susan Acker-Walsh, who is both co-founder and CEO. Acker-Walsh herself boasts a 35 year background in Corporate Development, leadership, and transactions related work. Though the … Read more