Welcome to the M&A Science Fair, the ultimate gathering of the best industry-leading M&A corporate practitioners.
Each attendee will be challenged to ask themselves, "What's your hypothesis?" Bring your ideas, and we'll provide the platform for you to test and refine them with your peers. After all, the best way to learn is through collaboration.
Tired of the old school M&A conferences that teach old school M&A? Join us at the M&A Science Fair to learn from your peers, gain fresh perspectives, and leave with actionable solutions that will take your practice to the next level.
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Agenda
Understanding Corporate and Financial Buyers - A Tale of Two Cities
On the surface they should be very similar, both sourcing deals, negotiating terms and acquiring companies. But look closer and we see radical differences between financial and corporate buyers. In these sessions we'll explore those differences to help each side better understand the other and how to best negotiate with them and against them.
- Different approaches to terms and valuation
- Integration versus freestanding ownership
- Differences in negotiating style
- How different buyer types source deals and engage targets
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Valuations and Terms
Valuation and key terms is where the rubber hits the road. It's easy to talk about how you're going to collaborate with an acquired business and how impressed you are with what they've built. But it's not until you get down to the brass tacks that you know if you have a deal.
- Challenges of valuation in the current market - what metrics do you use, how do you adjust for market volatility?
- Discussing valuation with a target - how to communicate and negotiate valuation with a target (particularly a founder-seller)
- What are other key terms that are critical at the term sheet stage?
- The art of optimization - how do you balance terms to get the best outcome for yourself and the seller.
Working with Management — The Challenges of Partnering with your Operators in M&A Strategy and Execution
Agile M&A Integration
An amazing Integration plan is done. You have stakeholders bought into the plan. And the Steering Committee is queued for engagement. Day 0 comes and goes. Day 1 is here. Then your CFO says that she needs to increase the revenue synergies by 10% and cost synergies need to be upped by another 3%.
How do you adjust? What do you do now?
During our time together, let's discuss:
- Strategically, how do you bake flexibility into your plans for these unexpected situations?
- Tactically, what are ways to adjust when I am 50% into my First 100 Days?
- How do I prepare my Steering Committee to run in a more Agile fashion?
- Epics and Stories - creating holistic and redundant accountability to mitigate risk.
Post-Close Leadership in Focus: Success within the First Six Months
Hypothesis: "Effective leadership integration during the initial six months of an acquisition significantly contributes to the financial success of the transaction."
In the fast-paced world of Mergers and Acquisitions, the initial phase after two firms combine is often likened to a crucible—a critical period where leadership plays a pivotal role in determining the success of the entire endeavor. In this M&A Science Fair session, Klint C. Kendrick, PhD, SPHR and Ned Eustace, MA will delve into the science of leadership during this make-or-break timeframe. Using a framework grounded in a wealth of research and practical insights, honed by involvement in more than 150 combined deals, we will test the hypothesis that Effective leadership integration during the initial six months of an acquisition significantly contributes to the financial success of the transaction.
We’ll journey through the crucial first six months of a new leader's tenure post-acquisition, unveiling the strategic importance of this period. We will explore the leadership skills and style that lead to success – and failure. Finally, we will discuss how we can intentionally support acquired leaders so they can focus on creating lasting value.
By the end of our session, attendees will walk away with a scientific understanding of why leadership matters profoundly in the first six months post-acquisition and, more importantly, practical strategies to cultivate leaders who are not only adept at steering the ship but also driving it towards financial success. Join us in the quest to transform leadership into a catalyst for M&A triumphs.
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M&A Recent Market Trends: A Lawyers’ Perspective
Lowenstein Sandler partners Lesley Adamo, Meredith Beuchaw , and Megan Monson discuss shifting market norms with respect to competitive dynamics, deal structuring, risk allocation, and key employee incentivization.
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What’s the Deal with Deals?
An overview of the current factors affecting the M&A deal environment, multiples, and structures.
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Lessons $1T of Tech — Market Analysis and Trends
M&A Science is all about the… Science of M&A. [What else did you expect us to say?] And so we’re delighted to share at the Science Fair that Matt Van Itallie, Founder and CEO of Sema, along with a special guest, will be giving a private preview of a data analysis of $1 Trillion worth of software and tech-enabled companies.Topics include:
- The “hidden iceberg” of intellectual property risk
- How companies’ risk profile change as they mature
- Why the most important risk about software deals isn’t in the code
