Interviews with experts

Check out our exclusive interviews with M&A practitioners where they share their experiences, knowledge, and advice.

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How to Structure Teams Approaching M&A Diligence

Every company that does M&A has varying team sizes and many attributing factors as to how their deal team is currently constructed.

Interview with:
Ken Bond
Head of Corporate Development at Cetera Financial Group
Dec 1
Diligence

How to Negotiate and Structure NDAs

An NDA is not a routine document in an M&A deal. It is vital in setting up the relationship of both parties as they move forward. Discussing in-depth how to negotiate and structure NDAs in an M&A deal is Mark Khavkin, CFO at Pantheon Platform.

Interview with:
Mark Khavkin
CFO at Pantheon Platform
Nov 23

Buy or Build Considerations in M&A

Before you start making any acquisition, buy or build considerations should always be a part of your decision. In this interview, Cameron Weiner, VP of Strategic Development, Head of M&A at Shopko Optical, shares how he determines if you should buy or build.

Interview with:
Cameron Weiner
Vice President of Strategic Development and Head of M&A at Shopko Optical
Nov 16
Strategy & Sourcing

Engineering Deals for Success

M&A deals are never easy and require rigorous planning. But despite its complexities. There is a way to increase your chances of success. According to Punit Micocha, EVP, Corporate Development at Zscaler, it's all about planning what the end state would look like right from the start.

Interview with:
Punit Minocha
Executive Vice President, Business and Corporate Development at Zscaler
Nov 11

How to Create a Successful GTM Strategy

A GTM strategy is one of the most critical parts of an integration plan. In this episode, Pragnya Kashinath, Director of M&A at Cognizant, talks about how to create a successful GTM strategy from the very beginning of the transaction and the challenges that go with it.

Interview with:
Pragnya Kashinath
Director of M&A at Cognizant
Nov 2

How to Manage Sourcing Diligence and Integration

Managing an entire acquisition is pretty daunting, especially if you are new to the process. This is probably why two people are leading the charge in any M&A deal; a deal lead and an integration lead. Each has its own roles and responsibilities but are equally important. Let's all learn how to manage sourcing, diligence, and integration from two of the industry's top minds: Sabeeh Khan, Director, Corporate Strategy & Development at Syniti, and Aaron Whiting, M&A Integration and Strategic Programs at ContinuumCloud.

Interview with:
Aaron Whiting
Chief of Staff and Transformation at Crownoeak
Sabeeh Khan
Director, Corporate Development at Infoblox
Oct 26
Management

Staying True To Your Culture in M&A

Culture can kill a deal, and Trish Mosconi, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer & Corporate Development at Synchrony, proves it. They walked away from a deal due to massive cultural differences and could not see a way to integrate the business in their organization.

Interview with:
Trish Mosconi
Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer & Corporate Development at Synchrony
Oct 18
Strategy & Sourcing

How to Commit to Integration from Start to Finish

Fully committing to integration starts with a deep partnership between corp dev and integration. Learn all about it, featuring Karen Ashley, Vice President of Corporate Development Integration at Cisco.

Interview with:
Karen Ashley
Vice President, Corporate Development Integration at Cisco
Oct 11
Integration

Transformative M&A

We all know that M&A can transform a business overnight if the deal is done correctly. However, not everyone knows how to make transformative M&A successful. In this article, Duncan Painter, CEO at Ascential Plc, talks about transformational deals for their company and how they make it successful.

Interview with:
Duncan Painter
Chief Executive at Ascential Plc
Oct 5
Strategy & Sourcing

Managing Infrequent Acquisitions

Peter Linas, CPO & EVP Corporate Development at Bullhorn, talks about how his corporate development team looks like in an infrequent acquisition environment and how they hire external consultants to make their deals successful.

Interview with:
Peter Linas
CPO and EVP of Corporate Development at Bullhorn
Sep 28
Management

Executing a Divestiture without a Bank

Regardless of popular belief, a company can execute divestitures without a bank with the right amount of dedication and resources. Having done it multiple times, Russ Hartz, VP Corp Dev at Ansys, will be helping us understand the process and some of the best practices during this transaction.

Interview with:
Russ Hartz
VP of Corporate Development at ANSYS, Inc.
Sep 28
Divestiture

Hunting Deals in M&A

Finding the right deals is hard, especially if you're looking for companies that don't want to be found. In this episode, Dustin Intihar, Director, M&A, and Strategic Alliances at Lubrizol, talks about how to hunt deals in M&A the right way.

Interview with:
Dustin Intihar
Director, M&A and Strategic Alliances at Lubrizol (NYSE: LZ, acquired by Berkshire Hathaway NYSE: BRK.A 409,989)
Sep 19
Strategy & Sourcing

How to Preserve Value in M&A Post-Acquisition

Value often gets destroyed in M&A. Jay Dettling, CEO of Ansira, has been on both sides of the deal. In this episode, we're talking about preserving value post-acquisition, and his advice to CEOs getting acquired for the first time.

Interview with:
Jay Dettling
Chief Executive Officer at Ansira
Sep 19
Integration

Buy and Build Strategy

PE firms have a very short term holding period and need to grow businesses fast. Adam Coffey, CEO at CoolSys, Refrigeration and HVAC Systems, is an expert on growing these companies using the buy and build strategy. In this article, he will share what it is and how to create sustainable success.

Interview with:
Adam Coffey
Founding Partner CEO Advisory Guru LLC
Sep 19
Strategy & Sourcing

Evolving Your M&A Integration Function

Transitioning to fully remote M&A transactions is not easy but very doable. With the proper tools and proper techniques to manage your people across these technologies, your M&A process can run smoothly.

Interview with:
Christina Amiry
Head of M&A Strategic Operations at Atlassian
Sep 19
Integration

How to Realize Deal Value

Integration is where you realize deal value and you need to focus on it from the very start. In this episode, Michael Devita, Success Strategy Lead at Salesforce, is going to talk about lessons that he learned from executing successful integration and how to successfully realize deal value in M&A.

Interview with:
Michael DeVita
Success Strategy Lead at Salesforce
Aug 24
Integration

How to use Multiple Deal Structures to Make Partnerships Successful in India

Reliance Retail is one of the fastest-growing retailers in the world. Learn how they manage multiple deal structures to make their partnerships successful directly from their President and CEO, Darshan Mehta.

Interview with:
Darshan Mehta
President and CEO at Reliance Brands Limited
Aug 17
Strategy & Sourcing

Executing Divestitures

Divestiture is not the reverse of an acquisition, and it takes more work and preparation. In this episode, Rhonda Rein, Director, Corporate Development at Thomson Reuters, helps us understand where divestiture starts, how TSA work and what happens after close.

Interview with:
Rhonda Rein
Director of Corporate Development at Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI)
Aug 17
Strategy & Sourcing

The Truth About Change Management

Preserving the value of the acquired company should be the number one priority in any deal. Of course, any buyer would want to get what they paid for in the first place. But more often than not, value leaks post-close. Even though there are many reasons why this is happening, one could argue that it is mostly about people.

Interview with:
Christian von Bogdandy
Global Lead M&A - Managing Director, Slalom
Aug 5
Integration

How to Manage Multi-Vertical Strategies

Managing a multi-vertical M&A strategy requires a high performing team, full of perpetual learners and with a strong appetite for risk taking. In this episode, Ailene Holderness, Head of M&A at IAC, talks about how they manage their multi-vertical strategy and how to build a high performing M&A team.

Interview with:
Ailene Holderness
Head of M&A at IAC (NASDAQ: IAC)
Aug 3
Strategy & Sourcing

Managing M&A on a High Scale

Managing M&A on a high scale takes good governance and clear strategy. In this episode, Jeff Bender, CEO at Harris, explains their entire M&A process on how they are able to do massive volumes of deals every year.

Interview with:
Jeff Bender
CEO at Harris Computer Systems (TSX: CNSFW)
Jul 27
Management

How To Successfully Execute Deals With a Small Team

You don't need a huge M&A team to do deals successfully. With the right strategy in a specialized industry, you can make your process more efficient. In this episode, Jason Lippert, CEO of LCI Industries, shares how they successfully execute deals with a small team.

Interview with:
Jason Lippert
CEO of LCI Industries (NYSE: LCII)
Jul 20
Management

Managing Internal Dynamics

One of the most critical roles as head of corporate development is managing your internal team and dynamics. In this episode, Randy Tinsley, Vice President of Strategy & Corporate Development at Synopsys, breaks down how to get internal alignment, build your team, and set them up for success.

Interview with:
Randy Tinsley
Vice President of Strategy & Corporate Development at Synopsys (NASDAQ: SNPS)
Jul 13

Why You Need To Ask Less During Diligence

When conducting due diligence, you want to be as thorough as possible. But it can also take a lot of time, money and resources to complete. James Harris, Principal of Corporate Development Integration at Google shares why we need to take a different approach to due diligence and how it can help your company in the long run.

Interview with:
James Harris
Principal, Corporate Development Integration at Google
Jul 9

Why You Should Execute A Divestiture Without A Bank?

Most companies hire banks to help them prepare for the sale, but it's not a requirement. Russ Hartz, VP of Corporate Development at Ansys talks about the pros and cons here.

Interview with:
Russ Hartz
VP of Corporate Development at ANSYS, Inc.
Jul 9

Deal Origination From a PE investors Perspective

PE firms source deals differently from strategic buyers. Jay Jester, Partner at Plexus Capital, LLC, breaks it down into three categories; Brand Building Exercise, Customer Focus, and Setting up a System.

Interview with:
Jay Jester
Partner at Plexus Capital, LLC
Jul 7
Strategy & Sourcing

How to Approach Diligence

Due Diligence is a crucial process that sets the tone for an acquisition. But how do you perform due diligence? Before we can understand how diligence gets done, we have to understand the goals associated with due diligence. 

Interview with:
Ben Sutton
Director of M&A and Business Development at gain servicing
Jul 7
Diligence

How To Negotiate Like a Pro

Negotiating is part of our daily lives. In this episode, we will be discussing how to effectively negotiate like a pro by determining how much leverage we have with the other party. Also, what skills are required for you to improve your negotiation skills.

Interview with:
Mladen Kresic
CEO at K&R Negotiations LLC
Jun 29

Conducting M&A without a Dedicated Team

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a dedicated M&A team to execute successful transactions. With proper team alignment and motivation, getting deals done is very much possible. In this episode, Alexi Venneri, founder and CEO of Digital Air Strike, shares her process as to why she thinks not having a dedicated team is actually better.

Interview with:
Alexi Venneri
Co-Founder and CEO of Digital Air Strike
Jun 22
Management

How SS&C Conducts Acquisitions

Every acquirer has different strategies for their acquisitions. In this episode, we look at SS&C's system on how they look at deals, how they approach integration, and how they preserve the target company's value.

Interview with:
William Stone
Founder, Chairman, and CEO of SS&C Technologies
Jun 16
Strategy & Sourcing

Behind the Scenes: Effective Deal Sourcing and Closing

Building out a brand new corporate development function can be challenging, especially if you don't know where to start.

Interview with:
Scott Kaeser
Owner / Head Of Corporate Development at First Choice Dental Lab
Jun 15
Strategy & Sourcing

How Empathy Makes Mergers and Acquisitions Successful

Why is it that some acquisitions are successful and some are not? Acquisitions can fail for reasons of strategy or execution. While no one can predict the future regarding market changes, an acquiring company can control how they execute on integrating the acquired company.

Interview with:
John DeRusso
Director of Acquisition Integration at Cisco
Jun 15
Integration

Conversations From the Frontlines

A strategic alliance can be a powerful tool that can help companies achieve specific goals. But what exactly is an alliance? And why do companies do it? To help us understand more about alliances, we've asked the expert Emma Barton, Director, Alliance and Integration Management at AstraZeneca, to help us in this discussion.

Interview with:
Emma Barton
Director, Alliance and Integration Management at AstraZeneca
Jun 15

Joint Ventures at Scale

Joint ventures are typically more complicated than traditional M&A because there are more parties involved, and everyone has to agree on many items. But with the right approach and model, a joint venture can run smoothly.

Interview with:
Clayton Stanley
Vice President and Head of Corporate Development at AmeriVet Veterinary Partners
Jun 15
Strategy & Sourcing

How to Prepare a Business for Private Equity Acquisition

Trade shows is an industry that is often underlooked. However, it is gaining more and more attention now from PE firms. Learn how to prepare your business for a private equity acquisition, featuring Philip Soar, Executive Chairman, and CEO of CloserStill Group PLC.

Interview with:
Philip Soar
Chairman and CEO of CloserStill Group
Jun 15

From Private to Public Company

Going from private company to public is a huge transition, especially from a CEO's perspective. It adds more responsibility and more reporting to more people. In this episode, Darren Lampert, CEO at GrowGeneration Corp, shares his good and bad experiences in this transition. He also talks about how this change affects their approach to M&A.

Interview with:
Darren Lampert
CEO at GrowGeneration Corp
Jun 15
Strategy & Sourcing

How To Prevent International Deals From Failing

Have you ever wondered why international deals fail so often? Hear from AGCO Corporation's former CEO, Martin Richenhagen, about how leaders can prevent these types of deals from failing.

Interview with:
Martin Richenhagen
Former CEO of AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO)
Jun 15
Strategy & Sourcing

How to Build a Collaborative M&A Process Across the Deal Life Cycle

In this webinar, I discuss the common challenges that M&A practitioners face within their deals, and how project management software can solve these challenges and improve your overall process.

Interview with:
Kison Patel
Founder and CEO, DealRoom
May 20
Management

Why Is M&A Integration So Hard?

If you ask any M&A practitioner, most will tell you the integration phase is the hardest. Learn why this is the case and how you can get through integration with ease.

Interview with:
James Payne
Principal Consultant at Merger Integration Consulting LLC
Galina Wolinetz
Managing Director at Virtas Partners
May 11
Integration

Positive Employee Experience is Key to Successful M&A

When critical employees leave the company after the deal closes, the overall value of the deal can be destroyed. A positive employee experience will help a lot with employee retention and significantly increase the likelihood of achieving success for the deal.

Interview with:
Cole Breidenbach
Head of M&A Integration, Corporate Development and Director, Business Value Consulting at Okta
Josh Olson
Head of Experience Solutions Sales - Americas at VMware
Amy Gannaway
Vice President, Global Compensation, Benefits and HRIS at VMware
May 11
Integration

Effective M&A Deal Sourcing

An effective deal sourcing is all about relationships. This discussion talks about how to approach your target and get past gatekeepers.

Interview with:
Scott Kaeser
Owner / Head Of Corporate Development at First Choice Dental Lab
May 11
Strategy & Sourcing

Importance of Quality of Earnings

Quality of earnings is a crucial part of any company sale. It allows you to get a picture of the company's real value being sold and an overview of what it would look like on another ownership. Preparing a QofE analysis will help you negotiate better whether you are a buyer or a seller.

Interview with:
Andrew Jordan
Director at Cohen & Company
May 11
Diligence

How Diligence and Integration Planning Can Frame a Successful Valuation

Contrary to popular belief, Diligence and Integration actually frames the success of valuation. Valuation needs to be adjusted all the time as you discover more things in the process. The diligence and integration planning are the inputs and the valuation is the output.

Interview with:
Erik Levy
DMGT Group Head Corporate Development and M&A
May 11
Diligence

What Successful Integration Looks Like

Why is it that some acquisitions are successful and some are not? Acquisitions can fail for reasons of strategy or execution. While no one can predict the future regarding market changes, an acquiring company can control how they execute on integrating the acquired company.

Interview with:
John DeRusso
Director of Acquisition Integration at Cisco
May 11
Integration

How to Build an M&A Center of Excellence from Scratch

These are the steps into building an M&A center of excellence from scratch. It's not going to be easy, but it will be a great tool for your company.

Interview with:
Philip Pratt
Director, Acquisition Integration at Corning Incorporated
May 11
Management

Aligning People For a Better Integration

The deal sponsor and the entrepreneur need to have a good relationship and alignment of the entire deal to succeed. Both parties need to understand and agree as to what will happen to the company post-close.

Interview with:
Carlos Cesta
Vice President Corporate Development at Presidio
May 11
Management

Conversations From the Frontlines

A strategic alliance can be a powerful tool that can help companies achieve specific goals. But what exactly is an alliance? And why do companies do it?

Interview with:
Emma Barton
Director, Alliance and Integration Management at AstraZeneca
May 11
Strategy & Sourcing

Career Paths in M&A

What role you come from is not as important as the skills and expertise that you offer. Different companies have different views of why M&A is valuable to them. In this discussion, Matt shares how you can navigate the different career paths in M&A.

Interview with:
Matt Arsenault
VP of Corporate Development & Strategic Alliances at Jamf
May 11
Management

Executing M&A from a Legal Perspective

Deals have become more complicated in the last 18 months from a legal perspective. But pandemic or not, you need to be aware of certain risks that can stop the entire deal altogether. Knowing how to mitigate them will help you close the deal faster and more efficiently.

Interview with:
Brett Shawn
Senior Vice President, Assistant General Counsel at Warburg Pincus LLC
May 11
Management

Managing Communication Workstream

There are a lot of things that you should consider when building a communication strategy. Knowing how to manage your communication workstream is crucial in keeping the value of the business.

Interview with:
Jeff Hennig
Vice President, Corporate Development at AMD
May 11