M&A strategy when the obvious targets are gone
How companies can build a stronger acquisition radar by connecting portfolio logic, target intelligence and strategic fit before competition intensifies.
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M&A strategy
Shape M&A strategy from portfolio rationale and target priorities through diligence, value creation and integration.
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Articles
Integration is where the deal thesis gets tested
How post-merger operating choices, synergy discipline and organizational readiness determine whether expected transaction value reaches performance.
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Target screening should begin with acquisition criteria, not company databases
A useful radar translates strategic priorities into observable characteristics that distinguish relevant targets from merely available ones.
M&A strategy should begin with portfolio logic, not with available targets
Acquisitions create value when they support explicit choices about where the enterprise wants to compete and allocate capital.
Strategic challenges
Which assumptions could cause the deal thesis to fail?
The challenge is identifying where downside comes from before valuation, momentum and confirmation bias narrow the decision.
What changes when the target sits in another jurisdiction?
The challenge is understanding how regulatory, political and operating differences affect deal structure, execution and integration.
POV
Keeping an asset is an active capital-allocation decision
If leadership would not buy the business today, it should have a very clear reason for continuing to own it.
A synergy without an owner, action and baseline is not value; it is optimism
Deal economics should include only benefits that can be traced to specific changes the combined business can realistically execute.
Strategic impact
Portfolio reconfiguration reallocates capital toward stronger strategic uses
A disciplined ownership review helps leadership identify where divestiture, partnership or restructuring may improve portfolio coherence.
A rigorous market view clarifies the durability of the target's economics
Testing demand, competition and value drivers helps buyers understand what performance is structural and what may unwind.
What we observe
Target assessments often extrapolate recent growth without testing its underlying cause
Strong historical results can conceal customer concentration, weak differentiation or favorable conditions that may not persist.
Target lists often become long because acquisition criteria remain vague
Broad screening creates activity but little discrimination when strategic fit is described in generic rather than testable terms.