“This is the first time I’ve been acquired by a company that felt like it had a soul.” That’s what John Derusso was told after leading an integration. John is the Director of Corporate Development Integration with Cisco Systems and has been for the past four years.
0:00-0:10 John’s background with Cisco and supply chain
0:13-2:12 Successful acquisitions
2:12-6:42 Retaining people
6:42-9:36 Big picture view of integration
9:36-13:30 Excitement and adrenaline in integration (step-by-step process)
13:30-20:21 Planning considerations, diligence, and key indicators of success
24:22-30:20 Taking care of customers
30:20-42:19 Complexity, decision-making, and communication
42:19-46:37 Degree of integration (depth and speed)
46:37-52:25 Difficult aspects of integration
52:25-End Lifetime lessons learned and key traits
M&A Science by Kison Patel (kison@dealroom.net)
DealRoom: Data Science and AI for M&A (www.dealroom.net)
Sean Peace has a captivating story to tell about selling and exiting an unprofitable business in a unique niche: a fintech startup dealing with entertainment in the Southeast. In 2013, he founded Royalty Exchange, an auction marketplace selling music royalty streams as memorabilia to the highest bidding fans. After two years and $100K in revenue, the company landed $2 million in venture capital financing to accelerate their growth – or so they thought.
0:20 – 2:22 Background on SongVest leading up to Royalty Exchange business idea
2:23 – 3:49 Formation of Royalty Exchange and running it for the first 2 years
3:50 – 6:41 Attracting first $2M venture capital injection and how funds were invested
6:42 – 11:10 Pivot point to switch marketing strategy when proven ineffective
12:06 – 16:50 Deciding to exit and splitting sale of company to two buyers
16:51 – 19:13 Finding buyers without hiring an advisor & paying down debts
19:14 – 25:17 Discussing deal surprises and lessons learned
25:18 – 27:01 Sean answering would he start another company and raise from VCs again
M&A Science by Kison Patel (kison@dealroom.net)
DealRoom: Data Science and AI for M&A (www.dealroom.net)
As former VP at Huron Capital, Mark Miller is very familiar with the start-to-finish private equity process. He’s responsible for transaction teams involved in all aspects of deal sourcing, execution, and portfolio management. Mark has a wealth of experience executing deals on the buy side – managing due diligence, negotiating legal documents, setting the ultimate capital structure, and lining up financial documentation.
0:00 – 2:18 Summary of Mark’s background
2:19 – 5:18 Worse thing that could happen during a deal
5:19 – 7:24 Steps to first start planning for an exit
7:25 – 11:14 Setting up strategic initiatives from Day 1
11:15 – 18:49 Selecting advisors for the deal
18:50 – 25:24 Sanity checking valuations
25:25 – 28:02 Where advisors differentiate themselves / customizing their process & outreach
28:03 – 32:45 The important of valuations and certainty to close
32:46 – 35:33 Buyer engagement and deal rooms
35:34 – 37:07 Post-closing transactual obligations
37:08 – 39:43 Biggest challenges of process
39:44 – 42:25 Unburdening management team
42:26 - 46:50 Most important lessons learned
46:51 - 51:43 Tackling deal hiccups, touch decisions, and sell vs. hold scenarios
51:44 – 52:56 Considerations for future process improvements
M&A Science by Kison Patel (kison@dealroom.net)
DealRoom: Data Science and AI for M&A (www.dealroom.net)
As a professional with 29 years’ experience in M&A corporate development, financial operations, and management, Paul Tennola, CFO of Paynet, is an expert when it comes to M&A. In addition to his experience with Paynet, Paul has worked with TransUnion, Wolters Kluwer, and SunGard. He has looked at over 1000 companies, successfully leading and closing more than 50 transactions. He believes M&A is a great way to augment growth.
0:00-1:10 Paul’s experience with Paynet, TransUnion, Wolters Kluwer, and SunGard
1:10-7:00 Bolt-on transactions versus platform transactions
7:00-10:30 Synergies: Financial/revenue and operational
10:30-14:05 Cultural fit and workarounds
14:05-18:00 Negotiation and strategies
18:00-21:40 Top factors during diligence
21:40-28:10 Deals that fall apart and surprises during diligence
28:10-33:14 Post-closing surprises and PMI
33:14-37:33 International transactions
37:33-40:05 Biggest lessons learned
M&A Science by Kison Patel (kison@dealroom.net)
DealRoom: Data Science and AI for M&A (www.dealroom.net)
In 2005, Vamsi started his own company focused on data compliance for the pharmaceutical industry. His company provided technology to support clinical trials to the FDA. “I like to build companies, but I also like change. [After five years], I thought about selling the company and rolling it up into a publicly listed company.” He sold it in 2010 and moved to India to pursue new opportunities. While the sale was smooth, there were numerous post-sale challenges. “They basically ran down the company within 18 months.”
0:00 – 4:03 Vamsi’s background at Deloitte, Pfizer, Merrill Lynch
4:04 – 6:27 Acquiring Clinovo (how found and why chose over others)
6:28 – 9:24 Due diligence process as a buyer
9:25 – 11:24 Issues that came up during diligence process
11:25 – 13:39 Working with the investment banker
13:40 – 14:19 Interaction with seller prior to closing
14:20 – 19:19 Challenges with integration
19:20 – 21:55 Lessons learned and post-closing challenges
21:56 – 23:05 Lessons from the sell side
23:06 – 23:38 What’s on the horizon
M&A Science by Kison Patel (kison@dealroom.net)
DealRoom: Data Science and AI for M&A (www.dealroom.net)
Greg DellaFranco is currently a Senior Manager of Corporate Development at Deloitte Consulting. Prior to joining Deloitte, he served as Director of Corporate Development at KPMG. When combined with 16 years in corporate development, corporate strategy, new venture creation, and alliance roles at Accenture, Greg has valuable M&A insight to share.
0:48 – 1:43 Greg’s background in corporate development
1:44 – 4:08 Differences in perspective between corp dev and private equity
3:21 – 6:13 Value proposition of selling to a strategic buyer
5:26 – 7:17 Transacting with businesses looking to exit
6:30 – 8:58 Key preparation for due diligence process
8:11 – 11:01 Top issues that frequently arise
10:14 – 16:42 Effectively managing the process
15:55 – 19:23 Deal breakers that pop up during due diligence
18:36 – 24:13 Greg’s strategies for the integration process
23:26 – 28:04 Most challenging aspects of integration
27:17 – 34:15 Challenges and integrations gone wrong
33:28 – 37:37 Biggest lessons learned and the future of M&A
M&A Science by Kison Patel (kison@dealroom.net)
DealRoom: Data Science and AI for M&A (www.dealroom.net)