Things you will learn in this episode:
-How to solidify your corporate strategy
-Creating the right deal team
-Keeping your deal team aligned
-How to lead an M&A deal from diligence to integration
-Setting up your governance structure
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.
Tim Wentworth, CEO of Evernorth, a Cigna Corporation company (NYSE: CI)
In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Tim Wentworth, CEO of Evernorth, (the CEO of Express Scripts at that time of sale), will share his experiences on the deal and how leadership and culture made this transaction successful.
What you will learn in this episode:
-Keys to successful acquisitions
-How to focus on culture and values
-The role of the CEO on M&A deals
-Why focusing on customers is crucial
-Common mistakes that people make regarding culture
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.
Noah Waisberg, Co-Founder & CEO - Zuva; Author of "AI for Lawyers"
In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Noah Waisberg, Co-Founder & CEO - Zuva shares his experience and top learnings after he creatively decided to sell his own company, Kira to Litera in 2021.
Things you will learn in this episode:
-What made Noah sell his company even though he was reluctant at first
-How empathy and creativity helped Noah create more value to shareholders
-Why they opted out of an auction process
-How easy the TSA was for both companies
-Noah’s biggest lessons learned from selling his company
-Advice for founders looking for an exit
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com
Charles Breed, VP Corporate Development at Corel Corporation (NASDAQ: CREL)
In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Charles Breed, VP of Corporate Development at Corel Corporation, talks about how to hire a corporate development team that fits into your M&A strategy.
When you’re building a corporate development function, the first thing you need to do is hire a head of corporate development, but hiring is not as simple as it sounds. The head of corporate development needs to fit into the overall strategy.
Things you will learn in this episode:
-What to look for in when hiring a head of corporate development
-The role of the head of corporate development
-Skills required for a corporate development leader
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Klint Kendrick, Chair of the HR M&A Round Table
After over 100 podcast interviews, we have collected more than 40 lessons learned from top practitioners worldwide. In those lessons, we saw a recurring theme: creating a better people experience in M&A is key to a successful transaction.
The biggest value leak after a deal closes is losing key employees and people. In this episode, HR expert Klint Kendrick, Chair of the HR M&A Round Table, is going to share with us best practices on how to retain key employees.
Listen in and learn about:
-The biggest shift in the M&A industry
-Best practices for successful integration
-The importance of empathy
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Gwen Pope, Head of Global Product M&A at eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY)
Creating a go-to-market plan is one of the first things to do during an acquisition. In this interview, Gwen Pope, Head of Global Product M&A at eBay, will be sharing how to make M&A GTM successful.
Listen in and learn about:
- The importance of getting your house in order
- How to pressure test your deal rationale
- Steps to building your GTM plan
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter, go to mascience.com.
Kunal Jain, Director at William Blair, Health Care Investment Banking
The M&A market is not what it used to be. Markets change all the time, and the M&A industry is no exception. Especially with COVID-19, the M&A market has been crazy the past couple of years. Helping us understand M&A market trends from a banker's perspective is Kunal Jain, Director at William Blair, Health Care Investment Banking.
Listen in and learn about:
- The biggest changes in the M&A market
- How strategic buyers and PE firms fair in this new environment
- How bankers are thriving in this new landscape of M&A
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Harry Kraemer Jr, Professor of Management and Strategy at Kellogg School of Management
Change management is the tilting point of every M&A deal. Preserving the value that you just acquired is dependent on how you retain key employees. In this episode of the M&A science podcast, Harry Kraemer, Jr, Professor of Management and Strategy at Kellogg School of Management, talks about how effective leadership helps overcome change management challenges. Listen in and learn about:
- how leaders can help retention
- the importance of feedback mechanisms
- how to create an environment where your people can thrive
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Jim Buckley, Vice President of M&A at VMware (NYSE: VMW)
M&A deals are bound to get complicated. The key to success is keeping it as simple as possible, for as long as possible. In this continuation of last week’s interview, Jim Buckley, Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions Integration at VMware talks about how to update your M&A Management Approach. Listen in and learn all about:
- the 5x5 framework that you can use to keep your process simple
- what to focus on during change management
- how to ensure team alignment
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Jim Buckley, Vice President of M&A at VMware (NYSE: VMW)
Integration can be difficult but it’s, without a doubt, the most important part of M&A. In this episode of the M&A Science podcast, Kison interviews Jim Buckley, Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions Integration at VMware as he talks about how to create a successful integration plan. Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Why working backwards is best in integration planning
- What makes a successful integration leader
- How to measure success
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com
Ken Bond, Head of Corporate Development at Cetera Financial Group
Building M&A teams require different considerations based on your growth strategy. In this episode of the M&A Science podcast, Kison interviews Ken Bond, Head of Corporate Development at Cetera Financial Group on how he structures teams approaching diligence. Here’s what you’ll learn:
- The three functions you need to build your M&A team
- How to determine the ideal M&A team size for your strategy
- The role of the project manager in the M&A team
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Mark Khavkin, CFO of Pantheon Platform
NDAs are often overlooked as people tend to fall into the trap of thinking they can be templated. In this episode of the M&A Science podcast, Kison interviews Mark Khavkin, CFO of Pantheon Platform about NDAs, how to negotiate them, and their structures. Here’s what you’ll learn:
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Cameron Weiner, VP of Strategic Development and Head of M&A at Shopko Optical
To buy or build, that is the question! In this interview with Cameron Weiner, VP of Strategic Development, Head of M&A at Shopko Optical, he shares how his team determines whether to buy or build a business. Here's what you'll learn:
- How to approach targets
- Considerations when buying or building a business
- Resources for deal origination
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Punit Micocha, Executive Vice President, Business and Corporate Development at Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS)
M&A deals are never easy and require rigorous planning. In this interview, Punit Micocha, Executive Vice President, Business and Corporate Development at Zscaler, shares how to execute successful deals by planning the end game. Learn about:
- Creating the deal vision pre-LOI
- Why planning for integration early is crucial
- The 3 elements of negotiating with employees
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Pragnya Kashinath, M&A Consultant at Deloitte
A go-to-market strategy is one of the most important things in an acquisition. In this week's podcast, we're featuring Kison's interview with Pragnya Kashinath. At the time of this interview, she was the Director of M&A, Corporate Strategy at Cognizant. Now, she's an M&A Consultant at Deloitte. Pragnya shares how to create a successful GTM strategy from the very beginning of a transaction and the challenges you need to watch out for. Learn about:
- Pragnya's unique role on the business side versus on the corporate development team
- How not to overestimate synergy models
- Customizing the customer journey
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Sabeeh Khan, Director, Corporate Strategy & Development at Syniti
Aaron Whiting, M&A Integration and Strategic Programs at ContinuumCloud
Managing a deal can be complicated, especially on larger deals. You need experienced leaders from both ends of the spectrum. In this interview, we talk about how to manage sourcing, diligence, and integration from a project manager's perspective featuring Sabeeh Khan, Director, Corporate Strategy & Development at Syniti, and Aaron Whiting, M&A Integration and Strategic Programs at ContinuumCloud. Here's what you'll learn:
- Why you should use pipeline management tools other than Excel
- The importance of having a go to market strategy before closing the deal
- How to gather intelligence aside from industry conferences
This episode is sponsored by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Access the most up-to-date and accurate data on private companies in a single web-based platform so you can get all the resources you need to create a winning pitch.
Trish Mosconi, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer & Corporate Development at Synchrony (NYSE: SYF)
Culture is one of the most controversial and hot topics in the world of M&A. On this episode of M&A Science, Trish Mosconi, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer & Corporate Development at Synchrony discusses how to stay true to culture during a deal. In the interview, she talks about how her team walked away from an almost perfect deal due to cultural differences. You'll hear about:
- When to involve HR
- How to approach integration to stay true to the target company
- When to walk away from a deal
This episode is sponsored by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Access the most up-to-date and accurate data on private companies in a single web-based platform so you can get all the resources you need to create a winning pitch.
Karen Ashley, Vice President of Corporate Development Integration at Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Cisco is one of the largest and most successful acquirers in the world. On this week's episode of the podcast, Kison spoke with Cisco's Vice President of Corporate Development Integration, Karen Ashley. We looked at their deal process and how they commit to integration from start to finish. Here's what you'll learn:
- The importance of strategy meetings
- The 3 success metrics
- Why their integration team leads operational diligence
This episode is sponsored by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Access the most up-to-date and accurate data on private companies in a single web-based platform so you can get all the resources you need to create a winning pitch.
Duncan Painter, CEO of Ascential (LON: ASCL)
In this week's episode of the M&A Science podcast, we're learning about transformative M&A. In Kison's recent interview with Duncan Painter, CEO of Ascential, we talk about what a “transformative deal” means to their organization and how they achieve deal success. Here's what you'll learn:
- How to build a transformative M&A strategy
- How divestitures can transform your business
- Why you need to commit to the strategy
This episode is sponsored by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Access the most up-to-date and accurate data on private companies in a single web-based platform so you can get all the resources you need to create a winning pitch.
Russ Hartz, Vice President of Corporate Development at Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS)
Hiring a bank to facilitate a divestiture is an option, not a necessity. Kison Patel interviewed Russ Hartz, VP Corp Dev at Ansys, to talk about his vast experience of successfully executing divestitures without a bank. Here's what you'll learn:
- The importance of constant business evaluation
- How to create a competitive buyers' pool
- How to know which buyer is right for the company
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Peter Linas, CPO and EVP Corporate Development at Bullhorn
If you’re an infrequent buyer, you might be thinking about how to maximize your existing resources. Kison Patel spoke to Peter Linas, CPO & EVP Corporate Development at Bullhorn. Peter talks about managing a corporate development team in an infrequent acquisition environment. Here's what you'll learn:
- Staffing Up Internal Vs. External Resources
- Key Areas to Hire Advisors
- Determining the Integration Lead
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Christina Amiry, Head of M&A Strategic Operations, Integration at Atlassian (NASDAQ: TEAM)
The Covid-19 pandemic has completely transformed how most people work, and M&A is no different. Atlassian is one of the first companies to make acquisitions fully remote. In this interview, Christina Amiry, Head of M&A Strategic Operations, Integration at Atlassian, discusses how to evolve your M&A integration function in the digital era. You will hear about:
- How Atlassian made the switch to completely virtual
- The acquisition of Chartio
- How to have a mindset of change
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Adam Coffey, CEO at CoolSys, Refrigeration and HVAC Systems
This week's episode of the M&A Science podcast is about how PE firms can ramp up the growth of their businesses using the buy and build strategy. Kison interviewed Adam Coffey, CEO at CoolSys, Refrigeration and HVAC Systems, and author of The Private Equity Playbook. Here's what you'll learn:
- What is a buy and build strategy
- When you should consider this strategy
- How to build a team to implement this strategy
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Jay Dettling, CEO of Ansira
Everyone wants to preserve the value of the target company. This week on the podcast, let's learn from Jay Dettling, CEO of Ansira, about the best way to preserve value in M&A. He also shares his advice for CEOs who are getting acquired for the first time. Hear about:
- How to communicate your Ethos to the buyer
- Creating value during integration
- Integration vs. value creation
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.
Michael DeVita, Success Strategy Lead at Salesforce (NYSE: CRM)
Integration is crucial to realizing deal value. In this interview with Michael DeVita, Success Strategy Lead at Salesforce, we talked about integration best practices, the importance of having dedicated resources, and why you should measure integration success. Here's what you'll learn in this episode:
- Common challenges in assessing value realization
- Dealing with a confidential process
- The lack of success metrics in M&A
To join our network of M&A practitioners and sign up for our newsletter go to mascience.com.