M&A Science

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...

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 Bank...

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 leade...

Jim Buckley , Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions Integration 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...

Jim Buckley , Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions Integration 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 lea...

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...

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: Why NDAs are not routine legal documents The fundamentals of NDAs Negotiating...

Cameron Weiner, VP of Strategic Development, 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...

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 integ...

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 f...

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...

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 ta...

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'l...

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...

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 competitiv...

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...

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 integrati...

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 yo...

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. valu...

Michael DeVita, Success Strategy Lead at Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) I ntegration 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 assessin...

Darshan Mehta, President and CEO of Reliance Retail Limited (NSE: RELIANCE) Reliance Retail Limited is one of the fastest-growing retailers in the world. Learn how they manage multiple deal structures and form successful partnerships in India directly from their President and CEO, Darshan Mehta. In this episode, you'll hear about: - Deal structures used by Reliance Retail Limited - How to engage w...

Rhonda Rein, Director of Corporate Development at Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) We've had discussions about buy-side divestitures, but we rarely talk about it from the seller's perspective. I recently spoke with Rhonda Rein , Director of Corporate Development at Thomson Reuters . She shared her vast experiences in executing divestitures and how to make them work. Here's what you'll learn: - The comp...

Ailene Holderness, Head of M&A at IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) How do you manage a multi-vertical M&A strategy? IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) is one of the world's leaders when it comes to building consumer internet companies such as Tinder, Expedia, and Vimeo. Ailene Holderness, IAC's Head of M&A shares their strategy and how they build a team to execute on that. In this episode you'll learn: -How to build a diverse M&...

Jeff Bender, CEO at Harris Computer Systems What does it take to manage M&A on a large scale? We're going to find out as Jeff Bender, CEO at Harris, shares what their entire process looks like and how they manage massive volumes of M&A investments in their organization. In this episode you'll learn about: - Platform vs. tuck in transactions - The centralized structure of services at Harris - Busin...

Jason Lippert, CEO of LCI Industries (NYSE: LCII) Understanding that not everyone can afford to have big M&A teams, I interviewed Jason Lippert, CEO of LCI Industries. He has only one dedicated M&A person, and he will be teaching us how LCI successfully executes deals with a small team. Here's what you'll learn: - How to structure a small team for maximum impact - The deal sourcing process - Advic...