Where Deals Quietly Stop Creating Value.
Three papers on the same underlying problem: the work that decides whether a transaction creates value happens after the close, and it is usually sequenced wrongly. They are written to be useful before anyone is engaged.
The Month-Nine Cliff
Why post-merger integration fails after the deal is supposed to be done.
Integrations rarely fail in the first hundred days. They fail around month nine, when deferred decisions, temporary workarounds and departing expertise come due at once — and the dashboard is still green.
Read the paperWRITTEN FOR
CEOs, operating partners, integration leaders
THE QUESTION BEHIND IT
“We look integrated — but are we?”
The TSA Cost Trap
What a transition services agreement really costs beyond the deal model.
A TSA is modeled as a known operating expense and behaves as a variable cost of delay. Seven layers of cost sit behind the fee schedule; most deal models capture two.
Read the paperWRITTEN FOR
Corporate development, CFOs, carve-out leaders
THE QUESTION BEHIND IT
“What is this transition actually costing us?”
Sequence Before Scale
The operating order that makes or breaks a buy-and-build roll-up.
A roll-up creates value by converting acquired companies into a common operating system. Acquire faster than you standardize, and every deal adds complexity faster than it adds value.
Read the paperWRITTEN FOR
Sponsors, platform CEOs, M&A leaders
THE QUESTION BEHIND IT
“Are we building a platform, or accumulating exceptions?”
Recognize Any of This?
The twelve questions we open with are published rather than held back. Read them, or answer them.
See the twelve questions