mergers-and-acquisitions

# Mergers and acquisitions > Deal execution requires qualified legal, tax, and accounting advisers. This structures the > commercial thinking and identifies what needs specialist work; it does not substitute for it. ## The thesis comes first, and in writing Before looking at any target: what would an acquisition get us that we cannot build or partner our way to, and why is buying better? Legitimate theses are specific — a capability that would take three years to build, access to a customer base we cannot reach, consolidation economics in a fragmenting market, a team with scarce expertise. Illegitimate theses, all common: growth for its own sake, defensive panic, the target became available, and the belief that two struggling businesses combine into a healthy one. **Write the thesis before the target.** A thesis reverse-engineered to fit an available company will justify anything. ## Screening Score candidates against the thesis, not against how impressive they are. The best target is frequently the boring one that fits precisely. Assess cultural and operating-model fit early rather than as a soft afterthought. Integration failure is the most common way deals destroy value, and its causes are visible before signing — incompatible decision-making, different customer commitments, a founder who will not stay. ## Valuation framing Two numbers matter and they are different: what it is worth **to you** given the synergies you can actually realize, and what you would **pa...