M&A Science
M&A Science, hosted by Kison Patel (Founder & CEO of DealRoom), is your go-to podcast for mastering the art of mergers and acquisitions. Each week, Kison and his expert guests from leading brands like Xerox, FastLap, and Cisco dig deep into real-world M&A strategies, offering actionable insights to optimize your M&A practice. Whether you're an experienced practitioner or new to the field, M&A Science provides practical advice on key topics like sourcing, due diligence, integration, divestitures, and more. With over 300 episodes, this podcast is the premier thought leadership resource designed to streamline your deal-making process. Start listening...
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Partnering Before Purchasing: How Booz Allen Wins Proprietary Deals Early
Chrissy Cox, VP & Head of Corporate Development, Booz Allen Hamilton <p >Booz Allen Hamilton didn't build one of the most active acquisition programs in federal tech by waiting for banker inbounds. They built it by showing up years before anyone else.</p> <p >Chrissy Cox has built Booz Allen's corporate development function from scratch and done it twice. Her team was named Deal Team of the Year by the Association for Corporate Growth, and under her leadership, roughly 80% of their acquisitions come from companies they already have a relationship with. That's not luck, it's a system.</p> <p >In this epis...
Cultural Fit Over EBITDA: How Salas O'Brien Built a 30-Merger Program Without a Single Failure
<p >Nathan Rust, Senior VP of Corporate Development, Salas O'Brien</p> <p >Salas O'Brien has completed 30+ mergers with a 100% success rate and 93% cumulative leadership retention. </p> <p >That doesn't happen by accident.</p> <p >Nathan Rust, Senior VP of Corp Dev, explains the system behind those numbers. He shares how they screen bad fits on the first call, why their CEO meets every employee from acquired firms, and how a founder-driven sourcing flywheel attracts inbound deals.</p> <p >In this episode: You'll learn how they screen 200+ opportunities a year down to the ones worth closing, why their initial diligence list...
Cross-Border M&A: How to Do Deals in Italy with Mauro Sambati and Donato Romano
<p >Mauro Sambati, Partner – Gianni & Origoni</p> <p >Donato Romano, Partner – Gianni & Origoni</p> <p >Italy remains one of Europe's most attractive markets for foreign investment. But cross-border deals in Italy are shaped by regulatory scrutiny, strict labor laws, and unique cultural dynamics that many investors underestimate. </p> <p >In this episode, Mauro Sambati and Donato Romano, Partners at Gianni & Origoni, explain what it truly takes to structure and close successful transactions in Italy.</p> What You'll Learn in This Episode Why Golden Power must be structured as a condition precedent before closing How strict Italian labor laws impact asset deal...
Four Questions That Defined a $1 Billion Deal with Robert Lovegrove
<p > President & CEO of The ChemQuest Group. Previously, as VP of Corporate Strategy at Milliken & Company</p> <p >When it comes to billion-dollar deals, success depends less on how much analysis is done and more on how clearly the organization aligns around what truly matters.</p> <p >In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Robert Lovegrove, President & CEO of The ChemQuest Group. Previously, as VP of Corporate Strategy at Milliken & Company, shares how one of the company's largest acquisitions was shaped by focus, discipline, and internal alignment. Rather than overwhelming the process with more diligence, leadership centered the...
Stop Falling in Love with the Deal: Guardrails for High-Volume Acquisitions with Birgitta and Lars Elfversson
<p >Birgitta Elfversson, Non-executive director at Netlight Consulting AB</p> <p >Lars Elfversson, VP/Co-Founder, Netlight Consulting AB</p> <p >In fragmented industries, roll-ups are one of the most powerful strategies available. But high-volume acquisition programs come with hidden risks. Without discipline, complexity can quickly overwhelm value creation.</p> <p >In this episode, Birgitta Elfversson, Non-executive director at Netlight Consulting AB, and Lars Elfversson, VP/Co-Founder, Netlight Consulting AB, share hard-won lessons from building and governing multiple roll-up platforms. Drawing on their experience as operators, board members, and investors, they outline the structural guardrails required to execute consolidation strategies successfully.<...
The Next Chapter After 400 Episodes
<p >No guest today. No interview. Just Kison talking directly to you.</p> <p >After 400 episodes and nearly 100 founding members, Kison wanted to give you a real update - where M&A Science has been, what we're building, and where this is going.</p> <p >In this episode:</p> Why episodes are moving to Thursdays How the Intelligence Hub actually works (and why it's better for M&A than ChatGPT) What's coming next: Buyer-Led M&A Certification and Enterprise Intelligence Hub Ways to get involved: Membership and the Deal Leader program <p >If you've been part of this journey, this...
Integration Focused M&A: Why Execution Should Inform Strategy Before You Sign Part 2 with Ciprian Stan
Ciprian Stan, M&A Integration Manager at SALESIANER Gruppe <p >Too many deals fail not because the strategy was wrong, but because execution realities surfaced too late.</p> <p >Ciprian Stan, M&A Integration Manager at SALESIANER Gruppe, is back for part 2. In this portion of the interview, he shares a practitioner's perspective on why integration must inform strategy before a deal is signed, never after.</p> <p >The conversation explores why cultural non-negotiables rarely surface through checklists, how trust shapes execution outcomes, and why early commitments must survive post-close reality. Ciprian explains why integration leaders need to ask smarter...
Integration Focused M&A: Why Execution Should Inform Strategy Before You Sign Part 1 with Ciprian Stan
<h2 >Ciprian Stan, M&A Integration Manager at SALESIANER Gruppe</h2> <p >Most M&A deals fail because integration was "something to figure out later". By the time execution realities, cultural risks, and people impacts surface, the deal is locked, and teams must work around untested assumptions.</p> <p >In this episode of the M&A Science podcast, Ciprian Stan, M&A Integration Manager at SALESIANER Gruppe, explains that integration must be a strategic input to increase chances of success. </p> <p ><br /> Things You'll Learn</p> The importance of involving Integration early in the process Pre LOI preparations and e...
How Experienced Buyers Actually Make M&A Work with Carlos Cesta
Carlos Cesta, Partner at Makanta Services <p >M&A isn't just about closing deals, it's about making the deal actually work. </p> <p >Carlos Cesta, M&A advisor and founder of his own boutique advisory practice, spent 30 years on the buy-side at Verizon, Dentsu, Presidio, and NP Digital. He's worked 125+ deals across telecom, advertising, and digital marketing. Now he's flipped to advisory, bringing that buy-side operator mindset to entrepreneurs preparing for exit.</p> <p >In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Carlos Cesta, Partner at Makanta Services, breaks down how seasoned buyers really think about M&A. Not...
A Founder's Guide to Lean M&A Strategy with Christian Hassold
<p>Christian Hassold, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategic Partnerships at Wpromote x Giant Spoon</p> <p>Christian has been on both sides of M&A as a serial founder and corporate development leader. In this episode, Christian shares his hard-earned lessons about culture as the ultimate deal-breaker in M&A. He breaks down the subtle red flags that founders miss when evaluating acquisition targets, explains why he interviews employees before talking to investors, and shares the fascinating story of acquiring a competitor that was shutting down—where culture assessment made all the difference. Christian also introduces his 5-p...
