Execute the Deal
If we are buying, which play are we actually running?
Question 06 of 08. Choose: where does the next growth come from? 3 to 5 years.
Thesis before screening. Always. A platform acquisition, a bolt-on, a consolidation play and a capability purchase are four different things with four valuation logics and four integration requirements.
Most first deals confuse them, and the confusion shows up in the price paid and the eighteen months afterwards.
Same question, two businesses
Funded scale-up
Series A or B, equity, a clock
Later
Usually later and smaller: a team, a technology, a customer base.
Promoter-led business
Debt, retained earnings and cash flow
First deal, high stakes
Often a first deal with a large share of net worth at stake. Writing down why you are buying, before looking at who is available, is worth more than any valuation model.
The work behind this question
- Deal AdvisoryShaping a transaction and testing what it is really worth, on either side of the table.
- Deal StructuringThe instrument, the terms and the downstream consequences: the part of a deal that outlives the headline number.
- Due DiligenceEnd-to-end diligence playbooks covering financial, legal, operational and market analysis, for investors and for the companies being examined.
Facing this question now?
Most companies need two or three of the eight, in the right order. Tell us where you are and we will tell you which ones bind.