Structures an acquisition case - one-line thesis, strategic-fit test, risk-haircut synergy bridge with cost synergies cut 20-30% and revenue synergies cut 50%+, valuation with a written walk-away price, and integration risk - into a screening scorecard and deal memo. Use when someone asks "should we buy this company", "evaluate this acquisition target", "are these synergy numbers real", "what would we pay for them", or is preparing a board memo on a deal. Do NOT use for building the diligence request list and workstream tracker once a deal is moving - use due-diligence-checklist instead; for assessing whether the combined business has a durable advantage, pair with competitive-moat.
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name: M&A Analysis
description: Structures an acquisition case - one-line thesis, strategic-fit test, risk-haircut synergy bridge with cost synergies cut 20-30% and revenue synergies cut 50%+, valuation with a written walk-away price, and integration risk - into a screening scorecard and deal memo. Use when someone asks "should we buy this company", "evaluate this acquisition target", "are these synergy numbers real", "what would we pay for them", or is preparing a board memo on a deal. Do NOT use for building the diligence request list and workstream tracker once a deal is moving - use due-diligence-checklist instead; for assessing whether the combined business has a durable advantage, pair with competitive-moat.
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# M&A Analysis
Most acquisitions destroy value, and they fail not on the spreadsheet but on the thesis and the integration. The costly failure this skill prevents is the deal that "works" only because unhaircut synergies were stacked until the price looked justified. Judge the deal on strategy first and synergies second, and write the walk-away price before anyone falls in love.
## Inputs to collect
1. **The target**: what it does, revenue and growth, headcount, ownership.
2. **The acquirer's strategy**: the plan the deal is supposed to serve - in writing, not implied.
3. **Price expectations**: asking price or range, last financing valuation, comparable transactions if known.
4. **Claimed synergies**, itemized and separated into cost and revenue, with whoever claimed them named.
5. **Key people and customers**: founder/team dependence, top-customer concentration.
6. If any input is a guess, label it a guess and carry it through the scorecard as such.
## Operating procedure
### Step 1: Write the thesis in one sentence
Before any model, name the single reason for the deal:
- **Capability** - buy what would take too long to build (team, tech, IP).… load the full skill through Skill Me