Robert and Toby have been clamping at the bit to start talking about the need for strong ethics, regulatory and legal instruments to manage and control the global adoption of AI. There's no doubt about it. AI has the equal potential to cause untold harm, and the scandal playing out with the UK Post Office is a stark reminder of how ethics can be completely railroaded. That is why it must be developed ethically. And that's what we're going to go into the next podcast. But today, we've been talking about the Post Office scandal because it offers a vivid example of when ethics and ethical princi ..read more

This week, the Dynamic Duo of Robert and Toby ponder on whether AI will drive a new wave of AI-influenced M&A transactions - or not.   Certainly, 2023 has seen a 40% downturn in M&A volume globally so what evidence is there that AI will offer a stimulus and create a new wave of transactions? It's not a simple question to answer because AI is still in its infancy, but adoption is accelerating at an alarming pace whilst regulation and legal controls are somewhat lagging and undeveloped. The duo give this topic a good thrashing and generally come out in agreement with each other th ..read more

Robert and Toby continue to delve into the topic of AI and in this episode, we start to examine how AI is or will impact each of the typical M&A processes. As the duo walk through the process from Deal Sourcing to Due Diligence and then into Legal Contracts and Valuation it becomes clear that AI is already playing a strong role in some aspects of M&A. But equally, there are other areas where AI might play a supporting role, where the need for human intervention is still prominent in what Toby refers to as 'the art of M&A'  There's also our long-standing view that the current ..read more

In the last episode, the dynamic duo (Rob and Toby) started to talk about the emergence of AI, and this week, we continued the conversation to try and put some definition to AI.  And we also tried (but failed) to stay grounded and not get dragged into the stratosphere around AI. Anyway, this week's podcast was more serious than others as we sub-categorised AI into Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Narrow AI, General AI and Super AI; and that's probably just touching the surface. We also tried to understand our personal position (as intelligent laypersons) on whether we were optimistic ab ..read more

Robert and Toby often get together like old men on a park bench, to discuss a variety of topics. Some of them become podcasts, others don't. And sometimes one topic sparks a discussion on something different. That was the case recently when the dynamic duo was trying to get their heads around AI and what impact it is/will have on the world of M&A.  It was from that discussion we asked ourselves what tools are currently used to manage M&A transactions and we concluded that the technology is not much more than a spreadsheet on steroids with a simple data room and a database bolted ..read more

There is one certainty in life and that is if you choose any metaphor, Toby Tester can link it to M&A, and he doesn't even blink. In today's podcast, Toby manages to draw a distinction between the behavioral characteristics of pirates of old and those of several modern-day corporate heavyweights such as Rupert Murdoch, Elon Musk, and Lord Hansen. Toby's view is that just like pirates of old, modern-day pirates possess a number of valuable behavioral traits i.e Dare to think like a pirate Dare to do things differently Don’t listen to naysayers. Surround yourself with people not afraid to ..read more

To start with a tongue in cheek disclaimer: If we've offended any Corporate Lawyers or Investment Bankers in the recording of this podcast, we did so with gusto and enjoyed having a dig at your expense :-)  But enough of that. When and where did the term M&A originate? We use the term M&A freely as part of everyday language, but when and where did it all start. Our dastardly duo jump into their time machine and head back to 1602 when the Dutch India Company was formed and became the first truly recognised 'corporate entity'. Fast forward 100 years and the Dutch India Company merg ..read more

Just when you thought it was safe. Just when enough time had elapsed that you thought the future was safe and secure - - - THEY'RE BACK! Yes, after a hiatus of 12 months, the deadly duo of Robert Heaton and Toby Tester have returned to their popular podcast with even more M&A Stories. Today's episode is just an introduction to give you a flavour of what we will talk about. As always, our intention is to share our experiences, provoke thought and conversation and help other practitioners who are about to embark on an M & A transaction ..read more

It's the first podcast for 2023 from your hosts Rob and Toby and in this episode, Toby focuses on the top 5 post-close questions a CEO needs to ask on any deal.  But before we start let's put the CEO's task into perspective.  He's just spent the best part of last year focused on the deal, the constant back-and-forth conversations, the massive efforts around due diligence, the stress of negotiating the final deal value, and then the task of ensuring that all the legalities are properly managed and signed of etc etc. There is, of course, the short-term elation when the deal is finally ..read more

Just occasionally, Rob and Toby get into the groove and thoroughly enjoy their chosen 'topic de jour' and today was one of those events. The dynamic duo decided it was time to explore the principle of creative value during M&A.  And what do we mean by that? Well, a lot of post-deal value creation is what Rob calls the 'Bleeding Obvious' and what Toby prefers to call Combinational Synergy Value (he's always had a way with words, that lad) It's the value derived by spreadsheet jockeys mulling over the post-deal financial data.  Then there's the second wave of value creation which ..read more