M&A ANALYTICS: Breakthrough Insights, Better Deals

How digital technologies like artificial intelligence and data analytics are transforming the merger and acquisition deal cycle.

- ARTHUR BERT, OLGA NISSEN, STEWART LEVINE AND MATTHEW MCCLELLAND

Digital technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics are transforming the merger and acquisition (M&A) deal cycle. So much so, that traditional M&A — typically involving an army of human analysts wielding spreadsheets and crunching data — is starting to look like choosing a propeller plane when a jet is available. Simply stated: Better insights drive superior value, faster. And faster, better insights are what AI and data analytics bring to deal teams. Yet, many companies hesitate to fully utilise advanced analytics to better their deals. This cautious stance is due to a traditional M&A mindset, one that embraces the “proven” playbook. While that mindset has served M&A executives well over time, new technology and new types of deals mean it’s time to advance it. Companies need to embrace an analytics culture in M&A before they become outpaced — and outmaneuvered — by the competition.

M&A innovation means using technologies that are — well — new and innovative. They don’t come with a 10-year track record because they are being developed rapidly and in real time. While adopting such technologies may appear risky at first sight, our experience with M&A clients shows advanced analytics can bring hundreds of millions in value. Digital analytics is a tool fit for our time, as M&A becomes a more frequent, regular part of companies’ business agenda. A robust M&A function is fast becoming a norm for leaders, with AI and analytics as rocket fuel for speed and new capabilities.

A WHOLE-BRAIN APPROACH FOR BETTER M&A