The TACO Theory and a Chilled M&A Quarter
By Lou Sokolovskiy In recent days, a four-word meme has become gospel on Wall Street: “Trump Always Chickens Out.” Born from a Financial Times column, the phrase—shorthanded as “TACO”—described...
PEO Strategy for Private Equity: Retaining Talent Post-Acquisition
By Nate Olsen, President, BestFit PEO Solutions. Houston, TX. Successful mergers and acquisitions depend on more than just financial metrics and productivity integration. The human element of a newly...
The Forgotten Front of Trump’s Trade War
By Lou Sokolovskiy How Trump’s tariffs are reshaping America’s lower middle market M&A landscape Ever since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has been busy...
A Decade of Swings in SaaS Valuations Offers a Cautionary Tale for Tech Investors
By Lou Sokolovskiy A major study finds that over the past ten years valuations of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies have traced a dramatic arc—from exuberant highs to sobering corrections—mirroring the...
Beyond the Gloss: What It Really Takes to Close Your First Independent Sponsor Deal
Insights from a recent interview with Doug Bunim of OFS Capital Management. By Lou Sokolovskiy To the uninitiated, the world of independent sponsors brims with opportunity. Identify a target...
The 1% Deal
By Lou Sokolovskiy In the brutal world of independent sponsors, only the persistent survive. In the high-stakes game of private company acquisition, the odds are punishing as these fundless...
Grounded and Under Pressure: Aerospace & Defense Faces Distress Turbulence
By Bill Bowler Long considered a bellwether of industrial resilience, the Aerospace & Defense industry is flying through turbulence. Supply chain disruptions, program delays, and rising capital costs have...
Frozen Market? Not for Everyone: The Resurgence of Strategic M&A
By Lou Sokolovskiy These days, few in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) industry are unfamiliar with this scene: a deal, which has been years in the making, is languishing....
AI-Driven M&A in 2025: Fewer Deals, Bigger Bets in the TMT Sector
A new PwC report published Tuesday shows that while tech, media, and telecom M&A volumes are falling, artificial intelligence is fueling a surge in high-value transactions. Strategy, not scale,...
Closing M&A Deals in 2025: Insurance, Bonding, and Hidden Costs
By Lou Sokolovskiy In today’s dynamic M&A landscape, a fresh wave of innovation is reshaping deal-making, with Representation and Warranty (R&W) insurance emerging as a game-changer and bonding requirements...