Stop Falling in Love with the Deal: Guardrails for High-Volume Acquisitions with Birgitta and Lars Elfversson
Release Date: 02/19/2026
CPG Due Diligence: The Operator Framework Behind a $1B Exit | Keith Levy Part 1
M&A Science
Keith Levy backed an exit of just under $1B and a $400M exit using the same five-pillar framework, and he starts with the founder every time. Finance comes last. As Operating Partner at Sonoma Brands Capital, Keith has spent six years evaluating consumer brands across food, beverage, pet food, snacks, and cosmetics. Before that he was CMO at Anheuser-Busch through the $52B InBev deal, president of Royal Canin USA for Mars, and the strategic acquirer who led the Kind acquisition at Mars Wrigley. He knows what the data room doesn't show you, and this conversation is built around that gap....
info_outline
400 Acquisitions and a Failed Process: What Happens When You Don't Integrate
M&A Science
Roll-up platforms that skipped real integration are getting exposed when they go to market. Buyers want proof of organic growth, clean data, and a platform that actually functions as one. A lot of processes are breaking down because those proof points aren't there. Matt James co-founded Oakbridge Insurance in 2020 and has since closed 60+ acquisitions, integrating 100% from day of close. This conversation covers how he built that system, what went wrong with billion-dollar competitors, and what he would fix first if he walked into a revenue-aggregating roll-up right now. What You'll...
info_outline
M&A Roll-Up Playbook: The IRR Framework That Replaced Budgets at Zayo | Dan Caruso (Part 2)
M&A Science
This is Part 2 of our conversation with Dan Caruso, founder and former CEO of Zayo Group. Be sure to start with Part 1. It covers the Zayo thesis, deal sourcing, structure, and the negotiation playbook, whereas this episode picks up at the execution. Part 2 is about the equity value-creation framework Dan built at Zayo, applying the same IRR math PE firms use for their portfolio companies to daily operating decisions. It replaced budgets and tied every compensation decision to a single equation. It ends with the exit and how Dan put together a competing bid after a buyer consortium locked up...
info_outline
M&A Roll-Up Playbook: How Zayo Did 45 Acquisitions and Sold for $14B | Dan Caruso (Part 1)
M&A Science
Dan Caruso built Zayo from a startup into a $14B+ bandwidth infrastructure platform through 45 acquisitions. In Part 1, he walks through the full buyer-led playbook: how the thesis was built on a contrarian bet that everyone else got wrong, how proprietary deals were sourced through early relationship-building, and why fast integration wasn't a reputation problem — it was a competitive advantage. He also breaks down the metric trap most roll-up operators fall into: mistaking EBITDA growth for true value creation. If your board is tracking acquisitions individually or your deal...
info_outline
Cross-Border M&A: Doing Deals in Latin America
M&A Science
Most US buyers approach Latin America M&A the same way they do a domestic deal — optimize the process, close fast, move on. That approach gets deals killed. Rodrigo Dominguez Sotomayor, Partner at White & Case LLP, has spent 25 years closing transactions across every major Latin America market. In this episode, he walks through what actually determines outcomes: antitrust consent timelines, labor regimes that make post-close restructuring expensive, and the relationship dynamics that can unwind a billion-dollar deal a week before signing. What You’ll Learn In This Episode: ...
info_outline
Partnering Before Purchasing: How Booz Allen Wins Proprietary Deals Early
M&A Science
Booz Allen Hamilton didn't build one of the most active acquisition programs in federal tech by waiting for banker inbounds. They built it by showing up years before anyone else. Chrissy Cox has built Booz Allen's corporate development function from scratch and done it twice. Her team was named Deal Team of the Year by the Association for Corporate Growth, and under her leadership, roughly 80% of their acquisitions come from companies they already have a relationship with. That's not luck, it's a system. In this episode, she breaks down exactly how that system works — from pipeline...
info_outline
Cultural Fit Over EBITDA: How Salas O'Brien Built a 30-Merger Program Without a Single Failure
M&A Science
Salas O'Brien has completed 30+ mergers with a 100% success rate and 93% cumulative leadership retention. That doesn't happen by accident. Nathan Rust, Senior VP of Corp Dev, explains the system behind those numbers. He shares how they screen bad fits on the first call, why their CEO meets every employee from acquired firms, and how a founder-driven sourcing flywheel attracts inbound deals. In this episode: You’ll learn how they screen 200+ opportunities a year down to the ones worth closing, why their initial diligence list is 10 questions, how reverse due diligence works as a real...
info_outline
Cross-Border M&A: How to Do Deals in Italy with Mauro Sambati and Donato Romano
M&A Science
Italy remains one of Europe’s most attractive markets for foreign investment. But cross-border deals in Italy are shaped by regulatory scrutiny, strict labor laws, and unique cultural dynamics that many investors underestimate. In this episode, Mauro Sambati and Donato Romano, Partners at Gianni & Origoni, explain what it truly takes to structure and close successful transactions in Italy. What You’ll Learn in This Episode Why Golden Power must be structured as a condition precedent before closing How strict Italian labor laws impact asset deals and post-closing restructuring...
info_outline
Four Questions That Defined a $1 Billion Deal with Robert Lovegrove
M&A Science
When it comes to billion-dollar deals, success depends less on how much analysis is done and more on how clearly the organization aligns around what truly matters. In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Robert Lovegrove, President & CEO of The ChemQuest Group. Previously, as VP of Corporate Strategy at Milliken & Company, shares how one of the company’s largest acquisitions was shaped by focus, discipline, and internal alignment. Rather than overwhelming the process with more diligence, leadership centered the decision around four core questions that clarified risk, built...
info_outline
Stop Falling in Love with the Deal: Guardrails for High-Volume Acquisitions with Birgitta and Lars Elfversson
M&A Science
In fragmented industries, roll-ups are one of the most powerful strategies available. But high-volume acquisition programs come with hidden risks. Without discipline, complexity can quickly overwhelm value creation. In this episode, Birgitta Elfversson, Non-executive director at Netlight Consulting AB, and Lars Elfversson, VP/Co-Founder, Netlight Consulting AB, share hard-won lessons from building and governing multiple roll-up platforms. Drawing on their experience as operators, board members, and investors, they outline the structural guardrails required to execute consolidation strategies...
info_outlineBirgitta Elfversson, Non-executive director at Netlight Consulting AB
Lars Elfversson, VP/Co-Founder, Netlight Consulting AB
In fragmented industries, roll-ups are one of the most powerful strategies available. But high-volume acquisition programs come with hidden risks. Without discipline, complexity can quickly overwhelm value creation.
In this episode, Birgitta Elfversson, Non-executive director at Netlight Consulting AB, and Lars Elfversson, VP/Co-Founder, Netlight Consulting AB, share hard-won lessons from building and governing multiple roll-up platforms. Drawing on their experience as operators, board members, and investors, they outline the structural guardrails required to execute consolidation strategies successfully.
The conversation goes beyond sourcing and valuation to issues that determine long-term success.
What you'll learn:
- Why small pipelines create dangerous decision pressure
- How subtle drift reshapes portfolios over time
- The importance of defining and defending an acquisition framework
- Why most roll-ups fail because of people, not numbers
- How inconsistent integration across acquisitions compounds complexity
- Why clarity (whether full, partial, or no integration) must be defined early and communicated clearly
They also discuss governance discipline, board oversight, founder psychology, and the realities of market timing and exit decisions.
If you’re building or advising a roll-up platform, this episode is a practical guide to avoiding deal fever and installing the guardrails that protect strategy.
_____________________
This episode is sponsored by DealRoom
The best M&A teams close deals faster...not because they work harder, but because they have better systems. DealRoom helps you manage your entire deal lifecycle from target identification through close. No more hunting for documents or wondering what's blocking progress. Request a Demo today
____________________
Become an M&A Scientist: www.mascience.com/membership - $995/year for full access to the Intelligence Hub
____________________
Episode Chapters
[00:02:38] From Organic Builder to PE Rollups – Lars and Birgitta contrast building companies 100% organically vs. scaling through programmatic M&A.
[00:10:07] Validating the Rollup Thesis – How PE firms test market fundamentals, recruit operators, and pressure-test early industry hypotheses.
[00:13:02] Defining the Acquisition Framework – Setting guardrails on size, profitability, services, and integration logic before chasing deals.
[00:15:46] Avoiding Deal Fever with Massive Pipelines – Why long target lists prevent desperation, strategy drift, and “must-win” mistakes.
[00:21:07] Saving Your Silver Bullets – How board members influence management without overplaying authority or derailing alignment.
[00:23:43] Why Deals Go Off the Rails – How incentives, scarcity, and human bias quietly nudge teams away from original criteria.
[00:29:10] Picking the Right Companies to Buy – The three core filters: business model, size compatibility, and profitability profile.
[00:46:06] Integration Depth Drives Exit Value – Why partial integration destroys valuation and how buyers now scrutinize ERP, systems, and operational cohesion.
[01:01:56] Signing 27 Deals in One Day – A firsthand look at high-velocity rollups and the operational intensity behind scaling platforms.
[01:02:37] The Craziest Thing in M&A – Accounting “creativity,” forward-recognized revenue, and a deal so distorted it forced a divestiture and loss.
____________________
Questions, comments, concerns?
Follow Kison Patel for behind-the-scenes insights on modern M&A.