The M&A Science Podcast

Brought to you by DealRoom
Hosted by Kison Patel
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Featuring guests from leading companies

Learn from leading M&A practitioners

Join Kison Patel, Founder and CEO of DealRoom and Chief Scientist at M&A Science for weekly episodes where he explores the complex world of M&A with industry leaders and practitioners. Here's to the deal.

“M&A and negotiations is a dance. You're dancing, and the music may get a little faster and you have to dance faster. But it's a dance nonetheless, and you have to go through the whole process and be patient.”
Rodrigo Dominguez sotomayor
Partner & Co-Head of Latin America Practice at White & Case LLP
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“If we get a banker inbound for a company and we've never heard of it before, it's probably too late.”
Chrissy Cox
VP and Head of Corporate Development at Booz Allen Hamilton
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“We view this process like a marriage. If I cannot enjoy getting to know someone over the course of an hour, it is probably not going to be a successful long-term partnership.”
Nathan Rust
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Live Podcast
Mar 26, 2026

Cross-Border M&A: Doing Deals in Latin America

Rodrigo Dominguez Sotomayor
, 
Partner & Co-Head of Latin America Practice at White & Case LLP
Strategy
Live Podcast
Mar 26, 2026
Rodrigo Dominguez Sotomayor of White & Case breaks down what actually drives deal success in Latin America — from regulatory traps to cultural dynamics most buyers miss.
Live Podcast
Mar 19, 2026

Partnering Before Purchasing: How Booz Allen Wins Proprietary Deals Early

Chrissy Cox
, 
VP & Head of Corporate Development, Booz Allen Hamilton
Sourcing
Live Podcast
Mar 19, 2026
Chrissy Cox of Booz Allen Hamilton on building proprietary deal pipeline through partnerships, testing culture before LOI, and why the best deals start years before the process does.
Live Podcast
Mar 12, 2026

Cultural Fit Over EBITDA: How Salas O'Brien Built a 30-Merger Program Without a Single Failure

Nathan Rust
, 
Senior VP of Corporate Development at Salas O'Brien
Strategy
Live Podcast
Mar 12, 2026
Nathan Rust reveals how Salas O'Brien screens 200+ opportunities a year — and why cultural fit, not EBITDA, is their real deal filter. 93% leadership retention. 30 mergers. Zero failures. (They call them mergers for a reason.)
Live Podcast
Mar 5, 2026

Cross-Border M&A: How to Do Deals in Italy

Mauro Sambati
, 
Partner, Gianni & Origoni
Donato Romano
, 
Partner, Gianni & Origoni
Strategy
Live Podcast
Mar 5, 2026
Mauro Sambati and Donato Romano of Gianni & Origoni break down Golden Power, Italian labor law, and the cultural dynamics that make or break cross-border deals in Italy.
Live Podcast
Feb 26, 2026

Four Questions That Defined a $1 Billion Deal

Robert Lovegrove
, 
President & CEO of The ChemQuest Group. Previously, as VP of Corporate Strategy at Milliken & Company
Strategy
Live Podcast
Feb 26, 2026
In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Robert Lovegrove, President & CEO of The ChemQuest Group Inc. 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.
Live Podcast
Feb 19, 2026

Stop Falling in Love with the Deal: Guardrails for High-Volume Acquisitions

Birgitta Elfversson
, 
Non-Executive Director at Netlight Consulting AB
Lars Elfversson
, 
VP / Co-Founder of Netlight Consulting AB
Integration
Diligence
Strategy
Live Podcast
Feb 19, 2026
Learn board-level guardrails for high-volume acquisitions (and why roll-ups fail when teams under-estimate people + integration risk.)
Podcast
Feb 16, 2026

The Next Chapter After 400 Episodes

Kison Patel
, 
Founder of M&A Science | 10 years, 400+ practitioner interviews
General
Podcast
Feb 16, 2026
After 400 episodes and nearly 100 founding members, Kison wanted to give you a real update - where M&A Science has been, what we're building, and where this is going.
Live Podcast
Feb 9, 2026

Integration Focused M&A: Why Execution Should Inform Strategy Before You Sign Part 2

Ciprian Stan
, 
M&A Integration Manager at SALESIANER Gruppe
Integration
Live Podcast
Feb 9, 2026
Ciprian Stan of SALESIANER Gruppe explains why culture, trust, and execution must shape M&A strategy before a deal is signed.
Live Podcast
Feb 2, 2026

Integration Focused M&A: Why Execution Should Inform Strategy Before You Sign

Ciprian Stan
, 
M&A Integration Manager at SALESIANER Gruppe
Integration
Strategy
Live Podcast
Feb 2, 2026
Ciprian Stan, Integration Manager at SALESIANER Gruppe, tells us why seller-led M&A no longer works, and what top acquirers do differently after close.
Live Podcast
Jan 26, 2026

How Experienced Buyers Actually Make M&A Work

Carlos Cesta
, 
Partner at Makanta Services
Strategy
Integration
General
Live Podcast
Jan 26, 2026
Carlos Cesta (125+ deals) breaks down how experienced buyers structure deals for outcomes, not transactions. The deal spiral, earnouts, and integration.
Podcast
Jan 19, 2026

A Founder's Guide to Lean M&A Strategy

Christian Hassold
, 
SVP at Wpromote x Giant Spoon
Strategy
Valuation
Sourcing
Podcast
Jan 19, 2026
Christian Hassold, SVP at Wpromote x Giant Spoon, reveals the culture red flags founders overlook in M&A—and why culture fit should stop deals dead in their tracks.
Podcast
Jan 12, 2026

How Integration Debt, Cultural Friction, and Communication Failures Kill M&A Deals

Donara Jaghinyan
, 
Transformation and Integration Leader
Integration
Strategy
Podcast
Jan 12, 2026
Donara Jaghinyan breaks down integration debt, change management frameworks, and cross-border cultural challenges that derail M&A deals post-close.
Podcast
Jan 5, 2026

Why Integrations Break: TSAs, Carve-Outs, and the Hidden Dependencies That Derail M&A Deals

Donara Jaghinyan
, 
Transformation and Integration Leader
Integration
Strategy
Podcast
Jan 5, 2026
Donara Jaghinyan reveals why M&A integrations fail—from TSA pitfalls to carve-out complexity. Learn how IMOs manage dependencies, day-one readiness, and cross-functional execution.
Podcast
Dec 22, 2025

Building Your M&A Reputation: Why Relationships Beat Transactions Every Time

Andy Cohen
, 
VP of Corporate Development at F5
Podcast
Dec 22, 2025
Andy Cohen, VP of Corporate Development at F5, shares 30 years of M&A wisdom: why reputation matters more than winning, and how relationships drive 60+ successful deals.
Podcast
Dec 8, 2025

Scoring Culture Fit in M&A

Sharon Van Zeeland
, 
VP at Rockwell Automation
Integration
General
Strategy
Podcast
Dec 8, 2025
Sharon Van Zeeland, VP at Rockwell Automation, shares how to systematically assess culture during M&A and sync integration planning with diligence for faster value creation.
Podcast
Dec 1, 2025

Making M&A Boring (and Why That’s a Good Thing) with Leon Brujis

Leon Brujis
, 
Partner and Co-Head of U.S. at 65 Equity Partners
General
Strategy
Podcast
Dec 1, 2025
Leon Brujis of 65 Equity Partners reveals how non-control investments in founder-led companies deliver superior returns through partnership, not control.
Podcast
Nov 24, 2025

M&A Integration Starts with Hiring with Brandon Batt

Brandon Batt
, 
Chief People and Transformation Officer at Quadient
Integration
Strategy
Podcast
Nov 24, 2025
Brandon Batt, Chief People & Transformation Officer at Quadient, reveals how building M&A readiness through strategic hiring drives integration success before deals close.
Podcast
Nov 17, 2025

Strategic M&A Framework: IFS's Acquisition Playbook with Rachel Hindley

Rachel Hindley
, 
Vice President of Corporate Development, IFS
Strategy
Podcast
Nov 17, 2025
Rachel Hindley, VP Corporate Development at IFS, reveals how to balance PE exit horizons with long-term strategy using four acquisition archetypes and integrated diligence
Live Podcast
Nov 10, 2025

Mastering Carve-Out Transactions

Keith Crawford
, 
Global Head of Corporate Development and M&A at State Street Corporation
Sourcing
Integration
Live Podcast
Nov 10, 2025
Keith Crawford of State Street shares proven frameworks for navigating complex carve-out transactions, from proactive sourcing to integration execution.
Podcast
Nov 3, 2025

Integration-Led Diligence: Cisco's M&A Approach

Johanna Jaakola
, 
Integration Lead, Corporate Development Integration Team, Cisco
Tesia Hostetler
, 
Leader, Acquisition Integration Practice, Cisco
Integration
Strategy
Podcast
Nov 3, 2025
Johanna Jaakola and Tesia Hostetler from Cisco reveal how integration-led M&A, early decision-making, and a 180-person integration community drive surgical execution.
Podcast
Oct 27, 2025

Integration-Led M&A: Cisco's Surgical Approach to Deal Success

Johanna Jaakola
, 
Integration Lead, Corporate Development Integration Team, Cisco
Tesia Hostetler
, 
Leader, Acquisition Integration Practice, Cisco
Integration
Strategy
Podcast
Oct 27, 2025
Johanna Jaakola and Tesia Hostetler from Cisco reveal how integration-led diligence transforms deal outcomes by connecting strategy to execution from deal thesis through close.
Podcast
Oct 20, 2025

When Integration Beats Roll-Ups

Tim Hall
, 
Managing Partner and Founder, Brenton Point Capital
Integration
Podcast
Oct 20, 2025
Tim Hall, Managing Partner at Brenton Point Capital, shares how independent sponsors win through integration excellence, not just deal aggregation, in buy-and-build platforms.
Podcast
Oct 13, 2025

Buyer-Led M&A Strategy at Snowflake

Stefan Williams
, 
VP Corporate Development at Snowflake
Strategy
Podcast
Oct 13, 2025
Stefan Williams, VP Corporate Development at Snowflake, reveals how to build an M&A function from scratch, integrate acquisitions at scale, and drive growth through buyer-led strategy.
Live Podcast
Sep 29, 2025

Corporate Development Strategy: Notion's M&A Approach with Hilary Shirazi

Hilary Shirazi
, 
Head of Corporate Development at Notion
Strategy
Live Podcast
Sep 29, 2025
Hilary Shirazi, Head of Corporate Development at Notion, shares how to build M&A strategy, the Four T's framework, and scaling deals without an IMO.
Live Podcast
Sep 22, 2025

How Corporate Venture Capital 2.0 is Reshaping M&A

Jennifer Miller
, 
Senior Director of Corporate Development at Oshkosh Corporation
Strategy
Sourcing
Live Podcast
Sep 22, 2025
Jennifer Miller, Senior Director of Corporate Development at Oshkosh Corporation, brings over 24 years of M&A experience spanning investment banking, boutique advisory, and corporate development.
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