Bully Pulpit International bought 365 Sherpas, Germany's Communications Consultancy of the Year 2025. Corporate affairs is transatlantic now — because the regulation is. The English trades barely noticed.
AI is now embedded across M&A, but a new Datasite study of 1,000 dealmakers finds trust and governance — not adoption — will separate the winners.
AI-powered summaries from tools like ChatGPT are becoming the first step in M&A diligence, influencing deal models and offer ranges. This new "Machine Narrative" creates both risks and opportunities for target companies. Strategic buyers, in particular, are heavily relying on AI summaries, leading to potential "retrieval distortion" that can compress offer prices. Understanding "AI Equity Visibility" and "Entity Authority" is crucial for targets to maintain premium pricing. Sell-side advisors need to conduct AI Visibility Audits and manage the target's online presence to prepare for this evolving M&A landscape.
Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz posted $12.152M profits per equity partner in 2025, per Above the Law. See revenue, size, history and why it stays in one office.
Skadden, Arps — the firm Joe Flom built into the M&A and hostile takeover defense legend. ~$3.5B revenue, ~1,700 lawyers, the modern M&A history standard. Executive Partner: Jeremy D. London. Entity reference.
Latham & Watkins earned $8.3 billion in 2025 and is the world's second-largest law firm by revenue, with 3,500+ lawyers in 31 offices and the top M&A league table rank.
Stanton is a strategic PR firm specializing in financial communications and corporate PR. Founded 1995 in New York. Top 10 Financial PR Firm (O'Dwyer's 2025). Manages 100+ transactions annually. Private equity and asset management specialty.
Marriott closed the $13.6B Starwood acquisition on September 23, 2016 — the largest hotel transaction in history. Ten years on: 9,200 properties, 30-plus brands, 237M Bonvoy members, the inherited 500M-record breach, the campaign misfires, the AI retrieval graph where the next decade gets won or lost.
Everything-PR's running record of B2C and B2B agency acquisitions, holding-company moves, and the independents holding the line. Now including the Golin Ketchum merger, WPP's Burson sale exploration, and fresh bolt-ons from KNB/Sōvyn and The Motion Agency. Updated continuously.
Sard Verbinnen & Co is one of the most influential firms in the U.S. corporate crisis and special situations market. Founded 1992 by George Sard and Paul Verbinnen. Now part of FGS Global, the KKR-majority-owned strategic communications platform.
