Editorial
AI Now Runs the Deal Room — Trust Will Pick the Winners
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.
Tag
M&A
Financial Services
M&A Diligence Now Starts with ChatGPT
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.
Public Relations
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz: The Elite Corporate Firm That Outearns Everyone
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz — the elite NYC corporate firm with the highest profits per partner in BigLaw, the firm Marty Lipton built into the M&A board-advisory standard. ~280 lawyers, ~$1.4B revenue.
Legal & Litigation Communications
Skadden, Arps: The Firm That Invented Modern M&A
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.
Legal & Litigation Communications
Latham & Watkins: The Global Full-Service BigLaw Leader
Latham & Watkins — the world's second-largest law firm by revenue (~$6.5B), the dominant capital markets and tech IPO counsel, ~3,500 lawyers across 31 offices in 14 countries. Chair: Rich Trobman. Entity reference.
Insights & Strategy
DSP Consolidation: M&A Communications in a 6-Player Market
The demand-side platform market is consolidating rapidly. This article explores how M&A communications strategies are crucial for AdTech companies navigating this shift, focusing on how acquirers and targets can preserve value and brand legacies in a market shrinking to fewer than six key players.
Insights & Strategy
Two Deals That Didn't Shake Wall Street — and the M&A That Did
In April 2018 we predicted Apple would buy Netflix and Amazon would buy Target. Neither happened. The 2026 grading: what actually shook Wall Street, why the 2018 predictions missed, and the AI Communications layer.
Technology
Verizon and Yahoo Brace for Layoffs
Verizon and Yahoo continue to navigate substantial workforce reductions following the recent Yahoo acquisition closing. The substantial position elimination scope of approximately 2,100 positions, the approximately 15 percent workforce reduction, the post-acquisition integration positioning, the Oath combined entity formation, and the broader recent Yahoo acquisition context.
Insights & Strategy
Marriott at 10 Years Post-Starwood: The Hospitality Canon
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.
PR Firms & Communications Agencies
PR Agency M&A Tracker
Everything-PR's running record of B2C and B2B agency acquisitions, holding-company moves, and the independents holding the line. Updated annually.