Podcast: The State of Mergers and Acquisitions with Dean Bell, KPMG

The mergers and acquisitions market has seen significant volatility since 2020, first with a pandemic-fueled downturn followed by a record-breaking recovery in 2021, and then a steep decline in 2023. Now, activity in the market is increasing again, with some analysts predicting a 20–50% increase in deal volume in 2024. But what is all of this activity actually doing? Studies have shown that between 70% and 90% of transactions do not live up to their investment thesis. In fact, more than 60% of transactions destroy, rather than create, shareholder value. Why?

In this episode of A Podcast About Leadership, AIIR Head of Team Effectiveness Dave Gloss speaks with Dean Bell, Head of Markets for Deal Advisory and Strategy practice at KPMG, and a member of the KPMG’s Board of Directors.

Dean has more than 20 years of experience and expertise in consolidations and business combinations. In this conversation, he and Dave talk about everything M&A, from the state of the market to what separates successful mergers and acquisitions from those that aren’t, and what it takes to combine two companies with different cultures.

Within the episode, Dean discusses how a cooling deal market and rising costs are causing private equity companies to prioritize improving the performance, not just the profitability, of the companies in their portfolios. You can find the research he references here, or you can read more of KPMGs insights, including their quarterly trend reports.

For more episodes, don’t forget to subscribe to A Podcast About Leadership on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to podcasts.