M&A Science
How to Build a Deal Model That Beats PE on Price
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Jeremy Segal, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS)
Progress beat several reputable PE firms for Chef without paying more. The edge was a cost model PE couldn't copy: Chef's expensive engineers moved to Progress's Bangalore center of excellence, and its field sales team shifted to an inside sales motion.
Jeremy Segal has done close to 50 acquisitions over 25-plus years. He breaks down how Progress models cost synergies before LOI using only what it can execute with high confidence. He explains why Progress won't retrade after signing unless the numbers prove materially different, and the "orange flag" system that sends diligence friction straight to the CEO and CFO. He also covers the ShareFile carve-out, retention when a target's IPO hopes fall through, and why private valuations still haven't caught up to public markets.
Jeremy's first orange flag is basic information requests that sit unanswered for two or three weeks. DealRoom Diligence tracks every request, owner, and deadline for your team and the seller in one place, with automated status alerts, so a stalled request shows up long before week three. See how it works: click here