M&A

KPMG found that 83% of M&A deals fail to boost shareholder returns. The root cause isn't strategy or price. It's execution. And execution failures almost always trace back to how teams coordinate across email and spreadsheets.

A standard M&A due diligence list runs to 174 documents. Most deal teams still manage them across a VDR, an Excel tracker, and email. DealRoom's benchmark across 200+ middle-market deals shows what that costs, and what changes when the request layer gets restructured.

Global M&A activity reached a record $4.9 trillion in 2025, yet up to 90% of deals fail to deliver value. While common explanations include overpaying or cultural mismatch, the real issue often starts earlier: broken due diligence processes. Disorganized information, scattered emails, and manual tracking create delays, errors, and lost trust between buyers and sellers.

First-time acquirers fail 77% of the time. Serial acquirers improve to 54%. The gap isn't strategy or price. It's repeatable coordination infrastructure. This article breaks down what serial acquirers build that first-timers skip.