The thinking behind deliberate acquisition.
Acquisition Intelligence is Acquisitiv's library for founders thinking seriously about acquisition-led growth. It is built around the questions that matter before capital, management time, or advisory fees are committed: what to buy, what to avoid, how to originate, how to assess risk, and how to protect value after completion.
Book Your BriefingTwo entry points depending on where you are.
Start with the article that matches how you're currently thinking about acquisition.
Not sure where to start? Begin with the acquisition thesis article if you are still shaping the strategy, or the acquisitions failure article if you are trying to understand the risks.
An acquisition thesis is not a wish list. It is a decision-making framework that defines what you are pursuing, what you will walk away from, and what has to be true before you move. Most buyers skip it. This is why that matters.
Read the article70% of acquisitions miss the numbers they were sold on. The failure rate has not shifted meaningfully in decades. This article examines what the data actually shows about why deals go wrong and what it means for founders who want to use acquisition as a controlled growth strategy.
the numbers
chosen
plan
Read by what matters to you right now.
Everything here is designed to give you the judgement to ask better questions of advisers, of sellers, and of yourself, before any capital is committed.
A decision-making framework that defines what you are pursuing, what you will walk away from, and what has to be true before you move. Most buyers skip it.
70% of acquisitions miss the numbers. The failure rate has not moved in decades. What the data says about why deals go wrong and what prevents it.
The role, the process, and what separates genuinely buyer-side advice from advisers who are structurally incentivised to close regardless of whether the deal is right.
Many of the best acquisition targets are not listed. They are approached. How to identify them, initiate the conversation, and avoid the mistakes that kill deals before they start.
How the pipeline gets built, what separates systematic origination from reactive deal-chasing, and why it matters more than most buyers realise before they start.
Mapping the market before you approach it. What a properly structured target universe looks like and how it keeps the acquisition strategy disciplined under pressure.
Most founders underestimate the timeline. From first approach to completion, a UK acquisition typically takes 9 to 15 months. Where deals slow down and why.
Where the assumptions in the deal get stress-tested. What good due diligence looks like for a UK founder-led acquisition and where most buyers fall short.
Valuation is a negotiating position and a risk framework, not just a number. The methods, the multiples, and the questions every buyer should be asking.
The first 90 days determine whether the acquisition delivers its intended value or starts drifting. What needs to happen and what most buyers leave too late.
Staff, clients, systems, culture, reporting. The operational and commercial priorities that protect deal value in the period immediately after completion.
The deal completed but the value did not follow. The specific failure modes that emerge in the integration phase and how to avoid them before they take hold.
Reading is a start.
The briefing applies it to your business.
One 30-minute conversation. A company-specific briefing prepared afterwards. A clear view of whether acquisition deserves serious attention and what the next move could look like.
Complimentary for selected founder-led businesses. No obligation to continue. You keep the briefing regardless of what you decide next.
Book Your Briefing