M&A pathway: M&A primer and large-cap case study

Thursday 10 September 2026 | 13:00 - 14:00 | Webinar

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M&A across three worlds: Large-cap, aggregators, private equity

Mergers and acquisitions absorb enormous amounts of capital and management attention, and most large deals still fail to deliver the value their architects promised. What separates the transactions that work from those that do not usually sits outside the valuation model: who is buying and why, what the buyer’s own economics demand, and how much of the promised value survives the years after closing.

Over this four-part series discover how leading organisations approach M&A, from executing public company transactions to building acquisition-led growth and creating value in private equity.

Each session is led by an experienced practitioner and built around a real transaction: the Sky takeover battle, acquisitions within a high-growth software company, and the 2005 Hertz buyout.

Participants will:

• Understand what drives M&A and why many deals fail
• Examine how different buyer economics shape pricing, strategy and returns
• Analyse landmark transactions from deal execution through to integration and exit

This session

Mergers and acquisitions are easy to describe and hard to get right: most large deals fail to deliver the value their architects promised, and the risks that decide the outcome often sit outside the valuation model. This session sets out how M&A actually works, who sits at the table, what drives transactions and why so many disappoint before examining what changes once a deal reaches large-cap, public scale, where disclosure obligations, regulatory scrutiny and execution risk all intensify at once. 

In this webinar, Federico Mennuni, CFA, grounds these dynamics in the takeover battle for Sky (Comcast vs Fox/Disney). Working through the deal’s sealed-bid auction, its regulatory path and the cross-border strategic logic behind it, the session shows where value is won or lost in large public transactions. 

Learning outcomes: 

• Understand what drives M&A transactions, why deals happen and why so many fail to create value
• Analyse what changes at large-cap public scale, where disclosure, regulation and execution risk intensify
• Evaluate a landmark takeover through its auction mechanics, regulatory path and strategic rationale 

Who Should Attend?
This event is is suitable for portfolio managers, research analysts, asset owners

Find the other sessions in the series here:
M&A pathway: M&A as a growth engine - Lessons from serial acquirers and strategic buyers
M&A pathway: PE M&A - The sponsor’s logic 
M&A pathway: Panel discussion - M&A across three worlds

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