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The M&A Zing

The M&A Zing

By: The M&A Zing
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 M&A Zing: Weekly Insights for SMB M&A, Search Funds, HoldCo Builders and Acquisition Entrepreneurs. Each week we dive-in to topics and challenges that impact SMB Succession, and explore the highs and lows of Searching, Acquiring, Owning, Operating and Exiting small and medium-sized businesses.2025 BizCrunch.co Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • S3 Ep2: M&A Zing (S3 Ep. 2) –Culture and Cash Discipline: Craig Brennan on Buying 60 Nurseries,

    S3 Ep2: M&A Zing (S3 Ep. 2) –Culture and Cash Discipline: Craig Brennan on Buying 60 Nurseries,
    Jan 29 2026

    Gareth sits down with Craig Brennan to unpack how he’s grown a 60-site nursery group through patient dealmaking, strong operating cadence and a people-first culture. We get into deal structures (including vendor terms), what really moves EBITDA in childcare, how to integrate without breaking quality, and the mistakes that taught the biggest lessons. If you’re eyeing roll-ups in regulated services, this one’s a blueprint.

    What you’ll learn: how to source and negotiate owner-led acquisitions, the KPIs that matter (occupancy, wage ratios, fee strategy), when to centralise vs leave local, handling staffing headwinds, and why sellers care about continuity as much as price.

    Highlights include: the first “lightbulb” acquisition, spinning up a nurseries platform during Covid, six deals last year, keeping Ofsted-grade standards tight during integrations, the hardest lesson about outgrowing people, and three mistakes new buyers make.

    Timestamps
    [00.12] Intro and Craig’s background
    [02.11] Ask For Group today
    [04.47] From organic growth to first acquisition
    [06.14] Professionalising the business
    [10.47] Covid, regulation and safeguarding realities
    [13.50] Demand, occupancy and parent expectations
    [17.13] Leadership: letting go and building the team
    [20.09] Debt, cash management and growth pace
    [21.30] Valuations, deal flow and multiples
    [24.22] Sourcing: direct to owner vs brokers
    [28.49] What sellers care about beyond price
    [31.14] Turnaround case study and bounce-back loans
    [35.08] Headwinds: staffing, wages, ratios
    [40.11] Quality and safeguarding as non-negotiables
    [44.07] KPIs that move the needle
    [45.19] Advice to first-time acquirers
    [47.09] Wage choices, pricing and the employer brand
    [48.56] Operating cadence and systems
    [53.08] Closing and thanks

    Guest: Craig Brennan - Chairman, SK4 Holdings; CEO & Founder, LSC; CEO & Founder, Nurtured Childcare; Owner, Cheadle Town FC.
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigbrennanlsc

    BizCrunch - the turnkey solution for peer-to-peer succession M&A
    www.bizcrunch.co
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    54 mins
  • S3 Ep1: M&A Zing (S3EP01) - AI for Due Diligence: Reccy’s Andrew Stace on Faster, Smarter Deals

    S3 Ep1: M&A Zing (S3EP01) - AI for Due Diligence: Reccy’s Andrew Stace on Faster, Smarter Deals
    Jan 21 2026

    Can AI cut due diligence time from weeks to days without missing red flags? For the first episode of Season 3, Gareth talks to Andrew Stace, CEO and co-founder of Reccy, about using AI to review data rooms, surface risks quickly, and help mid-market buyers reach conviction faster. We cover where AI genuinely helps, where guardrails matter, and how deal behaviour is shifting when bandwidth and fees are tight. Chapters built directly from the episode transcript.

    You’ll learn:
    • What Reccy actually does vs traditional data rooms
    • How the “Insights Report” works and what it covers
    • Privacy, hallucination control and accuracy trade-offs
    • Why funds ration questions and slow-walk in hot markets
    • How AI compresses the whole deal timeline and changes seller strategy

    Chapters
    [00.12] Andrew & Reccy
    [09.45] The diligence pain AI can fix
    [16.23] What Reccy actually does (pillars & workflow)
    [20.24] Inside the Insights Report
    [21.42] Privacy, guardrails, accuracy
    [26.23] How funds triage questions now
    [31.21] Reaching conviction faster with AI
    [36.02] Compressed deal timelines
    [40.08] Why build in the UK
    [46.22] Pricing for the mid-market
    [50.14] Where models and ROI are headed
    [51.54] One due diligence tip you can use today

    Links
    Reccy AI: https://reccy.ai
    Andrew Stace: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-stace/
    BizCrunch: www.bizcrunch.co

    #MandA #DueDiligence #AI #SearchFunds #ETA #DealMaking
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    54 mins
  • S2 Ep20: M&A Zing (S2EP20) - Buy-Side Breakdown: AI Music Creation Platform at ~3.5x Revenue

    S2 Ep20: M&A Zing (S2EP20) - Buy-Side Breakdown: AI Music Creation Platform at ~3.5x Revenue
    Dec 4 2025
    AI Music SaaS: 3M+ Users, 80% Margins, ~£560k Profit — smart bet or burning platform?

    In this Buy-Side Breakdown, we analyse a consumer-led AI music tool listed on Acquire. It reports ~3m users, c.3,700 subscribers, ~$700k TTM revenue and ~80% margins, but growth has stalled around 2% and churn raises questions. We dig into valuation, unit economics, platform risk, and who should actually buy this.

    What you’ll learn:

    • Why a low revenue multiple can be rational for fast-moving AI products
    • How freemium novelty skews funnel metrics and inflates “users”
    • The big risk: owning the model vs being an API skin (and why it matters)
    • LTV/CAC reality with $14 ARPU and ~$95 LTV
    • The credible playbook to shift from DTC novelty to sticky B2B use-cases
    • Who the natural buyer is, and how we’d structure a sensible offer


    Chapters

    [00:13] Welcome + what this episode covers
    [00:45] Today’s target: AI music SaaS on Acquire
    [02:00] Valuation surprise: low revenue multiple
    [02:20] Spotting the company and competitor set
    [02:42] Users, revenue, margins: headline numbers
    [03:19] Why is the multiple so low? Growth has stalled
    [03:41] Plateau, novelty and the freemium trap
    [04:29] Replacing churned users: the DTC treadmill
    [05:15] Novelty vs durable users (App Store déjà vu)
    [07:26] Funding arms race and retention quality
    [08:23] Why sell now? “New venture” and a well-funded rival
    [09:39] Ads, seasonality, and compute tweaks
    [11:15] Do they own the model or rent an API?
    [12:11] Moat signals and the frontend tells
    [13:42] Churn: what does “10% and ↓” actually mean?
    [14:48] Making it stickier: monetising UGC, tightening freemium
    [15:22] B2B niches with real longevity
    [17:30] AI artists, detection, and industry reality
    [19:13] Streaming economics: what plays pay
    [22:28] Touring vs streams when costs fall
    [22:50] Listing “growth levers”: read between the lines
    [24:05] LTV/CAC sanity: beware the averages
    [25:32] Key metrics revealed: subs, ARPU, LTV
    [26:58] Unit economics: gross margin vs cost to serve
    [27:25] Who buys this? Strategic tuck-in
    [28:12] Why a tuck-in makes more sense than solo
    [29:34] If they owned the model, different story
    [30:21] Why sell vs keep: operator incentives
    [30:45] Multiple vs effort: haggling stance
    [31:21] How we’d price and structure it
    [32:00] Vote: Alfie
    [32:53] Vote: Co-host
    [33:39] What would change our minds
    [34:26] Process status on Acquire
    [35:32] Wrap-up and listener CTA
    [35:59] Outro

    Have experience in AI music generation, or B2C SaaS? Leave your thoughts and comments below!


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    36 mins
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