Ronald Reagan is remembered for a phrase that has become almost a political cliché: freedom is not free. [1] He was speaking about liberty in the geopolitical sense, but the same observation applies equally to markets.

When I wrote our M&A Outlook in the first quarter, I argued that the deal market remained resilient despite the geopolitical noise, and that the mid-market would continue to be where the real action was in 2026. Halfway through the year, the evidence is stacking up on both fronts.

I started my first business in 1987: a pizza home delivery chain in the UK, back when the concept was still a novelty. By 1990, we had grown to 84 outlets and captured 15% market share. Two years later, at just 28 years old, I sold the business to the market leader, Perfect Pizza.

You’ve spent years building something that works. The revenue’s there. The systems run. The clients keep coming back. Then you

Here’s what most business owners get wrong about exits: they think it’s about finding a buyer. It’s not. It’s about

Succession isn’t something that happens on a single date. It’s a multi-year process that starts long before you’re ready to

Australia’s IT Managed Services sector is a significant and fast-growing part of the business landscape. According to IMARC Group, the Australian managed services market reached approximately AUD $8.5 billion in 2024 and is forecast to grow to around AUD $15.9 billion by 2033 .

Three weeks ago, in Omaha, Nebraska, something quite extraordinary happened. For the first time in decades, Warren Buffett — the most celebrated investor of our era — sat in the arena as a spectator while someone else ran the show.

The Peter Warren–Wakeling transaction is a textbook example of a well-structured deal caught in the slow lane — not by market conditions, but by the machinery of government approval.

Half of all M&A deals fail to deliver the value buyers expected. This isn’t bad luck. It’s a strategic problem