In my first experience with selling a business, I scaled up from a single pizza delivery shop to 84 stores, only to realize I had undersold the business. Here's what I learned during my first M&A deal and why you shouldn’t rush in without some help.
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.
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.