142 serial acquirers to discover
The database
One serial acquirer is not the other.
There are many aspects to consider. What’s unique is that it allows us to compare specific business models across industries, across geographies, and try to find the best ones out there.
That’s what the serial acquirer database is for.
But first, I wanted to classify them. Even though Brett Kelly from Kelly Partners Group (KPG) has Buffett as his model for building his business, comparing Berkshire Hathaway to KPG may not make a lot of sense.
So here’s my way of classifying all the serial acquirers:
Why do they acquire?
Cross-Industry Holding: The name of the game is capital allocation, regardless of sectors or industry. This is your typical holding company. The prime example is Berkshire Hathaway.
Industry roll-up: The so-called consolidators. Trying to become bigger and better within a specific industry. Your typical company that fits this bill is United Rentals.
Niche Holding: The goal is not consolidation. The goal is again capital allocation, but this time within a niche industry or business model. The best example is, of course, Constellation Software.
How frequently do they acquire:
Programmatic: Lots of frequent acquisitions, multiple each year. Its a machine
Opportunistic: Sometimes they acquire. Sometimes they do not. You will see a change in the frequency of acquisitions over their lifetime.
How do they integrate:
Hands-on: Serious integration. Sometimes the local brands disappear. Usually, the acquirer is trying to find a margin increase in the acquired company.
Hands-off: Maybe some central oversight for the finance and cash flows. But that’s about it. The acquired business can mostly operate as a separate entity.
Hybrid: A bit in between. It goes further than just central oversight, but the acquired business identity does not disappear.
In the database, you’ll see that every company has been classified using these definitions:
A financial API is connected in the background to always have up-to-date information.
And for the complete functionality and what you can do with it, please watch the video below:
Interested in the database and how to access it?
Here’s how ⬇️