Whether helping businesses grow through divestitures and carve outs, or optimizing diligence for corporate board members and C-Suite decision makers, AI and ML in M&A are here to stay. We always read about new technology disrupting the status quo through innovation and AI, but how is this changing Mergers and Acquisitions? I was pleased to take a deep dive this month in Dallas – discussing what’s new since last year’s The Deal conference in Chicago – with my Grant Thornton colleagues Jim Peko, National Managing Principal of Transaction Services, and Jason Pizza, Managing Director of Strategic Solutions.

1. The Deal Economy
Dallas
Key Takeaways | April 2019

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Whether helping businesses grow through divestitures
and carve outs, or optimizing diligence for corporate
board members and C-Suite decision makers, AI and
ML in M&A are here to stay.
Key Takeaways from The Deal in Dallas
2
We always read about new technology disrupting the status quo
through innovation and AI, but how is this changing Mergers
and Acquisitions? I was pleased to take a deep dive this month
in Dallas – discussing what’s new since last year’s The Deal
conference in Chicago – with my Grant Thornton colleagues
Jim Peko, National Managing Principal of Transaction Services,
and Jason Pizza, Managing Director of Strategic Solutions.

3. ©2019 Grant Thornton LLP | All rights reserved
Technology is nothing new in the complex
world of M&A
3
For years, conventional technologies like
Excel spreadsheets were central to
analysts’ M&A work. But now intelligent
technologies like Artificial Intelligence
(AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are
sensing risk to increase the speed and
accuracy with which they can harness
the power of big data much earlier in
the pre-deal process, monitoring millions
of data points 24/7 and serving up the
most relevant insights in a dashboard.

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The automated dashboard is powered 24/7
to make human analysis easier each day
4
Target and Competitor Growth Rates
Pending regulations such as:
• The Wyden Booker Bill to audit AI for bias
• ITI advocacy for AI governance
• The GrAITR Bill for AI R&D
Sources of data
generating a risk
profile for your M&A
targets compared to
their peers include
Customer sentiment
• Product reviews
• Media coverage
• Social mentions
Employee sentiment
• Scraping public data from ratings sites like Glassdoor
• Industry news
• Queries on keywords like “restatement” or “breach”

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Pre-deal, we identify gaps in businesses and
align their needs with a target profile,
monitoring prospective acquisition targets
5
Post-deal, we can more easily actualize these enhanced
insights into a virtuous cycle, adding value to operations of
the acquired target and across our entire asset portfolio.
Tech solutions which used to be affordable to only the largest of
conglomerates are now driving competitive advantage for mid-market
companies – both buyers and sellers alike. Our panel, moderated by The
Deal’s senior reporter Steve Gelsi, discussed how predictive analytics are
uncovering the optimal value of future transactions, and what corporate
board directors and C-Suite decision makers need to understand to
navigate these innovative new disruptions.

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A more holistic approach
6
Jim Peko is our firm’s beacon of light guiding clients
when it comes Transaction Services, and he did a terrific
job explaining the evolution of due diligence – from
research based on EBITDA, tax, and assurance – to a
more holistic approach. Now, technology makes it easier
than ever to connect the dots between historic data
points, more quickly accurately predicting the future in
M&A. The breakthrough has been the speed with which
AI- and ML-enabled tools can harness and analyze more
data than ever before, providing actionable insights
fast. By bridging the gap between past and future, the
potential value of transactions changes dramatically.
And with the looming prospect of a contraction in our
economy, the speed with which disruptions can be
anticipated and mitigated is essential.

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Our advisory practice has evolved
as a result
7
Our advisory practice has evolved as a
result, from analyzing spreadsheets to
helping our clients visualize data. What used
to take weeks can now occur in days or even
hours. In M&A – where time is of the essence
– these new tools can quickly surface trends
and nuances which humans alone might
have overlooked. It’s easy to imagine Excel
spreadsheets becoming obsolete, while our
advisory role becomes more essential,
strategically spotting trends and advising
decision-makers, as shown in the data
visualization example here.

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Keeping Perspective
8
While the art of what is possible today and in
the near future is exciting, we never lose sight of
how what’s new and what’s next fits within the
entire life cycle of a deal. Boards and decision
makers need to first know their company’s
strategy to make the most of these intelligent
new technologies and the capabilities they
enable. As I shared last year, businesses can
close gaps through M&A, with the desirability of
targets mapped and measured in near real time.
What’s new is how boards and executives can
improve post-deal integration and operations,
anticipating where pain points may be and
devising strategies to work through them,
actualizing the full benefit of their transactions.

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To view more key takeaways from The Deal conference, I urge you to subscribe to my
YouTube channel. If you or your colleagues want to learn more about how Grant Thornton
can partner with you and leverage technology to strategically advise before, during or
after an M&A deal, please contact me.
9
@NicholeJordan26
linkedin.com/in/nicholeajordan/
nichole.jordan@us.gt.com
https://www.instagram.com/nicholejordan26/
Nichole Jordan
National Managing Partner,
Markets, Clients & Industry
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