Operating Edge

The second bet on less plastic

A $1.4bn seat at the table

A possible future buyer joins at entry. Plus Boots’ new perimeter and Clarion’s three multiples.

Gen II and the revenue you did not buy

Two acquisitions, two value-creation mechanisms, and a better way to underwrite the next add-on.

Recurring revenue. Recurring work.

Inside May River’s Dickson exit, and the work behind recurring revenue.

$3bn to stay on shore

Royal Caribbean wants your other vacation. Plus a $6.6bn exit and the business of gathering hospital bosses.

Buying Chelsea. Again.

Majority owned. Not fully controlled. Plus a travel business selling renewals and 76 potential buyers who didn't bid.

Deal File No. 008: What if the AI company bought the customer?

Baldwin, Sequence and the difference between saving time and earning a return.

The $11.75 billion customer

GE buys its supplier. Miro sellers buy into the buyer. Porsche puts supercar proceeds into pensions.

Deal File No. 007: KKR is back on the other side of the garage door

A1 Garage Door Service and the operating case behind a reported $2 billion deal.

The Weekly Multiple No. 005: The week buyers paid for time

Eight transactions. At least $59.3 billion of reported deal value. One thing the buyers had in common: they did not want to wait.

Deal File No. 006: The $17 Billion Integration Paradox

The most important number in Aon's USI deal may not be $17 billion. It may be the $173 million expense that separates cost cutting from cutting growth.

Deal File No. 005: The Deal Is the Split

One buyer wants the products. Two others want the distribution. The deal works only if neither side destroys the other.

The Weekly Multiple #004: The Price Both Sides Can Defend

One price. Three completely different stories.

Deal File No. 004: ATG and the Business That Remembers

Providence spent thirteen years building what survives when the curtain falls. A reported $6 billion valuation now puts that system to the test.

The Weekly Multiple #003: Who Can Afford the Lakers Now?

The Lakers and Yankees reveal how rising franchise prices change ownership, incentives, and the fan experience.

Deal File No. 003: Electronic Arts and the $2.8 Billion Factory

EA's new owners can lift cash quickly by cutting development. But at nearly 24 times pre-deal free cash flow, the harder job is making $2.8 billion of annual R&D compound.

The bottleneck moved

A 606-megawatt clue to where AI gets stuck.

The Weekly Multiple #001: The money is hiding in the middle

Private equity loves deleting middlemen. This week, it spent billions buying the ones it can't.