Mergers & Acquisitions
Commercial due diligence for investors and corporate buyers
Assess acquisition opportunities through commercial due diligence, customer referencing, market analysis and independent growth forecasting.
Overview
Assessing assets from every angle
Each acquisition presents unique risks, growth opportunities and the need to understand market dynamics. We help investors and corporate buyers assess media, technology and events businesses, understand their commercial potential and evaluate long-term value-creation potential. We typically focus on four asset types:
Assess B2B media brands, information products, data platforms and subscription-led businesses. We evaluate audience engagement, customer needs, revenue quality and opportunities to strengthen propositions, pricing and growth.
Evaluate technology businesses, software platforms and data-led products by assessing product-market fit, customer adoption, competitive positioning, recurring revenue quality and long-term potential.
Assess the market position, competitive advantage and growth potential of event brands. We evaluate customer demand, revenue quality, exhibitor and sponsor ROI, and strategic risks to provide a complete view of the business.
Evaluate the overall strength of portfolios across multiple brands, sectors, geographies and channels. We identify which assets are driving performance, where the risks are and how events, media, digital products, data and communities work together to generate value.
Our experience
How we work in M&A
We combine customer referencing, market analysis, competitor assessment and commercial due diligence to evaluate the quality of an acquisition opportunity.
Our analysis examines the strength of the underlying business, the quality of its revenue streams, the dynamics of the market and the assumptions behind future growth forecasts.
Every key assumption is tested against market evidence, customer feedback and competitive realities. In turn, we gain a clear, evidence-based view of the risks and opportunities behind an acquisition.
our expert
Jakob Kjeldsmark
Jakob specialises in commercial due diligence, M&A and strategy consulting. He supports event organisers, media businesses and private equity investors across Europe and North America. His role involves advising clients on acquisitions, portfolio expansion and strategic growth initiatives, helping them evaluate opportunities, assess risks and identify long-term value creation potential.
Selected project experience: Led the commercial due diligence of Ai4, the world’s largest vendor-agnostic AI conference, held in Las Vegas, on behalf of CloserStill Media. The work involved customer referencing, event visits, competitor analysis and revenue forecasting. It also focused on assessing underlying market dynamics to identify key value drivers, growth opportunities and strategic risks.
Result: Delivered clear recommendations that supported the acquisition decision and a successful transaction. Ai4 has since developed into a high-growth platform for CloserStill, supported by rapid expansion in enterprise AI and strong demand from sponsors, exhibitors and senior technology buyers.
Case studies
Examples of our work
Long-term acquisition support for a leading international event organiser
We have supported CloserStill Media over several years on acquisition assessments ranging from rapid event reviews and on-site visits to full commercial due diligence. Our work has covered targets across e-commerce, AI, data centres, transport technology, hydrogen and other specialist B2B markets.
Across these projects, we have assessed market position, customer proposition, competitive dynamics, growth potential and strategic fit, helping CloserStill evaluate opportunities across new sectors and geographies.
Result: Supported multiple successful acquisition decisions as CloserStill expanded its international portfolio. Over the same period, the group grew significantly, culminating in a recent transaction with Searchlight Capital Partners and Providence Equity Partners.
Commercial due diligence for a major international event partnership
We supported Clarion Events in assessing its strategic partnership with gfu, the German consumer and home electronics industry association behind IFA Berlin, one of the world’s leading consumer technology trade shows. Founded in 1924, IFA is one of the world’s longest-running event brands; Albert Einstein gave the opening address at the exhibition in 1930.
Our work assessed IFA’s brand strength, customer proposition and growth potential following a period of market disruption, helping identify the conditions required to rejuvenate the event, strengthen exhibitor and attendee value, and rebuild momentum.
Result: Supported Clarion’s strategic partnership with gfu as operating JV partner for IFA. Since the partnership, IFA has seen strong growth, with exhibitor numbers increasing by c.70% from 1,100 in 2022 to 1,900+ in 2025, and visitors increasing by c.35% from c.160,000 to c.220,000.
Contact Us
Let’s discuss your acquisition strategy
Whether you’re assessing a target, reviewing a portfolio or preparing for a transaction, we help you make informed acquisition decisions.