Serial acquirers and rollups

Business models

Growth by repeated small acquisitions. Mark Leonard's Constellation Software letters are the reference text for practitioners and are not a book; the following cover the discipline and its failure modes.

8 books

Start here

  1. The OutsidersWilliam N. Thorndike, 2012
  2. Lessons from the TitansScott Davis, Carter Copeland, Rob Wertheimer, 2020
  3. The Synergy TrapMark L. Sirower, 1997

Books 8

The Outsiders
T1 The Outsiders
William N. Thorndike · 2012 · Eight capital allocators who ran decentralised holding companies.
Open Library
Andrew WilkinsonDan LoebFrancois RochonMohnish PabraiRational Capital Investment FundWally WeitzWarren BuffettAlfred LinBrian ArmstrongCharlie MungerMichael MauboussinPatrick O'ShaughnessyRyan Hoover
The Synergy Trap
T2 The Synergy Trap
Mark L. Sirower · 1997 · Why the premium usually exceeds the synergy.
Open Library
HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business
T2 HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business
Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff · 2017 · The search-fund method, from the professors who teach it.
Open Library
Lessons from the Titans
T2 Lessons from the Titans
Scott Davis, Carter Copeland, Rob Wertheimer · 2020 · Analysts on Danaher, Honeywell, GE: what serial acquisition needs to work.
Open Library
Patrick O'Shaughnessy
Mastering the Merger
T3 Mastering the Merger
David Harding, Sam Rovit · 2004 · Bain's frequent-acquirer discipline and integration playbook.
Open Library
Deals from Hell
T3 Deals from Hell
Robert F. Bruner · 2005 · Post-mortems on the acquisitions that destroyed the most value.
Open Library
Buy Then Build
T3 Buy Then Build
Walker Deibel · 2018 · Acquisition entrepreneurship as an alternative to founding.
Open Library
1,000 Dollars and an Idea
T4 1,000 Dollars and an Idea
Sam Wyly · 2008 · Entrepreneur's memoir of building and selling successive companies
Open Library
Mohnish Pabrai