Acquirers
Case studies on companies that compound through acquisition. Some buy hundreds of small businesses; others make fewer, larger moves. What unites them: clarity on strategy, discipline in operating model, time horizons measured in decades, and unusual leadership continuity. The specifics vary, but the consistency doesn’t.
The integration spectrum
How much do you transform what you buy?
The Danaher System — Systematic transformation through DBS. Learn from the source, codify kaizen, apply everywhere. 21% CAGR for 40 years.
The Halma Discipline — Incremental reshaping, quality focus. The centipede approach — many small bets, continuous portfolio improvement. 18% CAGR since 1997.
The Lifco Way — Radical autonomy, simple metrics. Swedish decentralisation taken to its logical conclusion. 28% CAGR for a decade.
The Constellation Model — Decentralised capital allocation. Small deals done well beat large deals done adequately. 36% CAGR since 2006.
The Topicus Transplant — Constellation’s European experiment. Can the Canadian playbook work in fragmented continental markets? Early returns say yes.
The Chapters Playbook — Germany’s answer to Constellation. Investor-turned-operator, search fund hybrid, 190,000 successions to hunt.
The pricing question
Opposite strategies, similar returns.
The TransDigm Equation — Value-based pricing, sole-source power. Three value drivers, PE DNA in public markets. 36% IRR since 1993.
The Heico Playbook — Value-based positioning. Win share by being the affordable alternative. Family business, shared wealth. 23% CAGR since 1990.
The Swedish tradition
A lineage of decentralisation, permanent ownership, and simple metrics tracing back to Bergman & Beving’s innovations in the 1980s.
The Bergman & Beving Legacy — The mother company. One metric invented in 1981, six listed offspring today. SEK 180 billion in combined value.
The Addtech Succession — The best B&B offspring. Four CEOs, one system, a 130-bagger. Proof the operating model transfers across generations.
The Indutrade Model — Technology trading origins, Swedish trust culture. King in your own country. 15% EPS CAGR since 2005.
The Vitec Approach — The engineer’s acquirer. Kaizen over Berkshire, active modernisation over hands-off. The Constellation contrast. 27% CAGR since IPO.
Operational excellence
Codified improvement systems applied across the portfolio.
The Roper Model — One metric (CRI), no budgets, sixty people at HQ. Cash flow compounding as religion. 19% CAGR under Jellison.
The ITW Pause — The acquirer who stopped. 600 deals, then seven years of nothing. Proved the operating model could stand alone. Margins doubled.
The AMETEK Formula — One of the eight companies Mark Leonard studied. Four growth strategies, applied methodically for decades. 18% CAGR since 2000.
Industry consolidation
Building #1 positions through disciplined M&A.
The ASSA ABLOY Method — The gentle conqueror. Buy local leaders, integrate as mergers among equals. 400 acquisitions, 30 years of consistency.
The Diploma Model — Federated value-add distribution. Operating companies acquire businesses themselves. Critical products, thin HQ. 15% CAGR for 15 years.
The Informa Playbook — The specialist consolidator. #1 in B2B events through disciplined M&A, fast integration, and willingness to sell what no longer fits.
The Judges Approach — Six people at HQ, 4.8x EBIT multiples. The turnaround specialist who learned what breaks companies. 25% CAGR since 2003.
The Brown and Brown Dynasty — Three generations, 500 acquisitions. Insurance brokerage’s answer to decentralisation. 3% corporate overhead.
The Kelly Structure — The 51/49 partnership model. Professional services consolidation that keeps partners invested. 31% CAGR since 2007.
The PE precedent
Private equity firms aren’t compounding acquirers — they buy to sell. But one pioneered operational value creation in software before anyone else, and its influence shaped both PE competitors and permanent-capital acquirers.
The Vista Paradox — The firm that built an in-house consulting arm, codified software operations into a 100-point playbook, and proved “software tastes like chicken.” Now the question is whether the innovation has been commoditised.