For decades, the M&A practice has held a reputation for rigor and precision. But is it deserved? Seminal and recent studies agree that roughly 70% to 90% of deals fail to meet their objectives [1]. Would any other industry survive at this rate? Are beliefs and facts aligned?
Nordic presents 5 Market Signals to rethink the narrative:
1- Most M&A assessments analyze what is concretely measurable and struggle with intangibles. The core issue is not arithmetic; it is a narrow perspective. Hyper specialization has reduced the number of generalists who connect dots across functions and contexts. [2]
2- There is a gap in social skills, with newer generations showing the sharpest decline; industry leaders state soft skills are as critical as technical skills, yet the field remains undertrained in these areas. [2][3]
3- The M&A industry is moving contrary to the evidence: More AI, fewer humans, “Meet your new investment banker: an AI chatbot” [4]. Agentic tools are joining deal execution, and the human side is neglected precisely where ambiguity demands a holistic judgment.
4- The nº1 issue when closing deals is agreeing on valuation [5]. Since traditional valuations do not guarantee accuracy, operational and cultural due diligence become compulsory and will decide the next decade’s M&A winners and losers.
5- At Nordic, we are receiving an increasing number of existing customers demanding support in their M&A activity, with an explicit request for an operational and human-oriented approach.
To this day, the leading driver of M&A activity is still enabling growth in the core business [5], and that growth ambition collides with the 3 main reasons for failing to capture revenue synergies:
(i) ineffective product-portfolio mix,
(ii) unsuccessful go-to-market implementation, and
(iii) inability to incentivize and mobilize the sales team [6].
The real-world implication is clear: go-to-market integrators, sales specialists, and distribution network experts are set to become the value-creation enablers that the M&A industry needs.
“M&A credibility is threatened by the blind spot around culture and operations.”
References:
[1] The Big Idea: The New M&A Playbook.
https://hbr.org/2011/03/the-big-idea-the-new-ma-playbook
[2] Investment Professional of the Future (2019).
https://futureprofessional.cfainstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Investment-Professional-of-the-Future-FoF_Rev.pdf
[3] Why the Social and Verbal Skills of Some Gen Z Workers Have Declined.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2024/06/16/why-the-social-and-verbal-skills-of-some-gen-z-workers-have-declined/
[4] Meet your new investment banker: an AI chatbot.
https://www.ft.com/content/045dac3f-eb78-469d-a3ef-3495aefa6e8f
[5] 2025 M&A Deal Market Study (drivers of activity and top closing obstacles).
https://kpmg.com/kpmg-us/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2025/2025-ma-deal-market-study.pdf
[6] Bringing Science to the Art of Revenue Synergies (top challenges to capturing revenue synergies).
https://www.bain.com/insights/revenue-synergies-m-and-a-report-2022/
