E72: A 14-Deal Week: Residence buys GateMaker, plus Bluebird's Recap

Fourteen deals worth mentioning in a single week. And those are just the ones that surfaced.The week before Cannes, the dam broke. Christian and Ayelet break down the deepest deal review we've done yet — anchored by a transaction Ayelet's team actually advised on the sell side: Residence acquiring GateMaker, a female-founded creator and influencer agency with a blue-chip beauty roster.Plus a sponsor-to-sponsor recap in commerce services (Bluebird Group + Bertram Capital), and a rapid-fire run through 12 more deals across creator, beauty, luxury PR, B2B, and commerce.One platform investment. One deep dive. Twelve quick hits. Under 20 minutes.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS0:39 — Welcome to Market and Deals Friday — and a 14-deal week1:12 — Did everyone wait until the week before Cannes to announce?1:37 — Coming up: a special edition with Chris Erwin of RockWater on the Accenture/Whalar deal2:00 — Market update: Bluebird Group partners with Bertram Capital2:20 — Bertram's buy-and-build model and the Bertram Labs tech advantage3:00 — Reading the deal size from a $1.6B control fund with a 43% IRR4:00 — Why a relationship-driven commerce services business resists AI disruption5:35 — Deep dive: Residence acquires GateMaker — a sell-side deal Ayelet's team ran6:05 — GateMaker's founders, blue-chip beauty roster, and creator economy pedigree7:20 — Did Residence already have creator capability? (No — this was the capability buy)7:50 — Second acquisition in under five months: Residence is now a 9-agency network8:44 — The Gemspring-backed platform build and why Residence is now an active acquirer9:28 — The "anti-holdco" model — and Christian's pushback on the framing10:42 — Why creator and influence relationships command a premium right now11:30 — The cross-industry pattern: do-no-harm PMI for people-heavy businesses11:56 — Advisors: Palazzo and Speed M&A on the sell side12:32 — Brinkley the deal-finding agent and a 20-deal week13:20 — Quick hit: Front Row acquires Carbon Beauty (second deal this year)13:57 — Quick hit: Mazarine acquires Bacchus — luxury PR and UHNW access14:10 — Quick hit: Huge acquires Rotate — composable commerce14:27 — Quick hit: Motion Agency acquires LKHNS — B2B and video (Kim Everl's 7th)15:30 — Quick hit: Akeneo acquires Pricing Hub — PIM moves into pricing16:33 — Rapid fire: Mile Marker/Lyfe, Legion Advertising, Factual/Intelsio, Everything Branding/Darlington17:44 — The week's only disclosed number: 2X acquires KnownWell at a $400M combined valuation18:09 — Quick hit: Scorpion acquires One SEO Digital18:32 — 14 deals, one disclosed price: the lower middle market buying capability quietly18:52 — Don't miss the Erik Huberman interview (Ep. 71) + the Chris Erwin special coming up🔔 Subscribe for weekly M&A coverage on In/OrganicConnect with Christian and AyeletAyelet's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.