What 11 Acquisitions Taught Dom Hawes About M&A

From the outside, M&A can seem like a clean transaction – a new parent company, a logo change, a cheerful announcement.But inside? The reality is messier. Integration. Culture clashes. Reporting headaches. And a long list of decisions that determine whether the deal actually works.Dom Hawes has lived both sides. After his own agency was acquired (badly), he went on to build Selbey Anderson – a marketing services group backed by private equity, designed from day one to scale through M&A.In just 30 months, he led the acquisition of 11 agencies, growing the group to £22M in revenue. In this episode, he pulls back the curtain on how that actually happens – and what too many people get wrong.Here’s what we dive into:Why leadership – not just profit – is the #1 factor Dom looks for in an acquisitionThe red flags that make him walk away (including founders who say “I’m not a numbers person”)What makes integration hard – and how to avoid derailing moraleThe systems decision Dom regrets – and how it made integration and reporting harder later onHow to be “sale-ready” in today’s tougher marketWhether you’re looking to sell or simply sharpen up your ops, this one’s a must-listen.Additional Resources:Follow Dom Hawes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominichawes/ Check out Selby Anderson: https://selbeyanderson.com/ Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/ Get the key takeaways from the podcast in your inbox. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://www.scoro.com/podcast/#handbook This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system.