What is the purpose of the M&A Playbook?

The M&A Playbook provides structured frameworks and checklists to guide users through the mergers and acquisitions process, covering both acquiring and being acquired.

Who can benefit from using this skill?

Business leaders, financial analysts, and M&A advisors can all benefit from the structured approach and practical tools provided in the M&A Playbook.

What are the key components of the playbook?

The playbook includes strategic rationale assessment, a due diligence checklist, valuation approaches, and integration frameworks, among other resources.

How does the playbook assist in due diligence?

It offers a comprehensive checklist with key questions and red flags across various domains, helping users identify potential risks in a target company.

Can this skill be used for small transactions?

While it is designed for more complex M&A scenarios, the structured approach may still provide value for small transactions, though it may be more than necessary.

M&A Playbook

Name: M&A Playbook
Availability: InStock
Author: alirezarezvani

Free

A structured framework for navigating mergers and acquisitions.

by alirezarezvani24.3k stars on alirezarezvani/claude-skills

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Updated Jul 17, 2026

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Free · Opens the source repo

What M&A Playbook does

The M&A Playbook provides a comprehensive framework for both acquiring companies and those preparing to be acquired. It guides users through critical stages of the mergers and acquisitions process, including due diligence, valuation, integration, and negotiation. This playbook is particularly useful for business leaders, financial analysts, and M&A advisors who need a structured approach to assess potential deals and ensure successful outcomes.

For acquiring companies, the playbook emphasizes the importance of establishing a strategic rationale before proceeding with any acquisition. It encourages users to consider whether building a solution in-house may be more beneficial than acquiring another company. The playbook also includes a detailed due diligence checklist that identifies key questions and potential red flags across various domains, such as financial, technical, legal, people, market, and customer considerations.

For companies preparing to be acquired, the playbook outlines essential readiness signals and preparation steps to take well in advance of any negotiations. This includes cleaning up financials, documenting intellectual property, and ensuring key employees are retained. The negotiation section highlights critical points to watch for during discussions, such as valuation and earnout conditions, ensuring that companies are well-prepared to advocate for their interests.

Overall, the M&A Playbook serves as a valuable resource for anyone involved in the M&A process, providing structured guidance and practical tools to navigate complex transactions effectively.

When to use it

Use this skill when evaluating potential acquisitions, preparing for sale, or managing the integration process post-acquisition.

When not to use it

This skill may not be suitable for informal or small-scale transactions where a full M&A framework is unnecessary.

What you can build with it

Evaluating Acquisition Targets

Use the M&A Playbook to assess potential acquisition targets by following the strategic rationale and due diligence frameworks.

Preparing for Sale

Companies looking to be acquired can utilize the readiness assessment and preparation steps outlined in the playbook.

Post-Acquisition Integration Planning

Leverage the integration frameworks to ensure a smooth transition and successful integration of acquired companies.

How to install M&A Playbook

View source

1. Install with the skills CLI

npx skills add alirezarezvani/claude-skills/ma-playbook --agent claude-code

2. Or install it manually

Download the skill folder and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or .claude/skills/ to scope it to one repo. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new skill.

Anthropic's agentic coding CLI, and the reference implementation of Agent Skills. Drop a skill folder into ~/.claude/skills and Claude Code loads it automatically whenever a task matches the skill's description. Claude Code docs

Inside SKILL.md

Written by alirezarezvani

M&A Playbook

Frameworks for both sides of M&A: acquiring companies and being acquired.

Keywords

M&A, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, acquisition, acqui-hire, integration, deal structure, valuation, LOI, term sheet, earnout

Quick Start

Acquiring: Start with strategic rationale → target screening → due diligence → valuation → negotiation → integration.

Being Acquired: Start with readiness assessment → data room prep → advisor selection → negotiation → transition.

When You're Acquiring

Strategic Rationale (answer before anything else)

Buy vs Build: Can you build this faster/cheaper? If yes, don't acquire.
Acqui-hire vs Product vs Market: What are you really buying? Talent? Technology? Customers?
Integration complexity: How hard is it to merge this into your company?

Due Diligence Checklist

Domain	Key Questions	Red Flags
Financial	Revenue quality, customer concentration, burn rate	>30% revenue from 1 customer
Technical	Code quality, tech debt, architecture fit	Monolith with no tests
Legal	IP ownership, pending litigation, contracts	Key IP owned by individuals
People	Key person risk, culture fit, retention risk	Founders have no lockup/earnout
Market	Market position, competitive threats	Declining market share
Customers	Churn rate, NPS, contract terms	High churn, short contracts

Valuation Approaches

The ranges below are illustrative, not current market data — always verify against current market comps before using them in a model or negotiation.

Revenue multiple: Industry-dependent (illustrative range: 2-15x ARR for SaaS, varying with growth rate, NRR, and rate environment)
Comparable transactions: What similar companies sold for — the most defensible anchor
DCF: For profitable companies only (most startups: use multiples)
Acqui-hire: Illustrative range: $1-3M per engineer in hot talent markets

Sources to verify against (check the latest edition): the SaaS Capital Index (private SaaS revenue multiples, updated monthly), Software Equity Group (SEG) Annual/Quarterly SaaS M&A Reports (transaction multiples), and Aventis Advisors' SaaS valuation multiples reports. Cross-check at least two before anchoring a price.

Integration Frameworks

See references/integration-playbook.md for the 100-day integration plan.

When You're Being Acquired

Readiness Signals

Inbound interest from strategic buyers
Market consolidation happening around you
Fundraising becomes harder than operating
Founder ready for a transition

Preparation (6-12 months before)

Clean up financials (audited if possible)
Document all IP and contracts
Reduce customer concentration
Lock up key employees
Build the data room
Engage an M&A advisor

Negotiation Points

Term	What to Watch	Your Leverage
Valuation	Earnout traps (unreachable targets)	Multiple competing offers
Earnout	Milestone definitions, measurement period	Cash-heavy vs earnout-heavy split
Lockup	Duration, conditions	Your replaceability
Rep & warranties	Scope of liability	Escrow vs indemnification cap
Employee retention	Who gets offers, at what terms	Key person dependencies

Red Flags (Both Sides)

No clear strategic rationale beyond "it's a good deal"
Culture clash visible during due diligence and ignored
Key people not locked in before close
Integration plan doesn't exist or is "we'll figure it out"
Valuation based on projections, not actuals

Verification Loop (before any LOI or signature)

This skill frames the deal; two sibling skills verify it. Hand off — don't duplicate:

Legal terms → general-counsel-advisor: run the LOI/term sheet through ../general-counsel-advisor/scripts/term_sheet_analyzer.py (12-dimension 0-100 score) and the definitive docs through ../general-counsel-advisor/scripts/contract_risk_scanner.py (12 founder-killer patterns: earnout traps, uncapped indemnity, vague IP, etc.). Any 🔴 finding goes to outside counsel before signing.
Data diligence → chief-data-officer-advisor: run ../chief-data-officer-advisor/scripts/ai_training_data_audit.py (training-data rights, GDPR Art. 6 basis) and ../chief-data-officer-advisor/scripts/data_asset_valuator.py (data-asset value, M&A multiplier with carve-out penalties) on the target's data estate. Undocumented consent provenance is a price-reduction or walk-away item.
Valuation math → cfo-advisor tools for the quantitative model; this playbook stays qualitative.

Loop the findings back into the negotiation-points table above before the next counter.

Integration with C-Suite Roles

Role	Contribution to M&A
CEO	Strategic rationale, negotiation lead
CFO	Valuation, deal structure, financing
GC	LOI/term sheet review, contract risk scan, regulatory triggers
CDO	Data diligence: training-data rights, data-asset valuation
CTO	Technical due diligence, integration architecture
CHRO	People due diligence, retention planning
COO	Integration execution, process merge
CPO	Product roadmap impact, customer overlap

Resources

references/integration-playbook.md — 100-day post-acquisition integration plan
references/due-diligence-checklist.md — comprehensive DD checklist by domain
../general-counsel-advisor/SKILL.md — term sheet analyzer + contract risk scanner
../chief-data-officer-advisor/SKILL.md — data diligence + data-asset valuation

Frequently asked questions about M&A Playbook

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