Featured Stories
Selling an Edtech Business: The PositivePsychology.com Exit
PositivePsychology.com, a mission-driven edtech platform used by 19M+ professionals, was acquired in an 8-figure deal advised by FE International. This case study covers their growth, decision to sell, and the exit process.
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SaaS M&A Trends 2026: Consolidation, AI Premiums, and What Buyers Pay Now
SaaS M&A trends in 2026 come down to three things: deal value hit records while deal counts thinned, four buyer groups now compete for quality software assets, and AI has split pricing between durable platforms and replaceable tools, with Rule of 40 performers trading at nearly three times the multiple of those below it. This guide covers where deal volume went, why software is consolidating faster than the rest of the market, who is buying (private equity platforms, vertical consolidators, strategics, and individual buyers) and what each pays for, how the AI premium is actually calculated, what buyers are paying now, how deal structures are shifting toward rollover and earnouts, what diligence tests in 2026, and whether to exit this year or wait.
HappyOrNot Acquisition Case Study: How a Minority Investor Moved to Majority Control
Verdane acquired a majority stake in HappyOrNot, the Finnish customer experience company, moving from minority investor to controlling owner by buying out Northzone, AirTree Ventures, management, and employee shareholders. FE International advised the company and separately advised the selling shareholders. This case study breaks down how a minority to majority buyout works, why an existing investor was the right buyer, what two billion point-of-service feedback responses are worth as a defensible data asset in 2026, how a four-party process reached one clean signing, why cap table simplification is itself a value event, and what founders with multiple investors should take from it.
How to Sell a SaaS Business in 2026: Valuation, Process, and Timeline
Selling a SaaS business in 2026 takes eight to sixteen months from decision to funds received, with private SaaS companies trading at roughly 2x to 7x ARR depending on retention, growth, and the Rule of 40. This guide covers when to sell, how buyers calculate your number using SDE, EBITDA, or ARR multiples, the eight steps of a sale process with realistic timelines by deal size, who the buyers are and how strategic, private equity, and individual acquirers differ, how deals get structured through earnouts and escrow, the legal and tax issues to plan for, and why a competitive process moves the final number more than any single metric.
SaaS Valuation Multiples in 2026: Private Deal Benchmarks by ARR, Growth, and Retention
Private SaaS businesses trade at roughly 2x to 7x ARR in 2026, with the range set by scale, growth, and retention rather than by sector averages. This guide covers private deal benchmarks across every ARR band from sub-$1M to $20M+, why the average multiple you found online does not apply to you, how public and private multiples diverged in 2026, the metrics that actually move your number (net revenue retention, Rule of 40, gross margin, growth), whether ARR, EBITDA, or SDE applies to a business your size, how the AI re-rating split the market, and what earns a premium versus triggers a discount.
Key-Person Risk: How to Make Your Business Sellable Without You
Key-person risk is the share of a business's revenue, decisions, and knowledge that runs through one individual, and buyers price it directly through a lower multiple, more money held back in escrow and earnouts, and a longer transition commitment after closing. This guide covers how buyers detect owner dependence in diligence, why technology businesses carry extra exposure through the bus factor, what dependence actually costs in price and terms, a five-area self-assessment to score your own risk, a 12-month plan that turns each fix into evidence a buyer can verify, and where key-person insurance and non-competes fit in.
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How to Choose an M&A Advisor: 11 Questions to Ask Before You Sign
Choosing an M&A advisor comes down to verifying four things before you sign: proven specialisation in your sector, closed transactions at your size in the last 24 to 36 months, a named senior lead who runs your deal day to day, and fee terms tied to your outcome. This guide sets out the 11 questions that test each one, what a strong answer sounds like, the red flag hiding behind each thin answer, how to verify credentials through public records, the three patterns behind most seller regret, and a weighted scorecard for comparing every firm you meet.
Marketplace Apps M&A in 2026: Platform Ecosystems, Shopify Apps, and Acquisition Trends
Marketplace apps M&A in 2026 is one of the most consistently transacted corners of technology dealmaking, driven by suite-building consolidation inside platform ecosystems, strategic demand for installed distribution, and the premium now attached to machine-readable commerce data. This guide covers what counts as a marketplace app across three distinct models, where deal activity is concentrated, the benchmark transactions of the year (eBay and Depop, G2 and Gartner, Bending Spoons and Airtable, StarApps and AppMaker), who is buying and why, how each model gets valued, the diligence checklist, how agentic commerce is rewriting distribution economics, and how founders should prepare before going to market.
SaaS Churn Rate: How to Calculate, Benchmark, and Reduce Churn Before Selling Your Business
SaaS churn rate is the metric where operational reality and valuation meet most directly, with fifteen points of net revenue retention separating a 5x business from a 24x one. This guide covers the four churn formulas buyers verify (logo churn, gross revenue churn, net revenue churn, and the monthly-to-annual conversion that misstates half of published benchmarks), which 2026 benchmark figures are actually auditable, how churn differs by ACV, stage, vertical, and pricing model, how acquirers rebuild your retention from raw customer data in diligence, and a 12-month plan to cut churn before you sell.
Marketplace App Valuations in 2026: Multiples, Metrics, and What Drives Premium Exits
Marketplace app valuation in 2026 depends first on classifying the business correctly, because the label covers three genuinely different models: platform-ecosystem apps, two-sided marketplaces, and consumer mobile apps, each priced on different metrics. This guide breaks down how buyers value each using SDE, EBITDA, revenue, and gross volume multiples, current 2026 benchmark ranges, the numbers buyers check first (take rate after pass-through, liquidity, cohort retention, concentration), how network effects survive diligence, the 2026 platform-fee and regulatory shifts repricing the category, and real disclosed deals from Depop to Alia.
