# Serial Acquirers Case studies on companies that compound through acquisition. Some buy hundreds of small businesses; others make fewer, larger moves. What unites them: clarity on strategy, discipline in operating model, time horizons measured in decades, and unusual leadership continuity. The specifics vary, but the consistency doesn't. --- ## The integration spectrum How much do you transform what you buy? **[[Danaher]]** — Systematic transformation through DBS. Learn from the source, codify kaizen, apply everywhere. 21% CAGR for 40 years. **[[Halma]]** — Incremental reshaping, quality focus. The centipede approach — many small bets, continuous portfolio improvement. 18% CAGR since 1997. **[[Lifco]]** — Radical autonomy, simple metrics. Swedish decentralisation taken to its logical conclusion. 28% CAGR for a decade. **[[Constellation]]** — Decentralised capital allocation. Small deals done well beat large deals done adequately. 36% CAGR since 2006. **[[Topicus]]** — Constellation's European experiment. Can the Canadian playbook work in fragmented continental markets? Early returns say yes. **[[Chapters]]** — Germany's answer to Constellation. Investor-turned-operator, search fund hybrid, 190,000 successions to hunt. --- ## The pricing question Opposite strategies, similar returns. **[[TransDigm]]** — Value-based pricing, sole-source power. Three value drivers, PE DNA in public markets. 36% IRR since 1993. **[[Heico]]** — Value-based positioning. Win share by being the affordable alternative. Family business, shared wealth. 23% CAGR since 1990. --- ## The Swedish tradition A lineage of decentralisation, permanent ownership, and simple metrics tracing back to Bergman & Beving's innovations in the 1980s. **[[Bergman & Beving]]** — The mother company. One metric invented in 1981, six listed offspring today. SEK 180 billion in combined value. **[[Addtech]]** — The best B&B offspring. Four CEOs, one system, a 130-bagger. Proof the operating model transfers across generations. **[[Indutrade]]** — Technology trading origins, Swedish trust culture. King in your own country. 15% EPS CAGR since 2005. **[[Vitec]]** — The engineer's acquirer. Kaizen over Berkshire, active modernisation over hands-off. The Constellation contrast. 27% CAGR since IPO. --- ## Operational excellence Codified improvement systems applied across the portfolio. **[[Roper]]** — One metric (CRI), no budgets, sixty people at HQ. Cash flow compounding as religion. 19% CAGR under Jellison. **[[ITW]]** — The acquirer who stopped. 600 deals, then seven years of nothing. Proved the operating model could stand alone. Margins doubled. **[[AMETEK]]** — One of the eight companies Mark Leonard studied. Four growth strategies, applied methodically for decades. 18% CAGR since 2000. --- ## Industry consolidation Building #1 positions through disciplined M&A. **[[ASSA ABLOY]]** — The gentle conqueror. Buy local leaders, integrate as mergers among equals. 400 acquisitions, 30 years of consistency. **[[Diploma]]** — Federated value-add distribution. Operating companies acquire businesses themselves. Critical products, thin HQ. 15% CAGR for 15 years. **[[Informa]]** — The specialist consolidator. #1 in B2B events through disciplined M&A, fast integration, and willingness to sell what no longer fits. **[[Judges]]** — Six people at HQ, 4.8x EBIT multiples. The turnaround specialist who learned what breaks companies. 25% CAGR since 2003. **[[Brown & Brown]]** — Three generations, 500 acquisitions. Insurance brokerage's answer to decentralisation. 3% corporate overhead. **[[Kelly Partners]]** — The 51/49 partnership model. Professional services consolidation that keeps partners invested. 31% CAGR since 2007. --- ## The PE precedent Private equity firms aren't compounding acquirers — they buy to sell. But one pioneered operational value creation in software before anyone else, and its influence shaped both PE competitors and permanent-capital acquirers. **[[Vista]]** — The firm that built an in-house consulting arm, codified software operations into a 100-point playbook, and proved "software tastes like chicken." Now the question is whether the innovation has been commoditised. --- ## The portfolio **[[Amphenol]]** — Extreme decentralisation in connectors. "They join the portfolio — and keep running themselves." **[[Bending Spoons]]** — "If Berkshire and Google had a baby." Transformation-focused app acquirer, from failed startup to $10B+ valuation.