The Strategy and Leadership Podcast with Anthony C. Taylor

From Small Companies to Public Markets: 100+ M&A Deals with Callum Laing of Unity Group

·25 min·2 clips

Applying S&P 500 governance to a small business would kill it, says M&A expert Callum Laing.

The episode begins with host Anthony Taylor introducing Callum Laing, a partner at Unity Group with extensive M&A experience. Laing shares his background as an entrepreneur in Asia for 25 years, focusing on helping small businesses use capital markets for growth through M&A. He immediately challenges the notion that best practices for large companies apply to smaller ones, stating it would 'kill' a small business. Laing explains that most M&A destroys shareholder value due to forced synergies and ego-driven integrations. His alternative is an 'agglomeration' approach, where small businesses are grouped under a publicly listed holding company but keep operational control, avoiding the pitfalls of traditional mergers. He defines small businesses as typically $1-10 million in revenue, aiming to scale them to billions. The discussion shifts to why M&A often fails, with Laing emphasizing that profitable, cash-generating businesses should be acquired accretively and not forced to merge. He highlights the importance of retaining founders and key employees like 'Marianne in accounts' to preserve value. Taylor then asks about boards, and Laing notes that less than 1% of businesses have active boards, yet all successful companies do. He distinguishes between governance boards for large companies and growth boards for SMEs, designed to help rather than restrict. Laing describes his 'board as a service' model, a flat-fee, flexible option for small businesses to access trained professionals. He also mentions the Veblen Director Program, which trains professionals for board seats and guarantees placement within 30 days. The episode concludes with Laing sharing his contact details and Taylor summarizing key takeaways about tailored strategies for small businesses.

As heard by us

A grounded look at small-company acquisitions, where deal structure and founder autonomy shape the outcome.

Callum Liang makes a clear case that small-company M&A needs a different playbook from the one used by an S&P 500 company. Drawing on 10 years of dealmaking, he explains how buying profitable, cash-generating businesses below the buyer's trading multiple can add shareholder…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want to understand how an accretive acquisition can still lose value when a founder and senior team walk away.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Strategy and Leadership Podcast with Anthony C. Taylor