What is the M&A automation initiative?

It is a grassroots initiative to define a domain model for the M&A process with the intention to agree on a process model to be used for professional use in the M&A community.

In addition, the model can be used for creating M&A tools, AI tools for the M&A process and for integrating different M&A tools.

Who can contribute?

Anybody can contribute. Currently, practitioners, students, professors and tool vendors contribute to the model to make it perfect. In Germany, this initiative is run as part of the Bundesverband M&A (German M&A association).

What is in it for practitioners?

As soon as you join the initiative, you have access to the full version of the M&A reference model, which is far more detailed than the free version of the M&A reference model located here. It contains best practices from many acquisitions you can use.

What´s in it for anybody?

Everybody can enjoy, learn from and use the free version of the M&A reference model located here as long as it is non-commercial use. This means models are used in-house and not in use with services or systems sold to customers.

What is in it for tool vendors?

The M&A reference model is a domain model of the whole M&A process. Based on the model, tool vendors can automate all parts of the M&A process.

For this purpose, a commercial license of the M&A reference model is required. You can view the model in JSON, as an API layer or (planned) as model context protocol for AI use.

By joining the initiative, tool vendors can define APIs and parts of the domain model to standardize the APIs.

Who is behind this initiative?

The model has been created by Dr. Karl Michael Popp and is being enhanced and perfected by practitioners and tool vendors alike e.g. in workstreams at the Bundesverband M&A.