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- Understanding Escrow: A Cheat Sheet
Understanding Escrow: A Cheat Sheet
Plus: 5 Key Benefits of M&A
Derek Avdul
November 18, 2025
Quick M&A Insights, Infographics, & Interesting Info Every Week!
Welcome to the M&A Mindset!
This Week:
We're breaking down what escrow actually is, what it covers, and how it works. Plus, we look how M&A is beneficial to businesses. And, as always, curated articles, learning resources, fun M&A merch, and something to get you to lighten up a bit...
Let's dive in.
- Derek
Table of Contents
INTERESTING INFOGRAPHIC
Each week, I feature a visually engaging infographic that distills a key M&A subject area into an easy-to-digest format. These quick reference guides aim to deliver clarity, insight, and practical understanding at a glance.
Understanding Escrow: A Cheat Sheet
M&A TOPIC BRIEFING
In this section, I provide a clear, concise overview of a specific topic, trend, or concept within the realm of M&A. The goal is to educate, inform, and spark discussions on relevant subjects, helping you deepen your knowledge and better navigate the complexities of M&A more confidently.
5 Key Benefits of M&A
13 Investment Errors You Should Avoid
Successful investing is often less about making the right moves and more about avoiding the wrong ones. With our guide, 13 Retirement Investment Blunders to Avoid, you can learn ways to steer clear of common errors to help get the most from your $1M+ portfolio—and enjoy the retirement you deserve.
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
As M&A Rises, Dealmakers Grapple with Earnout Risks and Rewards: Earnouts are becoming more common as deal volume rises, but because they hinge on future performance and subjective “reasonable efforts” standards, they often create misaligned incentives, operational tension after closing, and a growing wave of litigation.
The Brave New World of Dealmaking: Despite geopolitical and economic headwinds, global M&A is rebounding, and the most successful dealmakers are those who lean into uncertainty.
Goldman Sachs Approaches Best M&A Performance in 24 Years: Goldman Sachs is on track for one of its best M&A advisory years since 2001, driven by a surge in mega-deals, strong corporate confidence, and its growing use of data, quant models, and AI.
The Hidden Link Between Talent Shortages and Rising M&A Activity: Wharton professor argues in the podcast that U.S. limits on H-1B visas are driving companies to rely more on M&A—especially “acqui-hires”—as a way to access critical skilled talent that they can’t recruit directly.
M&A Advisors vs. Business Brokers: Key Differences Explained: Business brokers typically handle small, local deals (around $1–2 million) whereas M&A advisors work on larger, complex (often cross-border) deals and typically handle more sophisticated negotiations.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
SPREADSHEET TIPS & TRICKS
Master Financial Modeling from Elite Practitioners
6 jam-packed courses with countless cases and 30+ exercises to help you learn financial modeling. Each course is designed to guide you step-by-step in your journey to develop elite modeling skills. Click Here!
FROM THE BENCHMARK BLOG
My firm, Benchmark International, a global, award-winning sell-side M&A company, has a ton of great resources that help anyone considering selling or buying a business get more educated on all aspects of the process. Below is just one helpful article. Check out Benchmark International for many more useful articles, news, and resources.
INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
Trade Associations in the M&A Industry
LIGHTEN UP!
In the fast-paced world of M&A, we can sometimes take things (and ourselves) a bit too seriously, so it’s good to remember to enjoy a lighter moment now and then.
Famous Entrepreneurs Who Failed Before They Succeeded
M&A MERCH
Here’s a find for us finance folks to grab some M&A-inspired swag. Stuff for those of us that speak fluent EBITDA. If you find others that have great deal-themed gear, send them this way so we can let everyone know. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading this week's edition!
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Stay Curious,
Derek Avdul
New to the M&A Mindset? This weekly newsletter cuts through the noise with concise insights, infographics, and resources on middle-market M&A—trusted by 4,000+ deal professionals, business owners, and investors. Whether you're planning a transaction, building your expertise, or just fascinated by deals, you'll find something valuable here every week.
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