What Does a Transaction Consultant Do?
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Key takeaways
- What: A transaction consultant leads diligence, valuation support, deal terms, closing, and post-close integration to turn a thesis into measurable results.
- Why/how: Today’s market has fewer deals but higher average values; winning requires sharp diligence and disciplined integration. Start with two value-backed pilots and weekly KPIs.
- Who: Transactions management consultants operate at boutiques, the Big 4, and the Big 3 strategy firms across buy-side and sell-side mandates.
A transaction consultant helps buyers or sellers make better decisions and execute faster. They validate the deal story with diligence, test valuation drivers, shape SPA terms, plan Day One, and lead integration so cost and revenue gains show up. The result is fewer surprises and a clearer path to value.
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What does a transaction consultant do?
- Deal strategy. Clarify the thesis, value drivers, and key risks; align capital plan and timeline.
- Diligence. Financial, tax, commercial, and operational checks that challenge assumptions and find upside; common in transactions management consulting. See our M&A services.
- Terms and financing. Input to SPA mechanics, working-capital pegs, earnouts, and debt options.
- Day One. Readiness across customers, people, systems, and suppliers with a post-merger integration plan.
- Value creation. Cost, revenue, and cash actions with weekly KPI tracking; hand-off to business transformation for scale.
Why now: current deal signals
- Volume vs value. H1 2025 global volumes fell about 9% vs H1 2024, while total value rose about 15%, pointing to fewer but larger transactions. (See sources)
- Synergy realism matters. Revenue synergies often take 3–5 years and fall short by roughly 20% vs targets; disciplined disclosure and tracking correlate with better returns. (See sources)
- Integration is make-or-break. Technology platforms and data migration are now central to hitting value cases. (See sources)
| Finding | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| H1 2025: global M&A volumes down, values up | −9% volume; +15% value | PwC Global M&A mid-year 2025 |
| Disclosing synergies links to better returns | ≈ +6 percentage points excess 2-yr TRS | McKinsey blog on synergy disclosure |
| Revenue synergies are slow and hard | 3–5 years; ≈20% below goal on average | McKinsey cross-sell synergy research |
| Tech is a core lever in integration | Platform and data choices drive value capture | BCG on technology in PMI |
Use these as directional inputs. Outcomes vary by sector, deal type, and execution quality.
Who does the work: Big 4, Big 3, and specialist teams
Who are the Big 4 management consultants? Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC. They run extensive transactions management consultants groups for financial and tax due diligence, valuation, and integration. (See sources)
Who are the top 3 management consultants? McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain. These firms often lead commercial diligence and value-creation playbooks alongside integration. (See sources)
Specialist boutiques focus on carve-outs, distressed deals, or sector depth. Many programs combine strategy advisors with Big 4 transaction services for a complete team.
How to start: two low-risk moves
- Commercial and operational sniff test. In two weeks, test the top five value drivers and the top ten red flags; align to strategy and operating model.
- Day One and first-100-days plan. Lock customer, people, systems, and supplier steps; connect to your integration playbook and digital and technology roadmap.
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FAQ
What does buy-side diligence include?
Revenue quality, margin and cash drivers, working capital and seasonality, tax exposures, customer and channel checks, ops bottlenecks, and systems risks. See also our notes on transactions management consulting support.
What post-close pitfalls are most common?
Slow IT cutovers, unclear decision rights, under-resourced Day One, and overestimated revenue synergies. Track weekly KPIs and protect the base business during integration.
Author and review
Prepared by the NMS team delivering commercial diligence, carve-outs, and integrations across regions. Recent work includes portfolio reshapes, cost-and-cash sprints, and cross-border integrations.
Sources
- PwC. Global M&A industry trends: 2025 mid-year outlook. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/deals/trends.html
- McKinsey. Why publicizing M&A synergies is a big deal. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-strategy-and-corporate-finance-blog/why-publicizing-m-and-a-synergies-is-a-big-deal
- McKinsey. Capturing cross-selling synergies in M&A. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/m-and-a/our-insights/capturing-cross-selling-synergies-in-ma
- BCG. Technology’s role in the post-merger process. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/technologys-role-in-the-post-merger-process
- Wikipedia. Big Four accounting firms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_accounting_firms
- Wikipedia. Big Three management consultancies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Three_(management_consultancies)
- Deloitte. Transaction Services overview pages. https://www.deloitte.com/uk/en/services/consulting-financial/services/transaction-services.html
- KPMG. Deal Advisory overview. https://kpmg.com/xx/en/what-we-do/services/advisory/deal-advisory.html
- PwC. Transaction Services overview pages. https://www.pwc.com/vn/en/services/deals/transaction.html
- Bain. Global M&A Report hub. https://www.bain.com/insights/topics/m-and-a-report/
About the Author
Aykut Cakir, Senior Partner and Chief Executive Officer, has a demonstrated history in negotiations, business planning, business development. He has served as a Finance Director for gases & energy, pharmaceuticals, retail, FMCG, and automotive industries. He has collaborated closely with client leadership to co-create a customized operating model tailored to the unique needs of each project segment in the region. Aykut conducted workshops focused on developing effective communication strategies to ensure team alignment with new operating models and organizational changes.
