Strategic and valuation review
Assessment of what the buyer is acquiring, how the consideration compares with trading references and precedent deals, and which strategic benefits are measurable.
Transaction research and M&A analysis
M&A and transaction research for public-market investors.
Independent, public-source analysis of announced and completed transactions, including strategic fit, valuation, accretion or dilution, purchase accounting, and post-close monitoring.
The mandate
Underwrite the economics behind the transaction narrative.
Transaction announcements compress strategy, financing, accounting, and execution risk into a small set of headline claims. Riverson Arc expands those claims into an auditable framework for public-market investors.
The work distinguishes company-disclosed terms and guidance from Riverson Arc calculations and assumptions. Unquantified synergies are identified as possible bridge items, not treated as value already earned.
Discuss a research mandateHow we can help
Focused work around a defined investment question.
The scope begins with the decision, the evidence required, and the analytical output your team can use.
Accretion, dilution, and accounting
Earnings bridges, share issuance, synergies, financing effects, purchase-accounting considerations, tangible-book dilution, and sensitivity analysis where supported.
Post-close transaction monitoring
A scorecard for cost savings, revenue or funding benefits, integration costs, franchise retention, capital, purchase accounting, and the disclosures still needed to prove the case.
Typical outputs
Built to be reviewed, challenged, and updated.
Transaction summary
Headline terms, ownership, consideration, timeline, strategic rationale, and key management guidance.
Valuation comparison
Trading references, precedent transactions, premium analysis, and transparent weighting or sensitivity.
Earnings bridge
Step-by-step accretion or dilution analysis with company figures, assumptions, and model outputs classified.
Monitoring scorecard
The evidence, thresholds, and future disclosures that can confirm or disconfirm the transaction thesis.
Working process
Clear scope. Traceable evidence. Defined output.
Establish the public record
Map announcement materials, filings, proxy information, closing disclosures, and the timing of each material transaction input.
Rebuild the economics
Translate consideration, financing, synergies, accounting, and standalone earnings into valuation and per-share outcomes.
Define what remains unproven
Reconcile modeled outputs with management guidance and identify which benefits, costs, or forecast differences require future evidence.
Frequently asked questions
What a research engagement includes.
What does an accretion and dilution analysis examine?
It examines how a transaction changes per-share earnings under stated assumptions for consideration, financing, standalone earnings, synergies and purchase accounting. Riverson Arc separates management guidance from its own calculations and tests the assumptions needed to reconcile them.
What types of transactions can Riverson Arc analyze?
The service can cover announced or completed public-company mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments, major asset transactions, and other special situations where public disclosures support a useful analytical screen.
Can the work include precedent transactions?
Yes. Precedent deals can be used when the transaction set is sufficiently comparable. The analysis identifies differences in timing, business mix, market conditions, and transaction structure rather than treating every precedent as equivalent.
How are management synergies treated?
Quantified company guidance is separated from Riverson Arc assumptions and outputs. Potential benefits that have not been publicly quantified may be discussed as bridge items but are not assigned value without a stated analytical basis.
Is this a fairness opinion or merger-arbitrage recommendation?
No. Riverson Arc transaction research is a public-source analytical screen and decision-support product. It is not a fairness opinion, legal or accounting advice, or a live merger-arbitrage recommendation.
Proof of process
See the post-close transaction framework applied.
The Santander and Webster case study examines the strategic assets acquired, the price paid, valuation sensitivities, 2028 EPS accretion, tangible-book dilution, preliminary purchase accounting, and the remaining earnings bridge.
Start with the question
What does your team need to underwrite, compare, or monitor?
dave15@riversonarc.comInclude the company, transaction, or decision context and the output required. Scope and timing are agreed before work begins.