29 M&A Blogs. 5 Categories. 1 Must-Read List.

The Blogosphere is yet another informational gift the internet has bestowed upon us, and blogs pertaining to M&A abound and run a gamut of style, readership, and content.

Some memoir personal industry experience, some analyze current events, and some stream consciousness like James Joyce. Some attract entrepreneurs, some attract investors, some attract bankers and lawyers.

Wherever you fall in the M&A spectrum, even if you’re just a spectator, there’s content for you.

Private Equity

peHUB – PEsmorgasbord was too long of a name but more appropriate. Circumnavigates the globe of private equity.
Recent post: Ron Kahn: Does the Stock Market Really Affect Debt Valuations? 

Private Equity Wire – An aggregation of worldwide happenings in the world of PE.
Recent Post: Euro Crisis Infects World Markets 

Investment Banking and M&A Advisory

BCMS Corporate – Spanning four continents and 20 years of experience, BCMS is a sell-side advisory catering to entrepreneurs who are ready to retire (aren’t we all?). “The most crucial advice we give our clients when selling a business is to distinguish between value and price.”
Recent Post: Business Valuation: What Matters and Why 

Sun Mergers and Acquisitions – Over a century of combined experience for this team crafting “exit strategies for business owners” in the small and middle market. That’s a hundred years and a lot of sold businesses.
Recent Post: The Future of Your Employees Under New Ownership 

IGI Blog – New York business brokers listing companies for sale bulletin-board style. It’s like shopping in a supermarket of private businesses supplemented with “best practices” literature and tutorials.
Recent Post: Hot Business List

Capital Matters – “We are entrepreneurs like you and have experienced firsthand the pain of financial crisis. Our goal is to provide you with actionable information to help you understand how business growth can be financed in this new environment and to champion private entrepreneurial firms…”
Recent Post: John Gabbart – CEO of Pitchbook 

SRR Journal – Stout, Risius, and Ross advise Fortune 500 corporations and international private companies from Argentina to Vietnam. Their journal is awesome, in the 16th century sense of the word.
Recent Post: 10 Mistakes to Avoid when Selling your Business 

The McLean Group Blog – Thought-provoking articles and white papers. These middle market bankers are located in 30 US cities and have an international practice to boot.
Recent Post: The Consequence of Acquisition Failures. What Were We Thinking? 

Dahlman Rose & Co Media Center – “… a privately owned investment bank focused on growth industries that are the direct beneficiaries of global trade, infrastructure development, and urbanization.” They own some of the best research in the investment community.
Recent Post: CNBC: “Squawk on the Street” – Inside FedEx Earnings – Interview with Jason Seidl (video) 

Redwood Capital Group – Investment banking and private equity advisors specializing in the Technology, Media, Telecom space.
Recent Post: World’s Best Emerging Market 

Focus Bankers White Papers – All of the partners at Focus have served in the C-suite at prior companies. This track record has helped them become a preeminent US middle market advisory.
Recent Post: The Economic Environment for Middle Market M&A 2010 to 2012 — Six Industries to Watch 

Crowe Horwath LLP Insights – Audit and advisory firm offering expert opinion and webinars on topics shaping the future of business, like financial reform, healthcare reform, and social media.
Recent Post: Implications of Dodd-Frank for Thrifts and Savings and Loan Holding Companies 

Entrepreneurship

Built to Sell – Serial entrepreneur John Warrillow is a beacon to small and middle market business owners. His mission is to help you “build a business that can thrive without you.” Kind of like you without… [insert bane of your existence here].
Recent Post: How 1 number can double (or cut in half) the value of your business

Silicon Prairie – We now have Silicon Valley, Alley, and Prairie. Glimpse the Midwest start-up scene in videos posted almost everyday.
Recent Post: Jeff Raikes on Huskers, area startups, entrepreneurial advice (video) 

The Private Business Owner – This moniker applies to the majority of company leaders, the backbone, small business, in this country. And this blog offers pertinent insights and raises worthwhile questions for these entrepreneurs.
Recent Post: How to Survive (And Even Thrive) During An Economic Malaise 

VC Circle – Advice on starting a business from people who have started their own and from others who consult.
Recent Post: The Four P’s of Start up Success 

Law and Corporate Governance

Socialware – The importance of social media and its ability to connect with the people you need to grow your business cannot be overstated. This blog elucidates just about everything there is to know about using social media to grow businesses of all types.
Recent Post: Social Media – More than Technology 

The Board Blog – Chairmen, Directors, and CEOs will find this resource especially useful. So too will aspirants to those seats.
Recent Post: Can Boards Truly Balance Growth and Risk? 

CFO World – From the perspective of the – guess – Chief Financial Officer, illuminations on strategic finance, accounting, operations, technology, and human capital.
Recent Post: Blackstone Tops Private-Equity Firms for M&A 

M&A Law Prof Blog – Law professors from UC Davis, Boston College, and UCLA expound the legal side of M&A. These lawyers are even casual. And funny. Truly.
Recent Post: Global M&A Index 2011 

The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation – The title is a mouthful, but that’s because these guys have a lot of good stuff to say – about corporate governance and financial regulation, as you could probably gauge from the name.
Recent Post: Dodd-Frank for Bankruptcy Lawyers

DealLawyers Blog – “The M&A Resource for Acquisitive Minds” leads one to wonder if hiring a lawyer is even necessary, or if these bloggers can serve the purpose for free. Just kidding.
Recent Post: Delaware: The Meaning of “All or Substantially All” in an Indenture Disposition Covenant 

The Conglomerate – Six professors from prominent law schools spread around the country teaching web users about business, law, economics, and society all in one place.
Recent Post: Theory and Practice/Law, Beauty and Art 

TheCorporateCounsel.net – “… an educational service that provides practical guidance on legal issues involving corporate and securities regulation and corporate governance practices – as well as many other areas impacting today’s corporate practitioner.”
Recent Post: ISS’s ’12 Policy Survey Results: A Peek Into Pay Practice Views 

Truth on the Market – A group of academics relaying veritas about “unincorporated business entities, the death of big law, jurisdictional competition, Sarbanes-Oxley, financial regulation, the criminalization of corporate law, and the portrayal of capitalism in film.”
Recent Post: Small business, partnership law and software 

Mergers, Markets, Macro

Fortune’s Finance Blogs – Dan Primack, formerly of peHUB, writes about the major players in private equity, venture capital, and deal-making.
Recent Post: Internet Bubbles: Of Truth and Consequence 

Interfluidity – Heady global macro research and commentary. Original hypotheses that will make you think.
Recent Post: The long bond does the limbo 

Mergers & Acquisitions Blogs – Current events, M&A style. White papers, and videos, and podcasts.
Recent Post: K-Fuel In Play 

All About Alpha – Alternative assets, strategy, emerging markets. Unique takes on investing globally.
Recent Post: The Asia-Pacific Private Equity Parade: Is it Passing you By? 

If you find other blogs you like and aren’t exhausted from looking at these ones, let us know and we’ll add more to the list.

We chose the blogs listed above based on a number of criteria, including: update frequency, relevancy to private M&A, and Compete.com rating.