thanks Samer, what about acquiring 3-4 companies in related but different industries where you can create efficiency and capture synergies (not thinking about conglomerates given the size of the business and SFs targets)

hello it depends on the nature of the industries and how related they are. I would categorize the possible sources as being (a) cost related: coordinated purchasing whether of services (accounting, legal, back office outsourcing) or inputs (raw materials etc); shared resources (e.g. finance personnel, warehouses etc) or other cost items or (b) revenues from cross selling or joint marketing. the challenge is how to ensure that the entities remain distinct enough to enable you to sell them independently if needed. Another element is leveraging the cashflows of one entity to support another