A report in The Wall Street Journal discusses the strategy used by Amazon's internal business development team — a team that has closed $20 billion in deals since January 2017.
Four notes on the Amazon strategy:
1. Amazon moves quickly. Sources told WSJ the tech giant tracks markets for years and then closes deals in a fraction of that time. Its talks with Whole Foods, a $13.7 billion deal, took less than two months, and its $753 million acquisition of PillPack was negotiated in weeks.
2. Secrecy is key. The company told both Whole Foods and PillPack it would walk away if details leaked about the mergers. PillPack employees were given talking points and were prohibited from posting online about the merger.
3. An internal team leads negotiations. WSJ reports that Amazon often closes deals without investment bankers, instead using their own business development team.
4. Amazon preserves autonomy at acquired firms. The company usually keeps founders and CEOs and maintains original headquarters, according to the report.
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