Taha Ahmed
@tahaahmed
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Helping PEs, family offices, and CEOs drive shareholder value through M&A, investments, and deal making. đź’Ľ $1B+ in deals done. Ex-@GoldmanSachs & CGO @Forbes.
Joined April 2009
So, you want to grow and drive shareholder value?. Over the last 10+ years, I’ve helped CEOs and boards deploy capital across M&A, partnerships, and internal investment to create real enterprise value. After a certain scale, almost every company will develop a corporate.
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As someone who led growth at one of the largest publisher in the world, I’ve seen firsthand how search-driven referral models shaped modern publishing economics. The rise of AI-generated overviews isn’t just a traffic problem—it challenges the very premise of third-party.
The odd thing about this situation is I think OAI has a disincentive to work on ad-like monetization. As long as users gator they seem to have ample equity backers. They can lose more money longer than the deep pocketed incumbent. Why clutter the UI w ads prematurely? 1/2.
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This deal looks like a solid win, injecting instant $82M ARR into Cognition's pipeline, broadening the customer footprint, and speeding up innovation in a red-hot segment. Investors benefit from de-risked growth—securing IP and users ahead of rivals, potentially lifting.
It’s a privilege to welcome Windsurf to Cognition. Here are more details in the note I sent to our Cognition team this morning:. Team,. As discussed during our all-hands, we are acquiring Windsurf. We have now signed a definitive agreement and we couldn’t be more excited. Here’s.
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RT @emadahmedd169: People buy into you before they buy into the sale. Let’s talk about the part of sales no one teaches:. The metaphysical….
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🇺🇸 Moody’s cuts US credit to Aa1. Interest now forecast to eat 30% of gov’t revenue by 2035. Trickle-down effect? LBO math gets uglier. Capex budgets tighten. Buybacks > buyouts. Which sector’s M&A gets impacted first from higher cost of capital?.
Watch: Moody's downgraded its US sovereign credit rating on Friday over concerns about the nation's $36 trillion in debt, in a move that could complicate President Trump's efforts to cut taxes and send ripples through global markets
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TLDR: This isn’t a flashy “growth at any cost” deal. It’s a defensive consolidation built for margin expansion and long-term compounding. Execution won’t be easy, but if done right, this could become one of the last great horizontal integrations in U.S. cable. Time will tell. .
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10 / Over the long term the deal can create shareholder value through: . → Stronger negotiating position with ESPN/Disney, Netflix, regional sports networks.→ Higher utilization of existing fiber networks = lower churn.→ National scale helps weather regional macro cycles.→.
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9/ BUT, if you're building a network business — whether in software, telecom, or energy — there are two ways to win:. → Increase throughput over fixed assets.→ Decrease marginal cost per user. This deal hits both levers.
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8 / In my opinion, the the risks to watch are:. → Integration complexity: Systems, cultures, pricing models — all need harmonizing. → Brand identity: Consumers know “Spectrum,” not “Cox” — will rebranding confuse the market?. → Capex drag: Upgrading legacy cable infra to fiber.
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7 / Unlike T-Mobile/Sprint or Comcast/Time Warner, this deal has relatively low overlap. The FCC and DOJ will still take a hard look, but rural/urban market segmentation makes this deal more surgical than monopolistic. Antitrust risk: Moderate, but not fatal.
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6/ Cox is monetizing part of its asset in exchange for a long-term equity stake. This gives them liquidity + upside. Charter gets to absorb a competitor without overleveraging. No pure-cash deal, no hostile takeover — it’s clean. This is a playbook out of the Berkshire.
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5/ Timing is critical. Both firms face structural headwinds:.1 - Cord-cutting continues to erode legacy TV revenue.2 - Broadband is saturated in urban markets.3 - Wireless bundling from T-Mobile & Verizon is stealing share.4 - OTT (over-the-top) content has made content margin.
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4/ In terms of synergies, the companies expect $500M in annual cost savings within 3 years. But this is likely conservative — if back-office systems, tech platforms, and call centers are integrated well, that synergy number could stretch into the billions over time. Execution.
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3/ At its core, this is a scale and efficiency play. The combined company will serve 37M+ broadband & cable customers across 48 states. The thesis:.Consolidate fixed cost base.Bolster negotiating power with content providers.Compete more effectively with telcos (Verizon,.
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2/ First Deal Terms:.Total transaction value: $34.5B. Cox receives:. $4B in cash.$6B in convertible preferred units.$11.9B in common equity. Result: Cox owns ~23% of the combined company.Combined entity keeps the Cox Communications name; Spectrum remains as a brand.
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1 / Rarely do two legacy giants merge without regulatory bloodshed—today is one of those days. Charter and Cox just announced a $34.5B merger that will reshape U.S. broadband. Everyone sees a merger. Few see the shift in playbook: this is a margin game—not a land grab. In a.
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14/ Final thoughts: This isn’t just retail consolidation. It’s a long-term platform play to own the consumer relationship across formats, channels, and geographies. It’s risky. But if integration works and margin expansion follows, it could be one of the boldest shareholder.
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13 / There’s also a capital allocation angle here: Dick’s is trading stock to acquire an underperforming asset at scale, leveraging a high multiple to buy low. If execution hits, this becomes accretive not just to EPS—but to enterprise value multiple over time.
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12/ With that said investors punished the deal (Dick’s -14%) because Foot Locker has been in decline. But that’s exactly the arbitrage: Dick’s is buying optionality. Foot Locker has room to rebound. If Dick’s can stabilize it and drive comp sales, it can transform a lagging.
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11/ From my perspective, long-term value will come from portfolio synergy, not just cost synergy. → Private label growth via Foot Locker's store base.→ Unified loyalty programs = more owned data.→ Cross-channel fulfillment opportunities.
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10/ To understand the long-term value potential, look beyond the deal premium. Dick’s is acquiring not just store count—but leverage, data, and scale. The acquisition gives Dicks, greater negotiating power with suppliers, global store footprint in youth and urban segments, and.
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