Buyer-Led M&A: How To with Carson Group's Michael Belloumini

Michael Belluomini, Senior Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions, Carson Group

Kison sits down with Michael Belluomini to unpack how Carson Group scaled its M&A strategy—shifting from internal partner investments to sourcing proprietary external deals at volume. Michael shares tactical insights into managing concurrent transactions, building a sourcing engine, and executing with precision.

Things You'll Learn:

• The differences between Buyer-Led and Seller-Led M&A—and when to use each
  
  

• How Carson Group built a scalable sourcing engine across multiple deal channels
  
  

• Strategies for managing 3–5 concurrent deals without burning out internal teams
  
  

• Why culture fit and trust are non-negotiables in M&A success

Episode Chapters

[00:01:00] Michael's background in M&A and move to Carson Group

[00:05:30] Building equity partnerships with independent advisors

[00:07:00] Carson's first external acquisition and shift to full ownership deals

[00:08:30] Sourcing strategies: banker-led vs. proprietary sourcing

[00:10:30] Key differences between internal and external M&A transactions

[00:12:00] The case for buyer-led M&A: process control and long-term outcomes

[00:17:30] How Carson builds proprietary pipeline using data, outreach, and coaching

[00:20:00] Structuring outreach and qualifying prospective sellers

[00:22:30] Building trust in the process and winning deals beyond valuation

[00:31:00] Integration strategy and Carson's one-stage close model

[00:35:00] Managing 14 deals in one year with a lean team and specialized roles

[00:37:00] Why Carson adopted DealRoom to streamline pipeline and diligence

[00:41:00] How to reduce seller fatigue and coach through diligence

[00:44:00] Culture fit as a non-negotiable deal criterion

[00:50:00] The craziest thing Michael's seen in a deal

[00:52:00] What sellers do after exiting—and why finding your "next" matters