FE International Blog

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FE International is an award-winning global M&A advisor of SaaS, e-commerce and content businesses. It has completed acquisitions for thousands of founders, owners and acquirers, and is the preeminent valuation thought leader in the industry. Its team includes experts in exit planning, valuation, accounting, legal and more. Founded in 2010, FE is known for its extensive network of pre-qualified international investors. With headquarters in New York and regional offices in Miami, San Francisco and London, FE is an international company serving clients worldwide. It was named one of The Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies in 2021 and 2020 by The Financial Times and is also a two-time Inc. 5000 company.

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FE International vs. Selling Your Business Yourself: The True Cost of a DIY Exit

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By Thomas Smale
| FE International Blog
You built the business. Now you are weighing how to sell it, and the pitch for doing it yourself sounds simple: skip the fee, keep more of the proceeds, stay in control. The real question behind selling a business yourself vs an M&A advisor is not which option looks cheaper on paper. It is which option puts the most money in your pocket, on the best terms, with the least risk that the deal falls apart. Those are different questions, and the data answers them clearly.
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FinTech M&A Outlook 2026: Embedded Finance, Payments, and Where the Smart Money Is Going

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By Thomas Smale
| FE International Blog
The fintech M&A outlook 2026 is the strongest it has looked in years, and the data backs it up. Global fintech investment climbed to $116 billion in 2025, up from $95.5 billion the year before. Financial services M&A reached $113 billion, a 15 percent jump over 2024. Disclosed fintech exit value hit $67.6 billion, its highest level outside of 2021. The pattern is clear: capital is back, buyers are active, and the businesses that are ready to transact are finding a deep pool of well-funded acquirers.
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How to Sell a Digital Marketing Agency: Valuation, Preparation, and the M&A Process

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By Thomas Smale
| FE International Blog
‍Global advertising spend will pass $1 trillion for the first time in 2026, and the buyers of marketing services have noticed. Private equity firms are consolidating recurring, tech-enabled services businesses, strategic acquirers are paying premiums for AI capability, and the largest agency combination in industry history closed in late 2025. For founders, that turns how to sell a digital marketing agency from an abstract someday question into a practical one with a seven-figure answer.
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Marina Vizdoaga Joins FE International as Partner to Lead Software, Data, and AI Deal Execution

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By Thomas Smale
| FE International Blog
FE International has appointed Marina Vizdoaga as Partner, adding senior buyside and valuation experience to its team across software, data, and AI deal execution. She joins at a moment when founders going to market face the deepest buyer scrutiny in a decade, and the appointment is a direct response to it. Vizdoaga brings more than ten years across capital allocation, institutional valuation, and deal execution, much of it spent underwriting and closing deals from the buyer’s side of the table.
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How to Buy an Online Business in 2026: A First-Time Buyer's Complete Guide

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By Thomas Smale
| FE International Blog
More online businesses changed hands in 2025 than in any year since the 2021 cycle peak, and 2026 is on track to match it. Global M&A deal value hit $4.9 trillion in 2025, up 40% year-over-year and the second-highest figure ever recorded, according to data from Bain & Company's Global M&A Report 2026. Technology M&A activity rose more than 76% to $478 billion in the year-to-date per Bain's December 2025 press release.
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How to Value a Digital Marketing Agency in 2026: EBITDA Benchmarks and Exit Multiples

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By Thomas Smale
| FE International Blog
Digital marketing agency valuation in 2026 sits at a fascinating inflection point. Global advertising spend is on track to cross $1.27 trillion this year, with digital channels claiming nearly 69% of that pie. Global M&A activity reached a record $1.6 trillion in Q1 2026 alone, up 50.6% year-over-year. And the Omnicom-IPG mega-merger closed in November 2025, creating a $25 billion combined entity that reshaped the competitive map almost overnight.
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EdTech M&A in 2026: Corporate Training, AI Tutors, and the Sectors Attracting Buyer Interest

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By Thomas Smale
| FE International Blog
The defining moment for edtech M&A in 2026 was not a single deal. It was the realization that capital had decided where it wants to go. The $2.5 billion all-stock combination of Coursera and Udemy, which closed in May, sat alongside KKR's $4.8 billion take-private of Instructure and Bain Capital's $5.6 billion acquisition of PowerSchool as marquee proof points that scaled, workflow-embedded learning platforms are the assets serious capital wants to own.
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Selling Your SaaS Business: PE Buyer vs. Strategic Acquirer vs. Individual Buyer

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By Thomas Smale
| FE International Blog
Global M&A deal value rose 40% in 2025 to $4.9 trillion, and 80% of M&A executives surveyed expect to sustain or increase deal activity in 2026. Global buyout deal value alone climbed 44% to $904 billion, while 90% of PE and 80% of corporate dealmakers anticipate doing even more deals this year. The buyer landscape for SaaS companies has never been more active, or more complex. If you are a SaaS founder or business owner weighing an exit, the question is not simply whether to sell.
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Net Revenue Retention (NRR) Explained: The SaaS Metric That Can Add Millions to Your Valuation

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By Thomas Smale
| FE International Blog
Two SaaS companies, both at $8 million in annual recurring revenue. Same growth rate. Same gross margins. One sells for $36 million; the other fetches $60 million. The difference comes down to a single metric: net revenue retention. According to m3ter's 2026 analysis, a 10-point improvement in NRR translates to a 20 to 30 percent valuation uplift. For a business with $8 million ARR, that is the difference between a comfortable exit and a life-changing one.
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The State of Ecommerce M&A in 2026: DTC Brands, Amazon Aggregators, and What Buyers Want Now

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By Thomas Smale
| FE International Blog
Global retail ecommerce sales are on track to reach $6.88 trillion in 2026, a 7.2% jump from the prior year. Online commerce now accounts for roughly 21% of all retail spending worldwide, and that share keeps climbing. For business owners running profitable ecommerce operations, this growth translates directly into buyer interest, competitive multiples, and real exit opportunities. M&A activity in the consumer and retail space reflects that momentum.
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FE International Blog Journalists

Wrixen, Ismael