The deals that never closed

Every successful deal has a tombstone, the engraved plaque that marks a transaction’s close. Failed deals get something less ceremonial: a terse statement, a termination fee, maybe a line in next year’s annual report. Then the story moves on.

We don’t. Our subject is the deal or initiative that never happened: the acquisition terminated before closing, the headquarters that was never built, the partnership that dissolved before it delivered. We don’t cover completed acquisitions that later underperformed. That’s a different beat, and a crowded one.

How we work

Public record first. Every investigation begins with the documents: regulatory filings, court records, official statements, government records, and contemporaneous reporting. We cite them with numbered notes so you can check our work.

Original follow-up. Then we go back. We seek out the people and places affected, ask what happened next, and look for perspectives the original coverage missed. When we ask someone for comment, each report says so and says what they told us. When we haven’t asked, we won’t suggest otherwise.

Rigorous attribution. Each report separates three things: reported facts, which are sourced and cited; analysis, which is our interpretation and is labelled; and hypotheticals, which are scenarios about what might have been and are labelled as scenarios.

One transferable lesson. Every investigation ends with a single concrete takeaway for people who make decisions like these: executives, boards, dealmakers, public officials. If the evidence doesn’t support a lesson, we’ll say that instead of inventing one.

The six-part report

1. The Hook. Why this story, now.
2. The Promise. What was announced and what it was meant to achieve.
3. The Unraveling. How it came apart, in documented sequence.
4. The Follow-Up. Where things stand today, and who we asked.
5. The Counterfactual. A labelled look at what might have been.
6. The Takeaway. The lesson worth keeping.

About the tone

Serious research, unserious wit. Corporate life produces a steady supply of absurdity, and we’re happy to notice it in headlines and asides. The reporting itself is fair, attributed, and careful about the difference between what’s documented and what’s alleged.

Independence

Credit Sweets is an independent publication. The name is a pun. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Credit Suisse, UBS, or any other financial institution, or to any company we cover.

We are not an investment bank, broker-dealer, or investment adviser, and nothing we publish is investment, legal, or financial advice. Read our full editorial policy.

Who we are

Reports are published under the Credit Sweets byline. Individual author information will appear here and on bylines as it’s added. Questions about the publication itself can go to the addresses on ourcontact page.