Founder profile · Connect directory

Joash Boyton

Founder and Managing Director, Acquiry

Melbourne, Australia · Global coverage

Joash builds acquisition pipelines for strategic acquirers, private equity firms and buy-side advisers, turning a buyer’s strategy into conversations with the right owners, including owners who are not looking to sell. Mandates from USD $1M to $500M, in any sector and any market.

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Joash Boyton, Founder and Managing Director, Acquiry
Founder, AcquirySince 2021
Deal range (USD)
$1M–$500M
Public profiles
40+
Core sectors, and any other
6+
Markets
AU / Global

About

About Joash Boyton

Joash Boyton is the Founder and Managing Director of Acquiry, an M&A firm built around buy-side acquisition origination. He works with strategic acquirers, private equity firms and advisers supporting buyers on mandates from USD $1M to $500M. Most of the work sits in technology, SaaS, fintech, payments, gaming and digital assets, and it is not limited to them: any sector, any market.

Every mandate starts with the buyer’s ideal acquisition, turned into a precise target profile. From there the team researches the market in depth, finds the right route to each owner, presents a credible rationale for the buyer and qualifies both sides before anything is called transaction-ready. Many of the best businesses are not for sale, so the edge is opening conversations on strategic fit rather than waiting for a listing.

Sell-side processes and capital introductions sit alongside the buy-side work. Acquiry’s role is research, introductions, coordination and follow-through within the agreed engagement, while each party works with its own legal, tax and financial advisers.

Areas of expertise

  • Buy-side origination
  • Off-market sourcing
  • Owner introductions
  • Target research
  • Strategic fit
  • Deal structure
  • Sell-side processes
  • Capital introductions
  • SaaS M&A
  • Fintech M&A
  • iGaming M&A
  • Digital assets M&A

How a mandate runs

  • Target profile

    Broad criteria turned into a precise profile of the business the buyer wants.

  • Research and access

    In-depth market research, then the right route to each owner, often off-market.

  • Owner conversations

    A credible rationale for the buyer, shaped around what each owner values.

  • Qualify and progress

    Both sides qualified, then introductions and coordination through to close.

Background

Path into M&A

Joash’s path into M&A started on the operator side. He founded SEMimpact as an SEO-focused domain supply business, then expanded that platform as Rank Networks, covering sales and acquisition operations, joint ventures, affiliate relationships and systems for managing large digital inventories.

  1. 2013–2016

    SEMimpact

    Founded an SEO-focused domain supply business spanning sales, acquisitions, joint ventures and technical systems for large-scale domain and data management.

  2. 2016–2021

    Rank Networks

    Expanded market services, affiliate relationships and deal flow across domain and digital asset acquisitions. Rank Networks was the rebrand and expansion of SEMimpact.

  3. 2021–present

    Acquiry

    Founded Acquiry to apply operator judgement to buy-side and sell-side mandates, backed by research and structured process.

Writing

Intelligence and research

Joash authors Acquiry’s Intelligence Hub, a library of practitioner-grade M&A guides covering valuation multiples, deal structure, regulatory considerations and sector-specific transaction dynamics. It is designed to be directly useful to founders, investors and acquirers navigating M&A transactions.

The guides are written from a practitioner’s perspective, drawing on Acquiry’s transaction experience and sector research. They cover crypto exchange valuation, iGaming regulatory premiums, sportsbook acquisition multiples, token consideration structuring and blockchain infrastructure M&A.

He also publishes Acquiry Deal Intelligence: independent forensic reviews of announced technology acquisitions, compiled from corporate disclosures, SEC filings and regulatory ledgers. Research identifiers and public profiles sit alongside the firm work.

Published research · Author identity · 2026

Artificial Intelligence and Strategic M&A in 2026: Capital Allocation, Valuation, and Market Structure

A flagship working paper and authorship anchor. Distributed via direct PDF, linked to SSRN and citation records, reinforced by ORCID and Google Scholar, and supported by publication references on Amazon and Calameo. It focuses on AI classification, valuation discipline, capital allocation and M&A market structure.

Download PDFSSRN working paper
Author
Joash Boyton
Affiliation
Acquiry
Pages
23
Data period
2022 to 2025
Transactions
150 analysed

Intelligence articles

Intelligence Hub (opens in a new tab)

Markets

Sector expertise

The sectors below are where most work concentrates. They are not a limit. Any sector, any market: bring it to us anyway.

Connect

One directory for every public surface

Everything is meant to connect. Acquiry for firm work. Personal sites for Joash directly. LinkedIn, research identifiers and press profiles for public presence. This directory is the Acquiry-side map of those same surfaces, plus the firm pages, tools and verticals on this site.

joashboyton.com/connect: Primary profile hubThe central directory for professional networks, research profiles, social platforms and owned domains, maintained as the personal-site authority source. This Acquiry page mirrors that graph and adds every firm, tool and intelligence surface on acquiry.com.Visit hub (opens in a new tab)

Speaking and media

Speaking, commentary and press

Speaking engagements

Joash speaks on M&A, AI in deal-making and the acquisition of businesses. Available for conferences, panels, podcasts and corporate events globally.

  • Digital M&A
  • AI in Deal-Making
  • SaaS Acquisitions
  • Founder Exits
  • Buy vs Build
  • APAC Transactions
Speaking pageEnquire

Commentary and press

Available for commentary and background briefings on M&A, SaaS valuation, fintech consolidation, blockchain acquisitions, gaming and iGaming transactions, AI’s impact on dealmaking and cross-border process.

Interview requestspress@acquiry.com

Byline

Deal Intelligence

Forensic strategic reviews and valuation benchmarks of global technology acquisitions, compiled from corporate disclosures, SEC filings and regulatory ledgers.

Featured reportQ3 2026 Global M&A Report: Two Deals, Half the Money, and a Market Paying for Distribution (opens in a new tab)

53 published · newest first

  1. FintechNEOPAY to Acquire 65% of noon payments
  2. Software & AIPearson to Acquire Workera
  3. Software & AIDynatrace Acquires Arize for $915 Million
  4. FintechBloomberg Completes Acquisition of Canoe Intelligence
  5. FintechStripe to Acquire Parafin
  6. Software & AISalesforce to Acquire Listen Labs
  7. Software & AISupabase to Acquire Turso
  8. Semiconductorsonsemi to Acquire Synaptics for $5.7 Billion in Revised All-Cash Deal
  9. Financial ServicesNuveen Completes Acquisition of Schroders, Creating a $2.6 Trillion Manager
  10. Gaming & iGamingTrivelta Acquires Kerma Games, Adding Celebrity IP and Live Casino
  11. Software & AIAMD to Acquire World Labs for $8.2 Billion: A Landmark Bet on Spatial AI
  12. Gaming & iGamingCaesars Shareholders Approve Fertitta’s $17.6bn Take-Private
  13. Consumer & FoodHormel Foods to Acquire Brakebush Brothers for $1.055 Billion
  14. Gaming & iGamingVisualize Group Completes Acquisition of eCOGRA, Uniting It With BMM Testlabs
  15. IndustrialsGE Aerospace to Buy CPP: $11.75bn for Mission-Critical Castings
  16. Gaming & iGamingWinvia To Buy Online Lottery Cos. For Up To £19.1M
  17. Software & AIDatabricks Acquires Row Zero to Embed Spreadsheets in Its $190 Billion AI Stack
  18. Gaming & iGamingGaming1 Acquires Pac-Man NV: Full Ownership of Belgian Operator Carousel
  19. Gaming & iGamingBarry Diller Drops Bid to Acquire MGM Resorts: 'We Didn't Feel the Mix Was Coming Together'
  20. IndustrialsSchneider to Buy Smart Device Firm Shelly in $1.4 Billion Deal
  21. Gaming & iGamingBetMGM acquires online casino rights for The Traitors
  22. Fintech & PaymentsGoldman in Talks to Buy $37 Billion Credit Firm Palmer Square
  23. Gaming & iGamingMerkur to Take Control of Société Française de Casinos at €6.19 a Share
  24. Media & EntertainmentParamount Skydance wins legal battle over $110 billion Warner Bros. acquisition
  25. Healthcare & Life SciencesTelix to Acquire ITM for $1.65bn and Own the Radioisotope Stack
  26. Fintech & PaymentsGrab to Take Control of Atome Financial: Why Lending Fits Its Superapp
  27. Gaming & iGamingKakao Games to Take Control of ME2ON: Why Social Casino Fits Its Overseas Strategy
  28. Gaming & iGamingBetsson Acquires Rhino Entertainment Canada and Brings a Licensed iGaming Platform In-House
  29. Financial ServicesThe Baldwin Group $7.7 Billion Take-Private: Deal Terms, Valuation and Strategic Analysis
  30. Gaming & iGamingOpenBet to Acquire OmniLogic: Why the Deal Strengthens Its Lottery Sportsbook Strategy
  31. Gaming & iGamingCIRSA Acquires Slots del Sol and Opens a Paraguay Route for Omnichannel Gaming
  32. Gaming & iGamingBanijay Gaming Acquires Groupe JOA to Build France’s Omnichannel Gaming Platform
  33. Gaming & iGamingGiG Buys Control of 888AFRICA and Brings a B2C Growth Engine Into a Leaner iGaming Platform
  34. Software & AISalesforce Acquires Fin and Brings a Scaled Customer Agent Into Agentforce
  35. IndustrialsMotorola Solutions Acquires D-Fend and Brings Airspace Control Into the Public-Safety Stack
  36. Healthcare & Life SciencesRoche Acquires Foundation Medicine and Brings Precision Oncology’s Data Layer Fully In-House
  37. IndustrialsFleetx.ai Acquires Pando.ai and Extends From Fleet Visibility Into Freight Execution
  38. IndustrialsMadison Air Acquires ebm-papst and Builds a Global Airflow Platform From the Component Up
  39. Healthcare & Life SciencesR1 Acquires Humata Health and Moves Prior Authorisation Into the Revenue-Cycle Operating System
  40. Software & AIosapiens Acquires Nasdaq Metrio: Why a Reporting Platform Fits Its Hub
  41. Fintech & PaymentsStripe Acquires OpenRouter and Moves Into the Layer That Decides Which Model Gets the Request
  42. Software & AIBending Spoons puts $1.285bn on Airtable and turns its roll-up on enterprise software
  43. Fintech & PaymentsMunich Re puts $575m on At-Bay and bets the cyber market belongs to InsurSec
  44. IndustrialsVeralto puts $465m on Cleanwater1 and extends its Water Quality franchise
  45. Healthcare & Life SciencesBioMarin puts $275m upfront on Alesta to secure ALE1, a potential first oral therapy for HPP
  46. Software & AIFrancisco Partners puts ~$650m on Weave and takes healthcare's AI engagement platform private
  47. Gaming & iGamingElectronic Arts Goes Private in Landmark $55 Billion Buyout
  48. Media & EntertainmentHearst Moves to Full Ownership of A+E Global Media in $1.2 Billion Disney Deal
  49. Software & AIServiceNow Completes $7.75 Billion Armis Deal to Own Cyber-Physical Visibility
  50. Fintech & PaymentsVisa Agrees to Buy BioCatch for $2.4 Billion to Stop Fraud Upstream of Payment
  51. Software & AINetApp Acquires JetStream to Reach VMware Workloads Beyond Its Own Storage
  52. Fintech & PaymentsGlobal Payments Acquires Worldpay for $24.25 Billion: The Three-Way Deal That Reshaped Payments
  53. Media & EntertainmentThe End of an Era: Deconstructing the $110 Billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Megadeal

Client identities and private deal values are not published here. Qualified counterparties can see live mandates in the Deal Room (opens in a new tab).

How Acquiry analyses transactions (opens in a new tab)

Byline

Research and acquirer studies

Every research post, quarterly report and acquirer study published on acquiry.com, newest first.

37 published · newest first

  1. Researchteam.blue: How a Hosting Roll-Up Became a Founder-Operator SaaS Platform
  2. ResearchBain Capital Ventures and the Enterprise Distribution Advantage: From Early Technical Bets to Strategic Acquisitions
  3. ResearchValsoft and the Decentralised Software Holding Model: How Seven Operating Groups Keep 130+ Acquisitions Compounding
  4. ResearchEverfield and Europe's Fragmented Software Markets: How Country Desks, Founder Succession and Shared Support Built a 40+ Company Ecosystem
  5. ResearchBanyan Software and the Permanent Home Promise: How 120+ Acquisitions, Zero Sales and a Local ANZ Team Shape Founder Succession
  6. ResearchPSG Equity's Platform and Add-On Model: How 249 Releases Separate the Investments PSG Makes From the Acquisitions Its Companies Make
  7. ResearchSpatial Intelligence: The AI Layer Behind Robotics, Games and VR, and Why Acquirers Are Paying for It
  8. ResearchThe Death of the Tech Premium: Why Q3’s Biggest Cheques Went to Brokers and Accountants, Not SaaS
  9. ResearchInside the Agentic Stack: Why Supabase and Salesforce Are Buying AI Infrastructure, Not AI Features
  10. ResearchThe AI-Washing Audit: How Buyers Strip the AI Hype Out of SaaS Valuation Multiples
  11. ResearchThe Death of ‘AI’: What the Super Intelligence Executive Order and the White House Accord Mean for Tech M&A
  12. ResearchBuying the Grid: Why Power Access, Liquid Cooling and Substation Proximity Now Set the Price in Data Centre M&A
  13. ResearchThe 2029 Encryption Deadline: Mapping M&A and Investment in Post-Quantum Cryptography
  14. ResearchMiro and Bending Spoons: What a $1.355bn Deal Says About the Growth-to-Cash Reset in Software
  15. ResearchSalesforce Buys Listen Labs: Why AI Customer Research Became a Platform Capability
  16. ResearchHarvest Now, Decrypt Later: Adding Post-Quantum Readiness to M&A Due Diligence
  17. ResearchSpace Cybersecurity: Why Securing Satellites Is Becoming an M&A Theme
  18. ResearchThe 2026 EBITDA Add-Back Standard: 20 adjustments and how buyers treat them
  19. ResearchThe Buyer Hierarchy: why strategic acquirers can outbid private equity, and when they don't
  20. ResearchThe Decay Curve: the hidden cost of slow deals
  21. Market ReportQ3 2026: The Deals That Defined the Quarter
  22. ResearchWhat Is Your Casino or iGaming Business Worth in 2026?
  23. ResearchBending Spoons Is Building One of Software’s Most Ambitious Acquisition Platforms
  24. Market ReportThe Flight to Control: Q2 2026 Digital M&A Market Report
  25. ResearchThe 5 Defining AI, Crypto and Blockchain Deals of April 2026
  26. ResearchArtificial Intelligence and Strategic M&A in 2026
  27. ResearchDeal Structure Playbook
  28. ResearchThe Great Re-rating:Q1 2026 Digital M&A Market Report
  29. ResearchBuyer Underwriting Checklist
  30. ResearchRedacted Case Studies
  31. ResearchDeal Team Operating Model
  32. ResearchInternational Deal Structuring Notes
  33. ResearchMedia Asset Benchmarks
  34. ResearchPlatform Concentration Risk
  35. ResearchQuality of Revenue Framework
  36. ResearchVertical Multiples Heatmaps
  37. ResearchEmpirical Studies on the Discount for Lack of Marketability (DLOM)

On acquiry.com

Guides, tools and firm pages

Sector guides, valuation calculators, methodology and the pages that explain how Acquiry works.

Calculators, models and reference

Research hubs and methodology

Portrait of Joash Boyton

Work with Joash.

Acquiry turns a buyer's acquisition strategy into conversations with the right owners, in any sector and any market. Start with what you want to acquire.

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