Apple Moves M&A Team Back Under CFO Parekh After Seven Years

Apple is moving its mergers and acquisitions team back under CFO Kevan Parekh. For seven years, the team has operated outside the finance organization. The reshuffle comes five months after Parekh shut down the net cash neutral policy in May, the target of bringing the company's net cash position to zero, which Apple had followed since 2018. At the same time, Carson Oliver has taken over the App Store. That job now consists almost entirely of negotiations with European regulators.

Why deals are back with the CFO

Each decision can be explained as routine on its own. Taken together, they look like a plan. Parekh has led finance since January 2025, when he replaced Luca Maestri. It was Maestri who set the net cash neutral target in 2018: Apple directed excess cash into share buybacks and dividends so that its cash position trended toward zero. While that rule was in force, a large acquisition fit poorly with the company's capital policy. Now the rule is gone, and the team that looks for acquisition targets sits next to the person who controls the balance sheet.

Analysts read the end of the policy as room for deals. Apple has not officially confirmed this, and the report names no specific targets. But the logic is clear. When M&A reports to the CFO, the assessment of price, deal structure and impact on share buybacks happens in a single loop.

Apple's acquisition record is modest for a company of its size. Its most expensive purchase remains Beats, at $3 billion in 2014. In 2019, the company paid $1 billion for Intel's smartphone modem business. The rest, as a rule, has been small teams and technologies that quickly dissolved into products. For AI, that track record raises a question: will small purchases be enough to catch up with competitors, or will Apple go for something bigger?

The App Store as regulatory work

The second part of the reshuffle is less flashy but telling. Oliver now heads the App Store, and according to TNW, the job is mainly about European regulation. That is a consequence of the Digital Markets Act. In April 2025, the European Commission fined Apple 500 million euros for restrictions that prevented developers from steering users to offers outside the store. Since then, Apple has been rewriting its platform rules step by step under pressure from Brussels.

For the head of the store, this means a change of profile. Previously, the role was expected to focus on catalog curation and growth in services revenue. Now it involves negotiating commissions, alternative payment methods and developer terms in a separate jurisdiction. Oliver's appointment shows that the company sees this front as a long-term one.

What is known so far

• M&A team: returns under CFO Kevan Parekh after seven years outside the finance organization.
• Net cash neutral policy: in place since 2018, scrapped in May.
• App Store: Carson Oliver is the new head.
• Apple's largest deal to date: Beats, $3 billion, 2014.
• European Commission fine under the DMA: 500 million euros, April 2025.
• Named acquisition targets and timing: not disclosed.

What to watch next

The first marker is quarterly earnings. If Apple changes the balance between share buybacks and cash reserves, that will be more telling than any rumor. The second is news of small acquisitions in AI and chips, where it is easiest for a company to pay for ready-made teams and technology. The third is the regulators' reaction. A major Apple deal in Europe and the US would go through antitrust review, and that review would unfold against the backdrop of existing disputes over the App Store.

For developers and partners, the practical takeaway is simpler. App Store terms in Europe will most likely keep changing, so agreements are worth revisiting regularly. AI startups should keep in mind that Apple now has the structure and financial freedom to make acquisitions. But there are no direct promises so far, and it is too early to build plans around an exit to a buyer.