Apple Realigns M&A Team Under CFO and Names App Store Head Amid EU Scrutiny

Apple has reorganized its corporate development division, moving its mergers and acquisitions team back under Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh for the first time since 2019, according to a report from The Next Web (https://thenextweb.com/news/apple-ma-chief-smith-parekh-europe).

Steve Smith, a longtime corporate development executive, is taking over leadership of the dealmaking team from Adrian Perica, who led corporate development for more than ten years. Smith will report directly to Parekh. Perica will retain oversight of consumer services including iCloud, Fitness+, and Apple News, continuing to report to services chief Eddy Cue, as first reported by Bloomberg. Apple declined to comment on the move.

The management shift follows the appointment of John Ternus as chief executive officer on September 1, succeeding Tim Cook. It also comes after Parekh announced during Apple's May earnings call that the company had abandoned the net cash neutral policy established in 2018. Parekh stated that Apple would evaluate cash and debt independently, a change analysts viewed as opening headroom for acquisitions. Apple held roughly $54 billion in net cash at the time.

Beyond acquisitions, Apple's corporate development group manages critical strategic agreements, including the 2024 partnership integrating ChatGPT into Apple devices and the default search contract with Google. The team has also handled corporate purchases including the $3 billion acquisition of Beats in 2014 and the approximately $2 billion purchase of Israeli artificial intelligence startup Q.ai this year. In July, The Next Web reported that Apple had approached bankers and chip startups regarding acquisitions to address AI server capacity constraints.

Alongside the corporate development changes, Apple promoted Carson Oliver to vice president of the App Store. Oliver had been running daily operations for the storefront following Phil Schiller's decision to step back from the marketplace and public product launches.

The App Store leadership transition coincides with mounting European regulatory challenges. The European Commission previously fined Apple €500 million over anti-steering rules, and the EU General Court in July rejected Apple's argument that its app stores represent distinct services. In August, Apple replaced its European Core Technology Fee with a flat 5% commission structure.

Executive shifts have also reached Apple's financial services division. Jennifer Bailey, who led Apple Pay and Wallet for years, departs the company this month without an immediate successor named by Cue. With Cue's portfolio expanding following recent exits, internal staff view Perica and Apple Music head Oliver Schusser as potential contenders to eventually succeed him.

The combined changes alter leadership across Apple's most strictly regulated European operations: the App Store, digital payments, and the Google search placement deal. Over the past six weeks, Apple has appointed new leadership for two of these units while the third remains vacant.