There is no doubt that the pursuit of certainty in M&A is on the rise. With the advent of new rules and regulations pressing boards and corporate leadership, M&A deals are not only better scrutinized from the outside, but are being more deeply assessed from the inside. In a recent article in WSJ CFO Journal, it was announced that only “2.1% of deals have been scuttled as of July 31 of this year”. That is way down from a peak of 3.3% for the same period in 2009 for announced transactions. Post-announcement withdrawals are down and the reason is the “rise of risk aversion by corpo
M&A Blog and News
August 22, 2013
"Real Life" Success Stories, Best Practices & Case Studies
At our last workshop on The Art of M&A Integration, Mark Herndon, President of M&A Partners, shared an interesting story with us. This anecdote really resonated with me and bears repeating to this larger audience.
August 19, 2013
We talk a lot about various failure factors from a standpoint of helping executives recognize what to do and not do in the midst of a live and fast-moving deal. But not all failure factors are created equal, as they say. For my two cents, avoiding an epic failure during integration all begins with a clear understanding of what we like to call “Deal-type DNA,” or the fundamental code of what really drives value in a given transaction.
August 12, 2013
Focusing on Key Elements in the Life Cycle of the M&A Deal
By Jack Prouty, President M&A Leadership Council
August 5, 2013
There’s an old saying in the M&A business, “Bad planning and execution will kill a good deal every time, but the best diligence and integration will never save a bad deal.” For valid reasons, there’s so much attention placed on failure factors in due diligence and integration that the role of deal strategy in overall M&A success or failure is easy to overlook. The reality is that there are just as many strategy-related failure factors.
July 31, 2013
It was a real joy to attend the recent Art of M&A Integration workshop in San Francisco, not from the eyes of a presenter, but from a participant’s viewpoint. As usual, I opened and closed the session, but this time I took the chance to really observe our great presenters and take in the unique combination of experience, talent and rich content the Council brings to training in the niche of M&A. In just three days the workshop attendees received the best information, tools, case studies and raw opinions one could hope to receive in a training environment.
July 30, 2013
"....Global expansion has been a major growth initiative for companies around the world for decades, and it continues to be a powerful source of new customers and products as well as a means of access to critical talent and attractive cost structures. It also is a complex, multidimensional dynamic — and the motivations are frequently different. For some companies, the goal is growth by expanding into new geographies.