Addressing biases can lead to a more productive workplace.
By Michelle L. Davis, DBH, M.Ed., MA, LPC, President, HealthWise Consultants

We all make thousands of decisions every day, but often we are not aware of how biases can negatively impact that decision-making. Our biases range from stereotyping to confirmation bias, where our brains actually filter out information that doesn't support our already-held beliefs. Behavioral biases can have far-reaching impact in the M&A environment. 

Today it’s an honor to provide a few brief examples of senior executives who have put their convictions into practice in order to get post-merger staffing and talent selection right. While these essential aspects of post-merger integration often get overlooked, we believe getting the organization set and the talent decisions right are imperative to achieve integration strategy and deal value-capture.

This issue includes a special feature on the Americas.
Submitted by BDO, an M&A Leadership Council partner organization

Each quarter BDO’s Mergers & Acquisitions team analyses global deal activity across a number of regions and selected sectors around the world; we offer you a satellite view of how the M&A market is evolving - and where it appears to be heading. 

IT plays an important role in every M&A deal, so it's critical to address technology issues as early as possible.
By John Sinkus, Senior Advisor for M&A Partners, an M&A Leadership Council partner organization

According to Mergermarket, in 2017 the technology sector saw its highest deal count since 2001.* Experts predict that this trend toward technology acquisition will continue for 2018. Yet even M&A teams that aren't acquiring tech firms must play close attention to technology used by the target fir, as often the greatest M&A deal value risk involves technology in some form or fashion. These three lessons will help keep your team from making expensive technology-related mistakes during your next deal.

Knowing how to effectively evaluate deals is essential to corporate venturing activity
By Tom Allen, M&A Expertise and Content Lead for Midaxo, an M&A Leadership Council partner organization

The impetus for corporate venturing is obvious: a corporation’s investment in startup companies can create new means to drive growth, financial return and advance strategic priorities.Generating valuable growth for shareholders, whether in the present or future, requires that companies clearly understand their strategy and operational capabilities.

The global dating app market has been most active recently in China and Europe.
Submitted by Mergermarket, an M&A Leadership Council partner organization

Dating apps have increased in number, approach and popularity consistently for years now. They are no longer a niche area of the technology sector, but a driving force in M&A, finance and the tech industry in general.

Experts weigh in on red flags that often pop up during due diligence.

One way to overcome that “urge to merge” is to approach each deal with a clear list of “deal breakers” for your organization. Our expert presenters share their insights on red flags to look for during due diligence.

New tax legislation will impact both domestic and cross-border M&A transactions.
Submitted by BDO, an M&A Leadership Council partner organization

Michael Williams of BDO sat down with us to discuss income tax basics; highlights of tax changes and how they affect domestic and cross-border deals; and best practices to address some of the changes. Watch the full webinar, above.

One of the common regrets we often hear from senior executives during surveys and internal M&A capability assessments is that they “throttled back” on integration efforts too quickly post-closing. Meaning, they achieved short-term integration success, such as we have previously defined as “steady-state operations,” (See Getting Operational Cut-Over Right) but failed in many of the more important longer-term value-capture initiatives.

Design and structure of M&A retention agreements vary widely.
Submitted by Willis Towers Watson

Over three-quarters of acquirers using M&A retention agreements (79%)--compared with only 68% in 2014--retain nearly 80% of critical employees for the full retention period. Acquirers principally offer agreements to two groups: senior leaders and their direct reports (54%) and other employees with key skills that could affect a deal's outcome (55%). However, they structure the agreement differently for each group.