M&A Blog and News

Blog Posts, News and Articles

Learn from diverse experts across the world of mergers and acquisitions

M&A Leadership Council training
June 22, 2017

The Benefits of Planning for and Engaging in M&A Discussions
By Mike Lord, Senior Consultant for Willis Towers Watson, an M&A Leadership Council Partner

You’ve spent years building your relationship with your scheme sponsor, developing a collaborative and integrated approach to funding and investment – then bang, out of the blue, a third party makes a bid for the sponsor and suddenly all bets are off. 

June 21, 2017

The mechanism creates a "win-win" situation.
By Greg Stowe, Director of Valuation & Business Analytics for BDO, a partner of the M&A Leadership Council

Transaction stakeholders continually are seeking innovative ways to translate deal value into a ‘win-win’ situation for both the buyer and the seller. Among the mechanisms considered in structuring a deal has been the use of an earn-out in establishing deal value.

June 15, 2017

Compatible Management Teams Are Critical
By Mergermarket, a Partner of M&A Leadership Council

A new report from Kilberry in partnership with Mergermarket, A View from Both Sides: How PE firms and sellers can form wise partnerships, reveals that successful PE deals occur when a thorough two-way due diligence is practiced by both the PE investor and the target investment company. One key area of potential growth for PE investors is to find companies with stellar management teams – and avoid targets with teams that are incompatible with their goals. At the same time, management teams need to understand whether an investor will make a good fit for their culture and working style.

June 13, 2017

Avoid pitfalls by masking information requests
By William Blandford, Managing Director at Blandford Associates and Member of the Board of M&A Standards

In estimating and planning for a divestiture, it is necessary to gather key data about the business to be carved out, to understand the scope and complexity of the carve-out, develop a sound Transition Services Agreement (TSA), and provide an estimate of the cost of the carve-out. But it can be difficult to collect data for a possible divestiture while under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), and trying to minimize the number of people under an NDA.

June 7, 2017

Today’s post will provide a quick analysis of specific integration best practices statistically proven to drive a substantial increase in achieving the optimal pace of M&A integration, gleaned from our State of M&A Integration Effectiveness Survey. 

June 1, 2017

“Integration begins with due diligence.” This key principle for success has been thoroughly vetted and proved time and again. But just what kind of early integration assessment and planning can and should be done during the actual due diligence process itself?

May 31, 2017

The final installment in our mini-series on getting the riskiest days right deals with getting your combined, post-close organization through a timely, effectively and business-focused operational cut-over.

May 30, 2017

May 2017 Chairman's Message
By Jim Jeffries, Chairman, M&A Leadership Council

Next month will mark the seventh anniversary of the M&A Leadership Council, an auspicious milestone that speaks to the evolution of the organization as a catalyst for professional excellence in the M&A community. It was June 29, 2010 that my partner Jack Prouty and I held the first event.  The first program was held in Dallas, Texas and brought a total of twelve attendees. Since then more than 2,000 M&A professionals have attended M&A Leadership Council workshops all over the nation.