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
April 23, 2015

Seeking to Fill M&A Positions

The M&A Leadership Council is routinely asked to refer experienced independent or boutique consultants and project contractors for a variety of general M&A, due diligence and integration assignments. Typical assignments are with Fortune 500 or upper mid-market acquirers with active or pending opportunities. Currently, the following prospective, project-based opportunities are being sourced.

March 31, 2015

Challenges Every Leader Faces in M&A
by Moira Donoghue, who is a former Partner and Global Strategic Adviser in the M&A practice at Mercer, and Key Presenter at "The Art of People Leadership in M&A: Managing Talent, Culture & Change for Deal Success"

Despite years of evidence from research and the lessons of low-performing acquisitions, many still fail to capitalize on the richest resource available to an acquirer – its people.  Why does this still happen?

March 30, 2015
Element 1 in the S3 Guidance Model: Speed
By Jim Jeffries, Chairman, M&A Leadership Council
 
One of the world’s great CEOs, who became famous for growth by acquisitions, was Jack Welch, during his tenure at GE.  Jack has often said about M&A Integration, as he also did about business in general, “If you’re not fast, you can’t win.  Speed is everything.”  He often went on to say, “Bureaucracy is terrified of speed.”  Thanks, Jack and I agree. 
March 30, 2015

Employees' Choices vs. Leadership's Expectations
by Moira Donoghue, a former Partner and Global Strategic Adviser in the M&A practice at Mercer, and Key Presenter at "The Art of People Leadership in M&A: Managing Talent, Culture & Change for Deal Success"

Employers typically believe they understand what motivates employees to feel and behave in certain ways.  Sometimes they are right.  But during periods of significant change – such as during an acquisition – those beliefs may turn out to be unfounded and the employer is left with some unpleasant surprises and confusion about how to mitigate them.

March 30, 2015

Liquid Change - A New Mindset and Approach 
by Tyler Durham, Partner & Managing Director, Ketchum Change

The world needs a fresh approach for leading change, shaping culture and communicating effectively. New technologies, new generations, new markets, new competitive threats and entire new ways of work demand new solutions. We call this new mindset and approach Liquid Changesm – a critical strategy to help leaders, teams and organizations thrive in a world of constant, fluid change.

March 30, 2015

PART II: Finding and Capturing Value in Consolidating Industries
by Ken Smith, Author and Strategy Consultant

In Part I (M&A Monthly / February 2015) we outlined the reasons why industries consolidate, the drivers of consolidation and how winners can anticipate and lead consolidation.  Part II examines the specific sources of value, why value so often transfers to the seller, and how to capture value as a buyer. 

March 30, 2015

3 Important Insights from Crowe Horwath's Valuation Services Leader 
Contributed by Crowe Horwath LLP

Companies looking to seize opportunities in the booming mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market need to be fully prepared to face the rigors of the valuation process. Crowe Horwath LLP Valuation Services Leader Mary Ann Travers recently sat down with The Deal to discuss how organizations of different sizes are preparing for valuations and to offer insights on:

March 30, 2015
Some Interesting M&A Data
Provided by Mergermarket
 
A recent report by White & Case and MergermarketUS M&A 2014-2015: Full steam ahead reveals deal activity was at its highest level for five years, with companies announcing 4,795 deals worth US$1.4 trillion in 2014, a 22% increase in volume and a 57% rise in value on 2013 figures.