An essential read about M&A for executives and investors who make critical decisions when M&A events and opportunities happen.
In The M&A Failure Trap: Why Most Mergers and Acquisitions Fail and How the Few Succeed, a distinguished team of finance and accounting researchers and practitioners delivers a practical and up-to-date exploration of the shortcomings of managerial mergers and acquisitions decisions. In the book, you'll discover:
- Why 70-75% of all corporate acquisitions fail
- How to substantially improve acquisition decisions
- How to predict a specific merger outcome
All the lessons and advice provided in this book are fact-based - derived from a sample of 40,000 real-life merger cases around the world which are thoroughly analyzed and provide the foundations for our findings and recommendations.
The authors offer keen insights into the most important predictors of mergers and acquisitions failure and success and show you how to identify the potential warning signs of a problematic transaction. The book also provides insights into the human element of M&As: what happens to executives and employees of failed acquisitions. You will also find in the book a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research on M&As and numerous analyses of successful and unsuccessful real-life mergers.
Perfect for executives and directors contemplating a major M&A decision or currently engaged in such a transaction, The M&A Failure Trap will also earn a place in the libraries of students of business and economics, as well as investors faced with decisions impacted by a merger or acquisition, and shareholders expected to vote on an upcoming transaction.
Table of Contents
Preface ix
Preamble Why Should You Read This Book? xi
Chapter 1 Appetizer: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 1
Chapter 2 The Ever-Changing Nature of M&As (1): Deal Characteristics 17
Chapter 3 The Ever-Changing Nature of M&As (2): Markets and Merger Sizes 27
Chapter 4 Internal Development: The Alternative to Acquisitions 37
Chapter 5 The Folly of the Conglomerate Acquisitions 53
Chapter 6 Are There “Best Times” to Acquire Businesses (1)? External Opportunities 65
Chapter 7 Are There “Best Times” to Acquire Businesses (2)? Internal Opportunities 79
Chapter 8 Integration - The Achilles’ Heel of M&A 91
Chapter 9 Accounting Matters 105
Chapter 10 Killer Acquisitions 119
Chapter 11 Holding onto Losers 125
Chapter 12 Means of Acquisition Payment: Cash, Stocks, or Mix? Does It Matter? 135
Chapter 13 But What If Executives Are Irrational or Self-centered? 143
Chapter 14 The Human Element: Acquisitions, Executives, and Employees 155
Chapter 15 Do It Yourself: Predict an Acquisition’s Outcome 169
Epilogue How to Spring the M&A Failure Trap 187
Appendix Our Research Methodology 195
Index 207
