14 Mar Around the Web: A Week in Summary
A recent article on the Axial Forum entitled “9 Reasons Acquisitions Fail — and How to Beat the Odds” shows us how looking at why others have failed can help you to learn from their mistakes in order to have a successful acquisition. Here are 9 common causes of failed acquisitions:
- Strategy – Poor strategic logic was used and it was not a good fit for integration
- Synergy – Potential synergy between the companies is overestimated or the complexity is underestimated
- Culture – Incompatibility between the companies, ineffective integration, or compromising the positive aspects of one business to create uniformity
- Leadership – Poor leadership, not enough participation in the transaction & integration process, clashes between leaders
- Transaction Parameters – Paying too much, inappropriate deal structure, negotiations taking too long
- Due Diligence – Not enough investigation is done beforehand, failure to act on findings
- Communications – Lack of proper communication can result in talent loss, customer loss, and many more problems which eventually lead to failure
- Key Talent – Failing to identify or retain key employees
- Technology – Failing to identify incompatibilities or underestimating the complexity and time required for integration
Integration involves several steps starting from the initial strategic thinking, to due diligence and then carrying on into the months after the deal is made. Deal makers and business owners need to consider all steps of the process to make an acquisition successful.
Click here to read the full article.
A recent article from Divestopedia entitled “Constructing a Buyer List and Finding the Right Buyer for Your Company” explains how buyer lists are created and what makes a good buyer. The first step in constructing the buyer list is to determine the objectives of the seller such as leaving a legacy or retaining the local employment base.
M&A advisors will have many existing resources to start with including an in-house database, established relationships in the industry, business networks, and more. Adding your competitors to the list is another thing to consider, which will depend on the goals of the seller and the reputation of the competitors.
The ability to pay is the main qualifier to look at in finding a good buyer. Consider the following factors when looking for a buyer who can pay a premium:
- Economies of scale
- Economies of scope and cross-selling opportunities
- Unlocking underutilized assets
- Access to proprietary technology
- Increased market power
- Shoring up weaknesses in key business areas
- Synergy
- Geographical or other diversification
- Providing an opportunistic work environment for key talent
- To reach critical mass for an IPO or achieve post-IPO full value
- Vertical integration
The best way to find the right buyer is to approach all potential buyers, talk to them and see if it’s a good fit.
Click here to read the full article.
A recent article posted by TheMiddleMarket.com entitled “Dealmakers cast cautious optimism while eyeing buyout boom” explains how dealmakers are optimistic that 2018 is going to be one of the biggest years ever for M&A, while also remaining cautious in case of a downturn. As buyout prices reached a new high last year, investors are concerned with how to maintain returns. Some are worried about the high asset prices yet others believe they are mostly justified due to more fundamentally driven valuations, in combination with lower corporate tax rates and the efficiency gained with technology.
Investors are also mindful of comparing today’s conditions with those of the 2008 financial crisis, but some see it as different. Dealmakers are focusing on more structured, proprietary deals which are fueling the rise of add-on acquisitions (a fund buying a company for an existing portfolio business) and mainly deals with family-owned companies and minority ownership structures.
If deal-making picks up in 2018, it could be years before the industry sees the outcome of these decisions. A critical question is whether business growth and operating improvements can overcome the expensive purchase prices.
