Smart Things to Know About Mergers and Acquisitions

• Acquisition logic and growth – the acquisition culture.
• Acquisitions strategy and business growth.
• The logic of acquisitions and routes to growth.
• Acquisitions, alliances and organic development.
• How acquisitions can add, dilute or destroy shareholder value.
• Acquisitions and shareholder value (1) – types of acquisitions.
• Acquisitions and shareholder value (2) – segmenting the value.
• The acquisition process.
• Integrating management perspectives – strategic, financial, organisational, tax, legal.
• Alternatives to acquisition – alliances and organic development.
• Divestment.
• Structure of the book.
• Summary.

Chapter 2 – The Acquisition Strategy.

• Introduction – championing the strategy.
• Strategy and objectives.
• Gap analysis – where do acquisitions fit in?
• Acquisition options.
• Strategic and financial attractiveness, implementation difficulty, uncertainty and risk, and stakeholder acceptability.
• Determining criteria – do’s and don’ts.

• Detailed evaluation – external.
• BMW and Rover case study.
• Detailed evaluation – internal.
• Summary.

Chapter 3 – Search.

• Introduction.
• Different search processes.
• Approaching your target.
• Summary.

Chapter 4 – Acquisitions – Strategic Due Diligence.

• Introduction.
• Evaluation, strategic attractiveness – the GE grid.
• Financial attractiveness.
• Evaluating implementation difficulty.
• Uncertainty and risk.
• Stakeholder acceptability.
• Summary.

Chapter 5 – Gaining the Overview – Success in Due Diligence.

• Introduction.
• Markets and marketing.
• Products and services.
• Technology and IT
• BMW and Rover case (continued).
• Operations and people.
• Manufacturing.
• Summary.

Chapter 6 – Financial Evaluation.

• Segmenting the value of an acquisition.
• Bases of valuation – earnings, assets, discounted cash flows.
• Price-earnings ratio.
• Assets backing.
• Discounted cash flows.
• Scenarios and uncertainty and risk analysis.
• Links to the negotiation process.

Chapter 7 – Managing the Deal.

• Introduction – acquisition options and bargaining power.
• Understanding deal-making agendas.
• Deal scenarios.
• Deal-making do’s and don’ts.
• Funding the acquisition.
• BMW and Rover case (continued).
• Summary.

Chapter 8 – Acquisition Integration.

• The role of the acquisition champion.

• Integration success and failure.
• Integration strategies – the alternatives.
• Communication issues and the BMW/Rover case (continued).
• Project managing integration.
• Evaluating success.
• Post acquisition learning and review.
• Summary.

Chapter 9 – The Champneys Case.

• Introduction and background.
• Acquisition integration strategy – options.
• The integration process.
• The integration plan.
• Managing the integration – the dynamics.
• Case postscript.
• Summary.

Chapter 10 – Conclusion.

• The role of acquisitions – a review.
• Diagnosis of your own skills and weaknesses.
• Acquisitions and your career.

Appendix 1.

Granada and Forte case study.