I read an article this week in Acquisitions Daily that 62% of deal makers surveyed said that a key pressure to do deals was to match their acquisitive competitors. I hope we are not returning to the bad old days but I can imagine a...
I read this interesting snippet in Business Times (BT) recently that breathlessly reported the ‘high’ percentage of emerging market deals hitting problems. This was derived from an earlier Freshfields report but the BT report is slightly more accessible. Anyway, I’m used to reading about numbers...
As economic conditions at last begin to strengthen around the globe, indicators confirm that M&A is resuming levels of activity not seen since 2007. As we've said many times before, while deals are becoming easier to complete, their ability to generate long-term value will remain...
My colleagues and I have spent much of the past month speaking at conferences, meeting acquisition and integration professionals, heads of strategy and CEOs across Europe and the US, and listening to their plans, hopes and concerns for the coming year. These discussions along with...
Carlos and I are here in Philadelphia at the Association for Corporate Growth's annual conference. This year there are over 1,000 attendees from across the M&A spectrum; deal makers, law firms, accountancy and corporate M&A executives. BTD had the privilege of being asked to conduct...
Here is a letter we sent to The Economist this week in response to Schumpeter’s article on M&A: Sir – Schumpeter’s latest article on the developing M&A surge ('Riding the wave') raises some interesting points but fails to get to the heart of the matter. Certainly...
I wrote a blog last week of an imagined merger of Kalashnikov and Colt and the cultural dangers inherent in merging two proud and distinct entities. Such difficulties can, and often do, erode or even destroy the proposed vision for the new company and the...
It’s Friday; indulge me. I recently read in Acquisitions Daily of the Russian government’s decision to sell 49% of its stake in Kalashnikov, maker of the famous AK-47. This assault rifle has a proud history (bear with me on the ethics here) stretching back to...
Colin Hopkins, Partner of BTD, takes a look at the latest advisor rankings and reflects on the increased volume/size of deal fees and/or rankings and their link to the quality of the deals done. I was drawn to an article recently in Acquisition Daily which provides the latest world-wide rankings...
As part of our ongoing look at the internal business conditions that drive long-term M&A success, we've recently uncovered an interesting finding. In the experience of the executives we've surveyed: Only 42% of Board Chairmen and Non-Executive Directors regularly restrain undue management enthusiasm for a deal. For...