Midmarket deal flow expanded at the fastest rate in six months, according to a study conducted by Mergers & Acquisitions in April. The survey has positive implications for midmarket growth. As I’ve mentioned previously on my blog, midmarket companies have faced increased competition from larger players and small mom and pops. Faced with this “squeeze,” it’s …
Category: M&A in the News
Capstone Guides South Carolina Financial Solutions – Innova Acquisition
Capstone Strategic, Inc., a leading consulting firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions, announced today that South Carolina Financial Solutions (SCFS) has acquired Innova Plan Strategies (Innova). SCFS is a credit union service organization owned by South Carolina Federal Credit Union (South Carolina Federal) located in Charleston, SC. Innova offers comprehensive employee benefit solutions and was …
Discounts Don’t Drive Growth for Consumer Staples
Facing a stagnant market, retailers of consumer staples have turned to aggressive discounts to drive growth. According to the Wall Street Journal, more than 50% of consumers’ purchases include markdowns! More Discounts is NOT More Growth Businesses in non-growth or declining growth markets understandably must find new ways to capture market share. However, offering more …
Tax Inversions: Foreign Acquisitions for a Lower Tax Rate
As tax day approaches in the U.S. I thought it’d be appropriate to discuss a business tax trend. As you may be with your own return, U.S. corporations are looking for more tax advantages. Many are seeking tax inversions, where they reincorporate in a new country with a lower tax rate as a result of …
Facebook Finds the Next “Big Thing” with Oculus Acquisition
Facebook acquired Oculus VR, Inc, a maker of virtual-reality glasses for $2 billion. This is Facebook’s second big acquisition in 2014 – it recently purchased WhatsApp for $19 billion. With these two acquisitions Facebook is expanding beyond its current social network platform by adding new capabilities and products. According to Facebook, wearable technology is the …
New Trends in Mergers and Acquisitions Terms and Tactics
When it comes to M&A, dealmakers should be aware of several new trends in 2014. A recent webinar by The Deal, “Trends in M&A Deal Terms and Tactics,” focuses on two such trends from Delaware courts that may affect acquirers in all jurisdictions. Multi-Jurisdictional Litigation The first development is preventing multi-jurisdictional litigation. The webinar panel …
Could M&A Slow Down?
A minority of investors have expressed concerns that midmarket activity may actually slow down in 2014, compared with 2013 activity levels. Growth in the middle market may plateau for a few reasons all of which hinge on uncertainty in the economy including sequestration and the ongoing open-discussion over the U.S. debt ceiling. Health-care reform costs …
In Facebook – WhatsApp Deal Strategy Trumps Numbers
Facebook announced it will buy WhatsApp for $19 billion on February 19, 2014. There is no way that I can, in any credible means, justify or explain the purchase price because it’s absurd in my opinion. WhatsApp has no advertising revenues and charges each of its 450 million active users a yearly fee of just …
The Greatest Hurdle Facing Tech Mergers
The biggest tech M&A disasters were the Time Warner-AOL $350 billion merger and Google’s $12.3 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility. In my observations, the greatest hurdle facing tech mergers is integration. Even where the strategy of the acquisition is solid, if the integration of the two workforces and assets is not executed properly, it will fail. Even …
