By John Dearing, Managing Director McKinsey & Company recently published an article on using M&A as a tool to give your company a competitive advantage. The article addresses some key aspects of M&A we find important at Capstone. You should develop your strategy first when approaching M&A and always have a full pipeline of acquisition …
Tag: Strategic Acquisition
Why Do Acquisitions Fail?
Acquisitions fail for reasons that range from lack of compelling strategic rationale to inadequate due diligence to conflicting cultures. I think many would say acquisitions fail because too much was paid for them. While overpaying is certainly a reason for failure, I would not say it is the top reason. In my experience, I have …
How to Get a “Fat Cat” to Buy Your Small Business
How do you get a large company to buy your small business? In this video interview with Matthew Lesko, I’ve shared some of my tips & tricks. In many ways, selling a company is like selling a house. My number one recommendation is to make your company easy to buy. How can you do that? …
Why You Don’t Want a List of Companies
I was on a call with a prospective client when he asked a question I frequently hear: “Will we get a list of companies we can look at to acquire?” It’s a common misconception that your objective in hiring an M&A consultant is a long list of for-sale acquisition prospects. I strongly caution against this …
Valuation: Flowers Food buys Wonder Bread
Valuation is a key component of the acquisition process that is widely misunderstood, because people tend to adopt a narrow financial perspective. Valuation should be anchored in your strategic rationale for buying another company in the first place. It all comes back to your business strategy and the synergies that will be created by the …
Recent Deals: Berkshire Hathaway & 3G Capital Buy Heinz, Office Depot-Office Max Merger
Recently, there have been some fairly significant transactions, and I want to mention these and tell you what they may mean for corporate executives. The first deal we have is Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital acquiring Heinz for $23.2 billion. Really, if you include debt, that transaction looks to be just under a $30 billion …
Every Company is for Sale…for the Right Equation
When a company is ‘‘not for sale,’’ that simply means it isn’t actively seeking a buyer. If through your search and screening process you discover a company that could be the right fit for your acquisition criteria, then it should be pursued, even if it is ostensibly not for sale. The central point here is that every …
Strategy: US Airways and American Airlines
The $11 billion merger between US Airways and American Airlines offers a striking example of current trends in mergers and acquisitions: strategic acquisitions. The US Airways and American Airlines merger is an all-stock deal that should bring cost benefits and synergies which allow the company to better handle fixed assets. In order to remain viable …
