Chapter List

Merger and acquisition strategy

Will the early years of the new century continue to witness the huge growth in merger and acquisition activity that marked the end of the twentieth century? The chances are that they will witness the value of deals carried out by the top five investment banks in the first quarter of 2001 alone ($456.2 billion). The quest for the Golden Fleece is alive and well.

Will the vast majority of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) continue to fail to achieve their potential value? Again, the chances are that they will have we learned nothing from the past? This book is about breaking out of the cycle of grand strategy, great prospects, poor implementation, lost opportunities. We do believe that it is possible for M&As to realize their value and more.

But bringing home the Golden Fleece involves more than just setting sail in quest of riches. It's about understanding the destination/end-game and working out the most appropriate route. This involves identifying the key ingredients of a successful journey which have to be managed. Latter-day Jasons need to be able to plan and implement intelligent approaches to managing the process of merger from start to...