Mastering the Merger: Four Critical Decisions That Make or Break the Deal

Book Description
Discipline and Focus Are the Keys to M&A Success Today's corporate deal makers face a conundrum: Though 70 percent of major acquisitions fail, it's nearly impossible to build a world-class company without doing deals. In Mastering the Merger, David Harding and Sam Rovit argue that a laserlike focus on just four key imperatives-before executives finalize the deal-can dramatically improve the odds of M&A success. Based on more than thirty years of in-the-trenches work on thousands of deals across a range of industries-and supplemented by extensive Bain & Company research-Harding and Rovit reveal that the best M&A performers channel their efforts into (1) targeting deals that advance the core business; (2) determining which deals to close and when to walk away; (3) identifying where to integrate-and where not to; and (4) developing contingency plans for when deals inevitably stray. Top deal makers also favor a succession of smaller deals over complex "megamergers"-and essentially institutionalize a success formula over time. Helping executives zero in on what matters most in the complex world of M&A, Mastering the Merger puts forward a blueprint for the decisions and strategies that will beat the odds.


About the Author
David Harding is a director in Bain & Company's Boston office and is an expert in corporate strategy and organizational effectiveness. Sam Rovit is a director in the Chicago office and leader of Bain & Company's global mergers & acquisitions practice.


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Harding and Rovit, both partners of a global consulting firm that assists companies in developing corporate strategies, offer business students and high-level business professionals a strategy for completing and surviving a merger. There are four critical decisions involved in closing a deal, say the authors, and they advise on choosing targets; knowing which deals to close; prioritizing aspects of the business to integrate; and knowing what to do if the deal goes off track. Drawing for examples on various studies and the experiences of actual companies, Harding and Rovit walk the reader through the decision-making process. An additional chapter offers a post-merger strategy for repeating deal-making success. An appendix details the studies used for the book. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


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