David Braun
Author's posts
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 …
Quality Research: A Key to Successful Acquisitions
Quality research is an important part of the acquisition process. Thorough research allows you to fully understand the market and prospects for acquisition. In the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) blog, I explain how to effectively conduct primary and secondary research, including who to contact and how to overcome challenges you may encounter during your …
Conducting Primary Research: The Information Dance
Let’s say you have identified a specific company as a prospective acquisition. To get to know that company, you must do primary research, not just secondary (online or library) research. This involves getting on the phone and talking to people who deal with the company on a regular basis, and eventually to the principals themselves. …
The Prospect Funnel
If you have started to look at individual acquisition prospects, you may be wondering, why use a prospect funnel? That’s to say, why pursue lots of possible acquisitions, rather than focus on just one? I have frequently been approached by clients after a deal suddenly fell through—a deal they had been working on for months …
From Markets To Prospects: “Taking The Emotion Out”
When you’re on the path of acquisition, there’s a shift that happens when you turn from the bigger strategic questions to looking at individual prospects. Now you’re dealing with real companies and real people. At this point, I have noticed that acquisition teams tend to become much more emotionally involved—sometimes to the detriment of the …
How Long Does an Acquisition Take?
As you consider acquisition as a route to growth, you may be wondering: How long will the whole process take? This is one of the most frequent questions I hear when laying out an acquisition plan. The answer is never easy to pin down. I’ve worked on acquisitions that were completed in a month, while …
Developing Prospect Criteria
As I’ve stressed in an earlier post, I recommend including not-for-sale companies in your acquisition search. This will significantly expand your universe of potential acquisition prospects. However, with such a large pool, you must develop criteria through which to filter the prospects in order to narrow your options. The first step in establishing your criteria for prospects …
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 …
Markets First
I always emphasize to my clients the critical value of painstaking market research and selection before considering individual prospects. Simply by conducting thorough research, you immediately separate yourself from the majority of company buyers and place yourself at an important competitive advantage. Choosing Market Criteria Choosing the correct market criteria may be tricky. Here are …
