From my perspective of largely successful acquisitions, most acquisitions end in failure because they are missing a third-party advisor. A third-party advisor can play an irreplaceable role on your acquisition team as an ‘‘outside insider’’ who can unearth hidden intelligence, resolve stubborn conflicts, help cooler heads prevail, and maintain a strategic perspective from beginning to …
Category: M&A and External Growth
Credit Union Times: CUSO Consolidation Should Begin With Benefits
Every company is for sale, for the right equation. This maxim applies to companies in any industry, including credit unions and CUSOs. In “CUSO Consolidation Should Begin With Benefits” the Credit Union Times reports insights from Capstone’s webinar with NACUSO presented by Managing Director John Dearing. Read the entire article here: “CUSO Consolidation Should Begin With Benefits.” …
M&A in the CUSO World: A Proactive, Strategic Approach to Growth
How can you quickly grow a CUSO? Consider acquisition. Acquisition or external growth is a powerful tool for any organization – regardless of industry. Often, acquisition is one of the quickest and most effective ways to grow. As CUSOs grow so do opportunities for business mergers and acquisitions. Yesterday, Capstone Managing Director John Dearing presented …
Successfully Integrating Different Cultures
Cultural alignment while integrating two companies is a hot topic in the M&A world. For instance, CFO.com recently quoted Jonathan Chadwick as saying, “The number-one reason I think deals fail is because there was not an agreement or a matching of cultures.” Should you have any doubts, read about Kidder-Peabody inside of GE. Those cultures …
Key Insights from “M&A as Competitive Advantage”
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 …
How Acquisitions Can Help Small Businesses Grow
Did you know about 97% of acquisitions are small to mid-sized companies? Acquisition is an effective tool that can be used by companies of any size, not just those in the Fortune 500. To see how, watch my interview with Matthew Lesko. When we think of mergers and acquisitions, we often only think of mergers …
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 Increase Success of M&A
A recent Deloitte survey noted frequent misalignment between CFOs and company directors about the strategic rationale of M&A. The study concludes that CFOs and board members should align their M&A strategy for greater success. Naturally, I’m not surprised by these findings. The likelihood of successful acquisition would increase if all parties shared the same strategy. …
Top 5 Strategic Drivers of Oil and Gas M&A
Mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas industry oscillated from a high of $84.8 billion in the first half of 2012 to just $51.5 billion in the first half of 2013. The total deal value for Q2 2013 was $23.6 billion, the lowest since Q3 2009. Expect a new swing given the rumors that …
How Long Does it Take to Sell A Private Company?
According to Business Valuation Resources, new analysis shows time needed to market and sell a privately held business is 211 days, up from 200 days in previous analysis. Todd Nelson, Capstone Valuation Advisor, weighs in on these observations: “There are many variables that impact the time it takes to complete a private company sale. Those …
