The Art of M&A: A Merger Acquisition Buyout Guide [Hardcover]

Stanley Foster Reed (Author), Alexandra Reed Lajoux (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0070526605 | ISBN-13: 978-0070526600 | Publication Date: December 31, 1998 | Edition: 3

The Art of M&A, Third Edition, is the leading answer book in today's fast-changing, enormously complex merger world. Written in a handy, easy-reference Q&A format, this no-nonsense handbook covers everything from the early stages of locating a suitable target--or finding that you are a target--through the postmerger trials of turning multiple companies into one.

Synopses of nearly three dozen landmark cases give real life insights into legal rulings from previous high profile mergers. Over the past decade, The Art of M&A has helped thousands of executives make sound decisions. Now, let it provide all the information you will need to buy or sell companies, whether public or private, domestic or foreign.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The classic book on M&A­­covering all aspects of mergers, acquisitions, and buyouts. The Art of M&A continues to be the one-stop, no-nonsense reference for executives facing the day-to-day challenges of combining two or more companies into one. Completely revised and updated, The Art of M&A's handy Q&A format asks and answers more than 1,000 critical M&A questions, including:

• Planning and Finding: How does a search-and-screen hunt for a likely acquisition target begin? What types of fees or guarantees can a "finder" expect for brokering a prospective deal? What are the best Internet sites for dealmaking information?
• Valuation and Pricing: How can activity-based costing uncover hidden values in a company? What happens when a company's selling price is based on its current stock price­­and the stock plummets? What are the "traps of undue optimism" that every buyer must guard against?
• Financing and Refinancing: How can a buyer conduct proper due diligence without harming its relationship with the seller? What should an acquirer include in a thorough due diligence checklist? What information should be considered material in a litigation review?
• Postmerger Integration: What critical ingredients should be in a postmerger plan? How are intangibles valued, and how can they be integrated into the new company? What are the restrictions on communications between merging companies?
• Plus...new sections that can ensure a smooth postmerger integration and reveal the keys to success in spin-offs and strategic alliances.

You'll also find sample documents­­a typical merger agreement, letter of intent, and due diligence and postmerger integration checklists. Let The Art of M&A, Third Edition, serve as your advisor and walk you step by step through a smooth and successful M&A procedure.

About the Author

Stanley Foster Reed teaches advanced management courses as Entrepreneur in Residence at the College of Charleston. An accomplished author, Reed has been a merger consultant to numerous global businesses, including Allied Chemical, Gillette, Schering Plough, and Seiko Watch. He is the founder of a number of successful businesses in publishing, high-tech research, and consulting, and is founding editor and publisher of Mergers & Acquisitions and Directors & Boards magazines.

Alexandra Reed Lajoux is the president of Alexis and Company, an editorial services firm that provides state-of-the-art textual materials for business and professional use. Lajoux is the author of The Art of M&A Integration and the editor of Director's Monthly, the official newsletter of the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1011 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 3 edition (December 31, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070526605
• ISBN-13: 978-0070526600
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #617,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Definitive Manual for M&A Transactions, January 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Art of M&A : A Merger Acquisition Buyout Guide (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

If you only were allowed to have one book on this subject in your library, this is the one that you want. It gives good coverage to all of the important topics needed to evaluate, price and execute a transaction. The footnotes at the end of each chapter are an excellent reference. It also benefits from a very detailed index. The Q&A format of the text is a bit unusual for a work of this type, but is actually quite useful when browsing or quickly finding the key theme of each paragraph or section. It also contains a good selection of sample documents and checklists. Overall, it delivers a lot of high quality information the investment banking professional can really use.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, this is a very focused topic, but it is a great book!, July 3, 2002

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art of M&A: A Merger Acquisition Buyout Guide (Hardcover)

The very size of this book on such a specialized topic may seem daunting. However, the writing is so lively and the organization by question and answer is so easy to use that you will find this a very useful and comprehensive handbook.

It is NOT a theory laden textbook. Rather, it is a very useful and practical guide to the field and will help the careful reader avoid many pitfalls. There are many ways to make mistakes in buying companies and this book can open your eyes to quite of few of them. In fact, if you are the target of a buyout, this book can be of special importance and interest.

I admit to being fascinated by this topic so take that into consideration when evaluating what I say about this book. But even so, mergers and acquistions are so much in the news (for good and ill) that it can only help to get more background on what is really going on and how these deals are (or at least should be) put together.

The book reads MUCH shorter than its size and is fairly comprehensive on the subject - from the methods in selecting candidates for acquisition to what to do when you are a target of an acquisition to some very specialized topics. It also deals with M&A issues with both public, private, and even family firms.

Honestly, I am surprised at how glad I am that I bought this book. It is terrific.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Practical, December 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Art of M&A: A Merger Acquisition Buyout Guide (Hardcover)

I have been an M&A practitioner for twenty years and rarely have I found a book that is as readable and useable as this one. The author is able to synthesize difficult concepts and communicate them in a highly user friendly way.