21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
From an M&A pro, this is worth reading--, August 21, 2005
I'm an M&A pro with 15 years and 30+ deals.
This book is easy to read and offers some good ideas. Most importantly, he pushes back against the common wisdom that "most deals fail", on the premise that analyses of failure are often simplistic and quoted without understanding the causes of failure. His view is that the deals that fail do so because of "perfect storm" events, where multiple problems conspire to knock the underpinnings out of what the dealmakers thought were best laid plans. To set up his ideas, he uses as examples some great disasters, such as Bhopal, Chernobyl and a few others, where a sequence of individually avoidable errors was required to ultimately cause the disaster. He discusses the errors by type and gives key points to consider. It's not nuts and bolts - his issues are at the "you're-in-charge" strategic level.
The book is built in three distinct segments. The first section, heavily footnoted, reviews a lot of the academic literature about why certain deals fail. But wait - don't nod off yet. Bruner organizes his thoughts to keep it focused and accessible: this is written for people who do deals, not those who pontificate about them. He sorts the analyses into about 20 variables that individually may not matter a lot. But, as they line up against you, the deal begins to list to leeward more than a few degrees. A lot more.
So how is this useful, beyond giving us some thoughtful warnings about structuring deals? Well, consider that we all work with executives and investors that don't do deals every day. Convincing them, with confidence, that deals can be structured to work can be tough. This section not only gives you a list of good ideas, it supports them with reference to studies. And most importantly, it gives support that more deals do well than everyone thinks, and that focusing on certain items improves the likelihood of success. No, you don't use it to cite a paper to the CEO (good luck with that, my friend), but you can say, for example, that using earnouts drives statistically higher deal returns, even as your Counsel argues against them "because you always get sued".
The second section is case studies of failed deals. Again, don't run screaming from the idea of returning to B-school a bit. They read more like war stories than cases (thank goodness). From the Columbia-Sony deal, through AOL-Time Warner, to Tyco's acquisition program, these are readable, and best of all, you don't have to submit an analysis to the prof. Bruner reviews each one, discussing the events that sank them (and sometimes their companies) and finding common threads that give plenty of food for thought to the M&A pro.
The last section is "How to Avoid the Deals from Hell". Helpful summary, but I'll leave it to those who are interested enough to buy it and read it. Suffice it to say, the book gives a lot of good, if general, ideas for the practitioner.
And even if you're too busy or lazy to read it, it's a great conversation starter as it sits on your desk.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Useful Examples In A Dry Presentation, July 16, 2005
In general, I found this book a worthwhile expenditure of time. I am not an M&A professional, but I work for a company which has made several acquisitions and some of the issues in this book are common to many M&A deals.
It's obvious that the book was written by a college professor, and the footnotes should be read as well as the chapters to get the full picture. At the same time, the case studies seem to be well chosen to exemplify the classes of problem he addresses.
The book starts with a comparison of M&A problems to other fiascos and disasters. This is useful up to a point - I did not find it overdone, although it's not a typical start to a business book. The author then outlines six areas which cause M&A disasters. Some, like financing complexity, are obvious. Others, like "Tight coupling" of business operations, are less so, but worth the time to consider.
The rest of the book comprises chapters dealing with various problem mergers. These are usually presented in contrast to a successful merger or acquisition later in the chapter, illustrating how some of the pitfalls in the fiasco were avoided in another, similar M&A deal.
I would have liked to see more about how to evaluate synergy in M&A deals - but that's probably another book.
If you or your company have anything to do with M&A, this will probably be a worthwhile read. The presentation is dry, but the cases are a good selection, and the author's points merit consideration. It will certainly give me some food for thought when my company makes another acquisition!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Important Lessons for Everyone, April 28, 2005
Professor Bruner's new book is brimming with important ideas for managers, policymakers, and academics alike. Ten failed mergers are discussed in depth ranging from Penn Central in 1968 to Tyco in 2002. Each case study includes both quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the component companies and the results of their mergers. The author's facility with case studies has been honed over thousands of cases, and his experience shows in his well-rounded discussions.
This book seems targeted at a professional audience-- it digs deep enough to inform even the most knowledgeable managers and academics-- but it is also readable by a general audience. The ten case studies present compelling narratives of major failures that changed the way everyone does business. Even those without any particular interest in management will find the history interesting. A close reading of this book will especially benefit policymakers who are concerned by the social costs of business failure.
In a field where the stakes are tremendously high, it's important to learn why the major failures have occurred. "Deals from Hell" is the perfect teacher.
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