Customer Reviews

Making M&A Deals Happen

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Buy this book if you have no understanding of the M&A process and want a basic idea of what happens from the perspective of a buyer or seller (not an investment bank). Don't buy this if:
a) You have some basic familiarity with the process (offering memo, first round bids, letter of intent, due dilligence etc)
b) You want case studies or specific examples of the situations or principles discussed - Stefanowski uses very few and they are generally not very interesting. They are more for starting points for discussion than anything else.

If you are entirely new to M&A the book could be quite helpful. It does a good job summarizing the typical deal process and helps the reader think through a number of basic issues - due dilligence, regulatory issues, integration, negotiation on price vs. deal terms etc. However, because he has to introduce the reader to so many areas in a relatively short book, each one only gets about 10-15 pages.

Unfortunately for those of us not new to M&A there is little content that discusses positioning M&A deals internally at the buying firm or actually going through the internal sales process with executives etc. I was hoping for some real examples of how managers below the Senior VP level have found deals and worked through the deal process with both the target firm and internal executives to persuade both sides to make the deal happen.

A simple, straightforward approach to a difficult topic - M&A. Easy to read with great examples and commentary. Good for anyone interested in learning more about M&A.