Valuation: Avoiding the Winner's Curse [Hardcover]

Kenneth R. Ferris (Author), Barbara S. Pecherot Petitt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 013034804X | ISBN-13: 978-0130348043 | Publication Date: January 24, 2002

In Valuation: Avoiding the Winner's Curse, authors Kenneth R. Ferris and Barbara S. Pecherot Petitt will help you master both the science and the art of M&A valuation. Concise, realistic, and easy to use, it brings together the field's best "rules of thumb," compares every leading traditional and alternative approach, presents examples and case studies from many industries, and offers practical solutions for today's key accounting, reporting, and tax-related challenges.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

In Valuation: Avoiding the Winner's Curse, authors Kenneth R. Ferris and Barbara S. Pecherot Petitt will help you master both the science and the art of M&A valuation. Concise, realistic, and easy to use, it brings together the field's best "rules of thumb," compares every leading traditional and alternative approach, presents examples and case studies from many industries, and offers practical solutions for today's key accounting, reporting, and tax-related challenges.

About the Author

KENNETH R. FERRIS is Distinguished Professor of World Business at Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management. The author/co-author of ten books, he has served on the faculties of Ohio State University, Northwestern, SMU, and numerous institutions of higher learning throughout the Asia-Pacific region. He has served as director of five corporations, including three listed on the New York Stock Exchange. He currently serves as mergers and acquisitions consultant to small businesses in the southwest US.

BARBARA S. PÉCHEROT PETITT is Assistant Professor of Finance at Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management. She specializes in corporate finance, valuation, mergers, and acquisitions. Prior to joining Thunderbird, she spent two years with Financial Services Management Development Limited as a consultant, and worked for several banks and companies in London and abroad. She holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Grenoble, France.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 225 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (January 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013034804X
• ISBN-13: 978-0130348043
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Consolidation & Merger

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read!, July 22, 2005

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Valuation: Avoiding the Winner's Curse (Hardcover)

The evidence is undeniable - most mergers fail and most acquisitions never achieve their promised synergies. Yet firms keep bidding top prices to acquire targets. Economists have a name for this phenomenon: the winner's curse. This theory says that the winner in any auction is apt to be the bidder who has most drastically overestimated the purchase's value. The winner, in this case, turns out to be a real loser. Authors Kenneth R. Ferris and Barbara S. Pecherot Petitt present compelling examples of companies that overpaid disastrously for acquisitions. They outline several approaches to valuation that might spare other companies from that sorry fate. We recommend this comprehensive and quite directly applicable book, which is full of cautionary notes and recommendations on how and when to use various valuation models. Why do companies continue to flirt with the winner's curse? The authors conclude, perhaps naively, that companies simply don't know how to correctly value their targets. Whatever the cause, there continue to be many cases where losing, rather than winning, would be a blessing to shareholders.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful!, July 27, 2004

By 

Hossam Alsaady "abujude" (Jeddah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Valuation: Avoiding the Winner's Curse (Hardcover)

I took a course offered by Ken Ferris before the book was published, then read the material. It reminded me of a lot of the insights that I gained from the course. Good book for practitioners.

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Met the man, taken his courses..., July 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Valuation: Avoiding the Winner's Curse (Hardcover)

This book, and another by Ferris, was a required textbook for a class taught by the author (Ferris) at the school where he teaches. It is an indication of the respect that the other Finance and Accounting profs have for Prof Ferris that his books are used by no other profs there- in fact, many riducle the simple errors and theoretical mistakes that are present in this book. As a guide to valuation of public firms, this book is useful only in outlining a simplisitc cookie-cutter format that lacks any depth or analysis.