Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions : The Guide to Market Focused Planning and Integration (Hardcover)

~ (Author), David S. Greenspan (Author) "In the 1990s, seemingly not a day goes by when the business press does not report on multimillion-dollar mergers and acquisitions..." (more)
Key Phrases: marketing due diligence, marketing intangible assets, multiple strategic drivers, United States, Quaker Oats, New Jersey (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A comprehensive new framework for winning at M&A—from up-front planning to postmerger integration

The challenges of mergers and acquisitions can be daunting—but the opportunities and benefits they offer forward-thinking companies can be tremendous. Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions offers a critical new approach to strategic M&A based on the authors' pioneering concept of marketing due diligenceSM. Covering every stage of market-driven M&A planning and integration, this book shows how to look beyond the quick hit to focus on long-term growth rather than short-term cost-cutting. Featuring dozens of real-life case studies—including both failures and extraordinary successes—plus inside comments from leading M&A specialists, this book contains crucial guidance on:

• Predeal planning—how to identify your strategic needs and pinpoint the merger candidate(s) that will help you meet them
• Sizing up targets for acquisition—how to examine the essential marketing, sales, and product issues that will determine a good company "fit,".strategically and culturally
• Revenue enhancement planning—how to identify ways to drive top-line growth and develop action plans to generate near- and long-term revenues
• Filling the pipeline—how to prioritize and actualize the critical steps necessary to drive shareholder value
• Developing communication programs—how to design and execute communication strategies to garner support for the merger by employees, customers, and other stakeholders
• Building a comprehensive postmerger integration plan—how to align diverse corporate cultures, develop training and reward programs, and move beyond the turf wars and lack of productivity that hamper the success of mergers and acquisitions.

Last year more than 7,000 mergers and acquisitions were completed, with a collective price tag estimated at more than $800 billion. And although they are known as highly effective means of achieving corporate growth and strategic advantage, these transactions are fraught with pitfalls: Statistics indicate that a third of these deals will fail and another third will not bear out the expectations of the merger partners. What can businesses looking to undertake strategic mergers and acquisitions do to ensure that they do not fall victim to confusion, multimillion-dollar losses, declining market share and profits, or any number of other negative results of failed transactions?

The answers are in Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions, a pioneering step-by-step guide to growth-driven planning and swift, effective post-merger integration. Challenging the conventional emphasis on cost-reduction synergies, this book presents the authors' groundbreaking blueprint for mergers that yield strategic synergies and high returns in meeting long-term growth, increased market share, and revenue generation objectives.

Mark Clemente and David Greenspan explore in detail the marketing, sales, and organizational issues that are vital aspects of successful M&A ventures. They take executives through the entire strategic M&A process—from setting objectives, to evaluating target companies, to aligning corporate cultures in an effort to ensure problem-free integration. They show how to maintain a sharp focus on the markets that will be reached by the merger—and they offer invaluable advice on charting a steady course through the often tumultuous period of integration, when organizational chaos can cause the merged company to lose momentum, market share, and the backing of customers, prospects, and shareholders.

Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions is essential reading for CEOs, managers, deal makers, and others looking to capitalize on one of the most important methods of effecting corporate growth in business today—while staying focused on the people, product, and process issues that power that growth.

From the Publisher

Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions offers a critical new approach to strategic M&A based on the authors' pioneering concept of marketing due diligenceSM. Covering every state of market-driven M&A planning and integration, this book shows how to look beyond the quick hit to focus on long-term growth rather than short-term cost-cutting. Features dozens of real-life case studies--including both failures and extraordinary successess--plus inside comments from leading M&A specialists.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 331 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047119056X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471190561
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #650,976 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most valuable acquisition of the year ! A must have!, December 30, 1998

By A Customer

There are many books on M & A out there. Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions is different...it truly delivers! Clemente and Greenspan share their experiences at each phase of the process - from strategy development through integration implementation. They give specific guidance on overcoming the challenges that every company encounters when it decides to do a deal. Their insights on how to keep customers and employees on board are priceless. They show how to link people, products and processes to top-line growth concerns. And most important, they explain how to accomplish effective integration. Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions is the most valuable acquisition I've made this year!

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The difference between WINNING and losing!, July 9, 2000

By A Customer

I'm in the midst of my third acquisition in two years. I have bought virtually every advisory book on M&A to help me get it right -- The Art of ...; Five Frogs...; Joining Forces, etc. While all of those were entertaining, in the final analysis, they were not really helpful in delivering results to my organization. Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions consistently addresses the real issues I've encountered through all the phases of M&A with viable solutions and profound instruction. Again and again, when I've been faced with a due diligence quandary or an integration roadblock, this book has accurately and coherently helped me and my company advance toward M&A success. These gentlemen invented a concept called marketing due diligence which transcends every other discovery mechanism we have used. They also focus on driving revenues which I found we urgently needed to do after our first acquisition failed to live up to its promise. This book has saved my company millions and probably secured my job in the process. If there is one book that will make a difference in the vast sea of M&A literature, it is Winning at Mergers & Acquisitions. Thank you gentlemen.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable guide -- well worth the price, July 28, 2000

By	jason tomms (London) - See all my reviews

Well written, very relevant, and quite helpful. Chock full of case studies, very specific guidance and especially the "insiders outlooks" where managers who are going through it talk candidly about what works and what doesn't. Good insights on culture and driving revenues. Hundreds of pages of real life experiences. A very good book for those who don't have all the answers. After I read this book, I was a lot smarter.