Intelligent M & A: Navigating the Mergers and Acquisitions Minefield

Most mergers and acquisitions fail to deliver their expected outcomes, yet they remain essential for growing world–class companies, and those handling M&As must draw on all the tools at their disposal to improve their chances of success. Now in its second edition, Intelligent M&A looks at the full process of a merger or acquisition from start to finish, updated to reflect the impact of a global recession and show the new way of operating in the new business environment and a world more global than previously. Covering current trends in the market and anticipating changes yet to take hold, Moeller and Brady identify areas where business intelligence can improve the odds of a favourable outcome and discuss how to navigate the mergers and acquisitions minefield. Includes how to: Design the best acquisition process Control your advisors and other ‘outsiders’ Identify the targets that really do fit your strategy Defend against unsolicited hostile bids Use intelligence techniques to conduct due diligence Value, price and finance each deal to your advantage Develop the best negotiation and bid strategy Focus from the start on post–deal integration Make acquisition skills one of your company’s core competency Using techniques developed by governmental intelligence services and a wide range of updated case studies, quotations and anecdotes, Intelligent M&A will show how to build success into every phase of the deal. “ Intelligent M&A is a fascinating read for anyone working in or around the fast moving M&A world. Moeller and Brady have applied the techniques of business intelligence to the M&A process to provide a unique insight into the successful execution of deals. Their experience in the field and structured approach provides valuable lessons for everyone from business students to experienced practitioners.” — Simon Barnes, Managing Partner, Circadia Ventures LLP

Scott Moeller is the Director of the Mergers and Acquisitions Research Centre at Cass Business School in London, where he is also Professor in the Practice of Finance.  He is widely recognized as an international expert on M&A, appearing frequently on television and in the print media. He was previously a management consultant and investment banker, working for Booz Allen & Hamilton and Morgan Stanley in New York, Tokyo, and Frankfurt, then Deutsche Bank in London.  He remains active as a non–executive director of several large European and American companies. Scott is author of Surviving M&A: Make the Most of Your Company Being Acquired (Wiley, 2009).  He can be followed on Twitter (@scottmoeller) and www.intelligentmergers.com . Professor Chris Brady is currently Professor of Management Studies and Director of Salford University’s Centre for Sports Business; he also acts in an advisory capacity to HE institutions and private equity firms. Prior to these roles he was, most recently, Dean of BPP Business School, Dean of the Business School at Bournemouth University and Deputy Dean responsible for external affairs and business development at the Cass Business School in the City of London. Professor Brady also served in the Royal Navy for 16 years including appointments in the joint HQ intelligence cells during the first Gulf War and the Balkans crises. He is the author of books and articles on subjects as varied as US foreign policy, British Cabinet government and, of course, business.