If you look at the great dealmakers of our era – Donald Trump, Warren Buffett and Mark Cuban, to name just a few - the one thing that separates them from the pack is their innate ability to identify and close lucrative deals.
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When a business owner decides to sell their business, the need to objectively assess the current condition of the company can often be overlooked. In failing to do this, the seller weakens their power of negotiation with potential acquirers. The best way to address this is through reverse or vendor due diligence.
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Comprehensive due diligence is essential to any successful M&A deal, but getting it right isn’t always easy. Some of the biggest companies in the world even make mistakes.
Andrew Sherman is a Partner at Jones Day, a global law firm with over 2,700 lawyers, and has seen it all!
Andrew recently sat down with Joel Lessem, CEO of Firmex, to share his insights on due diligence best practice, from both the buy-side and sell-side perspective.
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On March 5th, the PDAC convention in Toronto hosted a session on Financing in a Volatile Market, chaired by Daryl Hodges, President of Jennings Capital, and Marc Mills, VP of Investment Banking for National Bank Financial. Here are three lessons that emerged:
The reputation of the private equity industry is one that has undergone significant transformation in its relatively short history.
Corporate raiders, vultures and job killers are all terms to have haunted the industry, but was this ever a fair or accurate depiction? Or did private equity actually create jobs and, more importantly, better manage companies that contributed the US economy?
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Once a business owner has made the decision to exit their business, they should treat that decision just like any other strategic initiative. They need to identify concrete goals and objectives, outline the strategy designed to meet those goals and objectives, and implement the various tactics that are needed to support the strategy.
“When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience.” - Anonymous
This article is intended to give business executives an understanding of best practices that can lead to higher valuation in an M&A transaction. The purpose of this article is to help you look at your business as an acquirer might in valuing your company. The more attractive you can make your business to the acquirer, the better the chance that you will get a higher value for your business.
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We started 2012 with a lot of optimism. There was an abundance of cash at PEGs and on public company balance sheets. Credit markets and business valuations were favorable to well-heeled buyers.
What seemed like a perfect year for M&A growth was unexpectedly setback by European turmoil and the ensuing worldwide slowdown. In the US, election year politics led to a level of economic uncertainty not seen in the recent past.
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We often highlight articles that would be interesting and relevant to the Firmex community. We hope you enjoy this in-depth report by Ernst & Young on global M&A activity in Q4, 2012.
Global deal volume and value of announced M&A rose by 4% and 25% respectively, in Q4 2012, compared to the previous quarter. Despite this rise in activity levels, the conversion rate of deals progressing through to completion declined by 5% quarter-on-quarter (q-on-q), according to a recent Ernst & Young report.
Global M&A activity in 2012 was by all accounts well below that of 2011. Thomson Reuters reports a double digit drop in deal flow and a corresponding decrease in M&A fees. A significant part of weakness can be attributed to the European financial crisis, but the softness was not limited to Europe.
In the US, the M&A market is soft despite the spurt in deal flow driven by the impending capital gains tax increase. Business owners cashed out in record numbers with the expectation that capital gains rates will rise in 2013. This rush to exit may also mean that we will see a further slowing down of M&A activity going in to 2013.
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Download Security Breaches on the Rise: What Law Firms Need to Know