The Must Avoids in case of Mergers and

Acquisitions

Most companies opt for mergers and acquisitions with the prime purpose of capital raising.

Here is a quick overview of the common mistakes companies often make, and the ways to

avoid them.

hose who have been serving clients with strategic advices on mergers and

acquisitions must have felt it many a times that a number of deals had gone

wrong for reasons that could be avoided if due care had been taken on part of the

client at the initial stage. It is quite astonishing that most organizations need to

opt for mergers and acquisitions for insignificant mistakes that resulted in significant

outcomes putting the organization in existential challenge. These are common mistakes or

shortcomings that can be overcome very easily. However, not taking care of these

apparently insignificant factors will cause loss that would take a lot to recover. Let me now

share with you these factors so that you, like smart learners, can learn from the mistakes of

the others and not by experiencing loss. Taking care of these issues will also help you in

capital raising for your organization.

Check If Your Calculation Makes Three out of One plus One

When you acquire a particular company, your calculations must produce three out of one

plus one. Or else you will not be benefitted by mergers and acquisitions, resulting in a poor

or negative capital raising for your company. You should not calculate the profit of the

combined company based on assumptions. You really have to calculate on the basis of the

analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and possible threats of both the

organizations.

T

Doing SWOT analysis of your organization is not a big deal. You know your company better

than anyone else. However, you need to know the other party thoroughly. You might think

it is a very basic necessity to know the other company. The surprise is that most acquirers

do not analyze the true potential of the company they are going to acquire, while using

sources like Google, Factiva, Capital IQ, Dun & Bradstreet provide adequate data about a

company. Since the organizations do not analyze these factors, they fail to calculate and

find if one plus one makes three when it goes for mergers and acquisitions.

Don’t Get Emotional

As the CEO or the owner of the company you may feel terribly enthusiastic about mergers

and acquisitions. It is not only because of the prospect of capital raising, but for you have

strong emotional attachment with the company or the organization. When you, as the

owner of the CEO become too emotional over it, your key management professionals may

not stress much on the risk factors. As a result, you miss the reasons that might have made

you decide not to go forward.

Put Yourself in the Seller’s Shoes

In case of mergers and acquisitions, the opinions and demands of both the parties are

equally important. While you look forward to offering the lowest possible price as

described in the purchase order finance document, the other party me looking for the best

price being offered. In such cases compromise is the art that combine the two parties. But

evidently, both are equally unhappy partners. And you must agree that unhappy partners

can do the job but can hardly excel.

I would not suggest you to offer higher prices for a company that you are going to acquire.

However, you can at least put yourself in the seller’s shoes. This will make you understand

why they are selling. And understanding the reason will give an idea about the possible

turnover or capital raising that you can expect from the newly emerged company.