…and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers. Phil Rosenzweig Free Press 2014 For a change, this month’s M&A insight is a book review. A book review that confirms the reservations that many successful managers and owners have about famous bestsellers such as Tom Peters’ “In Search of Excellence” and Jim Collins’ “Good to Great“. […]
Berkshire Hathaway Acquisition Criteria – Plain and Simple
Below are the Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s acquisition criteria quoted from their 1982 annual report. The criteria, other than dimension changes, were published annually for the following 35 years in Warren Buffett’s Chairman’s Letter to shareholders. In the 1983 annual report Warren wrote “Last year in this section I ran a small ad to encourage acquisition candidates. […]
M&A 2020 – Complex Perception? There’s always a crisis!
The world of M&A and business in 2020 was certainly challenging, rapidly changing and transforming from one perspective to another, cleverly depicted in M.C Escher graphic above. How do you view it – top to bottom, bottom to top or left to right…? Perceptions were influenced and challenged by daily news spin of “experts”, government […]
M&A Buy-Side Fees, Risks and Challenges
For M&A Advisors, buy-side representation is inherently more problematic and risky than representing a sell-side client. On the sell-side, an advisor is representing something other people want (always an advantage). When representing the buy-side, we are trying to acquire something someone else owns and perhaps others are interested in too, obviously not as good a negotiating […]
Anyone Can Do M&A – Right?
A middle market business owner who chooses to represent himself in the sale of his own business will never know the value of the offer never received, or the deal terms that never were negotiated or the financial sum he left on the table. Why do owners shun M&A Advisor or engage inadequate inexperienced professional […]
Preparing for a Business Sale – Key Elements
Are you preparing for a business sale? Strategic buyers are sitting with a record amount of cash on their balance sheets. As organic growth has been difficult to achieve, strategic buyers have been very active in the acquisition market. Private equity buyers who have raised many millions of dollars are seeking acquisitions. They are the major players […]
Business Sale “Letter of Intent” – Minimum Requirements
One of the most important documents in the sale of the business is the letter of intent or indicative offer received from a prospective buyer. It is vitally important to ensure the key elements of the deal are well understood and agreed before progressing with due diligence and final documentation. Without a clear set of […]
In The Long Term: Economic Reform in Australia
There are increasing calls for economic reform in Australia, but is this really all that Australia needs? Based on long term outlooks for the Australian economy this paper concludes that Australia needs more than the simple economic reform that is being called for if it is to provide prosperity to all Australians. After considering the outcomes of economic policies adopted […]
Economic Reform: Are you Ready?
Australia is perhaps at a crossroads in terms of economic reform. This government has set its mandate on encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship and a reshaping of business around embracing technology to improve and sustain international competitiveness. In this paper we explore the need for reform and the challenges surrounding current policy. More importantly, with the government’s […]
Do You Have An Exit Strategy?
“Always have your business ready for sale. You might not get more than one chance. Not everybody gets an Alan Bond in their life.” The late Kerry Packer sold his TV business to corporate raider Alan Bond for over $1 Billion in 1987 (far more than it was worth) then bought it back 3 years […]