Deal closure is the starting point not the end point

Abstract

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) as a growth strategy has been intensely debated, but recent studies suggest that companies that are ‘inactive’ in terms of M&A are underperforming their more active peers, meaning executives need to consider these opportunities. As executives turn to M&A to deliver the expected growth, companies need to develop their own repeatable methodologies for dealing with the different phases of a transaction to reduce business risk and costs and maintain consistency with how M&A projects are executed. In addition a company well regarded in M&A execution will be rewarded by the market with a greater capacity to finance further M&A. This report by Mergers and Acquisitions Research Centre (MARC) at Cass Business School with the collaboration of Willis Towers Watson seeks to uncover how a group of serial acquirers has overcome challenges posed by multiple acquisitions and what challenges they still face