Mergers & acquisitions

The huge sums that private equity firms make on their investments evoke admiration and envy. Typically, these returns are attributed to the firms' aggressive...

In the wake of a series of gross corporate abuses around the turn of the century, Congress passed Sarbanes-Oxley, which was intended to make corporate...

Executives have developed tunnel vision in their pursuit of shareholder value, focusing on short-term performance at the expense of investing in long-term...

In 1988, less than 2% of large deals were paid for entirely in stock; by 1998, that number had risen to 50%. The shift has profound ramifications for...

One of the most challenging decisions a company can confront is whether to diversify. The rewards and risks are extraordinary. Success stories such as...

How to thrive amid the turmoil

The use of acquisitions to redirect and reshape corporate strategy has never been greater. Many managers today regard buying a company for access to markets, products, technology, resources, or management talent as less risky and speedier than gaining the same objectives through internal efforts. Although we’re seeing more acquisitions on a larger scale more often […]

Companies spend more than $2 trillion on acquisitions every year, yet the M&A; failure rate is between 70% and 90%. Executives can dramatically increase...

When Delta emerged from bankruptcy, in 2007, its leaders knew that a full recovery would depend on innovative thinking. They began by instituting an employee...

Although most companies dedicate considerable time and attention to acquiring and creating businesses, few devote much effort to divestitures. But regularly...

It's a test of what creating value means today.

LBOs are best known as financial plays. As practiced by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, they can also promote corporate renewal.

The days when companies could rely on a poison pill and antitakeover statutes to fend off hostile bidders are long gone.

Yang assumed the reins at Lenovo (formerly known as Legend) in 2001, when the company's founder, Liu Chuanzhi, moved on to become chairman. He served...

When tight and loose cultures merge, they often clash.

This post was co-authored with Paul D’Alessandro. Intuit just bought Mint.com for $170,000,000. Mint is a web- and phone-based tool with a simple design interface that helps people manage their finances in an integrated way — across all their credit cards and asset accounts. According to the New York Times, they have tracked over $200,000,000,000 […]

Now that the M&A; wave is ebbing, divestment strategies are gathering steam.

I pretty much knew that the reaction to my last blog analyzing the flawed logic of the AOL-Time Warner merger would elicit comments blasting me for using...

Small companies are competing with big businesses in whole new ways.

Before your next U.S. acquisition, check how the company’s home state votes. Our research shows that the performance of buyouts in “red” Republican states is likely to be above average, while buyout performance in “blue” Democratic states is likely to fall below the mean. (See map.) This finding held even after controlling for a dozen […]