Ten ‘Rules’ to Improve Your M&A Performance

This concluding chapter summarises the arguments introduced and developed throughout the book. It ends with 10 ‘rules’—the author’s key points for those wishing to improve M&A performance, selected from the many lessons offered at the end of each chapter. These, as with the book as a whole, are categorised into the three key stages at which value is commonly destroyed: strategy, pricing and integration. The chapter addresses the inevitable tension created by mounting shareholder pressure for growth and the risks associated with the mergers and acquisitions it often entails. Neglecting to sufficiently plan and assign resources to M&A integrations is one of the most common causes behind failing to deliver the planned synergistic benefits. In some cases, these are not accurately identified in the first place or stem from unrealistic proposals. The chapter refers to a common phenomenon of a fast-paced economy in the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) complex, which has the potential to drive prices up in markets with limited options for growth. Developing a broader list of strategic targets can go some way to relieving this anxiety. These risks are contrasted with elements of the private equity approach that mitigate these specific concerns. The future of private equity is discussed amidst concerns that the model may be limited in its ability to continue making historic levels of returns for investors, despite a plentiful availability of investor funds to invest. The arguments regarding competing governance approaches are also critically explored before the concluding ‘rules,’ a subset of the many to be found elsewhere in the book.