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13 Reasons for Mergers & Acquisitions: Exploring M&A Motives

benefits of mergers and acquisitions

This advantage enables the company to secure more favorable terms and pricing structures, leading to cost savings. Mergers and acquisitions boost the credibility of the combined company, making it easier to secure funds from investors or through loans. This financial strength allows the merged entity to invest in important areas like expansion, innovation, and strategic projects.

Andy Smith is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), licensed realtor and educator with over 35 years of diverse financial management experience. He is an expert on personal finance, corporate finance and real estate and has assisted thousands of clients in meeting their financial goals over his career. It is critical for executives to be honest and thorough when assessing their advantages. In a similar vein to growth, there may be no better way to enter a new market than to acquire a company already successful in that market.

  1. Companies can invest more in research and development, marketing, and other areas to stay ahead of the competition.
  2. This was also a facet of the U.S. food retail industry, where a wave of M&A in the 1990s led to the bigger players holding significantly increased market shares.
  3. Mergers can create significant value through synergies and economies of scale.
  4. Firstly, because of the huge demand for coders in the so-called fourth industrial revolution.
  5. But amidst these changes, one thing remains constant – DealRoom’s commitment to adapt and evolve.

Roll-up strategy

benefits of mergers and acquisitions

In the technology and operations space, consolidating data centers, physical mail and scanning centres, and archiving facilities offer an opportunity for better asset leverage. There are situations in which the target company may trade below the announced offer price. This generally occurs when part of the purchase consideration is to be made in the acquirer’s shares and the stock plummets when the deal is announced. For example, assume the purchase price of $25 per share of Targeted XYZ Co. consists of two shares of an acquirer valued at $10 each and $5 in cash. But if the acquirer’s shares are now only worth $8, Targeted XYZ Co. would most likely be trading at $21 rather than $25. A corporate merger or acquisition can have a profound effect on a company’s growth prospects and long-term outlook.

For the target company, an M&A transaction gives its shareholders the opportunity to cash out at a significant premium, especially if the transaction is an all-cash deal. If the acquirer pays partly in cash and partly in its own stock, the target company’s shareholders get a stake in the acquirer, and thus have a vested interest in its long-term success. Take, for instance, the implementation of advanced technologies, streamlined production processes, and bulk purchasing practices. These proactive measures are key in realizing the efficiencies and cost advantages. For example, in 2000, there were 31,000 deals, and by 2010, that figure grew to 45,000.

Synergy miscalculations can also feed overpayment, as they may be rolled into the purchase price so your company gains control over assets before fully reaping benefits from them. These two leading oil production companies created a joint entity, Exxon Mobil Corporation. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) refer to the process of consolidating companies or their assets.

Successful companies instead develop a pipeline of potential acquisitions around two or three explicit M&A themes. Another frequent benefit of mergers and acquisitions is the ability to increase sales and drive higher top-line revenue. That might be a combination of access to new customer segments, the ability to sell additional products or services, access to additional distribution capabilities, and many other factors. The acquiring company may offer to buy the target company’s shares at a premium, resulting in a windfall for shareholders of the target company.

M&A can be used to generate synergies:

Consolidation involves merging the core businesses of two companies and forming a new one. Once approved, they receive common equity shares in the new company, and the old corporate structures are abandoned. Moreover, diversification can also provide companies with a competitive advantage. By offering a wider range of products or services, companies can differentiate themselves from competitors and build stronger customer relationships. Acquisitions can sometimes bring tax benefits if the target company is in a strategic industry or a country with a favorable tax regime. Business is survival of the fittest and tough market conditions can bring even the biggest organizations down.

Expert opinions, insights and trends from Burnie Group’s industry leaders in management consulting. RBS’ stock price subsequently collapsed and the British government had to step in with a £46 billion bailout in 2008 to rescue it. Fortis was also nationalized by the Dutch government in 2008 after it was on the brink of bankruptcy. Someone on our team will connect you with a financial professional in our network holding the correct designation and expertise. Ask a question about your financial situation providing as much detail as possible.

Reimagining Due Diligence and Post-M&A Integration

Hostile acquisitions don’t have the same agreement from the target firm, and so the acquiring firm must actively purchase large stakes of the target company to gain a controlling interest, which forces the acquisition. With an enterprise-value-to-sales ratio (EV/sales), the acquiring company makes an offer as a multiple of the revenues while being aware of the price-to-sales (P/S ratio) of other companies in the industry. In an acquisition of assets, one company directly acquires the assets of another company. The company whose assets are being acquired must obtain approval from its shareholders. The purchase of assets is typical during bankruptcy proceedings, wherein other companies bid for various assets of the bankrupt company, which is liquidated upon the final transfer of assets to the acquiring firms.

A merger describes a scenario where two companies unite, and one of the benefits of mergers and acquisitions companies ceases to exist after becoming absorbed by the other. The boards of directors of both companies must first secure approval from their respective shareholder bases. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance degree from Bridgewater State University and helps develop content strategies.

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Mergers and Acquisitions M&A Definition, Types, & Process

benefits of mergers and acquisitions

Mergers can create significant value through synergies and economies of scale. Effective communication is crucial in ensuring that investors and stakeholders understand the benefits of a merger or acquisition. Customizing products or services to meet local preferences can lead to greater acceptance and success in the new market. By acquiring or merging with a local company, businesses can bypass many of these barriers. This skilled workforce brings with them specialized knowledge that can be pivotal in developing new products, improving processes, or entering new markets.

Consolidate to remove excess capacity from industry

At Finance Strategists, we partner with financial experts to ensure the accuracy of our financial content. Proceeding with M&A poses communication challenges, employee retention issues, and cultural risks. These concerns should be addressed early on to ensure and maximize the success of the transaction. They could engage in a horizontal merger, vertical merger, congeneric merger, or conglomerate merger, among others. The fourth phase includes drafting and executing the purchase agreement, financing the transaction, and obtaining regulatory approvals. The timing, legal compliance, and communication with stakeholders must be considered.

  1. These transactions can also be used to increase profits by eliminating redundancies, reducing costs, and increasing revenue streams.
  2. There’s another issue here which needs to be highlighted; a merger or acquisition isn’t complete when the ink has dried on the share purchase agreement.
  3. According to a survey by Deloitte, 92 percent of executives at U.S. corporations and private equity firms expect merger and acquisition deal volume to increase or stay the same over the next 12 months.

Purchase Mergers

If splitting your payment into 2 transactions, a minimum payment of $350 is required for the first transaction. No, all of our programs are 100 percent online, and available to participants regardless of their location. We offer self-paced programs (with weekly deadlines) on the HBS Online course platform. Harvard Business School Online’s Business Insights Blog provides the career insights you need to achieve your goals and gain confidence in your business skills.

Size is not what creates a successful roll-up; what matters is the right kind of size. As others tried to imitate Service Corporation’s strategy, prices for some funeral homes were eventually bid up to levels that made additional acquisitions uneconomic. Economies of scale can be important sources of value in acquisitions when the unit of incremental capacity is large or when a larger company buys a subscale company. For example, the cost to develop a new car platform is enormous, so auto companies try to minimize the number of platforms they need. The combination of Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche allows all three companies to share some platforms. For example, the VW Toureg, Audi Q7, and Porsche Cayenne are all based on the same underlying platform.

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The CEO was pushing for a big bet on digital given the company’s superior financial position. Some senior leaders proposed expansion in greater China, the fastest-growing market for premium cosmetics. Other business-unit leaders saw poten­tial in the markets for organic products and men’s grooming.

When companies merge or acquire others, they often find opportunities to streamline operations. This strategy not only spreads the risk but also opens up new revenue streams, ensuring a more stable and sustainable business model. By expanding the range of offerings, companies can reduce their dependence on a single market or product line, which in turn, shields them from the volatility of market demand and competitive pressures. The acquisition also played a crucial role in the launch of Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, by providing a wealth of content and enhancing its competitive position in the streaming market.

Mergers and acquisitions are powerful tools for bolstering a company’s market position. These maneuvers are not just about benefits of mergers and acquisitions financial transactions; they are about creating new opportunities, unlocking value, and setting the stage for future growth. Acquisitions, on the other hand, involve one company taking over another, either wholly or in part, to consolidate its position in the industry or to acquire specific assets or capabilities.

benefits of mergers and acquisitions

For instance, a key drug being developed by B may turn out to have unexpectedly severe side effects, significantly curtailing its market potential. Company A’s management (and shareholders) may then be left to rue the fact that it paid much more for B than what it was worth. M&A facilitates internal and external growth, offering diversification, expanded distribution capacities, greater brand recognition, and potential tax benefits in new markets. They happen due to reduced costs achieved through shared marketing budgets, shared technology, supply chain optimization, facilities consolidation, increased purchasing power, and staff reductions. Companies engage in M&A for various reasons, such as growth diversification, synergy, increased market share, and profitability.

M&A due diligence is a complex and time-consuming task:

The integrated company may consider pricing insights from the acquiring and acquired companies. The integrated company might increase its price if the acquired company was a competitor. At the same time, there might be opportunities to offer better pricing to the customers if the new, increased scale allows it. As a result, the integrated company can capture a more significant market share.

Mergers and acquisitions may drive much of the corporate finance agenda, but at their core, they are strategic transactions. In this article, DealRoom seeks to unveil their huge strategic significance to the corporate agenda, and to understand how technology is driving a better understanding of M&A. When a company is limited to select channels and wants to increase its reach, it can seek a merger with or acquisition of a company specializing in other channels. This enables the integrated company to use a wider range of channels to reach a broader customer base. The combined entity will be able to better cater to the preferences of different demographics by unlocking access to new customer segments. M&A transactions sometimes fail because the corporate cultures of the potential partners are so dissimilar.