Taking Stock of Where We've Been

In our final blog post for 2019 we will take a touchpoint and review some of the topics we have covered thus far, taking stock of where we are in the overall deal process.

Deciding to Acquire
We began this training blog with a review of the key factors to consider when deciding whether to acquire. This included the following:

1. A review of strategy fundamentals, to aid in charting the right overall growth course (Jan 2018 post).
2. An explanation of various deal rationales, tied to particular strategy components (Feb 2018 post).

Target Operating Models

1. We then transitioned to Target Operating Models (TOMs), and in April-Jun of 2018 defined what a TOM is, how strategies and deal rationales flow naturally into TOM selection and discussed special considerations for both serial acquirers and vertical transactions.
2. Our final posts from 2018 (Aug & Nov) discussed structural considerations for TOMS, including what to do in environments that employ outsourcing, shared services, and/or high levels of process automation.

Due Diligence

1. In March-May of 2019 we covered diligence preparation and execution, including the required research and diligence program structure.

Deal Valuation and CTA

1. With the exception of the July post, which revisited an earlier “Tales from the Trenches” case study, the remaining 2019 posts all focused on deal valuation.  We explained various valuation methods with their pros and cons, explained why costs to achieve should be considered in the deal models, and also presented several methods for creating useful models that we will revisit in early 2020 as we discuss synergy accountability and measurement.

​Our goal for this blog is to create both a teaching tool and a useful reference guide that can be re-visited as needed along your M&A journey.  We enjoy hearing from you and wish everyone the very best transition into 2020!