David Braun
Author's posts
Who is Your M&A Champion?
Q: Who is the internal champion on the M&A team? What is their role? A: The internal champion is an important member of your M&A team. Your acquisition team should include people from your own company such as the CEO, CFO, the internal champion, and functional leaders, and external experts such as lawyers, accountants, valuation experts, due diligence experts …
Pharmaceutical M&A: The Rush to Acquire
Last week alone, there were three major consolidations in the pharmaceutical space: Teva will acquire the generic business of Allergan Hikma pharmaceuticals will acquire Roxane, Boehringer Ingelheim’s generic drug business Mylan will acquire Perrigo These three deals in just a few days reflect the trend of pharmaceutical consolidation as companies seek new products in order to …
Best Practices for Seeking Growth Outside the Core
Most companies are seeking growth outside of their core business through organic means or mergers and acquisitions, according to a new survey by McKinsey. What’s interesting is that although many companies want to expand beyond their mainstay business, most do not have the capabilities to do so. Here are three best practice steps noted for successfully …
Why ConAgra Plans to Sell Ralcorp Less than 3 Years Later
Packaged food company ConAgra Foods plans to divest its private label branch Ralcorp after acquiring it in 2012 for $5 billion. Why is ConAgra spinning off this private label business so quickly after acquisition? The many reasons include pressure from activist investors, poor performance, increased competition, and tighter margins. Ralcorp’s revenues dropped by 6 percent …
Strategic vs. Financial Acquisitions – What’s the difference?
I decided to answer a very basic, but important question about M&A, given that we often talk about strategic acquisitions. Q: What’s the difference between a financial and a strategic buyer? A: A financial buyer brings little inherent value to the transaction. Typically they bring capital and capital allocation knowledge, but usually no specific knowledge …
Aggressive Lending, Bigger Deals… M&A is Back on the Move
There’s no denying it that M&A is on fire. Look at any financial newspaper headlines and you’ll see announced deals or merger talks. And keep in mind for all the major transactions involving publicly held companies there are many smaller, privately held transactions occurring unannounced. We can better understand this current wave of activity and …
When Organic Growth Stalls, Consider M&A
Robust mergers and acquisitions activity is often an indicator of economic growth, but the recent flurry of deals do not reflect a confidence in the economy, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in Dealbook. Revenue growth of US companies has declined from 11.2% in 2010 to 5% to 2020, a Citigroup report indicates. “Strategic actions such as M&A…have become a key …
Aligning Buyer and Seller Functional Leaders in Due Diligence
Q: “What if the buyer and seller functional leaders do not match? How do you coordinate the two sides?” We take a functional approach to due diligence where we encourage your leaders from sales, marketing, finance, operations and other functional areas to meet with their respective leaders on the seller’s side. A functional approach ensures …
What Employees Really Think ─ Conducting HR and Organizational Due Diligence
People are critical to the success of your company, and it’s no different in the business you are acquiring. But how can you go beyond the surface and find out what employees really think? It is doubtful employees will be completely open and honest when asked point blank, “Do you like your job?” One of …
