Timothy Galpin - Winning at the Acquisition Game: Tools, Templates, and Best Practices Across the M&A Process

Winning at the Acquisition Game presents the best materials, insights, tools, and templates which comprise the comprehensive Mergers and Acquisitions course taught in the MBA and Executive MBA programs at the Sad Business School, University of Oxford. The chapters that follow provide readers with practical knowledge and tools to help them understand the entire mergers and acquisitions process from pre-deal strategy and due diligence, through transaction valuation, negotiations, and consummation, to post-deal implementation and results measurement and reporting. As a result, readers will gain valuable insights into the entire M&A process, from beginning to end, connecting traditionally distinct, siloed functional expertise across the process. Also included are practical frameworks and templates in the form of an M&A Workbook readers can apply to their own transactions, now or in the future.

Each of the best practices, pitfalls to avoid, tools, and templates presented in this book has been field-tested and refined for over three decades while working on both pre- and post-transaction activities across multiple industries around the globe. The guidance and tools can be applied in small, midsized, and large transactions. Their application just needs to be scaled accordingly. While this is a practical how to book, the tools and approaches presented are based on a solid foundation of well-established theory and extensive research that is also highlighted within each chapter.

Those new to the M&A game, as well as seasoned M&A professionals, can benefit from the books contents. However, this book will not make anyone an M&A expert. Like most complex activities, the best learning is accomplished by doing. Every deal is different and the M&A landscape (regulations, deal structures, strategies, and so forth) is constantly evolving. Consequently, developing M&A knowledge should be an ongoing pursuit. I have been helping companies plan and execute their transactions for over three decades and I still learn something new, no matter how nuanced, from almost every deal.

The books contents are a mile wide and just a few feet deep. Each chapter provides an overview of the best practices and potential pitfalls of M&A deals, and includes practical tools and templates addressing each stage of the process. For readers wanting to dive deeper into one or more of the topics covered, entire texts are available focused on M&A strategy, due diligence, valuation, negotiation, legal aspects, integration, communications, organizational culture, talent development, innovation, and measurement. Useful texts addressing each particular stage in more depth are identified in the references at the end of the book. Therefore, this book is designed to serve as an integrator of M&A knowledge, connecting traditionally distinct, siloed functional expertise across the entire M&A process.

The guidance and tools contained throughout each chapter are practical and time-tested. However, the contents should not to be taken in any way as authoritative legal or financial guidance. When pursuing transactions, readers should consult with qualified intermediaries, including legal counsel and financial advisors, about any aspects that may have legal and/or financial consequences.

Although libraries and online vendors often classify M&A books as finance texts, this is not a functionally focused book. Reflecting the realities of mergers and acquisitions, it is a cross-functional management book. M&A is a cross-disciplinary activity, requiring a broad team with varying expertise from different levels of both the buyer and seller, supplemented by external service providers (bankers, attorneys, and consultants), to effectively execute both pre-close and post-close activities. Therefore, the best practices, pitfalls to avoid, and tools and templates presented will benefit senior management, functional experts, and M&A service providers who work on either or both the buy-side and sell-side.

The eleven chapters of Winning at the Acquisition Game provide time-tested best practices, key tools and templates, and essential lessons learned throughout the M&A process, including:

Appendix A offers a toolkit, in the form of an M&A Workbook, which includes key templates and exercises to help individuals and firms develop their M&A skill across the process, from pre-transaction planning, through transaction completion, and post-transaction implementation and success measurement. The tools are applicable across industries and geographies and can be used immediately during in-process deals or applied to future transactions.