Creating Successful Acquisition and Joint Venture Projects

Book excerpt: Acquisitions and joint ventures can be difficult, costly, and risky, but if a company uses the right teams and processes and is adequately prepared, the chance of success can be significantly increased. Dr. Triantis, a practitioner with extensive experience in M&A planning and implementation and business strategizing, discusses the resources and preparation that are needed before an acquisition or joint venture should even be started, and the various roles and responsibilities of project participants once it is underway. His book examines the sequence of steps, and the events involved in conducting an acquisition or joint venture and shows how the screening and opportunity assessment process, along with proper planning and transfer of responsibilities, can go a long way toward creating the conditions necessary for success. The book provides guidelines, advice, and recommendations that project teams in key areas must focus on, and by doing so it introduces much needed discipline into the M&A decision making process. It treats important issues and ingredients in project financial analysis, valuation, risk management, negotiations, due diligence and legal agreements. In addition, by examining M&A and joint venture project financing, implementation, the creation and harnessing of synergies, and the need for monitoring and control, the book gives readers greater confidence in their own M&A decision making. Readers will find instruction on how to obtain corporate approvals, deal with project impediments, assess the performance of project teams, distill lessons learned in conducting acquisitions and joint ventures, and how to institutionalize their knowledge after the project is completed. Highly detailed, with a unique viewpoint that challenges prevailing orthodoxies of M&A management, Dr. Triantis's step-by-step approach will be valuable not only for corporate M&A staffers but also for college-level teachers and students.