Cairneagle Corporate Finance: Mergers & Acquisitions

Buying or selling corporate assets can be one of the fastest and most effective ways to create shareholder value but it is not for the fainthearted or ill-prepared.

Several academic studies outline the pitfalls of acquisitive strategies – between 50% and 75% of all acquisitions destroy value for the acquiring shareholders. That being said, a number of the world’s most value creating companies have been unusually acquisitive. How can these two facts be reconciled?

M&A doesn’t have to be a roll of the dice. We believe that successful acquisitions and divestitures are the result of systematic and value-focused M&A processes. A handful of exemplar companies across the globe have developed such an M&A process and continue to access the market for corporate assets to evolve their strategies and create value in line with a dynamic view of their internal and external opportunity portfolios.

We help our clients to identify opportunities to create value through M&A, and to realise these opportunities through a systematic and value-based approach. Our services transcend the entire process from deal conception to execution and beyond to integration.

M&A Strategy
We help our clients to identify their strategic opportunities and impartially assess their relative capabilities to exploit these opportunities, identifying gaps that may be filled through acquisition or divestiture.

Target Screening
With an M&A strategy firmly in place, finding the right partner is the first step in a value-based M&A process.

Merger Benefits Estimation and Verification
It is our experience that driving value from acquisitions demands an overwhelming focus on understanding the sources and magnitude of merger benefits as well as the risks of achieving them.

Negotiations Support
All too often companies forget that winning in the M&A arena is not just about securing the right assets but the right assets at the right price.

Strategic Due Diligence
An in-depth knowledge of the target or acquiror – beyond the information publicly-available through annual reports, statutory filings, press releases and the like - is invaluable to making the best decisions throughout the M&A process.

Strategic Merger Integration
Getting full value out of any merger or acquisition requires an open-minded approach to the relative merits of differing strategies, structures and processes.

Financial Strategy
Determining the right financial structure for a merger can be critical to its overall success and value creation.