Guest Posted by Sean Ferrell
When it comes to mergers and acquisitions (M&A), both buyers and sellers have their work cut out for them. Although 325,000 mergers and acquisitions valued at more than $34.9 trillion have taken place over the last 40 years, these deals don’t come without risk. In fact, 60 percent of 2500 M&A deals made between 1993 and 2010 resulted in a destruction of shareholder value. And nobody wants that.
Importance of Business Acumen
That means all parties should be informed and aware of common mistakes made in M&A negotiations. Buyers, for example, tend to get caught up in the excitement of chasing a deal instead of focusing on the financial, legal, and technological value of the company they’re trying to acquire. Sellers, on the other hand may only look at the money they’re being offered, paying little or no attention to how their startup is likely to fit into the bigger company’s style. For additional pitfalls both buyers and sellers should avoid in M&A deals, take a look at the following infographic.
About the author
Teo Spengler earned a J.D. from U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall (now University of California, Berkeley, School of Law). As an assistant attorney general in Juneau, she practiced before the Alaska Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court before opening a plaintiff’s personal injury practice in San Francisco. She also holds both a M.A. and a M.F.A. in creative writing. Her work has appeared in numerous online publications including USA Today, Legal Zoom, Legal Beagle, Pearson, and numerous attorney websites. Spengler splits her time between San Francisco and France’s Basque Country.
