Bill Snow

A merger or acquisition is a huge deal for any business, so you want your mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transaction to be a success from start to finish. Understanding the keys to M&A success helps you see the process through from step one to closing and integration.Keys to successfully completing a M&B dealAn M&A deal is the biggest deal of your life, so completing a successful transaction is key.

Like any topic, M&A has a language that you have to get a handle on to understand the field. The following words are part of the basic building blocks of M&A. The lingua franca of M&A is an amalgam of accounting and banking terms sprinkled with initialisms, acronyms, and words and phrases adjusted and twisted to suit certain needs at certain times.

After Buyer has reviewed the M&A book (or offering document) and submitted an indication of, the next step is to meet with Seller’s key management and/or ownership. The management meeting (run by Seller) provides a financial update (and any other pertinent updates) and allows a prospective Buyer to interact with Seller.

Your M&A offering document should begin with an executive summary that follows the same rhythm as your high school English papers: Start big, narrow your focus, introduce the thesis, prove the thesis, and conclude by widening narrative. The executive summary is the big picture overview of the offering document.

The letter of intent (LOI) lays the foundation for the M&A deal as it moves forward. Here are some of the sections you should make sure you include in a LOI as part of any deal: M&A LOI: Due diligence and timing Due diligence is the inspection period for Buyer. It comprises a short section, perhaps just a single sentence, in the LOI where Buyer indicates how long he needs to complete it.

An M&A deal is the biggest deal of your life, so completing a successful transaction is key. Knowing a few key M&A tips — whether you're merging or acquiring — increases your odds of successfully completing an M&A deal. Secrets to success include the following: Retain capable and experienced M&A advisors. You can't complete this transaction alone, and a business owner who represents himself in a life-altering deal is asking for trouble.

After you successfully acquire a company, you have to integrate it into your operations. Integrating acquisitions can be challenging; successful integration involves merging several aspects of the companies. Some considerations for successfully combining an acquired company with a parent company include the following: Product mix: One of the first integration considerations for Buyer is dealing with the product and service offers of the acquired company and the parent company.

Going through an M&A deal can be an intimidating process (for both the mergers and acquisitions teams), but that process thankfully follows some concrete steps. Here's the step-by-step process that nearly every M&A deal follows: Compile a target list. You can't buy or sell a business unless you have a list of suitable Sellers or Buyers.