Applied Mergers and Acquisitions. Robert F. Bruner

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Foreword

      The Chinese expression for crisis—wei ji—combines the character “risk” with the character “opportunity.” Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions are opportunities that bear some considerable risk. For more than 30 years as an M&A professional, I have encountered many opportunities and risks; but I am still as excited about my work as when I started in this business in 1972. Nonetheless, things have changed since then.

The M&A environment has always been a fast-paced, highly complex world where transactions can be arranged in a matter of days and where the values involved often exceed billions of dollars. For more than two decades, M&A activities have captured the general attention of the public and motivated many young, intelligent, and ambitious people to pursue careers as M&A professionals at investment banks, consulting companies, and law firms across the world. In fact, the flow of M&A business reached unprecedented levels in the late 1990s. In 2000, the dollar volume of worldwide M&A activities reached approximately $3.2 trillion through over 3,000 transactions. Of these, approximately half involved U.S. parties and seven transactions had values of $10 billion or more, including the Time Warner/America Online transaction valued at $182 billion. Two years later, the dollar volume of worldwide M&A activity was one-third of the 2000 peak, at approximately $1.0 trillion.¹ It is uncertain if we will revisit the levels attained in 2000 again, but no one doubts that M&A activity is an integral part of corporate strategy.

      It is important to realize that popular images are often mistaken. The M&A world is not full of Gordon Gecko types expounding that “greed is good.” The real M&A world is built upon hard analysis and research, continuous dialogue among corporate officers, board members, and in many cases external advisers. It is also a world of excitement and innovation, based on transforming transactions that have a major impact on both domestic and global economies.

I prefer to take a more holistic view of molding two organizations together. In many respects, a merger is like a marriage between two companies. It cannot be a surrender followed by constant surveillance; but rather it must result in gains for both sides. Companies unite to forge strengths without necessarily losing individuality, while creating a new and better organization. A merger always involves imperfections, but these imperfections are offset by the potential that the new organization can achieve. Even though we tend to focus on the decision to merge and its prerequisite analysis, it is often the integration and execution processes afterward that matter the most. A successful merger is not the result of the contracts and documents binding organizations together; rather, it is a function of the implicit agreements governing the conduct of all individuals involved and the effects the new organization will have on these individuals. And never fear a tough transaction or a difficult negotiation. To prevail in an M&A negotiation is to see the future value of the possibilities created, not the immediate price paid or initial valuation.

      That is what excites me most about such a well written and comprehensive journey into M&A. Applied Mergers and Acquisitions by Robert Bruner will surely become an essential reference for any M&A practitioner. Throughout the book, you will find a practical overview of the M&A world and a summary of the theoretical and academic work done on a variety of topics, as well as further questions not yet answered. But this isn’t just a book about great thoughts and process, but rather how to turn insight into deals, and deals into lasting value. Read it, absorb its concepts and ideas, question its conclusions, and develop your own way of thinking. Bruner has provided you with the framework and the freedom to forge your own point of view. As W. H. Auden more eloquently put it in “The Managers”: