The Complete Guide to Mergers and Acquisitions

In this summary you will learn

• How to address the concerns of employees and customers during the M&A process
• Why merger integration is always painful for someone
• How leadership — or lack of it — can make or break a merger

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Why you should read The Complete Guide to Mergers and Acquisitions

This thorough, detailed book focuses on the misunderstood aspects of merger and acquisition management. Timothy J. Galpin and Mark Herndon clearly have vast experience and draw on case studies to illustrate their suggestions. They provide sample surveys and integration flow charts to guide hands-on planning, and offer practical advice that you can apply in real-world situations. Not all of these ideas are new, nor do the authors claim them to be. Instead, they apply the most relevant ideas from management and psychology to M&A. The authors hammer home an extremely consistent message: You must communicate. They present their ideas clearly, even though the book is often wordy and uses a lot of passive voice (alas, business prose). Nonetheless, this is actually a very dense book and the authors are careful not to waste the reader’s time. This is essential reading for virgin M&A managers, and getAbstract thinks that even experienced acquirers may find much to learn.

About the Authors

Timothy J. Galpin is global practice leader for Merger and Acquisition Services with Watson Wyatt Worldwide and has been involved in more than 30 successful mergers. He is the author of two previous books, The Human Side of Change, and Making Strategy Work, Mark Herndon serves as regional leader for Merger and Acquisition Services with Watson Wyatt Worldwide.