Merger Masters presents revealing profiles of monumentally successful merger investors based on exclusive interviews with some of the greatest minds to practice the art of arbitrage. Michael Price, John Paulson, Paul Singer, and others offer practical perspectives on how their backgrounds in the risk-conscious world of merger arbitrage helped them make their biggest deals. They share their insights on the discipline that underlies their fortunes, whether they practice the “plain vanilla” strategy of announced deals, the aggressive strategy of activist investment, or any strategy in between on the risk spectrum. Merger Masters delves into the human side of risk arbitrage, exploring how top practitioners deal with the behavioral aspects of generating consistent profits from risk arbitrage. The book also includes perspectives from the other side of the mergers and acquisitions divide in the form of interviews with a trio of iconic CEOs: Bill Stiritz, Peter McCausland, and Paul Montrone. All three took advantage of M&A opportunities to help build long-term returns but often found themselves at odds with the short-term focus of Wall Street and merger investors. Told in lively, accessible prose, with bonus facts and figures for transaction junkies, Merger Masters is an incomparable set of stories with plenty of unfiltered lessons from the best managers of our time.

Today's corporate deal makers face a conundrum: Though 70% of major acquisitions fail, it's nearly impossible to build a world-class company without doing deals. In Mastering the Merger, David Harding and Sam Rovit argue that a laserlike focus on just four key imperatives--before executives finalize the deal--can dramatically improve the odds of M&A success. Based on more than 30 years of in-the-trenches work on thousands of deals across a range of industries--and supplemented by extensive Bain & Co. research--Harding and Rovit reveal that the best M&A performers channel their efforts into (1) targeting deals that advance the core business; (2) determining which deals to close and when to walk away; (3) identifying where to integrate--and where not to; and (4) developing contingency plans for when deals inevitably stray. Top deal makers also favor a succession of smaller deals over complex "megamergers"--and essentially institutionalize a success formula over time. Helping executives zero in on what matters most in the complex world of M&A, Mastering the Merger offers a blueprint for the decisions and strategies that will beat the odds.

An indispensable guide to strategic best practices for business mergers Thirteen years ago, the experts at A. T. Kearney embarked on a landmark, worldwide study of business mergers. Encompassing 25,000 companies across 24 industries in 53 countries, the study revealed much crucial information that was previously unknown about business consolidation. This book shares those revelations and insights with senior executives, consultants, and industry analysts involved in the merger process. More important, it builds on those findings to present readers with a solid game plan for winning the consolidation game. Readers learn about the consolidation cycles through which industries pass, how to identify where in the cycle their industry currently lies, how to leverage that knowledge in determining which organizational changes they need to make and when they need to make them, and how to develop and deploy the most successful merger strategies.

The easy way to make smart business transactions Are you a business owner, investor, venture capitalist, or member of a private equity firm looking to grow your business by getting involved in a merger with, or acquisition of, another company? Are you looking for a plain-English guide to how mergers and acquisitions can affect your investments? Look no further. Mergers & Acquisitions For Dummies explains the entire process step by step?from the different types of transactions and structures to raising funds and partnering. Plus, you'll get expert advice on identifying targets, business valuation, doing due diligence, closing the purchase agreement, and integrating new employees and new ways of doing business. Step-by-step techniques and real-world advice for making successful mergers and acquisitions Covers international laws and regulations How to take advantage of high-value deals Going beyond the case studies of other books, Mergers & Acquisitions For Dummies is your one-stop reference for making business growth a success.

A comprehensive analysis of merger outcomes based on all empirical studies, with an assessment of the effectiveness of antitrust policy toward mergers. In recent decades, antitrust investigations and cases targeting mergers—including those involving Google, Ticketmaster, and much of the domestic airline industry—have reshaped industries and changed business practices profoundly. And yet there has been a relative dearth of detailed evaluations of the effects of mergers and the effectiveness of merger policy. In this book, John Kwoka, a noted authority on industrial organization, examines all reliable empirical studies of the effect of specific mergers and develops entirely new information about the policies and remedies of antitrust agencies regarding these mergers. Combined with data on outcomes, this policy information enables analysis of, and creates new insights into, mergers, merger policies, and the effectiveness of remedies in preventing anticompetitive outcomes. After an overview of mergers, merger policy, and a common approach to merger analysis, Kwoka offers a detailed analysis of the studied mergers, relevant policies, and chosen remedies. Kwoka finds, first and foremost, that most of the studied mergers resulted in competitive harm, usually in the form of higher product prices but also with respect to various non-price outcomes. Other important findings include the fact that joint ventures and code sharing arrangements do not result in such harm and that policies intended to remedy mergers—especially conduct remedies—are not generally effective in restraining price increases. The book's uniquely comprehensive analysis advances our understanding of merger decisions and policies, suggests policy improvements for competition agencies and remedies, and points the way to future research.

A wave of corporate mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, and similar transactions has created unprecedented opportunities for those versed in contemporary risk arbitrage techniques. At the same time, the nature of the merger wave has lent such transactions a much higher degree of predictability than ever before, making risk arbitrage more attractive to investors. Surprisingly, there is little transparency and instruction for investors interested in learning the latest risk arbitrage techniques. Merger Arbitrage – A Fundamental Approach to Event-Driven Investing helps readers understand the inner workings of the strategy and hedge funds which engaged in this investment strategy. Merger arbitrage is one of the most commonly used strategies but paradoxically one of the least known. This book puts it in the spotlight and explains how fund managers are able to benefit from mergers and acquisitions. It describes how to implement this strategy, located at the crossroad of corporate finance and asset management, and where its risks lie through numerous topical examples. The book is split into three parts. The first part, examining the basis of merger arbitrage, looks at the key role of the market in takeover bids. It also assesses the major changes in the financial markets over recent years and their impact on M&A. Various M&A risk and return factors are also discussed, alongside the historical profitability of merger arbitrage, the different approaches used by fund managers and the results of academic studies on the subject. The second part of the book deals with the risk of an M&A transaction failing in terms of financing risk, competition issues, the legal aspects of merger agreements and administrative and political risks. The third part of the book examines specificities of M&A transactions, comprehensively covering hostile takeovers and leveraged buyouts. Each part contains many recent examples and case studies in order to show how the various theories and notions are put into practice. From researching prospects and determining positions, to hedging and trading tactics, Lionel Melka and Amit Shabi present the full complement of sophisticated risk arbitrage techniques, making Merger Arbitrage a must read for finance and investment professionals who want to take advantage of the nearly limitless opportunities afforded by today’s rapidly changing global business environment. The book builds on its authors’ diverse backgrounds and common experience managing a merger arbitrage fund, providing readers with an enriching inside view on M&A operations. Translated by Andrew Fanko and Frances Thomas

Anatomy of a Merger is a guide to handling a corporate acquisition negotiation successfully. Topics include the basic acquisition agreement; bargaining techniques applicable to substantive issues, and more.