The Value Killers: How Mergers and Acquisitions Cost Companies Billions--And How to Prevent It, Hardcover

In a business climate marked by escalating global competition and industry disruption, successful mergers and acquisitions are increasingly vital to the growth and profitability of many corporations. If history is any guide, 60 to 70 per cent of new mergers will fail - and will destroy shareholder value. To date, analyses of the M&A failure rate tend to focus on individual causes - e.g., culture clashes, valuation methods, or CEO overconfidence - rather than examining the problem holistically. The Value Killers is the first book based on a holistic analysis of successful and unsuccessful transactions. Based on research, interviews with top executives, and case studies, this book identifies the key causes of failures and successes and offers prescriptions to increase the odds that future transactions will deliver all the anticipated synergies.

The Value Killers offers practical advice in the form of 5 Golden Rules. These rules will help managers and boards to ensure that target companies are properly valued; potential synergies and risks are identified in advance; checks and balances are installed to make sure that the pros and cons of the transaction are rationally and objectively evaluated; mechanisms are created that will trigger termination of bad deals; and obstacles to successful post-merger integrations are assessed (and solutions developed) before the deal closes. Each chapter includes questions for executives considering future M&As to allow them to see whether they are on the right track or not.

About the Author

Nuno Fernandes is Full Professor of Finance at IESE Business School, Spain. He is also a research associate of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI), and the Chairman of the Board of Auditors of the Portuguese Central Bank (Banco de Portugal). Prior to joining IESE, he was the Dean of Cat lica Lisbon School of Business and Economics. In addition, he was, for a decade, Professor of Finance at IMD (Lausanne, Switzerland). At IMD, Professor Fernandes directed the Strategic Finance program, among other customized programs for leading international companies. He was also a member of the Advisory Committee for the World Economic Forum, and a Visiting Scholar at Columbia Business School (New York). A specialist in corporate finance, international financial markets, and emerging market risks, Fernandes has been published in leading international academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of International Business Studies, and the Journal of Portfolio Management. He speaks at business conferences in Asia, Europe, and North America, and is a regular contributor to The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. Fernandes advises companies and financial institutions in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East on formulating winning financial strategies, investments, international valuations, M&As, and risk management. His work has earned recognition that includes the AEFIN prize and a grant from the FDIC (the U.S. regulator for financial institutions). In 2008, he received the Lamfalussy Fellowship from the European Central Bank.