Baker Pacific Blog

The Optimal Size Acquisition

2011-07-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

Is there an optimal size acquisition, either on an absolute basis or relative to the size of the acquirer? Companies that are active acquirers are continually evaluating transactions across a wide range of sizes. Some employ criteria on the size of the M&A target, and the answer to the question posed here would be useful in refining such criteria. Likewise, the answer would give companies

Welcome to the new location of the Baker Pacific Blog

2010-04-27T17:16:00.001-07:00

The Baker Pacific Blog is now located at this location, http://blog.bakerpacific.com/. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://blog.bakerpacific.com/feeds/posts/default.

Who Can I Trust on This M&A Deal?

2009-06-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

In a recent segment of the Wall Street Journal’s Deal Journal Video: The Dark Arts of Investment Banking, Evan Newmark remarks, “… for the people involved, the incentives are almost always to get the deal done.” This captures a well-known problem in dealmaking, but what is the solution?In many cases, even company management has an incentive to complete a transaction (larger empire, financial

Selling a Company During Tough Times – Part 2, The Deal

2009-01-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

Proactively selling a company during this difficult economic environment is a delicate operation. How does one pursue the sale of a company without appearing desperate? The previous article (below) covered what to do differently in locating and engaging with potential acquirers. This one will touch on how to handle the deal execution phase differently during tough times. 1. My opinion on

Selling a Company During Tough Times – Part 1, The Search

2008-12-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

Proactively selling a company during this difficult economic environment is a delicate operation. How does one pursue the sale of a company without appearing desperate?There are still potential acquirers out there. However, the field is much smaller, with many buyers conserving cash, unwilling to issue “undervalued” stock as consideration, or simply focused on business execution. Therefore, the

Due Diligence in Reverse

2008-06-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

Companies in the midst of being acquired expect the potential acquirer to perform a thorough due diligence review. But what level of due diligence on the acquirer, or “reverse due diligence,” should they demand?There are several aspects this question.Cash as considerationFirst, for the investors / shareholders, does the health of the acquirer affect the consideration received? In the case of an

Should We Make That Strategic Investment?

2007-09-30T22:18:00.000-07:00

As a large technology company, is investing in a smaller commercial partner a great opportunity strategically and financially, or is it a distraction and a waste of resources?I’ve seen quite a bit of discussion on the subject of whether a small, growing technology company should take a strategic investment from a larger company in the same industry. However, I’ve seen much less that addresses the

Four Important Things to Know Before You Sell Your Company

2007-08-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

The idea of selling your company, receiving a huge payment, and then relaxing on a quiet beach sounds very attractive – what’s not to like? However, it’s important to know what to expect before making the decision to sell.Here are a few of the basics to be prepared for when contemplating selling your company:1. Be patientEven with interested buyers, the process of getting to an acceptable price

Which Comes First, the M&A Strategy or the M&A Execution?

2007-06-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

The obvious answer to this is that M&A strategy comes first, and M&A execution follows the strategy. I agree with this as the ideal and preferred method for determining acquisitions, but I’d argue that there is actually room for the reverse as well, with proper discipline.Clearly, the textbook order of progression is:1. Corporate strategy2. M&A strategy3. M&A screening and targeting4. M&A

Planning Ahead to be Acquired

2007-05-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

In Mergers & Acquisitions, a logical corollary to the acquiring company asking itself “What am I buying?” is the selling company asking itself: “What am I selling?” A company should be run as an ongoing business, not with the express purpose of an exit. However, there are measures that can be taken to increase the odds of eventually being acquired. One of those is to determine the companies

The Most Important Question in Mergers & Acquisitions

2007-02-28T21:52:00.000-08:00

An acquisition is obviously a very involved process, involving strategic considerations and numerous qualitative and quantitative criteria. The importance of being thoughtful, thorough, analytical, and prepared cannot be overstated. However, it’s frequently helpful to take a step back during the acquisition process to ask: “What am I buying?” Of course, there’s no right answer, but there should

Mergers & Acquisitions Due Diligence, Complete Series

2007-01-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

For convenience, the full four-part series on “The Basics of Mergers & Acquisitions Due Diligence” is now available as a single reference document. It can be accessed here or on the Baker Pacific website.

Mergers & Acquisitions Due Diligence, Part 4

2006-12-01T00:04:00.000-08:00

In advising companies that are acquisition candidates, two of the questions that I most frequently receive are: 1. What should I expect from the due diligence process? and 2. How can I best protect my confidential information while still moving the process forward? I already covered #1 (see Due Diligence, Part 1) and Parts A and B of #2 (see Due Diligence, Part 2 and Due Diligence, Part 3). I’

Mergers & Acquisitions Due Diligence, Part 3

2006-11-16T18:15:00.000-08:00

In advising companies that are acquisition candidates, two of the questions that I most frequently receive are: 1. What should I expect from the due diligence process? and 2. How can I best protect my confidential information while still moving the process forward? I already covered #1 (see Due Diligence, Part 1) and Part A of #2 (see Due Diligence, Part 2). I’ll cover the Part B of #2 in this

Mergers & Acquisitions Due Diligence, Part 2

2006-11-11T15:33:00.000-08:00

In advising companies that are acquisition candidates, two of the questions that I most frequently receive are: 1. What should I expect from the due diligence process? and 2. How can I best protect my confidential information while still moving the process forward? I addressed #1 last time (see Due Diligence, Part 1) and will cover Part A of #2 in this post, with the remainder in the next two

Mergers & Acquisitions Due Diligence, Part 1

2006-10-31T14:57:00.000-08:00

In advising companies that are acquisition candidates, two of the questions that I most frequently receive are:1. What should I expect from the due diligence process?and2. How can I best protect my confidential information while still moving the process forward?Of course, the due diligence process varies widely based on a number of characteristics of both the acquiring company and the target

Swimming upstream – What about upstream bandwidth?

2006-09-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

The big 5 ILECs and the big 5 cable companies nearly all have broadband offerings that provide downstream bandwidth of up to 5-8 Mbps for $45 per month or less. In two cases, Verizon and Cablevision, each has a set of broadband services that provides up to 10-50 Mbps downstream.That kind of downstream speed covers the bulk of consumer applications in use today and coming in the near

Insider Trading and Avoiding Leaks

2006-08-31T22:22:00.000-07:00

Insider trading is a popular topic in the press this week.Last Sunday’s New York Times highlights the frequency of suspicious trading activity ahead of M&A news (Whispers of Mergers Set Off Suspicious Trading). The conclusions are based on an analysis by Measuredmarkets Inc. for the NY Times. What is particularly telling is that in some of the cases, “the abnormal trading occurred during periods

Josh King’s AT&T Wireless Post-Mortem

2006-07-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed reading Josh King’s account of the sale of AT&T Wireless in the Corporate Dealmaker. It certainly brings back memories of my nearly 7 years in corporate development at SBC, including a couple of multi-billion dollar deals.I found the account interesting reading on its own, but also useful for helping to compare how others run the deal process with my own experiences. This one was

Welcome to the Baker Pacific Blog

2006-07-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

I’m finally launching this forum for informal observations, comments, and insights on select topics, which fall into two broad categories:1. Issues of interest from the perspective of the corporate development executive – mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, alliances, and strategy.2. Key developments in the telecommunications and Internet sectors, particularly focused on services and software

Coming Soon ...

2006-07-27T23:51:00.000-07:00

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