Many acquisitions fail to create value for the acquirer, and in most deals the benefits go largely to the seller. This reflects the highly competitive nature of the M&A market. It also reflects the large concentrated investment bet at premium prices of M&A transactions. Buyers, in effect, are prepaying for uncertain future revenue and cost synergies. Frequently, buyers overpay for the expected synergies based on managerial optimism, overconfidence, and the urge to beat competing bidders.
The author can be contacted at rizzirisk@aol.com. Joe Rizzi has over 25 years of banking experience. He is also an instructor at Chicago-area universities, including Loyola and DePaul. He previously was a senior investment strategist for CapGen Financial, a private equity firm. This column is adapted from a piece he wrote for “MergerProf,” a blog on acquisitions, finance and governance that he co-authors with Dr. Ralph Walkling, director of the Center for Corporate Governance at Drexel University (www.mergerprof.com).