David Braun
Author's posts
5 Ways Minority Interest Helps You Grow
Private equity firms are increasingly acquiring minority interests in public companies in order to grow, according to the Wall Street Journal. The landscape for PE is changing. Firms are facing tough competition from strategic acquirers who have cash on their balance sheets and are typically willing to spend more on an acquisition. At the same …
Will Your Acquisition Fall Apart?
While it’s an important milestone, a signed letter of intent does not guarantee a successful acquisition. Just ask Pfizer who withdrew its $150 billion bid to acquire Allergan after signing a LOI. Pfizer ended up paying a breakup fee of $150 million. After the LOI is signed, you still have a few major steps to take before the acquisition …
Content Is King: AT&T to Acquire Time Warner
Seeking growth amid a shifting telecommunications industry, AT&T has bet on media content. The company plans to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion in one of the biggest media acquisitions in history. The transaction will likely take over a year to receive regulatory approval, but both AT&T and Time Warner executives are optimistic. AT&T CEO Randall …
How to Verify an Acquisition Target’s Unaudited Financials
Obtaining audited financial statements is always best when valuing an acquisition prospect. An audit enhances your confidence and ensures what management has presented is a “true and fair” view of the company’s financial performance and position. We run into plenty of privately-held, middle market companies that don’t have audited financial statements. Many have their financial …
Can You Conduct Thorough Due Diligence When Data Is Missing?
One of the challenges of due diligence is that you often do not have access to all the data. Of course you want to know every last detail about the acquisition prospect so you can make the best decision. Unfortunately, the real world is never perfect. The prospect may have an incomplete or no record of the …
Successful Acquisitions Begin with Trust
Trust is everything. As leaders, we can forget this during the excitement of a deal. We can get caught up in reviewing financials, bogged down in the details of due diligence, or absorbed in mountains of research and completely forget about the humans involved in the transaction. When you take a moment to think, it’s …
Marriott Begins Integrating Loyalty Programs
Just this Sunday, I received an email about the Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Marriott Rewards combining with Starwood Preferred Guest. According to the email and Marriott’s website, the three loyalty programs will be linked, but operate as independent programs. Marriott does not expect to merge the programs any time before 2018. Marriott International first announced it …
Yahoo Cyberattack Highlights Need for Functional Due Diligence in M&A
Yahoo says the private information of at least 500 million has been compromised due to a cyber-attack in 2014. In the biggest security breach to date, hackers gained access to sensitive information including names, emails addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, passwords, and security questions. The security breach has ramifications not just for Yahoo and its …
Ford Acquires Chariot, Repositions as Mobility Company
Ford announced it would acquire Chariot, a shuttle-van startup based in San Francisco, in order to expand beyond auto manufacturing and become a mobility company. This is the first acquisition by Ford Smart Mobility, which was established in March of 2016 in order to focus on “emerging mobility services.” Ford reportedly paid $65 million for …
New Opportunities for Middle Market Growth
Middle market companies have faced many challenges to growth, but the tide is now turning. Previously, we had observed the dumbbell effect, where at either end of the spectrum massive corporations and small businesses flourished while middle market companies were caught in between. Unlike large multinational corporations, many middle market companies cannot leverage the same …
