Booz & Company
Our thought leadership

The following video, articles, and books were authored or presented by Booz & Company vice presidents and other senior professionals on a variety of topics in the merger and restructuring area.

Videos

 

Inside the Deal

Booz & Company’s Senior Partner for Mergers and Restructuring Gerald Adolph speaks with Corporate Dealmaker editor Kenneth Klee about distressed attitudes in corporate boardrooms – and other developments he anticipates in an M&A market that has slowed but definitely not stopped.

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The Deal with Gerald Adolph

Inside the Deal

Booz & Company’s Senior Partner for Mergers and Restructuring Gerald Adolph discusses M&A in a volatile market with The Deal's Suzanne Stevens.

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Unclogging the M&A Pipeline

Unclogging the M&A Pipeline

Booz & Company’s Senior Partner for Mergers and Restructuring Gerald Adolph discusses how the financial crisis is impacting recent M&A deal volume and identifies which deals are likely to still get done.

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2008 M&A Outlook

2008 M&A Outlook

Booz & Company’s Senior Partner for Mergers and Restructuring Gerald Adolph discusses expected M&A activity over the next year, with CNBC’s Bill Griffeth

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Articles

 

European Mergers & Acquisitions: Prospects for the Decade

In this excerpt from International Financing Review, published by Thomson Reuters, Carlos Ammann, Managing Partner, and Nadia Kubis, Principal, Booz & Company Switzerland, discuss the future of M&A in Europe and identify five themes that shape their optimistic outlook despite the current credit crisis.

People Power

Christopher Hannegan, a principal at Booz & Company, and Sean McDade, founder and CEO of PeopleMetrics Inc., discuss the importance of measuring employee engagement as part of the transaction process and how to use that data to create effective communications and add value to a merger.

The Best in Worst of Times: The Winning Turnaround

Bill Jackson, a former Booz & Company senior partner and Justin Pettit, a Booz & Company partner, discuss the four common themes behind winning turnarounds. This article appeared in the September 2008 issue of Financier Worldwide.

Targeted Due Diligence

Juan Carlos Webster, a principal within Booz & Company’s Corporate Finance and Strategy group, participated in a discussion with a number of other leading M&A and corporate finance professionals, to discuss the current trends in deal due diligence. The result is the attached article which appeared in the June 2008 issue of Financier Worldwide.

Seven Reasons Divestitures Are Harder Than You Think

Gerald Adolph and J Neely, partners with Booz & Company’s Mergers & Restructuring group, discuss why in today’s business environment splitting off pieces of a business is much harder than it appears. It can impact not only the divested entity, but the seller as well. The result is the attached article which appeared in the April/May, 2007 Chief Executive magazine.

Can You Prove Your Integration Is Going Well?

Gerald Adolph, a senior partner at Booz & Company, describes how a good merger communications program and the right metrics to measure the integration’s progress can help investor’s feel more comfortable with the transaction. This article appeared in the May / June 2006 issue of Corporate Dealmaker magazine. 

Think Like Private Equity to Enhance Public Company Value

Justin Pettit, a partner at Booz & Company, outlines six lessons learned from financial sponsors that public company executives can apply to improve shareholder value. This article appeared in the November 2007 issue of Financial Executive magazine.

Energy & Utilities

Thomas J. Flaherty, a senior partner at Booz & Company, participated in a roundtable forum with a number of other leading energy and utility professionals, to discuss issues in the energy and utilities industry including consolidation and the current M&A environment. The resulting article appeared in the October 2007 issue of Financier Worldwide magazine.

Nine Merger Musts for CFOs

Gerald Adolph, a senior partner at Booz & Company, states that for CFOs, M&A transactions can be particularly onerous. Experience has taught us that there are nine things the CFO (and the person leading the finance team integration) must do. The attached article appeared in the September 2007 online issue of Business Finance.

The Case for Pricey Acquisitions

Justin Pettit, a partner at Booz & Company, discusses how high multiples raise the stakes. But if companies have been diligent about choosing the appropriate acquisition, a target’s seemingly high multiple shouldn’t be a deterrent. March, 13, 2007 – strategy+business

DANGER! Shooting Too Low Threatens Merger Success

Booz & Company’s Tom Flaherty and Gerald Adolph suggest that to fulfill the transaction’s full potential, management should expand its vision of post-merger objectives and stretch the capacity of the organization. Sept./Oct. 2006 – Electric Light & Power

Opinion: Why IT Integration is Critical to Merger Success

Booz & Company’s Tom Casey and Gerald Adolph. Post-merger IT integration can be a difficult, long-term, expensive proposition, but no merger can work without it. April 8, 2006 – CIO Insight

Nine Steps to Prevent Merger Failure

Booz & Company’s Gerald Adolph, Karla Elrod and J. Neely. More than two-thirds of the mergers that fail do so at the execution stage. This is actually terrific news for merging companies. The reason? Execution-related failures can be avoided. March 27, 2006 – Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge

Mergers: Back to "Happily Ever After"

Booz & Company’s Gerald Adolph. Mergers are often considered risky, but when they’re executed correctly, there’s no better way to grow a company. Booz Allen identifies three crucial factors for merger success. February, 15, 2006 – strategy+business

Consumer Products Companies are Consolidating – Now Why?

Booz & Company’s Gerald Adolph and J. Neely. We simply must be at the start of a new consolidation wave in consumer products. Third Quarter, 2005 – GMA Forum

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do – and to Manage

Booz & Company’s Chuck Lucier, Jan Dyer, and Gerald Adolph. Three rules for ensuring that spin-offs create – and don’t destroy – value. Third Quarter, 2002 – strategy+business

Buying Right in Asia – Successful M&As in a Challenging Market 

Booz & Company's Ed Tse and Andrew Cainey. Acquiring and integrating companies is a risky business anywhere in the world, with a 50 percent success rate at best. In Asia, buying companies can be even trickier than elsewhere.

Making Mergers Work – Critical Role of the CFO

Booz & Company’s Gerald Adolph and Cindy McNeese describe how elements of the CFO’s expanded, everyday role become more crucial in a merger, and success in these areas can help beat the odds and create a transaction that delivers.

M&A Collar Handbook – How to Manage Equity Risk 

Booz & Company’s Justin Pettit and Gerald Adolph describe how M&A collars are a useful but under-used tool for both negotiating transactions and managing deal risk.

The Flatbread Factor

Booz & Company describes how to understand the life cycle of an emerging market, including new market entry via greenfield or through acquisitions, you need to learn to decode its consumer products.

 

Books

 
The CFO as Deal Maker: Thought Leaders on M&A Success

If your goal is to hone your deal-making skills and capabilities, to ensure the fulfillment of fiduciary responsibility, or to build your personal reputation for M&A success, The CFO as Deal Maker is essential reading.

International Mergers & Acquisitions

Juan Carlos Webster, a principal within Booz & Company’s Corporate Finance and Strategy group, participated in a discussion with a number of other leading M&A and corporate finance professionals, to discuss the current trends in deal due diligence. The result is the attached article which appeared in the June 2008 issue of Financier Worldwide magazine

The Whole Deal: Fulfilling the Promise of Acquisitions and Mergers

This book, with contributions from many Booz & Company experts shows readers that a new era of successful mergers is upon us, one in which tough lessons about planning and execution are being applied to today’s deals

Merge Ahead: Mastering the Five Enduring Trends of Artful M&A

Written by Gerald Adolph and Justin Pettit, this book in the “Future of Business” series examines the effect five long-term trends and the current downturn are having on M&A and suggests ways companies can improve their deal-making strategies, capabilities, and tactics.