History is littered with disastrous mergers – here’s how to avoid one

Katharine Byrne, Head of the BDO Deal Advisory team and a member of the BDO International M&A Group recently featured in The Irish Times Special Report on Mergers & Acquisitions.

Sometimes even the most promising mergers can go awry. History is littered with disastrous corporate marriages, such as the $37 billion (€34 billion) merger between Daimler and Chrysler that left the former selling the latter for just $7 billion nine years later. Microsoft’s $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia’s mobile phone operation in 2014 was equally ill starred and within two years it was sold off for just $350 million.

You need to ensure that the M&A team, the due diligence team and the integration team are all aligned. The people at the first meeting need to be there right the way through to the end. It’s not just about the transaction and getting the deal done – you need to make sure everything you want to achieve from it is addressed.
Katharine ByrnePartner
Reach out to our expert for additional information
Get it touch
Content adapted from the Irish Timeschevron_right