The Synergy Solution: How Companies Win the Mergers and Acquisitions Game

The new M&A bible.

Few actions can change the value of a company—and its competitive future—as quickly and dramatically as an acquisition. Yet most companies fail to create shareholder value from these deals, and in many cases they destroy it. It doesn't have to be this way.

In The Synergy Solution, Deloitte's Mark Sirower and Jeff Weirens show acquirers how to develop and execute an M&A strategy—end to end—that not only avoids the pitfalls that so many companies fall into but also creates real, long-term shareholder value. This strategy includes how to:

• Become a prepared "always on" acquirer
• Test the investment thesis and DCF valuation of a deal
• Plan for a successful Announcement Day, and properly communicate synergy promises to investors and other stakeholders
• Realize those promised synergies through integration planning and post-close execution
• Manage change and build a new, combined organization

Sirower and Weirens provide invaluable background to those considering M&A, laying out the issues they have to consider, how to analyze them, and how to plan and execute the deal effectively. They also show those who have already started the process of M&A how to maximize their chances of success.

There's an art and a science to getting mergers and acquisitions right, and this powerful book provides the insights and strategies acquirers need to find success at every stage of an often complex and perilous process.

Mark Sirower is a leading authority on M&A and has advised on hundreds of global transactions. He is a leader in Deloitte's M&A and Restructuring practice and, previously, was global M&A leader at Boston Consulting Group. He teaches M&A at the NYU Stern School of Business and is the author of the M&A bestseller, The Synergy Trap.

Jeff Weirens leads Deloitte's global Financial Advisory business, which includes mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring, and serves on Deloitte's Global Executive Committee. He is a trusted adviser to senior executives and boards of directors and has advised on hundreds of acquisitions and divestitures, including many of the world's most iconic transactions.

You can find the authors on LinkedIn.