Choosing a merger partner

One of the major factors in determining the success of a merger or acquisition is choosing the right merger partners in the first place. Taking your time when considering what you’re looking for can save a great deal of work later on.

Our advice is always to ensure you have a strong understanding of the marketplace in which your merger will be taking place. We have a great deal of knowledge in this area, and that’s something we bring to the table when we work with you.

We’ll be right by your side to ensure you’re completely clear on your strategic reasons for pursuing a merger and to determine your key target criteria. If you’re selling, we’ll also work with you to prepare a detailed Information Memorandum (IM) well in advance of any approaches. This is important to do at this stage as it helps to put together a picture of the strength of your negotiation position and its likely value in the marketplace.

Together, we’ll arrive at a qualified target list of no more than a dozen potential merger partners. We’ll make initial approaches on your behalf, then will pass on detailed information about the opportunity to no more than six of the longlisted firms.

It’s important that we manage this process very carefully on your behalf in order to maintain credibility with all parties. In some situations, it might be beneficial for the market to know that your firm is looking to grow through an acquisition, in others we’ll ensure all approaches are confidential. This may involve pre-prepared ‘taster’ documents and NDA agreements to be issued before sharing the full Information Memorandum.

By managing the approach period in this way, we can sound out possible partner businesses to determine whether or not they’re a good match. This can uncover any early deal breakers or culture clashes long before any documents are issued.

If you’re seeking specialist support to identify or approach potential merger partners, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d love to talk you through how we could manage this process on your behalf.