1. Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions have become a compelling strategy for growth for companies in both bust and boom times. M&A is a century-old activity which happened in waves. The value of M&A deal rose from $200 billion in 1992 to about $4.74 trillion by 2017. The deal volume during the historic M&A wave during the period 1995–2000 totaled more than $12 trillion. This chapter discusses the strategic drivers for M&A in different industry sectors. The chapter focusses on different M&A strategies and motivation for mergers and acquisitions. The chapter discusses about different types of mergers and acquisition. The chapter also explains different types of synergies which include cost- and revenue-based synergies, operating and financial synergies, and modular synergies. The value creation process in mergers and acquisitions is also highlighted in this introductory chapter. The chapter explains the due diligence process and methods of payment in M&A. The chapter also highlights the importance of post-merger integration in M&A. The chapter concludes with a review of research studies on mergers and acquisitions.