McKinsey Quarterly is the business journal of McKinsey & Company.
November 2009
As companies rethink their portfolios for the post-crisis world, they should ask themselves if they are still the best owners of their assets.
October 2009
Koushik Chatterjee discusses the Indian multinational’s approach to outbound M&A—and its response to the global financial crisis.
Companies can seize the opportunity in mergers by involving employees and customers in the integration process, retaining critical staff, generating momentum by quickly winning key accounts, and serving the right customers in the right way.
April 2009
Timing is key as companies weigh whether to make strategic investments now or wait for clear signs of recovery. Scenario analysis can expose the risks of moving too quickly or slowly.
January 2009
M&A may be more resilient in this downturn than in previous ones, but it will be a different kind of M&A.
August 2008
During a downturn, a thoughtful acquisition strategy is particularly important—but many companies don’t have one.
July 2008
Ren Jianxin explains how domestic acquisitions helped prepare the way for overseas ones.
June 2008
China’s companies are expanding the focus of their outbound M&A, but so far they have struggled to create value.
May 2008
Chinese companies are seeking opportunities abroad. They will have to acclimate to new surroundings—just as the foreign companies that entered China did.
The chief purchasing officer of Lenovo explains how he helped to create the operational basis for its continuing evolution from a Chinese powerhouse into a global one.
March 2008
Picking up the pace of M&A requires big changes in a company’s processes and organization—even if the deals are smaller.
December 2007
Reports of the demise of the M&A boom may be greatly exaggerated. But to keep it going, companies must work even harder to ensure that deals create value.
May 2007
Although investors have been more disciplined in their current deals, rising acquisition costs and increased competition will test their mettle.
April 2007
CFO Ma describes the unique challenges awaiting Chinese companies that seek growth through international acquisitions.
December 2006
The latest boom in merger activity appears to be creating more value for the shareholders of the acquiring companies.
November 2006
Few things are more important in M&A than an experienced executive team.
A cohesive top-management team is essential for integrating acquisitions successfully.
Mergers that appear to be successful in the short term often destroy value later on. By concentrating on five issues, CEOs and top teams can increase the odds of a genuinely happy ending.
August 2006
As they go global, their hardest challenge is to integrate the management of their domestic and foreign businesses.
July 2006
M&A executives at the most successful US companies understand not only how acquisitions create value but also how to enlist the support of the organization.
January 2006
The conditions are right for China's nascent M&A market to flourish. Companies should try a new approach to deal making.
September 2005
Used early in negotiations, a third-party clean team can help companies assess a deal and protect sensitive data.
It takes less time than you think for a clean team to make valuable contributions to the integration of businesses.
March 2005
Assessing the value of an acquisition by estimating its likely impact on earnings per share has always been a flawed approach. Now it’s likely to be flat-out wrong.
February 2005
Many outsourcing deals are tantamount to strategic divestitures and joint ventures. Executives should start treating them that way.
October 2004
Lessons from the IT-heavy banking sector can bring balance to this critical task.
In the next round of consolidation, scale should be a result of strategy—not a strategy in its own right.
May 2004
Most buyers routinely overvalue the synergies to be had from acquisitions. They should learn from experience.
February 2004
US banks will need to look beyond mergers for growth. Better earnings will have to be won from improved value propositions and productivity.
Economic pressures to restructure high-tech industries will eventually become irresistible. Executives should prepare themselves for more—and more hostile—acquisitions.
Sometimes alliances make more sense than mergers or acquisitions.
June 2003
An integration manager can help make a merger more successful, but only if the top team knows how to choose and install one.
May 2003
Stock markets didn’t look kindly on M&A deals in the insurance industry during the 1990s, but a few fared better than most.
With high demand replaced by an overhang of capacity, the industry needs a catharsis.
January 2003
Operational improvements alone won’t fulfill market expectations. Mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures will have to play a supporting role.
November 2002
Merging companies should look to their revenues, not just their costs.
June 2002
Most companies wait too long to divest. They should sell off businesses long before they become a burden.
Most companies battened down the hatches during the recession of the early ’90s. But the more successful competitors pressed their advantages.
May 2002
Most carve-outs destroy shareholder value during the two years after the transaction. Yet there is one important exception.
February 2002
M&A deals are more likely to destroy value than to create it. But when they are executed strategically and often, as part of the routine of running a business, the odds favor success.
November 2001
Is the belief that mergers drive revenue growth a delusion?
October 2001
Beleaguered dot-coms can represent real bargains for savvy acquirers—and real lemons for buyers who don’t scope out the territory.
A systematic approach to buying and selling assets can deliver superior shareholder returns.
June 2001
Mergers seldom live up to expectations. Research from a recent McKinsey study suggests why: companies too often neglect revenue growth to focus almost exclusively on cost synergies.
February 2001
No doubt the market is skeptical about M&A, but it is a lot more receptive to some kinds of deals than to others. Inquire before you acquire.
December 2000
Although mergers and acquisitions are on the rise in Japan, they are still fraught with complications. Even so, multinationals that master the local business culture can succeed in crafting deals.
November 2000
Mergers do create value—but only the right mergers, managed the right way.
McKinsey research shows that Internet-related transactions account for a fifth of global M&A activity. Find out what the market thinks of them.
Postmerger pricing can contribute as much as 30 percent of the value of all synergies realized by merger deals. Why is it usually neglected?
If key employees don’t feel that they have been kept in the loop after a merger, they will probably start honing their resumes.
In some circumstances, the market seems to reward alliances more richly than mergers and acquisitions. Maybe it knows something that many managers don’t.
August 2000
Pooling destroys value. Why are so many companies fighting to keep it?
May 2000
Many Asian insurers now realize that they need Western investment and know-how, and pressure is building because Asian regulators, sobered by huge overall portfolio losses, are relaxing restrictions on foreign ownership.
February 2000
There are three ways to spin out a company—and many ways to get it wrong. A parent company must decide not just which method of reorganization suits it best but also how to execute its chosen plan for its own and the shareholders’ benefit.
February 1999
Restructuring through spin-offs, equity carve-outs, and tracking stocks can create shareholder value.
May 1998
It was booming even before the current crisis. But bargain hunting could mislead you. Three strategies to pursue.
February 1997
Many companies have chosen to spin off a single subsidiary by means of an equity carve-out. Others are going further and using the carve-out as a basic organizing principle, repeatedly selling stakes in business units. They are achieving striking results.
May 1996
LBOs outbid corporate buyers and then produce extraordinary returns. How do they do it? A study of over 800 acquisitions shatters some myths about the value of timing and leverage. Don’t do the deal if you can’t find the leader.
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