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If you work in either investment banking or corporate development, you’ll need to develop an
M&A deal process to follow. Investment bankers advise their clients (the CEO, CFO, and
corporate development professionals) on various M&A steps in this process.
One of the most complicated steps in the M&A process is properly structuring the deal. There
are many factors to be considered, such as antitrust laws, securities regulations, corporate
law, rival bidders, taxes, accounting issues, contacts, market conditions, forms of financing,
and specific negotiation points in the M&A deal itself. Important documents when structuring
deals are the Term Sheet (used for raising money) and a Letter of Intent (LOI).
To learn more, watch CFI’s free corporate finance 101 course.
In M&A deals there are typically two types of acquirers: strategic and financial. Strategic
acquirers are other companies, often direct competitors or companies operating in adjacent
industries, such that the target company would fit in nicely with the acquirer’s core
business. Financial buyers are institutional buyers such as private equity firms that are
looking to own, but not directly operate the acquisition target. Financial buyers will often use
leverage to finance the acquisition, performing a leveraged buyout (LBO).
We discuss this in more detail in the M&A section of our corporate finance course.
One of the biggest steps in the M&A process is analyzing and valuing acquisition targets.
This usually involves two steps: valuing the target on a standalone basis and valuing the
potential synergies of the deal. To learn more about valuing the M&A target see our free
guide on DCF models.
When it comes to valuing synergies, there are two types of synergies to consider: hard and
soft. Hard synergies are direct cost savings to be realized after completing the merger and
acquisition process. Hard synergies, also called operating or operational synergies, are
benefits that are virtually sure to arise from the merger or acquisition – such as payroll
savings that will come from eliminating redundant personnel between the acquirer and target
companies. Soft synergies, also called financial synergies, are revenue increases that the
acquirer hopes to realize after the deal closes. They are “soft” because realizing these benefits
is not as assured as the “hard” synergy cost savings. Learn more about the different types of
synergies.
To learn more, check out CFI’s introduction to corporate finance course.
The most common career paths to participate in M&A deals are investment banking and
corporate development. Investment bankers advise their clients on either side of the
acquisition, either the acquirer or the target. The bankers work closely with the corporate
development professionals at either company. The Corp Dev team at a company is like an in-
house investment banking department and sometimes is referred to internally as the M&A
team. They are responsible for managing the M&A process from start to finish.
This short video explains each of the 10 steps outlined above. Watch and listen to an
overview of how the process works.
Learn how to model mergers and acquisitions in CFI’s M&A Modeling Course!
Build an M&A model from scratch the easy way with step-by-step instruction.
This course will teach you how to model synergies, accretion/dilution, pro forma metrics and
a complete M&A model. View the course now!
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