Partner
Karen Evans-Cullen talks to BRR Media on the lessons for target
companies arising from M&A activity in 2012 and the outlook for
2013.
M&A: Lessons for targets and outlook for 2013
David Bushby, BRR Media
Karen Evans-Cullen, Partner, Clayton Utz
Karen Evans-Cullen
Well last year we saw a significant decline in M&A activity
with only 41 deals in the year that had a value over $50 million.
So the main lessons we found for targets operating in this
environment was firstly that they couldn't rely on competitive
tension to drive up their bid price, mainly because there was
none.
Secondly we also saw that target recommendations were the single
biggest influencing factor in determining the success of a deal.
And so targets had to use this negotiating chip really wisely when
they were negotiating with the bidders.
