The Art of M&A Integration: A Guide to Merging Resources, Processes and Responsibilities

It is well known that many mergers, while looking great on paper, lose value because of problems related to integration. This book is full of useful checklists, tools, and templates which can improve the chances of success for any merger.

Alex Lajoux, an unusually gifted writer, has done it again. Having worked to make one large and difficult merger - and a host of smaller acquisitions - succeed, I wish her book had been published years ago. Succeeding at post-merger integration is tough. However, this book carefully documents the biggest challenges in aligning systems, operations, and people. Its insights are backed up with plenty of real-world examples and the latest research data available. If more top executives and managers read The Art of M & A Integration, we might very well see more mergers and acquisitions actually create rather than destory shareholder value.

As a stockbroker, I watch merger announcements closely. I want to anticipate what will happen after a merger. Will the merger be successful? If so, I am more likely to recommend the stocks to my clients. Or will the merger be a failure? In this case, I recommend selling. I have added The "The Art of M & A Integration" to my library because it addresses important issues affecting postmerger performance. I recommend it to my fellow brokers, and to anyone else who wants to "bet on the winners." A Reader in Washington, D.C.

Lajoux continues to give excellent guidance on the art of merger integration. Her summaries, although brief, are easily digestable and understandable, without being superficial. Lajoux relies on experts and solid sources for further guidance, structuring the book in a Socrates "Q & A" format that keeps the reader absorbed and interested. It is evident that Lajoux's aim is to be thorough in scope, yet not overwhelm the reader with voluminous data on any one aspect of postmerger integration. Her concise, albeit compehensive work will be a useful guide for management in my company, which has undergone several acquistions in recent years and anticipates more in the future. Lajoux deserves high marks for her excellent work.

Alexandra Lajoux's new book greatly expands on her considerable earlier commentary on M & A activity, focusing on what happens after the knot is tied and the many loose ends that need tending to: employee communications, financial controls, information technology, management misunderstandings, compensation issues, and cultural clashes, to name but a few. Regardless of the amount of thought and planning that may have shaped the prenuptial agreement, the actual merging, or integration, of two corporate entities inevitably brings surprises. One purpose of this comprehensive book is to help the reader to minimize the impact of unforeseen problems. The book is rich with examples of both historically significant and current mergers, yet because of its question-and-answer format is easily accessible and in fact a good read. Ms. Lajoux, having observed and reported on M & A and corporate governance for over twenty years, knows whereof she writes but nonetheless calls on the knowledge of many others as well. The fifty experts in various facets of M & A who contributed in one way or another to this book are identified for the readers' convenience. One measure of the scope of this book is the fact that its index, in fine print, takes up a good dozen pages. In summary, The Art of M & A Integration: A Guide to Merging Resources, Processes, and Responsibilities, is a thorough guided tour through the field and, not incidentally, a giant check list of potential pitfalls and opportunities along the way.I've recommended this book to several friends.