Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) are often an extremely important part of a business so it is vital to ensure your commercial lawyers are on board and ready to help you in any way they can. Whether you are selling your company, merging with another one or buying one to add to yours you need to close that deal and get all the benefits you want – or most of them, in the deal.

Here are some tips and advice for those M&As.

• Get an impartial M&A adviser who can help you through the process and see that everything is done properly without being controlled by their emotions as you well might be. M&A are often a rocky ride with things changing from one day to the next and just when you were almost ready to give up, suddenly everything straightens out and you have success at your fingertips. An impartial adviser or mentor can really help you along the way.
• Make logic and facts your friends. No amount of screaming or pulling your hair is going to help, so keep your calm. It is important not to grab the first offer given because it can so easily be bettered. A little hesitation can work wonders and options should always be sought. They are likely to increase your chance of a great deal.

• If you are selling and the offer is enough, take it. Waiting for a better offer can kill the deal and you will then lose out. The perfect deal is usually a myth.
• Even if you have a strong hand, don’t overplay it. If your position is a weak one be sure to take care that you don’t ruin the deal and your reputation – or possibly your whole career.
• Business appraisal services are not always right. It is better to get out where the action is and find out for yourself what the market is doing by asking other buyers.
• Be confidential. Leaking information can work against you and ruin the deal completely.

Once you’ve acquired a company you will have to integrate it with your operations. You may want to merge several similar aspects of the companies you have bought with the parent company. The three most common aspects are: –

• Product – some products may need to be cut due to poor quality, low volume or overlap.
• Operations – cost savings in operations is a common benefit of acquisitions. You can condense operations to fewer locations and usually get better deals with banks and suppliers.
• Personnel – although this may be difficult, the buyer may be able to save on costs by eliminating duplicate positions. This should be handled with tact and empathy.