Including marketing synergy in acquisition analysis: A step-wise approach

Merger and A Aquisition fever continues. Whereas the M & A boom of the 1980s was driven largely by financial considerations, resulting in many leveraged buyouts and hostile take-overs, more of today's mergers and acquisitions are friendly and are motivated by strategic profit goals. Reflecting this transition, marketing synergy has become a more relevant factor in determining the ultimate success of contemporary mergers and acquisitions. This article reviews an empirically rested step-wise approach for identifying, valuing, and realizing opportunities for marketing synergy related to proposed or consummated acquisitions. The approach focuses upon analyzing marketing consolidations in strategically driven, complementary mergers and acquisitions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.