The 1980s Takeover Boom and Government Regulation
Popular books and articles routinely assert that the excesses of the 1980s caused many of our current economic problems. The hugely expensive failures of the S&Ls, the sharp rise in bankruptcy filings by large companies, and the restructurings by many overleveraged and uncompetitive firms have been blamed on the overheated market for junk bonds and the hostile takeover activity in the late 1980s. Even the recent recession was attributed in large measure to the excessive debt taken on by firms and individuals in the go-go 1980s.
Gregg A. Jarell, professor of finance and business administration at the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business of the University of Rochester WANG

Management Remains Key to Buyout Success, Study Reveal
This important research study was commissioned by SJ Berwin - one of Europe's leading law firms - in association with mergermarket. In it, SJ Berwin canvassed the views of over 300 senior venture and buyout investors across the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain.

Making Mergers Profitable
Although mergers too often prove to be economic disappointments, the odds for achieving added shareholder value have gone up dramatically in the last few years. A 1999 study of deals from 1996 to 1998 showed that only 17% of large mergers had added shareholder value. A more recent study, covering 1997-1999 deals, shows that almost a third of them (i.e., 35% of the US deals, 24% of the European ones) had added value for the shareholders.
Donald Spitzer, KPMG

Reverse Takeovers: A shell game
Make no mistake—reverse takeovers might seem like a handy way to get a stockmarket listing, but they can be devilishly difficult
Ian Rowley

U.S. Leveraged Buyout Market From 1980-2002
The leveraged buyout market rose to prominence in the late 1980s when private equity firms such as Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts ("KKR") and Fortsmann Little were consistently making headlines with large buyouts including the largest leveraged buyout ever, KKR's $25 billion buyout of RJR Nabisco in 1988. The success of these financial sponsors (i.e., private equity firms) and others in completing transactions and earning favorable returns attracted many other parties to the industry. There are currently hundreds of financial sponsors focused on buying companies of all sizes across many industries.

Debt, Leveraged Buyouts, and Corporate Governance
Leveraged buyouts (LBOs) have been blamed for a host of perceived economic evils, from the federal budget deficit to unemployment. In reality, LBOs are responsible for none of those evils; they are merely tools of economic organization. Such misconceptions about LBOs stem from a misunderstanding about the role of debt and the role of takeovers in the modern corporation. This paper attempts to dispel these misconcep- tions.
Barry E. Adler assistant professor of law and Larry E. Ribstein is professor of law at George Mason University.

Takeovers and Leveraged Buyout
Corporate takeovers became a prominent feature of the American business landscape during the seventies and eighties. A hostile takeover usually involves a public tender offer—a public offer of a specific price, usually at a substantial premium over the prevailing market price, good for a limited period, for a substantial percentage of the target firm's stock. Unlike a merger, which requires the approval of the target firm's board of directors as well as voting approval of the stockholders, a tender offer can provide voting control to the bidding firm without the approval of the target's management and directors.
Gregg A Jarrell, professor of economics and finance at the University of Rochester's Simon School of Management

Teaching U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions Law at Renmin University
The course that I taught surveyed U.S. laws on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The choice of such subject was a result of balancing several factors. M&A is relatively new to China. M&A of business enterprises in PRC did not emerge until mid-1980s. The M&A transactions of this period, although in large numbers, were mostly orchestrated by the government in response to the changing environment brought about by the economic reform.
Jie SHEN, a practicing attorney in New York

Merging Successfully- The importance of understanding organizational culture in mergers and acquisitions
Despite the fact that it is increasingly common these days for companies to publish their cultural traits or values, what is listed does not always reflect the actual culture of the place. Anthropologists have long known that the task of learning about a specific group’s culture does not start by asking members themselves to identify the specific traits. In fact, cultural traits are not readily identified by the members of a social group. Understanding the depth of cultural influences that are practiced over time within a specific group or organization requires long periods of reflective observation and the formation of key questions about beliefs, disciplines and innovative problem solving strategies.
By Dr Kent Rhodes

Making Mergers a Growth Strategy
The leading indicator of success for corporate unions is whether there is immediate action taken to retain and attract the very best people -- the people with the knowledge, expertise, initiative, imagination, and collaborative skills within the organization. Most integration plans miss or downplay this critical piece

By Dr Kent Rhodes