Mergers and Acquisitions Playbook - Hardcover

by Mark A. Filippell (Author)

The ultimate "tricks of the trade" guide to mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and Acquisitions Playbook provides the practical tricks of the trade on how to get maximum value for a middle-market business. This book uniquely covers how to prepare for a sale, how to present the business most positively, and how to control the sale timetable.

• Written in a straight-talking style
• Provides the tricks of the trade on how to get maximum value for a middle-market business
• Shows how the sellers can take capitalize their inherent "unfair advantages"
• Examines the differences between "value" and "currency"
• Explains how to handle bankruptcy and distress company sales
• Offers tips on managing your lawyers in the documentation process

Filled with empirical examples of successful-and unsuccessful-techniques, this practical guide takes you through every step of the M&A process, from how to manage confidentiality, how to create competition (or the impression of competition), to what to do once the deal is closed.

Front Jacket

Praise for Mergers & Acquisitions Playbook: Lessons from the Middle-Market Trenches

My experiences with more than twenty acquisitions and divestitures, both domestic and international, are accurately reflected in this 'Playbook.' A good acquisition is a thing of beauty, a bad one a curse for many generations. Follow Mark's guidance to the rules of the 'game' and you will come out a winner! We did when we worked with Mark on one of our most important projects.
--Kurt Wiedenhaupt, former Chairman and CEO, American Precision Industries

The Mergers and Acquisitions Playbook will be an invaluable tool for anyone who is considering selling their business. Mark Filippell incorporates all of the knowledge and experience he has gained from nearly thirty years of working on M&A. The book is well written and easily understood, even for readers who have not been exposed to the world of M&A.
--John G. Nestor, Chairman and CEO, Kirtland Capital Partners

This extremely readable and thorough book by a veteran 'middle market' investment banker is a 'must' for anyone thinking about selling (or buying or even investing in) a business in that range. He covers almost everything, with useful appendices. His Michigan Law School roots embolden him to include a section on 'Managing the M&A Lawyer.'
--Richard W. Pogue, former Managing Partner and now Advisor, Jones Day

The Mergers and Acquisitions Playbook is the 'how to' that you don't learn in business school and is recommended reading for any corporate executive looking to either buy or sell a business. Mark goes way beyond the numbers and reveals the strategy behind executing a good deal.
--Richard D. Weber, President, Atlas Energy, Inc.

Mark Filippell's Mergers and Acquisitions Playbook offers an experienced professional's comprehensive view into how investment bankers really do sell businesses. It includes a wealth of practical techniques and approaches that makes a difference at every stage of the sale process. As promised, this book really does 'level the playing field.'
--David L. Jaffe, Managing Partner, Centre Partners Management LLC

Back Jacket

Mergers and Acquisitions Playbook introduces a street-smart approach to the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) process. It's straightforward, it's savvy, and it's designed to prepare you to understand and manage the sale of your business with an investment banker's know-how.

Drawing from his nearly three decades of experience, during which he completed over 125 merger and acquisition transactions, author and successful investment banker Mark Filippell uses his wealth of real-world experience and true case studies to reveal the nuts and bolts of valuing your company, marketing it, negotiating the deal points, and closing the transaction--all with an insider's perspective.

Even if you don't plan on selling your business yourself, you'll need to understand all the players--and "plays"--involved in this transaction that will be the most important of your career as a business owner. Mergers and Acquisitions Playbook helps you gain invaluable insight, with coverage on:

• Preparing to sell your business
• Whether or not you should hire an intermediary
• Finding out what your business is worth
• The difference between "value" and "currency"
• How to create competition (or the impression of it)
• Identifying and cultivating the right buyers
• Approaching prospective buyers
• Negotiating strategies
• Moving from letter of intent to closing
• Working with lawyers

Whether you're in the game or just watching, you're going to need to know what's happening--especially if your business is one of the major players. Anecdotal and packed with practical advice on the mergers and acquisitions process from start to finish, Mergers and Acquisitions Playbook prepares you to enter the M&A process like an expert--no matter what your playing field looks like.

Author Biography

MARK A. FILIPPELL is a co-founder and Managing Director at Western Reserve Partners, an M&A boutique. He has nearly thirty years of investment banking experience and has personally completed over 125 merger and acquisition transactions. Prior to co-founding Western Reserve Partners, he was the manager of the Mergers & Acquisitions Department at KeyBanc Capital Markets and McDonald Investments. His clients have included Eaton, Novar Electronics, Claymont Steel Holdings, Liqui-Box, General Electric, Computational Systems, Excel Mining Systems, and MascoTech.