Lately I have been asked (more than a few times) if the appetite for mergers and acquisitions among companies is diminishing.
In general, I don’t think it is.
Because of the recent worldwide credit crunch, those companies that are required to take on significant debt to fund an acquisition will have difficulty. It is difficult to find lenders these days. However, those companies with strong balance sheets, and/or the ability to use their stock price as currency, have the capacity to continue making deals. Microsoft’s recent offer for Yahoo! is just one (very large) example.
For many of these cash rich companies, M&A is the most important vehicle for growth. Growth is often the most important catalyst for increasing shareholder value. Therefore, the M&A environment isn’t likely to slow down any time soon.
So, let’s make a deal!
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About Anil Dilawri
Anil is Director of Hill & Knowlton Canada’s Investor Relations group. He provides strategic counsel and leadership to publicly traded companies and/or organizations that are planning an initial public offering. His value is his ability to develop modern day investor relations strategies, policies and procedures to ensure that a company’s investor relations program is effective in meeting the needs of shareholders, prospective shareholders, financial media, company management, and the Board of Directors.
Anil has a vast amount of experience in communicating with members of the North American and European investment communities. This community includes sell-side analysts, buy-side shareholders, prospective institutional shareholders, retail shareholders, and financial media.
Before joining Hill & Knowlton Anil was the head of investor relations for March Networks Corporation where he was the strategic leader and day-to-day contact for a number of March Networks’ key stakeholders, including financial analysts, shareholders, media, and industry associations. Prior to March Networks Anil was at Cognos Corporation where he held several senior positions in investor relations, product marketing, and research and development.