INTEGRATION Delft Belting: An acquisition simulation Professor Duncan Angwin 2011

Introduction
We have recently lived through the greatest merger and acquisition boom in history. Billions of dollars have been spent in reshaping companies, industries and even economies. There are some serious concerns over the actual success of these endeavours. Now again we see a revival in global M&A activity. Managers, again are having to justify their deals and wrestle with managing their purchases. They need to show ex-ante and ex-post that such deals are worthwhile. Mergers and acquisitions is a useful topic for an integration session as it impinges on many of the classical disciplines studied during an MBA programme. For instance, economics often underlies explanation for why acquisitions take place, finance theories explain valuation, organisational behaviour and design theories give insight into how the businesses and employees may work together, psychology shows how living through such deals impacts upon individuals. There is also a rich area here for interdisciplinary work as in recent years each of these disciplines have recognised limitations in the contributions of other disciplines and have sought to widen their own contributions to the field. For instance, whilst economic and financial theories underpin why M&A occur, there are very significant issues revolving around managerial and investor motives which do not happily fit within these disciplines. Although in some domestic deals, acquirers and their advisors are able to replicate methodologies and procedures learned from past experience, in many cases, particularly cross border deals, uncertainty and learning are more the norm. Indeed, many experienced deal doers say the most common thing about M&A is that each deal is different and one should start with a blank piece of paper. To illustrate this uncertainty and the importance of crafting ones own approach, the following is the first cross border approach by a Japanese firm where there were no precedents to guide them, or their advisors.

Content
After an opening review of Mergers and Acquisitions as strategy and process, participants will be taken through a simulation of a real cross border acquisition. The simulation mirrors the unfolding and execution of a purchase in Holland, by a large Japanese business using a UK Investment Bank. As the simulation evolves, participants will be able to draw upon the

many perspectives they may be aware of, such as those learned through an MBA programme, to help them interpret and act in this context, as they attempt in teams to negotiate a successful deal.

Objectives
To enable participants to Reflect upon and use their MBA materials (students should be prepared to consult information they will have received from earlier modules) Think strategically about a new business opportunity and how this may be managed. understand the advantages and disadvantages of M&A as a strategy for growth understand how teams behave and perform when tackling complex and uncertain business situations bring together a broad range of business knowledge and learning in order to understand and make decisions about an uncertain project plan ahead to capture value from a strategic opportunity

Learning Outcomes
Understand how an acquisition process works Appreciate the many components of putting a deal together Recognise the distorting effects of process upon outcomes Understand the complexities of managing multiple outcomes with different stakeholders Understand how different academic disciplines need to be integrated for effective results Recognise the importance of leadership and team management under uncertain time pressured conditions Recognise how the multiple components of an MBA can, and should be integrated for good results

Pre-course preparation
No formal preparation is required. However, participants will find it useful to be aware of other M&A deals and their outcomes.

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