M&A - Mahony Partners

Jan

2015

Verizon’s Curious Acquisition Denial

Dealing with an M&A rumor is tricky terrain for a CEO. When you’ve got to do it in the middle of a big industry event, well, that’s a high-wire act for sure. Just ask Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam, who arrived at a Citibank investment conference a day after a Bloomberg news report said he was in talks to buy AOL. But his denial just might keep the rumors alive. Read More

May

2012

Coke and Monster: What was That?

Crisis, Media

The Coca-Cola Company was compelled to release a short statement yesterday denying that it was “at this time, not in dicussionss” to acquire energy-drink maker Monster Beverage Corp. Monster shares spiked on a report in the Wall Street Journal that Coke was exploring a deal for the company, only to fall back once Coke issued its statement. It appears the WSJ wants to claim credit both for breaking the story about a possible deal an... Read More

Oct

2011

MF Global’s Fatal Mistake

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

At this hour, executives and MF Global are huddling with bankers and lawyers, trying to come up with a deal to sell the firm. It must seem like a surreal exercise, since just days earlier the firm held a solid investment-grade credit rating and a market cap of $620 million. Now, as its clients turn away and its cash evaporates, CEO Jon Corzine is running out of time and options.Selling a financial firm isn’t an easy process, particularly in an edgy market. Doing it in a couple of days is only for the foolhardy or the desperate. For MF Global,... Read More

Oct

2011

Olympus: Where were the auditors?

Taking & Managing Risk

The hole is getting deeper for Olympus and its chairman, Tsuyoshi Kikukawa. And his outside auditor, Ernst & Young, might find itself alongside him. A day after denying allegations by its former CEO, Michael Woodford, that it paid advisory fees of $687 million on a $2 billion acquisition, the company reversed itself and acknowledged that Woodward’s figures were correct. Analysts have downgraded the shares, and Goldman Sachs suspended its rating over doubts about the company’s accounting, calling into question the accuracy of Olympus’s books over the past several years. It hasn’t helped that three different company officials are speaking on the matter - Chairman Kikukawa, Executive ... Read More

Aug

2011

3 of “Richard’s Rules” for employee communications on M&A deals

Taking & Managing Risk

I recently spoke to graduate students at Baruch College in New York City. The topic was employee communications in M&A deals, and I introduced what I call “Richard’s Rules” for these situations. Here’s a sample. 1. News will leak, and usually at the worst time. Anyone who has handled communications for an M&A deal knows that a leak is always a possibility. People talk, rumors spread, and pretty soon there’s a call from a reporter or a blog post gone viral. For a recent example, look no further than Sunday afternoon’s announcement Read More