How does employee retention and satisfaction factor into M&A?
KL: When we buy a company, we buy that company because they are better in that field than we are. Their people are better in this area. The main thing is we need to keep those people on board. We wouldnt endanger or make acquisitions if those people didnt stay. MM: Whats most important: structuring the right deal or integrating it well? KL: Both are important. There are three major sources of mistakes. The first is the wrong strategic candidate. If you have the right strategic direction, then you can destroy the target by bad integration. The main sources come from strategy and integration. The transaction phase is more formal and standardized. Its a lower source of danger than the other two places. MM: When you acquire a firm, how do you really know what you get? KL: Any deal is a competition in information. In any deal, the seller has better information than you have. You should only look at a deal when you have a feeling that you have reached comparable information to the seller. Th
