Few other actions can change the value of a company—and its competitive future—as quickly and dramatically as an acquisition. Yet most companies fail to create shareholder value from these deals, and in many cases they destroy it. It doesn't have to be this way.

The Synergy Solution will change how companies think about and approach their M&A strategies and realize the performance promises they make to their shareholders. Beginning with a clear and well-accepted foundation of the economics of the M&A performance problem, Deloitte's Mark Sirower and Jeff Weirens show acquirers how to develop and execute an M&A strategy—end-to-end—that not only avoids the pitfalls that so many companies fall into but also creates real, long-term shareholder value.

This includes:

• How to develop an M&A strategy and a pipeline of deals
• How to test the investment thesis of a deal
• How to decide what premium to pay
• How to plan for a successful Announcement Day
• How to properly communicate performance promises to stakeholders and shareholders
• How to realize those promised synergies through integration planning and post-close execution
• How to build a new, combined organization
• How to anticipate the questions of an informed board
• How to sustain long-term shareholder value

Sirower and Weirens provide invaluable background to those considering M&A, laying out the issues they have to consider, how to analyze them, and how to plan and execute the deal effectively. They also show those who have already started the process of M&A how to maximize their chances of success.

There is an art and a science to getting mergers and acquisitions right, and this powerful resource provides the insights and strategies acquirers need to find success at every stage of this often complex and perilous process.