While there are many elements that contribute towards a successful and long-lasting transaction, I often look for three basic elements when I am introducing two parties. These are:

1. Chemistry – strong personal chemistry between the two parties when they meet for the first time. If they can’t get along now, it is unlikely they will be able to work effectively together under the strains of a commercial relationship.
2. Culture – the two businesses should have a compatible culture. This is often defined in different ways, but simply put you could say ‘it’s the way we do things around here’.
3. Proposition – the two businesses together should be able to create a powerful business proposition post-deal. A lot of time is dedicated to working out what this might be.

The embedded video I hope illustrates some of the above points.

How about selling an advertising agency? What if you have a business that is driven by strong personal relationships and the creative juices of the founder/principal? How would you sell a business like that? This is what David Blois and I discuss this week when we talk about his M&A firm.

The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has announced M&A Advisory as its exclusive Mergers and Acquisitions Partner.
 
M&A Advisory will work closely with PRCA members who are looking to maximise shareholder value, merge with like-minded consultancies or be acquired by larger marketing service groups.
 
David Blois, Managing Partner, M&A Advisory.
 
“We are delighted to be appointed as the PRCA’s exclusive Mergers & Acquisitions Partner.  In these challenging times we look forward to providing members with best advice and optimal outcomes.”

PRCA Director General Francis Ingham MPRCA, said:
 
“It is our great pleasure to announce M&A Advisory as our exclusive M&A Partner. This is a crucial time for many of our members, who need the best possible advice for their future courses of action. M&A Advisory will provide precisely that advice, helping members navigate the tricky merger and acquisition process.”
 
If you would like further information or a confidential discussion please contact David Blois or Michelle Underwood on +44 (0)207 680 9849  davidb@mandadvisory.com or michelleu@mandaadvisory.com.

Young entrepreneur, James Morgenstern sells his agency, Ideal Insight to global group MMR. This is the story behind the deal…

If fighting Covid 19 is a war, must we adopt first world war tactics to defeat it?

There is an increasing debate in the press over whether the response to Covid 19 has been over the top due to the subject being over hyped in the media. I have no wish to join this debate as I am not an expert, but in my job at M&A Advisory I am seeing many excellent businesses suffering and being damaged due to the current lockdown and this will certainly have a knock on effect on the wider economy at a later stage.

The current lockdown is a very blunt instrument and reminds me of trench warfare in the great war and all the senseless damage that it inflicted.

The creative industries in which I work are adept at solving business problems using creative thinking through working alongside experts in the relevant field rather than being experts themselves. The current battle with Covid 19 appears to be only run by experts who don’t have the creative thinking skills.

Perhaps the creative industries can find ways to free up some of our people and businesses so they might live to fight another day. Doing a number of small things can make a big difference overall. Perhaps some examples but not an exhaustive list might be:

• Allow younger people who are not living with at-risk people to return to work. Many would-be given the welcome opportunity for greater responsibility and reward.
• Allow people who have had COVID 19 and no longer infectious back into work.
• Open garden centres and other such businesses, but at the same time respecting social distancing.
• Consider opening pubs and restaurants with capacity based on square footage to respect social distancing. There also some excellent remote ordering apps that can remove the need for waiting staff to come into contact with customers. https://www.wi-qtechnologies.com/
• Open takeaway restaurants subject to social distancing.
• Consider opening up small areas of the country not affected by the virus, so that they can operate normally with restrictions on access. At first, there may only be small areas such as villages, but it will grow.

Feel free to make suggestions of your own, but I am sure that the creative industries have a role to play here. YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU!