What Is Acquisition Strategy?

An Acquisition Strategy is a plan for how an organization will pursue acquisitions in order to achieve its goals and objectives. It typically involves identifying potential acquisition targets, conducting Due Diligence, negotiating the terms of the acquisition, and integrating the acquired company into the organization.

Acquisition Strategy is an important part of Corporate Strategy, as it can help organizations to expand their operations, access new markets or technologies, or increase their market share. It can also help organizations to improve their efficiency and productivity, and to reduce costs.

In order to develop an effective Acquisition Strategy, organizations should consider a number of factors, including their financial resources, the state of the market, and their overall goals and objectives. They should also carefully evaluate potential acquisition targets in order to ensure that they are a good fit with the organization and will help to achieve its strategic objectives.

Once ready to proceed, the organization will engage in the M&A transaction. M&A (or Mergers & Acquisitions) refers to the process of combining 2 or more organizations, either through a merger (where 2 organizations combine to form a new organization) or an acquisition (where one organization buys another organization).

M&A activity can have a number of impacts on the organizations involved, as well as on the broader market. For example, M&A can allow organizations to expand their operations, access new markets or technologies, or increase their market share. It can also help organizations to improve their efficiency and productivity—and to reduce costs.

It is critical to engage in a robust Post-merger Integration (PMI) process following the acquisition. PMI typically involves several key activities, such as identifying and rationalizing overlapping or redundant functions, integrating systems and processes, and aligning cultures and values. The goal of Post-merger Integration is to create a single, integrated organization that can leverage the strengths and capabilities of the individual organizations; and that can operate more efficiently and effectively than the separate organizations did previously.