IBM Merger & Acquisition Services

IBM's approach to Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) is based on the need to align strategy, selection and implementation. This means focusing on doing the right deal for the right reason. When these basic principles are followed, organizations are able to use M&A to:

• Increase market share
• Obtain critical mass
• Establish new growth platforms
• Extend geographic coverage
• Add capabilities
• Diversify portfolio
• Divest to focus on core businesses / competencies

IBM's M&A services practice has a significant track record of helping over 1,000 leading organizations achieve these benefits through mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. In addition, IBM recently acquired Valchemy, Inc., the leading on-demand software provider for M&A. Now known as the IBM M&A Accelerator, this proprietary, hosted software application is an online tool enabling deal participants to track and share all M&A activities and documents.

Overview of IBM M&A Accelerator

If you are acquiring another organization, you need ways to achieve consistent success and better results in your M&A transactions. You need an M&A software application that provides a system of record to help you capture, execute, and monitor your M&A process. IBM's highly secure M&A Accelerator automates all aspects of the M&A process including due diligence, pre-close planning, integration execution, and post-deal monitoring. In essence, it is your M&A system of record, a single place to create and track all assumptions, synergies, documents, activities, risks, issues, and measurements related to a transaction.

IBM M&A Accelerator helps you maximize the value of your acquisitions by:

1. Reducing deal risk: Accelerate the execution of your M&A transactions by focusing on the value of the transactions not the distractions. M&A Accelerator, in conjunction with our M&A best practices and methodologies, can help reduce the likelihood of costly mistakes.
2. Proactively monitoring and optimizing deal performance: Obtain real-time aggregated information on deal status and performance through executive dashboards, views and reports. Measure transaction performance against stated financial objectives. Make timely decisions and actions on critical cross-functional issues to maximize deal value.
3. Meet emerging reporting and accounting requirements: Prepare for increasing regulatory and governance requirements with M&A Accelerator, which provides complete documentation and internal controls for your M&A processes.