What information matters in M&A transaction?

  Nowadays, in the field of business and investment, the term “Merger and Acquisition” (M&A) is a very common term. This is considered as one of the global investment methods, and is a business and development strategy applied by many businesses.  In conducting the M&A, beside information provided by the target company, other information are also important before the buyer stepping into negotiation with the seller of the target company.

Mergers and acquisitions are usually conducted through three main stages, that is: reviewing and evaluating target businesses, valuation and price negotiation, completing legal procedures. When participating in a business merger and acquisition, investor or buyer need to ensure high accuracy of inside information of the target business. It is extremely important for investor or buyer in determining the value of the deal as well as helping investors make decisions about whether to participate in the acquisition and merger of this business or not. The tasks to consider and evaluate the target business include searching information and evaluating the information on shareholders, investors, influential individuals, and further information i.e. financial statements, accounts receivable and payables, staffs, customers, business locations, facilities status, competitors, business registrations, licenses and business area divisions, company image, and potential disputes, or criminal records of relevant people of the target company.

In fact, not every country has specific regulations governing mergers and acquisitions, as does Vietnam, although it is mentioned in various legislations.  In many cases, the investors have to search information, and evaluate the situation themselves to learn various aspects of the business beside the information given by the target company for instance finding general information about a business, information about the legal representative, information about business manager or capital contributors of that business as well as other related information. In particular, the buyer might be interested to know if the owner or shareholders have other business similar to the target business or if any of those have criminal records.  Further, the buyer might wish to know the history or the target company with registration and changes of registration in the last three years.  Other information about business lines, subsidiary, child companies, dependent companies, charter capital, founding shareholders, seal specimen could also be of importance business intelligence.  Based on the information obtained, the buyer is able to reach some information conclusion about the business and the target beside official information provided by the target itself.

In conclusion, all relevant information about the business and people matters in M&A transaction, being corporate information or influential investors or stakeholders are important that the investor or buyer should pay attention to every details, and should attempt to search and evaluate such information such as part of their effort to evaluate market entry risks in investment through intelligence market entry risks analysis in Vietnam.