Buying and selling companies: a practical introduction

Aims

This course aims to help you to understand how to identify, acquire and then integrate a business into your existing organisational structure so that it increases the value of your overall business. The course will help you to appreciate the pros and cons of the corporate sale and purchase process and will assist you in identifying pertinent questions to ask of your advisors and acquisition targets.  

Content

In providing an introductory overview of acquisitions, the course considers:

• the pros and cons of buying or selling a business
   
• how to ensure acquisitions add business value, rather than destroy it
   
• key approaches and techniques that will help enhance the value of a deal
   
• essential aspects of due diligence
   
• how to integrate acquisitions effectively

Presentation of the course 

The course comprises a mix of lectures, exercises and group discussions.

Course sessions

1. TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY: strategic considerations
   Acquisitions should always be made as part of a coherent business strategy. But, as the future is always uncertain, what should you consider before deciding to buy (or sell)? This initial session highlights some factors to think about and thereby lays some foundations for the rest 
   of the course.
    
2. SEARCHING FOR THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE: seeking a target business that will 
   add value
   Writers down the ages have highlighted the connection between the values an organisation adheres to and the value it generates. This session will consider factors to consider when getting your own company ready to acquire (or be sold) and hence what to look for in others.
    
3. WALKING THE TIGHTROPE: balancing costs and benefits
   As with any capital expenditure decision, analysis is required to see if the purchase is worth making. This session introduces some standard approaches and highlights some non-obvious factors to be aware of.
    
4. KEEPING A WATCHFUL EYE ON THINGS: Managing the process
   It’s one thing to pay good money for a business, but quite another to benefit from the purchase. In this session we will look at ways of enhancing the value generated: before, during and after the meeting at which the Sale and Purchase Agreement is signed.
    
5. WITH HINDSIGHT: lessons from experience
   The course ends by pulling together key lessons about acquisitions and relating these to real-life examples. 

Learning outcomes

You are expected to gain from this series of classroom sessions a greater understanding of the subject and of the core issues and arguments central to the course. 

The learning outcomes for this course are:

• an understanding of the key factors behind corporate sales or acquisitions
   
• an awareness of how successful acquisitions are dependent on many interrelated aspects 
  of business
   
• knowledge of some approaches that can be used to assess potential acquisitions or optimise the value of business sales
   
• an appreciation of why it may be necessary to engage others with specialist skills and the importance of team-working and stakeholder involvement

Required reading

There are no specific pre-requisites for the course other than an interest in business in general, and a desire to learn about and discuss the benefits and challenges of buying and selling companies. 

Although the course is largely non-technical, it is recommended that you bring a calculator for use with some of the exercises.

Before you come on the course, consider the following:

1. Why might your company want to acquire another company or business?
    
2. Why would another company want to acquire your company?
    
3. How could you improve the chance of your company being acquired?
    
4. From recent news reports, find a story about acquisitions and consider why the acquirer bought the target company and/or what problems the acquisition resulted in.

Typical week: Monday to Friday 

Courses run from Monday to Friday. For each week of study, you select a morning (Am) course and an afternoon (Pm) course. The maximum class size is 25 students.   

Courses are complemented by a series of daily plenary lectures, exploring new ideas in a wide range of disciplines. To add to your learning experience, we are also planning additional evening talks and events. 

Evaluation and Academic Credit  

If you are seeking to enhance your own study experience, or earn academic credit from your Cambridge Summer Programme studies at your home institution, you can submit written work for assessment for one or more of your courses.  

Essay questions are set and assessed against the University of Cambridge standard by your Course Director, a list of essay questions can be found in the Course Materials. Essays are submitted two weeks after the end of each course, so those studying for multiple weeks need to plan their time accordingly. There is an evaluation fee of £75 per essay. 

For more information about writing essays see Evaluation and Academic Credit. 

Certificate of attendance 

A certificate of attendance will be sent to you electronically after the programme.