M&A Strategy: Embedded M&A Strategy

Written By Karl Popp
 THIS IS THE FREE, REDACTED VERSION OF THE TASKS IN THE M&A REFERENCE MODEL  AND IT IS LICENSED UNDER Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International  THE FULL SET OF DATA HAS TO BE LICENSED COMMERCIALLY. HERE is a full model example for one task.

The task has the following goal(s):

Buyer M&A Strategy: planned

The task has the following objectives:

Information asymmetry: minimized

Quality: maximized

Risk: minimized

Synergy: maximized

Short description of task Embedded M&A Strategy:

The M&A strategy encompasses a holistic view, aiming to identify specific sectors and markets in which the company should proactively engage. Furthermore, it outlines the appropriate course of action for the organization within these designated areas.

The task uses the following business object types:

Hierarchy of the strategic goals of the buyer company, Strategic goal of the buyer company, Strategic assumptions of the buyer, Strategic risks of the buyer company, Assignment of strategic measures and goals of the buyer company, Strategic measure of the buyer company, Buyer ecosystem strategy, Strategy, Buyer M&A Strategy, Buyer strategy.

Tool: Patev Innovation Intelligence

Provider: PATEV Associates GmbH & Co. KG

Patev Innovation Intelligence has a modern web UI.

The tool automates the following actions

  • Define requirements for whitespaces for acquisition: partially automated.

Get a free demo of patev here

Questions to be used during the execution of the task

  • The task is executed with the following questions, among others:

  • Which are the strategic goals of the company?

  • Which are the strategic assumptions of the company?

  • Which products and services make up the existing portfolio?

  • Which markets and customers are addressed with each portfolio item?

  • What is our growth strategy for each portfolio item? How do we intend to scale in each area?

  • What is the ecosystem strategy for each of the portfolio items? How do we leverage customers, partners, suppliers to sell more?

  • How do the buyer's products and services distinguish themselves from those of competitors?

  • What is the buyer's value proposition?

  • In which way is the value proposition of the buyer transported to the customers?

  • What do customers need, what is the customer pain in each of the markets are addressed with each portfolio item?

  • What are the buyer's customer segments?

  • What is the problem addressed by the buyer, what are the customers of the individual customer segments?

  • Which added value by solving problems do the products and services provide to customers?

  • Can it be assumed that the buyer's products and services will continue to be in demand by customers in the future?

  • What are the buyer's business models?

  • Does the buyer operate a platform business model?

  • How is revenue generated?

  • How resilient and scalable is the revenue model?

  • How is revenue distributed among the customer segments?

  • Which channels does the buyer company use to interact with customers (segments)?

  • On which digital channels does the buyer company interact with the customers (segments)?

  • Which employees are indispensable for service delivery (key resources)?

  • Which technical resources are indispensable for service delivery (key resources)?

  • Which intellectual property is indispensable for service provision (Key Resources)?

  • What are the activities that are indispensable for service delivery and the value proposition of the buyer?

  • What is the cost structure of the business model and how do costs behave as the company grows?

  • Do the cost structure and revenue generation allow for a sustainable profit?

  • Which partners does the buyer company work with?

  • What is the value proposition for the partners?

  • What are the forms of partnerships with distribution partners?

  • Which partners are indispensable for service provision (Key Resources)?

  • Which products and services do customers need that we don t have in our portfolio (whitespaces)?

  • What is the right strategy to address these whitespaces (build, buy, partner, standardize, open source)?

  • If you intend to build or buy, what is the IP status of the whitespace? Does it make sense to enter this space with build or buy or is the space covered with patents and thus enforces a different approach?

  • Which are the strategic capabilities of the company?

  • How do the strategic capabilities separate us from the competition?

  • Do we have all strategic capabilities that we need to achieve our strategic goals?

  • Are all strategic assumptions correct regarding the strategic capabilities?

  • Are we planning changes to strategic capabilities?

  • What is the buyer company s right to win in this space based on the acquisition?

  • Is the M&A strategy consistent with corporate strategy?

  • Which specific strategic capabilities are we looking for in the target companies?

  • How do we make sure the acquisition allows the acquirer to leverage the target's capabilities?

  • How long does it take to leverage the strategic capabilities of the target?

  • How and how deeply would we want to integrate the target company?

    (C) Dr. Karl Michael Popp 2025

Karl Popp www.drkarlpopp.com
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