In this book, Professor McKaskill sets out a systematic and pragmatic process for identifying, evaluating, valuing and integrating financial and strategic acquisitions. He draws extensively on his own experiences as a CPA, entrepreneur and academic, as well as his experience with acquiring and selling his own businesses.  He brings a systematic and comprehensive approach to growing business through acquisitions. Tom combines his personal and professional knowledge with advice from successful entrepreneurs, business advisers and venture capitalists to create his unique Acquisition Strategy Index and the Operational Management Index.

‘Preparing the company to undertake acquisitions requires the company to build a capability for acquisitions. This means educating the senior executive team, identifying the role of acquisitions in the company’s long term strategy, engaging the right professionals and building capacity to take on the disruptive process of identifying, evaluating and integrating a new business.

‘The company also needs to have developed a source of funding for the acquisition, put in place a succession plan for their own executives who will be involved in the acquisition process and developed a plan to manage the changes in the acquired business, and their own, as a result of the assets and capabilities acquired.

‘Acquisitions are major investments with high risk potential absorbed over a short period and thus can create major disruptions to the overall business. Unless planned and managed carefully, the result is likely to be disastrous for both businesses,’ writes Professor McKaskill