For years, McKinsey research has shown that a programmatic approach to M&A generates the most value in deal making. The least successful approach? Large (greater than 30 percent of an acquirer’s market capitalization), infrequent deals.1 That said, the variance is high, and major acquisitions can work to your advantage—particularly if your organization is healthy. Our latest research finds that acquisitions by healthy companies tend to perform better than do those by less healthy ones. We’ve also identified three critical behaviors (selecting the right people, maintaining a strong external focus, and running a tight ship internally) that typify healthy organizations and are tightly connected with the creation of deal value. In this article, we’ll lay out those research findings and then illustrate them with examples of healthy acquirers in action.
