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Mergers and Acquisitions from A to Z

Andrew J. Sherman · Fourth edition, 2018 · AMACOM

Strategy & readinessValuation & diligenceStructure & financingOwners and executives running their first structured process
Why it is on the shelf. A practicing deal lawyer’s walk through the acquisition process at middle-market scale, more readable than the encyclopedias and more process-complete than the buyer memoirs.

The Institute's reading

Sherman covers the arc a principal actually experiences, preparation, valuation, letters of intent, diligence, definitive agreements, financing and closing, with sample documents and the seller’s side treated seriously alongside the buyer’s. Its register sits usefully between Lajoux’s reference density and the narrative books: enough law to be accurate, written to be read.

The Institute’s reading: the strongest chapters for this audience are on the letter of intent and diligence, the two moments where inexperienced principals give away the most. His treatment of the LOI as the true point of maximum leverage, before exclusivity is granted, matches this Institute’s standing advice and is worth the book on its own.

Key propositions

  • Leverage peaks at the letter of intent and declines through exclusivity; negotiate accordingly.
  • Diligence is a structured interrogation of the deal thesis, not a document-collection exercise.
  • Most process failures are preparation failures with a delay.

In practice

  • Read the LOI chapter before signing anything with an exclusivity clause in it.
Acquisition Conciergeorientation · not legal, tax or valuation advice
Happy to dig into it. What would you like to pressure-test from Mergers and Acquisitions from A to Z: one of its propositions, how it applies to your situation, or where it disagrees with the rest of the shelf?