In the first five months of 2009, the number of acquisitions has fallen to 2,507 ($249 billion worth), down from 3,750 deals ($429 billion) during the same period a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters. And in a down economy, Melissa Graebner, professor of mergers and acquisitions at The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, discovered it’s the sellers who should be cautious. During her research, Graebner discovered buyers were not only less trusting than sellers, they were more likely to be dishonest. Beyond price bluffing, several buyers engaged in what Graebner calls “material deception” with regard to their plans for post-integration “layoffs, changes in strategic direction or diminished roles for senior managers.”
Forbes
Studies show buyers are liars
July 22
http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/22/mergers-acquisitions-negotiation-entrepreneurs-finance-studies.html
