Six Rules of Successful Acquisitions.

Acquisitions should be successful, but few are in fact.

Acquisitions should be successful, but few are, in fact. The reason for this nonperformance is always the same: disregard of the well-known and well-tested rules of successful acquisitions.

The six rules of successful acquisitions are:

The successful acquisitions must be based on business strategy, not financial strategy.

The successful acquisition must be based on what the acquirer contributes to the acquisition.

The two entities must share a common core of unity, such as markets and marketing, or technology, or core competencies.

The acquirer must respect the business, products, and customers of the...