Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) refer to the consolidation of two or more companies into a single entity or the acquisition of one company by another. M&A can take various forms, such as mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, and takeovers.
The primary reasons why companies engage in M&A are to:

• Increase market share and gain a competitive advantage: By acquiring another company, a firm can increase its market share and access new markets, products, and technologies that it may not have been able to develop on its own.
• Achieve economies of scale: Merging with another company can allow firms to reduce costs and increase efficiency by sharing resources, eliminating redundant processes, and achieving economies of scale.
• Diversify their business: M&A can enable companies to diversify their product or service offerings, reduce their dependence on a particular market or product, and gain exposure to new industries or geographies.
• Improve financial performance: M&A can help companies to achieve financial goals such as increasing revenue, improving profitability, and maximizing shareholder value.
• Access strategic resources: Companies can acquire other firms to gain access to strategic resources such as intellectual property, patents, and human capital.

Overall, M&A can be an effective way for companies to achieve strategic goals, increase their competitiveness, and enhance their financial performance. However, they can also be complex and risky, and require careful planning, execution, and integration to realize the expected benefits.

In this primer on mergers and acquisitions we want to give a reader an opportunity to understand what M&As are, what the difference between a merger and an acquisition is, why companies merge or make acquisitions, and what the common M&A strategies are. We also want to explain the critical concept of synergies, one of the key drivers in M&A deals. We also want to outline who the advisors and other players in the M&A market are, touch on how M&As are financed, what the common valuation methods of M&A targets are, talk about different type of buyers, and finally point out the importance of having an M&A deal game plan. Last but not least, woven into the book content are topics such as share purchase agreement, letter of intent, due diligence, deal negotiations and deal closing. This is a very comprehensive and yet concise reading, and we invite you to read it if you want to better understand the topic of M&A. 

This e-book is intended for anyone who wishes to gain a solid understanding of M&A process, and it is written from the point of view of a practitioner rather than an academic.