Customer Rating: 
Summary: Fourth Edition Due in March 2007
Comment: FROM THE CO-AUTHOR. Please be advised that a new FIVE STAR edition will be available in or around March 2007. The 1999 edition being sold here will be replaced at that time. Alexandra Reed Lajoux (Co-Author)
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Very dated material
Comment: The Q&A approach adopted in this book is very useful. It would provide for a very useful reference manual on M&A if its content were not so dated. Its discussion of taxes, accounting, and deal structures does not reflect recent changes in rules and M&A practices. It would be helpful if the author would update the material. Other more current and more comprehensive books on the subject that I have found useful include Mergers, Acquisitions, and Other Restructuring activities by Depamphilis and Bruner's M&A book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference for beginners in M&A
Comment: Easy to use reference, it helped me get the answer instantly.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Reference Book
Comment: This is a fantastic reference tome for anyone involved with M&A. As a private equity Associate, I have found this book to be invaluable on multiple levels as both a reference guide for securities law, as well as for procedural issues such as sample formats for term sheets, DD check lists, etc. Also, while it is a dense read, I think this would be invaluable for people just entering either Investment Banking or Private Equity to read as an introduction to the rules, regulations and procedures surrounding mergers/acquisitions.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Yes, this is a very focused topic, but it is a great book!
Comment: The very size of this book on such a specialized topic may seem daunting. However, the writing is so lively and the organization by question and answer is so easy to use that you will find this a very useful and comprehensive handbook.It is NOT a theory laden textbook. Rather, it is a very useful and practical guide to the field and will help the careful reader avoid many pitfalls. There are many ways to make mistakes in buying companies and this book can open your eyes to quite of few of them. In fact, if you are the target of a buyout, this book can be of special importance and interest.
I admit to being fascinated by this topic so take that into consideration when evaluating what I say about this book. But even so, mergers and acquistions are so much in the news (for good and ill) that it can only help to get more background on what is really going on and how these deals are (or at least should be) put together.
The book reads MUCH shorter than its size and is fairly comprehensive on the subject - from the methods in selecting candidates for acquisition to what to do when you are a target of an acquisition to some very specialized topics. It also deals with M&A issues with both public, private, and even family firms.
Honestly, I am surprised at how glad I am that I bought this book. It is terrific.
