John Dearing, Managing Director of Washington, DC- based external growth consulting firm Capstone, is hosting a webinar with Capstone Analyst Bob Kwaja.

You’ve formulated your acquisition strategy.  You’ve assembled your growth team. You’ve researched and selected the top markets for growth.  Now, let Capstone show you how to find the best acquisition targets in those markets.

The next step in Capstone’s unique market-driven process, acquisition prospect research and selection doesn’t have to be a haphazard ordeal.  This webinar will show you how to approach the search for the right company systematically and efficiently using effective research methods. You will be able to take the emotion out of the process to objectively determine which prospects to approach.

After completing this course, you will be able to:
•    Define the Ideal Prospect for your acquisition strategy
•    Explain Prospect Criteria (including revenue growth and size, management team, culture and services) and how to use them to evaluate a prospect
•    Describe effective Secondary and Primary Market Research techniques to maximize your research resources
•    Explain the Triangulation Technique for prospect research to get the most relevant information to make decisions
•    Begin to develop Specific Tools to objectively compare and contrast prospects

John and Bob will speak for approximately 50 minutes followed by a question-and-answer session.

Date:  Thursday, June 24, 2010
Time: 1:00 PM ET/ Noon CT/ 11:00 AM MT/ 10:00 AM PT

No Prerequisites or Advanced Preparation needed!

To register, click here:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/597914154

Registration Fee: $79

IMPORTANT PAYMENT INFORMATION:  Once you register, we will send you a request for payment via PayPal (may take up to 24 hours).  Once payment is confirmed, your registration will be approved and you will receive the log-in information for the webinar.

CPE Credits – 1 CPE credit in Business Management and Organization will be given for those attending this webinar
Program Level:  Basic
Delivery Method: Group Internet-Based

Please feel free to forward this information on to anyone who might be interested in corporate growth strategies.

Refund policy: Requests for refunds must be received in writing by 1:00 PM ET Wednesday, June 23 and the money will be refunded in full within 5 business days.  After 1:00 PM ET on Wednesday, June 23 a credit will be given for a future webinar.  In the event of a cancellation, you will be given the option of of a full refund or applying your fee to a future webinar.

For questions or concerns, please contact Matt Craft, Capstone’s Marketing Coordinator, at 703-854-1910 or mcraft@capstonestrategic.com

Capstone Strategic, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy as a sponsor of continuing professional education of the National Registry of CPE Sponsors.  State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit.  Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 4th Ave N, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Website: www.nasba.org

Technorati Tags: Acquisition Strategy, acquisitions, Bob Kwaja, business acquisitions, Capstone, John Dearing, M&A, mergers, Mergers and Acquisitions, prospects, webinar

Caterpillar announced it is acquiring Electro-Motive Diesel for $820 Million.  The company, which has revenues of about $1.8 billion is currently owned by two private equity firms who acquired it from General Motors in 2005 for around $200 million (read my other post about PE divesting before tax rates increase). Caterpillar already owns a railcar maintenance and repair business and this puts it into the manufacturing business (backward integration).

“This acquisition represents the latest step in our strategic plan to aggressively grow our presence in the global rail industry”  stated Doug Oberhelman, CEO-elect of Caterpillar.  They are betting on the US economy coming back with the demand for railcars to grow, as well as continued growth in emerging markets like India and China.  It seems to me Caterpillar is being market-driven and buying when the market it down (buy low/sell high).   Although GE is their major competitor in this space, I predict Caterpillar will do well with this investment.

Technorati Tags: Acquisition Strategy, acquisitions, business acquisitions, Capstone, Caterpillar, David Braun, External Growth, GE, M&A, M&A News, mergers, Mergers and Acquisitions, private equity

Congress is close to taxing “carried-interest” income on fund managers at 30% in 2011 from the current 15% capital gains rate. The rate is likely to go to 33% in 2013.  Congress may exclude the first 25% of income from this higher tax rate (which doesn’t really make sense to me) but the real story is the opportunity this presents for strategic buyers.

First, private equity firms are now motivated to divest businesses in 2010 to preempt the higher taxes - look for companies they acquired pre-2006 or post 2008 as more likely candidates.  Second, I believe these fund managers will find a way to structure deals to avoid the higher taxes, for example using calls and puts. In the meantime this distraction will limit their deal making.  So once again strategic buyers have an advantage over financial buyers.

The long-term question is: how will this change impact investments in growing companies?  I don’t see how it helps.

Technorati Tags: Acquisition Strategy, acquisitions, business acquisitions, capital gains, Capstone, carried interest, Congress, David Braun, External Growth, M&A, M&A News, mergers, Mergers and Acquisitions, taxes

For nearly two years, Mergers & Acquisitions Daily has brought you a fresh perspective to the ever-changing world of M&A. As a veteran practitioner, I have fashioned a new approach to the challenges of external growth — a systematic process that has resulted in numerous successful deals across multiple industries.

In this blog I share my thoughts on topical M&A issues combined with insights from Buying Power, my forthcoming book on acquisition strategy. Our newsfeed from the markets adds daily currency to the site. Most important, I welcome your comments on my posts — so join the conversation and enjoy the blog!

To make a comment, click the TITLE of the post.

Technorati Tags: Acquisition Strategy, External Growth, Integration, m-and-a, Mergers and Acquisitions