In 1999, MCI WorldComm and Sprint agreed to merge. Valued at $129 billion, this expected transaction was the largest in history. However, it fell victim to regulators in Europe concerned with the potential monopoly power of the merged firm. This M&A action was merely the latest in a growing trend of "blockbuster" mergers over the past several years. Once a phenomenon seen primarily in the United States, mergers and acquisitions are increasingly being pursued across national boundaries. In short, acquisition strategies are among the most important corporate-level strategies in the new millennium. The need for clear, complete, and up-to-date guide to successful mergers and acquisitions had never been greater. This book more than fills that need. Looking at successful--and unsuccessful--mergers and acquisitions in a number of different industries, Mergers and Acquisitions: A Guide to Creating Value explains how to conduct an acquisition and how to avoid pitfalls that have doomed many such ventures. The authors take the reader step-by-step through the process, starting with the elements of a successful merger, due diligence to ensure that the target firm is sound and fits well with the acquiring firm, and how mergers and acquisitions are financed. They move on to explore how firms find partners/targets for acquisitions that have complementary resources and how to find partners with which integration and synergy can be achieved. Finally, they discuss the potential hazards found in M&A's and how to avoid them, how to conduct successful cross-border acquisitions, and how to ensure that ethical principles aren't breached during the process. Based on 15 years of research, this essential guide goes beyond specific case studies to cover all aspects of these ventures, making it required reading for all managers seeking to build a successful strategy.