HBR's 10 Must Reads for the Recession Collection (6 Books)

The Case for M&A in a Downturn

by Brian Salsberg

DURING A CRISIS, BUSINESSES should be examining their existing lists of potential acquisition targets and should be preparing to act, as deal premiums are likely to come down and assets that companies had been reluctant to sell may become available.

But the window for maximizing value could be relatively short, if history is any indication.

Learning from the Global Financial Crisis

Evidence from the global financial crisis (GFC) of late 2007 through early 2009 shows that companies that made significant acquisitions during the economic downturn outperformed those that did not.

There are some caveats: The GFC was, as its name indicates, a financial crisis, and was somewhat limited to the financial ...