Mergers and Acquisitions from A to Z, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 9

Financing the Acquisition

Let’s assume that the buyer’s team has followed all of the steps in the process thus far: It has identified its strategic objectives, prepared the acquisition plan, identified the qualified candidates, narrowed the field, negotiated and signed the letter of intent, conducted the valuation and negotiated the purchase price, completed due diligence, and instructed counsel to start working on the definitive documents. The team breathes a sigh of relief until it realizes: How will we finance this transaction?

There is a wide range of options for financing a transaction, from a simple equity financing to a layered transaction with multiple levels of debt and equity. Since each transaction is unique, the structures ...