28-30 January 2025
Dubai
TBA
Overview
The "Mergers & Acquisitions Excellence" masterclass is a complete event designed to help key business leaders and M&A professionals understand the complicated world of mergers and acquisitions. This masterclass will take place in Dubai from January 28 - 30, 2025. Led by David Braun, an expert with more than 30 years of experience, this event focuses on important topics like due diligence, valuation, and integration. It aims to ensure participants can manage each stage of the M&A process successfully. David’s broad experience means attendees will be learning from someone who truly understands the field, both in theory and in practice.
This masterclass aims to simplify the M&A lifecycle, providing participants with clear strategies that they can use in their own companies. By attending, participants will learn how to avoid common mistakes, make better decisions, and use the right opportunities to achieve their goals. The program is highly interactive, including real-life examples, group activities, and hands-on exercises. This makes sure that participants not only understand the concepts but also gain practical skills they can apply back at work.
What You Will Learn
- How to lead your company through the complete M&A lifecycle
- Understanding the scope and the complexities of the due diligence process
- Why valuation is such an important part of the acquisition process
- Mastering the phases of integration
- How to find the “right” companies to pursue for acquisition
- Assembling your transaction team
- Discovering the most effective techniques for negotiating a deal
Who Should Attend
- Key Executives (CEOs, CFOs, Business Unit GM’s, VP Strategy/Corporate Development, etc.)
- Due Diligence & Integration Leads
- Diligence Management Office (DMO) & Integration Management Office (IMO) Leads & Program Managers
- Functional Workstream Leads & Dedicated Workstream Program Managers
Rave Reviews
“David Braun has extensive experience in the field of Mergers & Acquisitions. The subject on the valuation was the main strength in this event.” - Foo Eefaun – Senior Manager, Corporate Finance, IOI Corporation Berhad
“David Braun was really good! He was very informative in delivering the M&A training. The main strength of this event was the breakout session we had. Overall, I find this training was excellent” - Preveena Murugesu - Analyst, Tenaga Nasional Berhad
“The training by David Braun was very productive and effective. The strength of this event lies in the instructors' capability to explain each of the topics in a comprehensive yet concise manner. Personally, I find the Due Diligence & Integration topics particularly useful for my scenario.” - Stephano Wang – Corporate Finance Manager, SEATech Ventures Corp
“Great! Especially the hands on exercise on calculating the enterprise value and information required from the other party” - Rusnani Md Rus – Manager, Sime Darby Plantation Berhad
“Practical explanations to queries and real life examples. Understanding the M&A process including the due diligence involved in the commercial side of things is useful.” - Charissa Chiok - Assistant Manager, Securities Commission Mala
COURSE FACILITATOR
David Braun
M&A Thought Leader & Author
Achievements
David Braun is a renowned expert in mergers and acquisitions with over 30 years of experience helping companies grow through strategic acquisitions. He is the founder and CEO of Capstone, established in 1995, and has worked with a diverse range of clients, from small family-owned businesses to large multinational corporations. David is the author of "Successful Acquisitions: A Proven Plan for Strategic Growth," which provides practical insights into navigating the M&A process.
He is a recognized industry thought leader, having delivered numerous presentations and lectures to more than 40,000 business executives worldwide. David has been featured in major business media outlets such as Forbes, Financial Times, and CNN Money. His expertise lies in guiding companies through each phase of M&A—from initial planning to integration—ensuring that participants gain both theoretical and practical understanding of successful acquisitions.
Has Worked With
Book(s) Published
Reviews for David's Book
“Successful Acquisitions is a must read for all business leaders interested in growth through acquisition … The book is easy to read and packed with practical tips for executing an acquisition … Both first-time acquirers and experienced M&A practitioners will find the advice in Successful Acquisitions useful and profitable.” - Jim Dunn, CEO iTOK, SmartCEO
“David Braun has authored the best book I have read on the subject of assessing growth options for small and mid-cap firms and, with startling clarity, he outlines the basics of the M&A process. Over twenty years’ experience is poured into this book that enlightens the reader on a step by step ’Roadmap to Acquisition.’” - Dennis Mussell, Retired CEO of Chicken of the Sea International
“David Braun has managed to nail the art of Successful Acquisitions. The book offers business leaders a clear perspective with abundant real-life examples. It is an essential read for companies looking to buy or sell.” - Larry B. Pulley, Dean of the Mason School of Business, the College of William and Mary
Agenda
Mergers & Acquisitions Excellence Dubai
Day 1 | Program Outline
Session 1: Mastering the M&A Process
M&A is tough - even for the best-of-the-best! Even with the right intentions, planning, and preparation, many deals fail to achieve their full pre-deal financial or strategic objectives. M&A is not merely an investment or a transaction; it's an end-to-end business process that requires skilled leadership to navigate each phase, decision and requirement from start to finish.
- Current M&A trends and forecast
- Overview of the M&A Process
- Setting your M&A goals
- 5 options for growth: Organic vs. Inorganic
- Common Failure Factors
- Understanding the end-to-end M&A Lifecycle. What happens and when?
Session 2: Finding and Selecting Your M&A Targets
Once the decision has been made to follow an M&A growth strategy, the next question becomes, “Which companies do I pursue?” Since your time and resources are limited, your focus must be on not finding any company to buy, but instead finding the “right” company to buy.
- M&A tactics for buyers
- Developing your search strategy
- Finding prospects
- Profiling and exploring prospects
- Selecting the target
- Best practices for reaching out to targets
- Elements of an effective pitch
Session 3: The Art of Due Diligence
Due diligence is a critical, high pressure component of M&A, often filled with risks that can result in long term financial, legal, and reputational liabilities. Successful due diligence requires mastering both the broad scope of comprehensive enterprise due diligence and the intricate process itself, all within a competitive and fast-paced deal environment.
- Defining Due Diligence
- Finding Opportunity with Due Diligence: The Three Data Buckets
- Phases of Due Diligence
- Essential Team Roles in Due Diligence (Financial, HR, IT, Operations, etc.)
- The Due Diligence Checklist
- Transitioning from Diligence to Integration
Day 2 | Program Outline
Session 4: The basics of Business Valuation
How much should you pay for an Acquisition? This question has led to never-ending debates that have stopped many potential deals. Learn how to overcome the “price” debate by turning your focus instead towards the “value” of the deal.
- The Art & Science of Business Valuation: What is business valuation and why do we use it?
- Understanding the business you are valuing
- The different types of Valuation methods – Income, Asset, and Market
- Calculating WACC
- Inputs into the valuation model
- Add-backs and adjustments
- Understanding a seller’s “Hot Buttons”
- Approaching the seller with your valuation
Session 5: Effective Negotiation tactics
Do you have what it takes to finalize a deal? Negotiation is a critical skill for aligning decision makers from both organizations involved in a transaction. Discover proven practices for bringing all parties to the negotiating table and coming away with a deal that benefits everyone.
- Prepare and plan for negotiations
- The three most important details: Terms, Timing, and Talent
- Defining what you want
- Tradables
- Bargaining
- Win-Win Agreements
- Broaching the issue of price and avoiding circular negotiations
- Fallback positions
Day 3 | Program Outline
Session 6: Assembling the Transaction Advisory Team and Compiling the M&A Documents
It takes a village to make a Deal come together. Accountants, attorneys, and financial advisors are just some of the professionals whose specialized expertise you may need to call upon to bring your deal to a successful close. You may also need their assistance to assemble the proper documentation for your transaction.
- Who should be on your team?
- NDAs, IOIs, and LOIs
- Purchase agreements
- Stocks vs. Assets
Session 7: The Four Phases of Integration
Deals centered around mergers and acquisitions can and do still fail at every phase of the M&A lifecycle. Without a doubt, integration is the most complex and the most challenging of any lifecycle phase. Even the most skilled acquirers have learned the hard way by failing at integration before a promising deal.
- Keys to Integration Success: Integration governance, roles, responsibilities and resourcing
- How Due Diligence and Integration fit Hand-in-Glove
- How to develop your 100-Day Integration Plan
- How to plan and execute a seamless Day 1
- Communication Strategies critical to integration success
- The Integration Dashboard: Value-Drivers, Metrics and KPIs
