Det har blivit allt vanligare att köpa och sälja företag vilket gör att företagsanalys väcker stort intresse bland revisorer, investerare och analytiker. Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva hur professionella analytiker på investmentbolag i praktiken arbetar inför ett företagsförvärv. Detta kommer förhoppningsvis mynna ut i större förståelse för hur förvärvsprocessen tillämpas i verkligheten. Studien kommer att fokusera på hur värderingar genomförs tills dess köpet är avslutat. Frågan som studien ska besvara är; Hur ser förvärvsprocessen ut för svenska investmentbolag fram tills dess köpet är genomfört?Studien använder sig av en kvalitativ metod och har genomförts med hjälp av intervjuer samt ett beskrivande företag. Det beskrivande företaget är Rasta Group AB och kommer belysa hur företagsanalyser går till i praktiken. Intervjupersonerna är från investmentbolag och målet har varit att undersöka hur ett företagsförvärv, fram tills dess att köpet är genomfört, går till. Respondenternas tillvägagångssätt vid företagsförvärv beskrivs i empirin. I analysen görs en jämförelse mellan teori och empiri vilket leder fram till slutsatserna. Vissa skillnader finns i förvärvsprocessen hos respondenterna men det finns också skillnader mellan referensram och respondenter. Slutsatserna består även av en diskussion och förslag på vidare forskning.Förvärvsprocessen innehåller delar som var för sig används för att skapa en helhetsbild över bland annat företag, bransch, konkurrenter och värdering. I studiens referensram beskrivs förvärvsprocessen vilket delas in i sökprocess, due diligence, värdering och finansiering. Det första steget i förvärvsprocessen för investmentbolag är att hitta ett målobjekt. Due diligenceprocessen kan delas in i finansiell, kommersiell och en juridisk del. En finansiell due diligence går ut på att undersöka om resultat- och balansräkningen speglar verkligheten. Investmentbolag använder sig ofta av jurister, när de behöver utföra en juridisk due diligence. En kommersiell due diligence kan undersöka bransch, konkurrenskraft och management.Det finns många olika analysmodeller för att komma fram till en värdering av ett företag. De vanligaste är Discounted Cash Flow, Internal Rate of Return och multipelanalys. Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) går ut på att beräkna nuvärdet av framtida kassaflöden till en diskonteringsränta. Internal Rate of Return (IRR) är en beräkning för att se om det företag som förvärvar har kassaflöden starka nog att klara av lånekostnader, som uppstår i och med förvärvet. En multipelanalys använder sig av nyckeltal gånger en multipel som hämtas från liknande företag.Ett förvärv finansieras vanligtvis med hjälp av eget kapital och lån. Det går även att använda sig av tilläggsköpeskilling vilket betyder att säljaren inte får hela summan direkt utan delas upp i etapper, när företaget klarat av uppsatta mål. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

<p>Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the corporate world are achieving increasing importance and attention especially in the advent of intense globalization. This is evident from the magnitude and growth of deal values and resultant ‘mega-mergers’ transacted in recent times. As expert advisory are sought in M&A activities to facilitate the undertaking and maximise the value of the transaction, advisory firms begin to play a more significant and at the same time lucrative role in M&A activities, to the extent of determining the outcome of such projects. Being an area of limited research, it is thus valuable to investigate what M&A advisory firms view as critical success factors to the projects they undertake. Consequently, the research question of “What are the critical success factors for merger & acquisition projects in the view of merger & acquisition advisory firms” has been raised. A list of ten critical success factors for M&A projects is firstly identified from an extensive literature review. These factors are (1) Complete and Clear objectives, goals and scope of the project, (2) Client consultation and acceptance, (3) Project manager’s competence and commitment, (4) Project team member’s competence and commitment, (5) Communication and information sharing and exchange, (6) Project plan development, (7) M&A advisory firm’s resource planning, (8) Time management and tight secrecy, (9) Price evaluation and financing scheme, and (10) Risk management.</p><p>In an attempt to explore the importance of each factor in the practical context, data have been collected through three research methods. Primarily, the authors conduct a semi-structured interview with six interviewees currently working in three organizations which provide professional services related to M&A projects. Meanwhile, a self-completion questionnaire method is employed, following which a sample of 325 M&A advisory firms based in the U.S. is selected to participate in an online survey. In addition, the authors follow a case study approach based on the three organizations of the six interviewees in order to establish comprehensive knowledge about issues relating to M&A projects.</p><p>In response to the research question, the findings strongly indicate that seven out of ten factors in the original list have a positive impact, being the factors listed above as (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (8), and (9). On the other hand, it revealed the lesser importance of the other three. In addition, three new factors have been discovered from analyzing the data collected, being (i) Having a number of key potential buyers with suitable profile (ii) Right, correct and complete information and data in the data room, and (iii) The quality of the selling company. While as another outcome of this research, further practical insights have been provided regarding the role of M&A advisory firms, the M&A process, common issues faced by M&A projects and the success criteria for M&A projects.</p><p>The findings from this research contribute valuable new knowledge to both researchers and practitioners in both project management and M&A fields, while facilitating the achievement of successful M&A projects.</p>

Turkish Land Forces Command uses information technology opportunities to satisfy its needs arising from the obligation for being a strong army. One of the main difficulties in using information technologies is the acquisition of these systems. This thesis reviews the fundamentals of software intensive systems acquisition process and then proposes a new model for Turkish Land Forces Command. Software acquisition process models are discussed and compared with each other. The current Turkish Land Forces Command acquisition process is studied to state the management, legal, resource, and industrial problems within the comtemporary models&amp / #8217 / perspective. The focus of this thesis study is proposing an acquisition model based on four international models, successes of which have been proven.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;A) in the corporate world are achieving increasing importance and attention especially in the advent of intense globalization. This is evident from the magnitude and growth of deal values and resultant ‘mega-mergers’ transacted in recent times. As expert advisory are sought in M&amp;A activities to facilitate the undertaking and maximise the value of the transaction, advisory firms begin to play a more significant and at the same time lucrative role in M&amp;A activities, to the extent of determining the outcome of such projects. Being an area of limited research, it is thus valuable to investigate what M&amp;A advisory firms view as critical success factors to the projects they undertake. Consequently, the research question of “What are the critical success factors for merger &amp; acquisition projects in the view of merger &amp; acquisition advisory firms” has been raised. A list of ten critical success factors for M&amp;A projects is firstly identified from an extensive literature review. These factors are (1) Complete and Clear objectives, goals and scope of the project, (2) Client consultation and acceptance, (3) Project manager’s competence and commitment, (4) Project team member’s competence and commitment, (5) Communication and information sharing and exchange, (6) Project plan development, (7) M&amp;A advisory firm’s resource planning, (8) Time management and tight secrecy, (9) Price evaluation and financing scheme, and (10) Risk management. In an attempt to explore the importance of each factor in the practical context, data have been collected through three research methods. Primarily, the authors conduct a semi-structured interview with six interviewees currently working in three organizations which provide professional services related to M&amp;A projects. Meanwhile, a self-completion questionnaire method is employed, following which a sample of 325 M&amp;A advisory firms based in the U.S. is selected to participate in an online survey. In addition, the authors follow a case study approach based on the three organizations of the six interviewees in order to establish comprehensive knowledge about issues relating to M&amp;A projects. In response to the research question, the findings strongly indicate that seven out of ten factors in the original list have a positive impact, being the factors listed above as (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (8), and (9). On the other hand, it revealed the lesser importance of the other three. In addition, three new factors have been discovered from analyzing the data collected, being (i) Having a number of key potential buyers with suitable profile (ii) Right, correct and complete information and data in the data room, and (iii) The quality of the selling company. While as another outcome of this research, further practical insights have been provided regarding the role of M&amp;A advisory firms, the M&amp;A process, common issues faced by M&amp;A projects and the success criteria for M&amp;A projects. The findings from this research contribute valuable new knowledge to both researchers and practitioners in both project management and M&amp;A fields, while facilitating the achievement of successful M&amp;A projects.

Sammanfattning Examensarbete Civilekonomprogrammet Titel: Integrationsprocessens utformning och genomförande vid företagsförvärv - En flerfallsstudie på svenska aktiebolag med uttalad förvärvsstrategi Inledning: Tidigare forskning kring förvärvs- och integrationsprocessen anses vara normativ utifrån ett finansiellt teoretisk perspektiv med fokus på hur en integrationsprocess bör utföras. Däremot har forskningen inte i samma utsträckning berört området om hur denna process faktiskt går till. Därav uppdagas en kunskapslucka i den tidigare forskningen avseende hur en integrationsprocess genomförs i praktiken. Avsikten är således att bidra med en empirisk analyserande och förklarande studie till den vetenskapliga diskussionen kring bolagsförvärv och då främst dess integrationsprocess. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att öka kunskapen om hur svenska aktiebolag med en uttalad förvärvsstrategi arbetar med integrationen av uppköpta företag. Vidare kommer de studerade bolagens integrationsprocess kartläggas för att identifiera och analysera vilka faktorer som är avgörande för integrationen och därmed leder till ett framgångsrikt förvärv.  Metod: Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ studie med en abduktiv ansats. En flerfallstudie tillämpas där det empiriska materialet inhämtas via semistrukturerade intervjuer från fem företag med uttalade förvärvsstrategier. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar på att integrationen i fallföretagen är av mjukare karaktär och mer flytande i sin utformning. Avgörande för denna process är att fokus riktas mot värdeskapande aktiviteter och att integrationen situationsanpassas utefter varje förvärv. Detta i syfte att inte förbruka tid och resurser på åtgärder som genomförs efter standardiserade ramverk snarare än att se till det som de facto behöver åtgärdas. Ytterligare en slutsats är att det är avgörande att inte enbart se till integrationen som en isolerad företeelse utan att förstå helheten i förvärvsprocessen med dess tidigare faser. / Abstract Master Thesis in Business Administration Title: The design and implementation of the integration process in acquisitions - A multi-case study on Swedish limited companies with a defined acquisition strategy Background: Previous research on the acquisition and integration process is considered normative from a financial theoretical perspective with a focus on how an integration process should be carried out. However, the research has not to the same extent studied how this process actually is carried out. As a result, a knowledge gap is discovered in previous research regarding how an integration process is carried out in practice. The intention is thus to contribute with an empirical analytical and explanatory study to the scientific discussion about company acquisitions and mainly its integration process. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to create an enhanced knowledge of how Swedish limited companies with a defined acquisition strategy work with the integration of acquired companies. Furthermore, the integration process of the studied companies will be visualized to finally identify and analyze which factors are decisive for the integration and thus lead to a successful acquisition. Method: The thesis is a qualitative study with an abductive approach. A multi-case study is applied where the empirical material is obtained through semi-structured interviews from five companies with defined acquisition strategies. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that the integration in the studied companies is less formal. Crucial to this process is that the focus is on value-creating activities and that the integration is adapted to the unique characteristics of each acquisition. This is to avoid time-wasting and resource-consuming activities due to standardized frameworks that do not create value. Another result is that it’s crucial not only to look at integration as an isolated phenomenon, but to understand the entire process of acquisition with its prior phases.

The utilization of mergers and acquisitions has over the years become a central part of expanding and growing an organization. To acquire or merge with another firm is often described as a way to facilitate better and faster organizational development, in ways that organic growth cannot. In conjunction with the increase in popularity of mergers and acquisitions, the academic attention towards this area has also grown subsequently. According to scholars, due diligence can be used as a tool to ensure that the acquiring firm and the target firm are a good match, as well as ensuring that any seller statements are consistent with reality. The academic attention towards due diligence is, however, described as surprisingly limited. Previous researchers are calling for an increased and deeper understanding of due diligence in general. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to further develop theoretical knowledge and expand the understanding of due diligence. More exactly, we have targeted Swedish small and medium-sized firms that have acquired another firm recently by asking the following research questions; What are the drivers and challenges of pre-acquisition due diligence for Swedish SMEs? and; How is the pre-acquisition due diligence process managed by Swedish SMEs? and; How are the results of the pre-acquisition due diligence applied? Semi-structured interviews with CEOs, founders, managers, and heads of M&amp;As from seven Swedish SMEs were conducted, based on both scholarly suggested evaluation procedures and a literature review within the field of due diligence. All interviews were conducted and recorded through an online tool which facilitated the process of transcribing, analyzing, and producing the empirical findings. By using qualitative thematic analysis the respondents’ answers, thoughts, and insights were accordingly categorized into one of four main themes and subsequent sub-themes. The findings showed that due diligence brings overall value and that it is a necessity in the process of acquiring, even though it is a rather expensive and time-consuming process that can interrupt the everyday agenda at the acquiring firm. Furthermore, the findings also showed that the management of the due diligence process and the utilization of the results differed considerably between the investigated firms. Lastly, the findings indicate a need for future technological development in the field of due diligence, to achieve a more cost- and time-effective process.

Submitted by Joana Azevedo (joanad@id.uff.br) on 2017-07-03T18:35:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert LUCIANA SOUZA CASTRO.pdf: 3617924 bytes, checksum: 49fc705eff9854e361af269808aca5b4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Biblioteca da Escola de Engenharia (bee@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-07-10T16:16:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert LUCIANA SOUZA CASTRO.pdf: 3617924 bytes, checksum: 49fc705eff9854e361af269808aca5b4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T16:16:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert LUCIANA SOUZA CASTRO.pdf: 3617924 bytes, checksum: 49fc705eff9854e361af269808aca5b4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-20 / Tanto a dinâmica da produção tecnológica como a globalização vêm há décadas provocando transformações, não só na forma como se produz um determinado produto ou serviço, mas em todo o seu contexto. A gestão por processos passou a ser uma demanda nos novos tempos por proporcionar uma solução possível para os desafios que se anunciam a cada instante. A pesquisa objetivou utilizá-la para otimizar um processo de aquisição bibliográfica, considerando sua interferência na estrutura funcional, organizacional e financeira da biblioteca. A presente pesquisa caracteriza-se como qualitativa quanto à natureza e como dedutiva, quanto à abordagem teórica. O meio utilizado para investigação foi o estudo de caso. O campo de aplicação da pesquisa foi a Biblioteca do Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET/RJ), campus Petrópolis. Através do mapeamento chegou-se ao registro, à compreensão e à normalização deste processo, além de considerar fatores externos e internos que influenciam direta ou indiretamente na efetividade do processo, o que fundamentou melhorias identificadas como necessárias e que, uma vez implementadas, refletirão na atuação da biblioteca diante do atendimento às demandas por serviços de informação. O padrão de modelagem adotado foi o Business Process Management Notation (BPMN). A modelagem em questão permitiu a identificação de problemas, e evidenciou as implicações dos fatores identificados e considerados no contexto do processo. Esta análise acrescentou melhorias e mudanças diretas no processo gerando a proposta de um novo modelo para o processo de aquisição bibliográfica para a biblioteca. A pesquisa contribui para a área de Engenharia de produção no que diversifica a aplicação de suas ferramentas no benefício a gestão de outras áreas como a Biblioteconomia e Documentação. / For decades, the dynamics of technological production and globalization have led to changes not only in the way a product or service is produced, but in their whole context. In recent times, the process management became a requirement and a solution to future challenges which frequently arise. The objective of this research is its application to a bibliographic acquisition process optimization, since this process interferes in the functional, organizational and budgetary structure of a library. This research is characterized as qualitative in its nature and as deductive in its theoretical approach and a case study is used. The research application field is the Library of the Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET / RJ) Petropolis campus. A process mapping aims at the comprehension, standardization and registration of the process. Besides, external and internal factors that directly or indirectly influence in the effectiveness of the process are considered. Thereby, the basis to support improvements to be implemented in the library's activities are set. These reflect in the fulfillment of the demand for information services. The Business Process Management Notation (BPMN) is the modeling standard adopted, i.e. it is the basis for the modeling of the process. The modeling in question allowed the identification of problems, and evidenced the implications of the factors identified and considered in the context of the process. This analysis added improvements and direct changes in the process which resulted in a proposal for a new model for the bibliographic acquisition process for the library. The research contributes to the area of Production Engineering by diversifying the applications of its tools and results inmanagerial benefits in other areas such as Librarianship and Documentation.

過去研究多直接探討智慧資本與組織績效之關係，隱含假設擁有智慧資本就對組織有利，卻忽略了擁有資源更要懂得使用才能創造價值，哪些因素能促使員工善加運用智慧資本甚少被探討，故本研究整合資源基礎理論與體制理論，主張組織文化的同形力量可指引成功方向，引導組織成員共同運用智慧資本以提升績效，同時，若能各自搭配兩種知識運用能力：(1)獲得型流程能力，適時更新、改善智慧資本內涵，有助於企業因應外界環境變遷；以及(2)保護型流程能力，妥善保護智慧資本，避免被競爭對手模仿或竊取，以延長智慧資本所創造的競爭優勢；將有助於強化智慧資本與組織績效的正向關係。 本研究針對台灣上市上櫃公司隨機抽樣一千家企業發放問卷，問卷分成總經理版與部門經理版，各自寄送，當同一家公司總經理版回卷一份且部門經理版回卷兩份以上才視為有效問卷，最後配對成功樣本為160筆，採用階層迴歸驗證假設，並針對達顯著水準的交乘項繪製交互作用圖，圖中每一條線皆進行簡單斜率檢定，以確認斜率是否顯著不為零。分析結果顯示，組織文化與知識運用能力的交互效果確實會影響智慧資本與績效之關係，不同智慧資本類型需搭配不同的組織文化與知識運用能力組合才能提升組織績效，特別是人力資本的部分，若企業缺乏知識更新機制，需給予員工適當工作彈性或鼓勵創新，才能發揮人力資本對績效的正向影響，否則人力資本甚至會負向影響績效。 為了更細膩了解各產業是否具有特殊現象，本研究又進一步將樣本分為製造業、服務業和高科技產業，補充分析前述研究假設，結果確實呈現各產業重視不同的智慧資本類型，以及個別利於績效提升的智慧資本、組織文化與知識運用能力組合，本研究試圖提供理論解釋與管理意涵，以期彌補過去文獻缺口，並協助實務界發揮智慧資本之真正價值。

Nowadays usage of advanced production equipment becomes more common among production industries, future challenges in the market require flexibility in production industries due to growing competition and demand responses. Decisions regarding acquisition and replacement of production equipment have a major role in future profitability and competitiveness of production industries. Production equipment life cycle is dependent on technical, economical and conceptual lengths of life. Technical and economical lengths of life are connected to production equipment and the conceptual length of life is connected to production systems. Acquisition and replacement assessment processes of production equipment within production industries require involvement from different responsible departments. Varieties of perspectives differ from different departments in their prioritization regarding economical, technical and conceptual lengths of life. Lack of collaboration and evaluation of critical factors create quality and capacity issues in production industries. This project is directed to investigate issues concerning establishment of a sustainable long term thinking in consideration of economical, technical lengths of life of production equipment and also conceptual length of life of production systems in an earlier stage of acquisition and replacement assessment processes. Investigated research questions in this project are the following; What is the correlation between lengths of life of production equipment &amp; production systems and how they influence each other? What is the basis for acquisition and replacement assessment of production equipment? How does buyer-supplier relationship influence length of life of production equipment? This thesis work is based on both theoretical and empirical findings. A case study was performed with a survey and interviews to gather data for the analysis. Technical and conceptual lengths of life are both based on economical profitability and have to be adapted to product generations. Expensive investments in production equipment are critical and can be risky for production industries if marketing experts are excluded or if future product generation forecast are not considered in production equipment acquisition processes. Information and knowledge inputs from production equipment suppliers have to be considered in an earlier stage of concept development in production systems. / Nuförtiden blir användandet av avancerade produktionsutrustningar allt vanligare inom produktionsindustrin, framtida utmaningar i marknaden kräver flexibilitet inom produktionsindustrin på grund av växande konkurrens och respons på efterfrågan. Beslut gällande anskaffning och utbyte av produktionsutrustningar spelar en stor roll i produktionsindustrins framtida lönsamheter och konkurrenskraftighet. Produktions-utrustningars livscykel är beroende av teknisk, ekonomisk och konceptuell livslängd. De tekniska och ekonomiska livslängderna är kopplade till produktionsutrustningar medan den konceptuella livslängden är kopplad till produktionssystemet. Bedömningsprocessen vid anskaffning och utbyte av produktionsutrustningar inom produktionsindustrin kräver delaktighet från olika ansvariga avdelningar. Perspektiv variationer och prioriteringar gällande ekonomisk, teknisk och konceptuell livslängd skiljer sig mellan olika avdelningarna. I brist på samarbete och utvärderingar av kritiska faktorer skapas kvalitets- och kapacitetsproblem inom produktionsindustrin. Detta projekt utreder problem gällande etablering av ett hållbart och långsiktigt tänkande med hänsyn till ekonomisk och teknisk livslängd av produktionsutrustningar samt konceptuell livslängd av produktionssystemet i ett tidigare skede av bedömnings-processen. Följande forskningsfrågor har undersökts i detta projekt: Vilken effekt har olika livslängder på produktionsutrustningar samt produktionssystemet, och vad har de för koppling? Vad är grunden för anskaffnings- och utbytesbedömningar av produktions-utrustningar? Hur inverkar relationen mellan köpare och leverantörer på livslängden av produktionsutrustningar? Detta examensarbete är baserat på både teoretiska och empiriska undersökningar. En fallstudie genomfördes med en enkät och intervjuer för att samla in data till analysen och besvara forskningsfrågorna. Den tekniska och konceptuella livslängden är båda baserande på ekonomisk lönsamhet och måste anpassas till produktgenerationer. Dyra inverteringar i produktions-utrustningar är kritiska och kan vara riskabla för produktionsindustrin om marknads-experter är uteslutna eller om framtida produktgenerations prognoser inte beaktades i anskaffningsprocessen. Information och kunskap från leverantörer av produktions-utrustningar måste beaktas i ett tidigt skede vid konceptutveckling inom produktions-system.

<div><div><div><p>The process of acquiring the large-scale complex systems is usually characterized with cost and schedule overruns. To investigate the causes of this problem, we may view the acquisition of a complex system in several different time scales. At finer time scales, one may study different stages of the acquisition process from the intricate details of the entire systems engineering process to communication between design teams to how individual designers solve problems. At the largest time scale one may consider the acquisition process as series of actions which are, request for bids, bidding and auctioning, contracting, and finally building and deploying the system, without resolving the fine details that occur within each step. In this work, we study the acquisition processes in multiple scales. First, we develop a game-theoretic model for engineering of the systems in the building and deploying stage. We model the interactions among the systems and subsystem engineers as a principal-agent problem. We develop a one-shot shallow systems engineering process and obtain the optimum transfer functions that best incentivize the subsystem engineers to maximize the expected system-level utility. The core of the principal-agent model is the quality function which maps the effort of the agent to the performance (quality) of the system. Therefore, we build the stochastic quality function by modeling the design process as a sequential decision-making problem. Second, we develop and evaluate a model of the acquisition process that accounts for the strategic behavior of different parties. We cast our model in terms of government-funded projects and assume the following steps. First, the government publishes a request for bids. Then, private firms offer their proposals in a bidding process and the winner bidder enters in a con- tract with the government. The contract describes the system requirements and the corresponding monetary transfers for meeting them. The winner firm devotes effort to deliver a system that fulfills the requirements. This can be assumed as a game that the government plays with the bidder firms. We study how different parameters in the acquisition procedure affect the bidders’ behaviors and therefore, the utility of the government. Using reinforcement learning, we seek to learn the optimal policies of involved actors in this game. In particular, we study how the requirements, contract types such as cost-plus and incentive-based contracts, number of bidders, problem complexity, etc., affect the acquisition procedure. Furthermore, we study the bidding strategy of the private firms and how the contract types affect their strategic behavior.</p></div></div></div>