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Rating: 
Summary: Well written
Review: Excellent for explaining the practical side of the business. Has enough examples to give you a first cut at understanding M&A. Not a great valuation book, but then it doesn't profess to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific review of M&A process
Review: I'm a CFO of a middle market company in Chicago, and I bought the book after a friend suggested it. My firm is trying to grow through acquisition, and the book explained many of the concepts well with examples. Hooke was an investment banker for 10 years, so he has a good real world view.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific review of M&A process
Review: impossible to cover every possible variation of m&a but this book gives you a pretty good idea of what the process is about. it is a little heavy on things the buyer should consider and a little too light on the seller's perspective. not enough detail on types of offers (i.e. all stock, cash, owner carry, etc.) nothing on employment agreements or types of compensation agreements. a decent first book.
Rating: 
Summary: will point you in the right direction to find more info
Review: impossible to cover every possible variation of m&a but this book gives you a pretty good idea of what the process is about. it is a little heavy on things the buyer should consider and a little too light on the seller's perspective. not enough detail on types of offers (i.e. all stock, cash, owner carry, etc.) nothing on employment agreements or types of compensation agreements. a decent first book.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific and practical summary of doing M&A deals!
Review: This book is a terrific primer to tell the reader how to design a strategy to grow his company by acquisition, to find companies to buy, how to price the deals, how to crunch the numbers so the buyer isn't paying to much and how to negotiate to close the deal. Hooke really gives the benefit of his experience at Lehman Brothers and Schroders. The book was like listening to an investment banker give me a personal lecture on what to look out for when considering an M&A deal. So many of the bankers I talk to are less than straightforward, and the book really added to my knowledge of how this specialized market operates. The last few chapters cover some specialized areas like LBO's and consolidations and roll-ups. Hooke addresses these subject matters in a practical way that I haven't seen elsewhere. The book is really worth the investment.
Rating:
Summary: Need To Get Up To Speed On M&A? Buy This Book.
Review: This is the first, best, and only choice for those interested in a thorough and easy to understand introduction into mergers & acquisitions. It is particularly well-suited to senior executives of middle-market companies, first-year M&A analysts, and MBA candidates. Of course, for senior M&A advisors, Hooke's book is also the perfect "leave behind" to educate prospective clients on the entire M&A process. However, if I had the opportunity to extend a single suggestion to Jeffrey Hooke for future editions, it would be: Have a new cover designed which more fully reflects the level of quality and excitement of the text!!!
Rating:
Summary: Out of date material makes book less relevant
Review: While interesting, the material does not reflect changes in the types of businesses that are currently being acquired; tax, accounting and financial reporting changes; new technques for financing transactions, dramatic changes in the anti trust environment, and the emergence of multinational transactions. The discussion of valuation is extremely simplistic. The book was written before the explosion in high tech acquisitions. I do not recall any reference to internet-related businesses and the valuationn challenges they offer. The book is largely focused on evaluating large businesses, and provides little insight into handling small to medium sized businesses. To the author's credit, he does a good job of explaining basic deal concepts.
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