3 ms·

Does anyone know if these types of acquisitions are as simple as, "hey I like this company, let's email them with an offer price and see what they say", or is i

Does anyone know if these types of acquisitions are as simple as, "hey I like this company, let's email them with an offer price and see what they say", or is it more of "hi, we like your company, can you please send us your earnings, forecasts, expenses, etc..."? For anyone out there that's had suitors/offers, I'd love to know what the process for this kind of thing entails.

dakimov 13y ago
Before they make an offer, they will perform a complete assessment of your company, it is called "due diligence". They do not easily throw money at you.
- larrys 13y ago
  Due diligence typically refers to the process after an offer is made and accepted to ensure things are what they are supposed to be. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/duediligence.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/duediligence.asp http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/due%20diligence http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/due%20diligence I will note that this differs from what wikipedia says is due diligence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Due_diligence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Due_diligence Unfortunately most of the information that is needed for true "due diligence" is not going to be possible until signing a contract or perhaps a letter of intent (which means very little of course).
  - dakimov 13y ago
    It looks to me that your references contradict you. How many companies have you sold? I do not know whether the due diligence is supposed to be done after an offer, but when you are negligible to a company that will possibly acquire you, they just propose a due diligence and maybe a deal, or no deal. What would you choose?
    - justin 13y ago
      larrys is correct; due diligence (as it applies in corporate M&A) occurs after a term sheet or letter of intent is sent and accepted, and is the process of verifying that everything the other party said was true. Further, your question "How many companies have you sold?" is rude and irrelevant.
      - dakimov 13y ago
        Sorry, I tried to look smart talking about things I did not know enough about. I sometimes do this because I am very frustrated, as I am your age and have not done anything significant with my life. It gives me a huge amount of butthurt looking at people like you, as you are my age and a seasoned entreprenur, rich, happy and successful, and I am a miserable failure. Sure you know how due diligence is done, probably you have had time to be good at knowledge and experience in business, while your employees whom you have made money from have been working barely seeing the sun. Are all those people THAT worse than you to justify the income discrepancy, or are they worse than you at all? Do you consider yourself superior to the people who are of your age or older and are still working as employees? This seems so fucking unfair to me that people like you get THAT amount of money and life enjoyment. Are you really THAT good, that better than the people who are not entrepreneurs? Looking at people like you, I suppose you believe you are extremely smart and special and the way you life turned was the only possible way. The human world is so fucked up. By the way, I do not think that the question "How many companies have you sold" is that rude, I was just trying to find out whether the person speaks from their experience or not. And definitely it is relevant. So go fuck yourself, smarty pants.
    - larrys 13y ago
      Sold 3, bought 1. As far as companies that is. Enough years in business to have known ESR when he was at the Wharton Computer center.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
ameen 13y ago
Sometimes its based on revenue, growth potential or growth itself, etc. Although, This seems to be an acquihire to get to the technology and employees. And the product AFAIK, didn't really get the traction they were hoping for.
larrys 13y ago
"these types of acquisitions are as simple as" Can also be that the target is the one that approached Yahoo either directly or through an intermediary.
csmajorfive 13y ago
In my experience, it's neither. It's a series of conversations about a potential shared future. The most analogous process is dating.
reeses 13y ago
It depends on the situation. Normally, due diligence involves opening (and auditing) books, assets, etc. This is generally focused on valuing the company and may be a long, protracted, affair or a cursory,"these are not the droids you're looking for," check for any crazy liabilities or Potemkin villages. In a given strategic landscape, the number will be multiplied by some factor. For example, if facebook bought a, twitter bought b, google bought c, d may end up getting pre-emptive offers from microsoft, yahoo, and other suitors. It may or may not be a rational move. In other cases, a "unique" offering may be snapped up on the news that a competitor is sniffing around. It can get crazy, with offers bumped up by hundreds of millions of dollars.

dakimov 13y ago

Before they make an offer, they will perform a complete assessment of your company, it is called "due diligence". They do not easily throw money at you.

larrys 13y ago
Due diligence typically refers to the process after an offer is made and accepted to ensure things are what they are supposed to be. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/duediligence.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/duediligence.asp http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/due%20diligence http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/due%20diligence I will note that this differs from what wikipedia says is due diligence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Due_diligence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Due_diligence Unfortunately most of the information that is needed for true "due diligence" is not going to be possible until signing a contract or perhaps a letter of intent (which means very little of course).
- dakimov 13y ago
  It looks to me that your references contradict you. How many companies have you sold? I do not know whether the due diligence is supposed to be done after an offer, but when you are negligible to a company that will possibly acquire you, they just propose a due diligence and maybe a deal, or no deal. What would you choose?
  - justin 13y ago
    larrys is correct; due diligence (as it applies in corporate M&A) occurs after a term sheet or letter of intent is sent and accepted, and is the process of verifying that everything the other party said was true. Further, your question "How many companies have you sold?" is rude and irrelevant.
    - dakimov 13y ago
      Sorry, I tried to look smart talking about things I did not know enough about. I sometimes do this because I am very frustrated, as I am your age and have not done anything significant with my life. It gives me a huge amount of butthurt looking at people like you, as you are my age and a seasoned entreprenur, rich, happy and successful, and I am a miserable failure. Sure you know how due diligence is done, probably you have had time to be good at knowledge and experience in business, while your employees whom you have made money from have been working barely seeing the sun. Are all those people THAT worse than you to justify the income discrepancy, or are they worse than you at all? Do you consider yourself superior to the people who are of your age or older and are still working as employees? This seems so fucking unfair to me that people like you get THAT amount of money and life enjoyment. Are you really THAT good, that better than the people who are not entrepreneurs? Looking at people like you, I suppose you believe you are extremely smart and special and the way you life turned was the only possible way. The human world is so fucked up. By the way, I do not think that the question "How many companies have you sold" is that rude, I was just trying to find out whether the person speaks from their experience or not. And definitely it is relevant. So go fuck yourself, smarty pants.
  - larrys 13y ago
    Sold 3, bought 1. As far as companies that is. Enough years in business to have known ESR when he was at the Wharton Computer center.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

ameen 13y ago

Sometimes its based on revenue, growth potential or growth itself, etc. Although, This seems to be an acquihire to get to the technology and employees. And the product AFAIK, didn't really get the traction they were hoping for.

larrys 13y ago

"these types of acquisitions are as simple as" Can also be that the target is the one that approached Yahoo either directly or through an intermediary.

csmajorfive 13y ago

In my experience, it's neither. It's a series of conversations about a potential shared future. The most analogous process is dating.

reeses 13y ago

It depends on the situation. Normally, due diligence involves opening (and auditing) books, assets, etc. This is generally focused on valuing the company and may be a long, protracted, affair or a cursory,"these are not the droids you're looking for," check for any crazy liabilities or Potemkin villages. In a given strategic landscape, the number will be multiplied by some factor. For example, if facebook bought a, twitter bought b, google bought c, d may end up getting pre-emptive offers from microsoft, yahoo, and other suitors. It may or may not be a rational move. In other cases, a "unique" offering may be snapped up on the news that a competitor is sniffing around. It can get crazy, with offers bumped up by hundreds of millions of dollars.