653
n
The urge to conquer
not mean that the (usually very expensive) deal actually created
value – at least beyond the take-over premium that was paid.
You might have been better off not having done it at all, despite
having avoided a disaster.
So, believe me, two-thirds of acquisitions fail – yes, really.
“Heerlijk, helder, Heineken”
Now, I realize it is about time that I said something nice about
the practice of acquisitions. Since I have been known to sound
slightly skeptical (yes, this is a good English euphemism) about
the vehicle of corporate takeovers, people sometimes ask me
which company’s acquisition strategy I actually like. A painful
silence (to this fair question) used to ensue. But no longer!
Since I didn’t want to create the erroneous impression that I
think all acquisitions and acquirers are bad, I decided to look
for one.
And I found “heerlijk, helder, Heineken”. Which probably
doesn’t mean much to you, unless you’re Dutch. It translates into
something like “divine, clear, Heineken”, and it happens to be
the old marketing slogan of a product that I studied extensively
during my student days. Having grown up (with regret), some
time ago I also really dug into their past acquisition strategy, to
see whether it made any sense. And I had to say “heerlijk, helder,
Heineken” or, in English, “yes”.
No, I am not getting a commission for rehashing their old
marketing slogan: it just reminds me of the acquisition strategy
they used under the reign of their illustrious former chairman
Freddy Heineken (who unfortunately died a number of years
ago).
This is what I like about it: many managers see acquisitions
as a relatively and easy quick way to increase the size of their
company, in comparison to the painstaking process of organic
growth. Yet, they forget that owning a bunch of companies
doesn’t necessarily turn them into one organization. Successful
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