ACCOUNTANCY: Delay and dispute in M&A deals.

from BUSINESS LINE, July 31, 2008 Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are slowly turning out to be painfully long, and most of the times burdened with disputes in one form or the other. Let's first take a local example: After negotiations stretching over 50 days, Reliance Communications and South Africa's MTN Group ended talks that could have seen a potential telecom powerhouse emerge. Even as the media and analysts try and discover the corporate 'whodunit' behind it all, many are left to wonder what happened to the times of deals such as Ranbaxy-Daiichi or even Hindalco- Novelis, which sailed through in comparison.

Internationally, the hoopla over who will acquire Yahoo! saw a new 'window' open, as on the eve of a release of its latest earning figures the Internet company gave corporate raider Carl Icahn three seats on its board of directors. This happened after Microsoft pulled out its offer on May 3, saying Yahoo! refused to budge despite a bid sweetened to $50 billion! What seems to be the problem in these potential deals? "Recent experiences in more mature M&A markets (mainly continental Europe and the US) show that transactions concluded in these geographies either go through a lengthy negotiation process or a formal dispute …