Recently my colleague Marco Chan shared an extraordinary story that puts a new slant on the public discussion about robotics, China, outsourcing and the future of jobs. According to this Bloomberg Business Week story, a Chinese manufacturer, Tianyuan Garments Co., is investing $20 million to open a plant in Little Rock that will utilize robots developed by a… Read more »
Articles
Best First Half M&A in 10 Years!
Middle market momentum continues! Thomson Reuters reports 5,260 middle-market deals were completed during the period, representing a 12 percent increase over the first six months of 2016. Plus, it marks the strongest first six months of the year since pre-recession 2007.
“Activity was fueled by: confidence in the overall economy, including a widely-held expectation of lower taxes and fewer regulations in the future; underlying conditions favorable to M&A…
Mid-Year M&A 2017: Remarkably Resilient
Mostly, the news is excellent. Stock market indexes are reaching record highs, corporate earnings are trending upward, global markets remain strong, and an active M&A market continues. The U.S. economy is outpacing most other developed markets, remaining remarkably resilient and positive in reaction to a variety of political outlooks, policy agendas, and geopolitical fears. From… Read more »
Is Industry 4.0 the New Dotcom Boom?
Like the internet before it, the automation boom is gaining steam as costs come down and the technologies become more approachable for the average business. Here are just a few of the rapidly advancing technologies that have primed the coming explosion in automation.
Is the Acquisition Tide Receding for Collision Repairers?
For the last 5 years, FOCUS and other industry observers have been reporting on a continual increase in Consolidator acquisitions. Looking back at the year 2016, it appears the total number of MSO and single shops acquired by the Big Four Consolidators has peaked. From 2012 through the end of 2015, the number of shops acquired by the Big Four accelerated year over year over year even as the percentage growth rate slowed. But in 2016 the total number of new shops acquired or opened slowed dramatically – down by 40%! In 2017 the decline seems to be even greater.
Six Sure-Fire Strategies for Acquisition
While every deal is characterized by its own strategic logic, most successful deals have specific, well-articulated value creation concepts from the very beginning—while the strategic rationales of less successful deals can be vague. According to a May 2017 report by McKinsey & Company, the strategic rationale for an acquisition that creates value (providing the buyer did not overpay) typically conforms to at least one of these six scenarios:
The Work World Is Changing And Society Needs To Change As Well
We live in a time of great paradox. Technologies such as low cost renewable energy and automated production tools promise a world of abundance in which global poverty is abolished and human drudgery is eliminated. Yet even a casual glance at the daily news confronts us with a sense of dread that, far from Utopia, we are instead headed toward a dystopian future in which the benefits of technological advance will be reserved for a privileged few.
AirVault and GE’s Predix: An Innovative New Route to Aircraft Records Management Supports NextGen Goals
FOCUS announces the sale of our client, Critical Technologies, Inc. – doing business as AirVault® – to GE Aviation. After a decade providing strategic advice to AirVault, the result is this compelling transaction with one of the world’s most well-known and highly regarded companies.
Four Keys to US M&A Success in 2017
Following a slow start at the beginning of 2016, the US M&A market demonstrated its resilience. Uncertainty around some high-profile broken deals, the UK’s Brexit vote, and the US Presidential election has washed out of the market and the outlook for 2017 is positive.
These four broad factors are likely to set the tone for M&A activity in 2017. While dealmaking ended 2016 on a high note, to continue, certain key factors need to be in place, according to a new report, “Building Momentum: US M&A,”
Transformation: The Onrushing Digital Age Will Change Everything
The modern era has witnessed two great periods of transformation that radically changed the global economy and the very nature of human existence. The Industrial Revolution of the 18thand 19th centuries and the shift to a postindustrial economy over the past fifty years are old news. Today, the Global Economy is undergoing a third period of… Read more »
