Acquisition Strategy Quotes

We're looking to have the ability to come in and be able to capitalize on the marketing in order to grow the top-line. We basically leverage what has worked with our other successful acquisitions - investment in marketing, retention and student services.

We will see growth in the U.S., and we will selectively acquire in the U.S., but we prefer to use our global opportunity.

It's better to take over and build upon an existing business than to start a new one.

In reviewing my uneven record, I’ve concluded that acquisitions are similar to marriage: They start, of course, with a joyful wedding — but then reality tends to diverge from pre-nuptial expectations. Sometimes, wonderfully, the new union delivers bliss beyond either party’s hopes. In other cases, disillusionment is swift. Applying those images to corporate acquisitions, I’d have to say it is usually the buyer who encounters unpleasant surprises. It’s easy to get dreamy-eyed during corporate courtships.

The Curbside founders are successful entrepreneurs, who each have sold their companies to Apple.

If an acquisition can speed a process or fill a gap, we'll jump right to that. It's about timing, need... it's not necessarily an algorithm.

When I was in the leverage buy-out business we bought Weetabix and we leveraged it up to make our return. You could say that anyone who was eating Weetabix was paying for our purchase of Weetabix. It was just business. It is the same for Liverpool.

Our acquisition strategy is very clear: 3x3. Three continents - Asia, Africa and South America, and in three categories where we have strong positions - personal wash, household care and hair care.

We may well have a competitive advantage buying decent businesses at decent prices. But they won't be fabulous businesses and fabulous prices. There's too much competition and money out there, with many buyout specialists.

In 2003, Travelex acquired Thomas Cook Financial Services. We only had use of the Thomas Cook name for five years, so I had to increase public awareness of Travelex to migrate all Cook operations over to it. It was a success.

What Microsoft is really good at is endlessly iterating and revving - incrementally improving things that already exist - and those things that already exist are generally acquired from the outside.

You know, Rupert Murdoch I've said is like an Italian when it comes to negotiations.

When we do acquisitions, we decide what we want. We decide what fills a hole. And if the price is too high, our alternative is the $5 billion we spend on R&D every year. We're not well-known for overpaying, because at Oracle we always have an alternative.

It's not part of our culture to even think about outright purchasing a third-party developer.

Wal-Mart does not do big mergers, though it will buy much smaller competitors in so-called 'tuck-in acquisitions.'

But if you look at WorldCom, which is the biggest failure to date, they grew dramatically, they were buying companies that were bigger than they were and they were doing it off inflated stock.

The agreement to acquire Volcano significantly advances our strategy to become the leading systems integrator in image-guided therapies.

Speed is the No. 1 thing. Our core competency has been doing exactly this: buying companies and integrating them quickly.

Jon Miller would be amazing for Yahoo because he is extremely good at building display advertising businesses and buying young startups.

It's about really being considerate of the culture in the game studios that Activision buys. That's the biggest difference between us and any of our competitors.

So there's no typical day, but I transition through the course of my business day by doing everything from construction meetings on the development project under construction to design meetings for an upcoming apparel delivery to acquisition meetings about projects we're looking to acquire. It's very diverse in terms of content, substance, and what I address on a typical day.

I think every acquisition is unique and different. The best strategy is to listen to the founders and follow their lead.

The rigor and discipline we use in running our business is key to consistently executing our growth strategy. And we systematically applied the same discipline to our investments, including acquisitions.

Buy companies with strong histories of profitability and with a dominant business franchise.

You can get wrapped up in that megamerger mentality.