M&A traps and consultancy accountability

In this week’s episode, MT’s editorial team discusses some common traps in M&A deals and whether consultancies should be held accountable for the actions of their clients.

This week a mega-deal was unveiled in the food delivery market when we heard that tech investor Prosus had agreed to acquire Just Eat Takeaway. While at €20.30 per share the offer represents a 22% premium to the company’s recent three-month stock price high, it still comes in at less than a fifth of the share’s peak in 2020, after a tumultuous few years for the company. The deal comes as Warwick Business School professor John Colley reflects on a previous M&A involving Just Eat Takeaway – its acquisition of Grubhub in 2021 – which he considers as an example of when acquisitions go wrong. We discuss some of the common M&A traps Colley outlines.

Consulting firm McKinsey has become the latest target of the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion. Last Monday, the firm’s London HQ was occupied by activists who vandalised its exterior, scaled the entrance, and hung a banner condemning the firm’s continued work with the fossil fuel industry. Éilis asked industry experts whether consultancies should be held accountable for the actions of their clients (where their advice was not a factor). We consider their responses.

Links:

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/six-traps-look-mergers-acquisitions/opinion-and-analysis/article/1907107

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/consultancies-held-accountable-actions-clients/opinion-and-analysis/article/1907520

Credits:

Presenters: Éilis Cronin and Antonia Garrett Peel

Producer: Inga Marsden

Artwork: David Robinson

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