'Mergers and acquisitions - lucrative, but diligence necessary '
The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) - UK's Sri Lanka branch and
KPMG recently conducted a seminar on business growth prospects through
mergers, acquisitions and restructuring at the Cinnamon Lakeside in
Colombo. President, CMI Sri Lanka Branch, Rohitha Mendis said
professional managers should explore new avenues for business growth to
remain competitive in changing markets and stressed the need to
understand the challenges that such actions would entail. Mendis said
that CMI is the only Chartered professional body in the UK dedicated to
promoting the highest standards in management and leadership excellence.
He said that CMI is committed to help shape and support managers of
tomorrow enabling them to deliver results, by sharing the latest
insights and setting standards in management development through
presentations and seminars.
The event was moderated by Managing Partner of KPMG in Sri Lanka,
Reyaz Mihular. He said that mergers and acquisitions is an expeditious
way of growing a business compared to organic growth. Growth via mergers
and acquisitions (M and A) entail many challenges but nevertheless many
firms have success stories with regard to this mode of growth of a
business not only in foreign markets but in Sri Lanka as well.
He said that businesses should be ready to respond to market
opportunities and sometimes these opportunities are only available for a
short time.
Organic growth might not be able to meet such demands and an
effective alternative is to consider mergers and acquisitions.
Managing Director of Anilana Hotels and Properties Limited, Asanga
Seneviratne, discussed a series of critical success factors that could
affect the outcomes when carrying out M and A deals. According to
Seneviratne, the team involved in the deal is crucial and the sense to
recognise good opportunities plays a key part of a success story. His
presentation also described some of the key M and A deals done globally
and in the Sri Lankan market which have resulted in a significant
increase in market capitalisation and shareholder value.
Founder and Managing Director of Norfolk Foods (Private) Limited,
Mohamed Ziauddin, spoke on how businesses could reach greater heights
through mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.
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