Trust and Transparency: the T&T of M&A

They say that candor is refreshing. In M&A negotiations, it can be a blast of pure oxygen. Let me tell you the story.

I was with a selling client during the first visit by a potential buyer and his team. The buyer understood the sensitivity of situations like this: strangers in the plant, guys in suits walking around, nervous questions from everybody. He asked my client straight out: “Who do your employees think we are, and why do they think we’re here?”