In deal-making, keep people in mind
The Wall Street Journal  5/12/2008
by Carol Hymowitz
Microsoft has stopped trying to go steady with Yahoo and flirted a bit with Facebook. Mars and Wm. Wrigley Jr. are getting married. And Sprint and Nextel may soon file for divorce. Corporate deal-making, as we've seen recently, is a lot like dating and marriage. "Mergers go bad more often than they don't, but mergers are also indispensable," says Ted Rouse, a consultant at Bain & Company and co-leader of its mergers-and-acquisitions practice.
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Being a CEO has its perks, but tenure isn't one of them
The Boston Globe 5/11/2008
by Robert Weisman
The tenure of chief executives, those richly compensated princes riding herd on America's publicly traded companies, ranks among the shortest of any professional group. And it's continuing to be whittled down, according to recent data from consulting firms."You have only one chance to get it right," warned Mark Gottfredson, a partner in the Dallas office of management consulting firm Bain & Company, who's analyzed CEO turnover trends as disruptive technology and globalization have scrambled the game over the past decade.
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Retail sales to rise, but at what price?
The Wall Street Journal  5/7/2008
by Jennifer Saranow and Vanessa O'Connell
April retail sales reports out Thursday are likely to be far less dismal than in recent months. But the positive results will mask unusually deep discounts that chains are using to lure drained shoppers -- possibly at the expense of earnings. Frenzied discounting will continue as retailers look to grab consumer dollars temporarily buoyed by tax-rebate checks and comes as retailers face the worst spending crisis in years. "We're seeing earlier and deeper promotions," says Erika Serow, a Bain & Company retail partner.
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Web-service firms take non-IPO routes
The Wall Street Journal  5/6/2008
by Vauhini Vara and Mylene Mangalindan
For nearly a decade, companies have been touting "software as a service" -- Web-based services that handle business tasks that once required installing software on computers. But a tough market for initial public offerings has start-ups in the field eyeing other ways to grow and raise money. Rather than reacting to a mature market, makers of Web-based services are acquiring companies with complementary technology so that they can sell more services to their customers, said Simon Heap, a partner in Bain & Company's technology practice.
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Possible sale of Cavalli hangs in balance
Women's Wear Daily 5/5/2008
by Andrew Roberts
Is Roberto Cavalli really going to sell a stake in his business to private equity? According to sources, the answer will likely arrive before the summer, with the deadline for suitors to submit bids for the Italian fashion house slated for mid-May."There is very little propensity [at the moment] to risky investments from financial institutions providing the credit part of these deals," said Claudia D'Arpizio, a partner in the luxury goods practice of consulting firm Bain & Company, referring to private equity activity in general. "But I still see a lot of private equity interest in [the luxury goods] sector because it is still one of the most attractive in terms of market growth and profitability....[Private equity companies] feel they can do a turnaround and increase value in this sector," D'Arpizio told Women's Wear Daily.

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