Mergers are back near the top of CEOs' agendas as master strategy tools. Yet succeeding at mergers and acquisitions has never been easy, and solid surveys indicate that more than half of all acquisitions actually destroy shareholder value rather than producing net benefits. In this article, the authors lay out the "golden rules" for success, beginning with the need for a clear strategic rationale for a merger and concluding with the importance of effectively managing the merger's smallest details on a tight timescale.

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