Corporate leaders find themselves in a classic catch-22. Seventy percent of major acquisitions fail—yet it's nearly impossible to build a world-class company through organic growth alone. Within this paradox lies an intriguing question: What do successful dealmakers do differently?

David Harding and Sam Rovit have spent more than three decades working in the trenches with executives grappling with the merger process. In Mastering the Merger, they argue that the top dealmakers employ specific tactics and behaviors that dramatically improve the odds that a merger will succeed. Rather than engaging in complex megamergers, these companies execute a series of smaller, lower-risk deals, gradually scaling up and institutionalizing a "success formula." And rather than wasting time on excessive number crunching, they implement a highly disciplined dealmaking process focused on four key imperatives:

1. Invest with a sound thesis
2. Ask and answer the big questions in due diligence
3. Integrate quickly where it matters
4. Develop contingency plans for the unexpected

Drawing from extensive Bain & Company research on more than 1,700 companies and illustrated through stories of real merger successes and failures, Harding and Rovit walk readers through each of these make-or-break decisions and distill the most important lessons would-be acquirers should learn before they enter the merger fray.

A must-read for every corporate executive, Mastering the Merger illuminates the core decision strategies that will help companies win in the essential but risky world of M&A.