An Introduction to Mergers and Acquisitions

M&A stands for Mergers and Acquisitions and is the area of corporate strategy, finance and management of buying, selling and dividing businesses.

There are some important distinctions between mergers and acquisitions. Put simply, an acquisition is when one company purchases another while a merger is where two or more companies combine. An acquisition is where a company buys another and absorbs them within their business. The acquirer may take the assets of the company they have bought within their own company, effectively meaning it no longer exists. In other circumstances they might still operate independently to some extent by keeping their name and operating as a separate business. In these cases consumers may not notice a difference. Mergers occur when companies join together to form one, larger company. They are in these cases equal partners rather than one owning the other. Neither company will continue to exist independently with a new company formed that includes the assets of both.

There are many famous examples of both mergers and acquisitions. The bank, Santander, is a well-known example of an acquisition where one company was fully absorbed into another. They bought Abbey (formerly Abbey National), who became part of the Santander brand. Abbey customers became Santander customers and Abbey seized to exists. BMW’s acquisition of Land Rover is an example of an acquisition where both companies still exist in name. BMW now owns Land Rover even though they operate separately in many ways. The joining of forces of the two banks, Lloyds and TSB, is a good example of a merger. They were two individual banks who merger to form one company, now called Lloyds TSB. They are equal partners and neither owns the other.

Although there are rare occasions when it is the other way around, acquisitions usually occur when a larger company purchases a smaller one. They see the success another company is having or potential in their business model or clients and look to take advantage of this. Mergers generally occur where businesses in the same industry believe they will work better as one, possibly due to saving costs or being able to offer a better service as a combined company.

Although not all acquisitions and mergers are success, there are many reasons why they can work well. A reduction in overheads is one of these. They may be able to share premises saving on rents. It can also mean a reduction in the number of employees required. Within certain departments smaller teams may be able to work across both companies without having to grow in size. Sometimes a company will acquire another simply to get the business of their clients. Products and services can, in many cases complement each other and this can be a reason for a merger. They may cover different areas of the same industry and being able to offer more services can bring in customers by offering a more all-encompassing service.

Some very large companies regularly acquire others to ensure they can offer services in many areas around their particular industry. Google, Microsoft and News International are all examples of this. They are constantly acquiring existing businesses therefore growing their brand.

Andrew Marshall ©

M&A Solicitors can assist companies with mergers and acquisitions.

Reasons for the Increasing Age of Marriage

Society is constantly changing and along with this so are families. The typical family of two married parents and two-point-four children is a thing of the past. One family related change is the age at which the average person is getting married with people, on average, getting married significantly later in life than they were in previous generations. Women now get married aged twenty-nine on average while the average age for men is thirty-one. This is around five years later than in the 1960’s, with averages having increased even more since the beginning of the twentieth century. There are a number of society changes that have caused this as well as financial reasons.

Getting married used to be ‘something you did’ and the vast majority of people would get married. In general, people got married young (in their early twenties) and had children soon after. It wouldn’t be long after meeting a suitable partner that someone would marry. People now consider marriage more carefully before deciding whether or not to tie the knot. In the past, especially if you look back a hundred years or more, there was a more rigid structure to society in general. The typical family saw women stay at home and look after the children and men go out to work. Very few women would be in work while men helping with the housework was almost unheard of. Nowadays lifestyles are much more varied and some decide never to get married.

The majority of couples in the UK today live together prior to getting married, something that was almost never the case in the past when it wasn’t considered socially acceptable. This can lead to marriage seeming like less of a rush. If a couple already live together then they may already live a lifestyle similar to a married couple and marrying may, therefore, not seem essential. If couples are unsure of whether or not to marry they have the option of waiting until they are certain. This leads to some not ever marrying even if they are in a long-term or life-long relationship. Unmarried couples having children is significantly more common today, with roughly half of new parents not married.

Women’s role in society has particularly changed. Whereas once it was uncommon for women to work, now most will work at one time or another during their lifetime. A career is a priority for many women, more so than in the past. This can mean putting off getting married and having a family.

The financial side of weddings is another factor as they can be very expensive. Although they don’t necessarily have to cost a lot, if you are getting married you want it to be special and probably don’t want to do it cheaply. Due to the idea people have of a perfect wedding and the increasing amount they can cost many young adults don’t have the required funds for the type of wedding they dream of. They therefore save up over a longer period of time.

The above is just a general look at some of the more obvious reasons why the average age of marriage has increased. There are, though, many reasons besides these that could also be influencing factors.

Andrew Marshall ©

Family Law

What do Housing Solicitors do?

During the process of buying or selling a home most will use the services of a housing solicitor. But what exactly do housing solicitors do? This article takes a brief look at some areas of moving home that a solicitor is involved in.

When selling a property the first role of the solicitor is to check the title of the property to ensure everything is as you believed it to be, including that you are the legal owner. They will then draw up a contract for sale between you and the prospective buyer. This includes dealing with the fees; how much you will be paid for the property and when the transaction will take place. Once you are ready to sell your previous home your lawyer will be involved in making sure the previous mortgage (if you have one) is fully paid off. They will liaise with the relevant parties, including the estate agent and buyer, to arrange a date for the exchange of contracts. Most importantly, they will ensure the payment from the new owner and their lender is received. Once everything has been completed your solicitor will notify HM Land Registry of the exchange of contract and the details of the new owner.

When you instruct a housing solicitor to begin the legal process of purchasing a property one of the first things they will do is check the title at HM Land Registry to ensure the details you have been given are correct and that the seller is free to sell you the property. They will query anything that they deem necessary and gather any relevant information. There can be a mass of legal information that needs to be sifted through and making sure any legal matters are tidied up is crucial. A good solicitor will gather all the relevant information and prepare a legal package so it can be easily understood by their client. There may be specific legal information regarding a particular property that you need to be aware of. This can include any local laws or regulations and any restrictions, such as building restrictions, and any potential problems with the property. Anything that could affect the value will be included here. They will liaise with your mortgage company and the seller (or the seller’s solicitor) regarding payment and the exchange of contracts. Once you have purchased a new home you will own the deeds for the property and it is the lawyers responsibility to obtain these from the previous owner.

There are many reasons to hire a housing solicitor when buying or selling a property. The main one is that it is a criminal offence for someone who is not qualified to do so to draw up a contract of sale. There are certain aspects of the legal process, though, that can be done by the buyer or seller themselves. It is, however, a complicated process and there are many legal hoops to go through. It needs doing properly and professionally and using a solicitor can prevent a lot of stress.

Housing solicitors are not only used when buying or selling properties, but can be used for rental properties too. They can be involved in contracts between landlords and tenants as well as the occurrence of any disputes. A landlord or tenant might hire a lawyer if they believe the other party is acting illegally.

Repossessions are another situation where housing solicitors may be utilised. If a property is being repossessed it is likely the bank or mortgage company will use a solicitor to ensure everything is done according to the law. The home owner might also hire legal representation, particularly if they believe the attempted repossession in breaking the law.

Andrew Marshall ©

Interior Design Trends 2012

Fashion is always changing. And this is just as much the case with interior decorating as it is with the clothes we wear. So what are some of the interior design trends for 2012?

Creating Your Own

These days many people like to create their own interiors to stamp their own mark on their home. Having more of a hands-on approach to decoration is something that has been growing in popularity in recent years and this is continuing in 2012. This includes people creating or transforming their own furniture and creating personal pieces of art. Using your own scenic photographs instead of buying them has also become more common. People who don’t like the idea of waste are making use of materials that may otherwise be discarded. People like the idea of creating something themselves and this is becoming apparent in many people’s homes.

Second-hand Furniture

Second-hand furniture makes a home appear vintage. This along with altered old furniture – such as furniture turned into something completely different – is becoming increasingly common. People also like to make things look older than they actually are.

Soft Furnishings

Comfort has become more of a key lately. Whereas relatively recently style was perhaps considered more important than comfort, there now appears to be more of a balance between the two. Corner sofas are something that had gone completely out of fashion but are growing in popularity once again. Large cushions are also being used more commonly due to the more homely feel they can give. Patchwork and velvet are two other things that are coming back.

Wooden Flooring

Wooden flooring is continually becoming more popular, something that has been a gradual trend over the last decade or two. One reason for this is the elegant style it creates. It can make a home seem more specious so is particularly suitable for smaller homes and flats. Wooden flooring is practical too with it simply needing wiping down for cleaning.

Window Shutters

Window shutters, especially wooden shutters, given an elegant feel to a home while also being a return to tradition. These were originally used prior to curtains being an option and have been coming back into fashion in recent times. They also have practical benefits as home owners are able to adjust shutters and their louvres to let in the optimum amount of sunlight and air.

Wooden Furniture

As well as wooden flooring and wooden shutters, wooden furniture is currently popular. It is seen by some as being very natural, with a natural feel to a home being fashionable. Partly due to the success of Ikea, a Scandinavian style is popular, and wooden furniture is part of this.

Affordable Luxury

In the current economic climate the term ‘affordable luxury’ is being used a lot, in interior design and in other ways. This doesn’t mean things that are very expensive, such as a swimming pool, but relatively small things that give an air of luxury. This is more about things that might cost fifty pounds or a hundred pounds rather than things that might cost thousands. Examples include kitchen appliances or an improved shower unit.

More Colours, Brighter Colours

Colour is coming back in rather than the blacks and whites that often accompanied minimalist designs. Brighter colours, such as reds, oranges, greens and yellows, are being used more commonly. As well as using brighter colours, people are using a mixture of colours rather than just one or two.

Andrew Marshall ©

Can Web Hosting be One-hundred Percent Reliable?

For a website to be visible to the public it must be hosted on a web server. There are a variety of hosting types on the market for website owners with different packages suitable depending on the type of website, the content of the website and the amount of traffic that is expected. It is generally considered that, whatever type of hosting is chosen, it is impossible that it can be one-hundred percent reliable with a website always live. The general consensus is that there is always going to be downtime at some point. Sometimes hosting is effected by maintenance tasks that have to be carried out on servers and there are times when problems cannot be completely avoided. For this reason hosting companies will not guarantee one-hundred percent uptime, although they will usually guarantee a percentage that is above ninety-nine percent.

Despite the perception that website hosting cannot be one-hundred percent reliable there is a possibility that a situation can be achieved whereby a site is almost certainly never offline. But how is this possible? If you have a hundred data centres in a hundred different locations (possible in different countries) and a backup of your website in every single one, then it is extremely unlikely that they are all going to be experiencing problems or are all going to be down at the same time. This would only ever really happen if the site was deliberately targeted. The reality is that it would probably take less than one-hundred backups in different data centres for this to be achievable. Ten data centres would possibly be enough. Where this is the case guarantees of one-hundred percent uptime would be unlikely (as in theory them all being down simultaneously is still possible) but in reality a website is extremely unlikely to ever be offline.   

So, it is possible that a website can be live all of the time. This is, though, extremely expensive. Hosting a site in one data centre is expensive enough so multiplying this several times over simply as a security measure will cost a lot. For certain types of sites it is worth this cost, though. This cost can be reduced, however, with the use of cloud hosting.

Cloud hosting is an increasingly popular form of web hosting. Rather than purchasing a dedicated server where a website is hosted, utilising cloud hosting means that the required hosting resources are spread across several servers. This reduces the likelihood of significant downtime, thus increasing reliability.

So cloud hosting has security benefits. As well as the regular cloud hosting security advantages it can also be used to make one-hundred percent uptime more of a possibility but at a cheaper cost than is otherwise the case. As the load can be spread across many servers it means using multiple backups in multiple data centre may not be necessary.

Will there ever be a time when one-hundred percent uptime can be guaranteed? This may or may not become possible in the future. What is likely, though, is that circumstances could be achieved whereby any downtime is extremely unlikely and cloud hosting is something that will make this both more achievable and achievable at a lower cost.

Andrew Marshall ©