Successful Acquisitions

Pursue External Growth

The fifth and final pathway we consider here is external growth. Here, expansion is achieved by engaging with entities outside the company itself. There are many forms of engagement, of which acquisition—the focus of this book—is but one. Though placed last on our list, external growth should not be seen as a last resort or the pathway to choose only if other courses are not available. In many cases, external growth should top your list of potential strategies. Our objective here is to ensure that you see external growth within the context of the other four alternatives. (See Figure 2-3 for a tool you can use to assess how the five pathways to growth would serve your company.)

Figure 2-3. The growth checklist.