A deal-maker’s guide to growth economies

Read our full report 'Getting on the right side of the delta: A Deal-maker’s Guide to Growth Economies'

For many UK companies doing deals in growth markets remains incredibly challenging. We have carried out an assessment of over 200 deals, and interviewed 20 senior deal makers who have bought businesses in growth markets to understand the root causes of problems, and how they overcame the challenges encountered.

While there are plenty of examples of successful deals in growth markets, the people we interviewed acknowledged that deals in growth markets are inherently riskier. There is a much bigger deviation, or range, of potential outcomes. We refer to this range as the delta, and in growth economies, the delta between a good deal and a bad one is much bigger. If things go well, investors stand to make a lot of money. But if things go badly, investors can lose a lot.

Growth markets are different, which is why our strongest recommendation is to build the local resources needed to get a deal done well in advance of executing the first deal. This and other recommendations will help companies to avoid doing bad deals, to successfully complete on good ones and make sure a good deal doesn’t turn bad after completion.