FOCUS: Seasoned, Systematic, Successful

FOCUS Newsletter

Vol. 7, No. 2, February 2009

FOCUS EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL M&A ACTIVITY.

In the article below, “FOCUS Elected to Membership in M&A Europe,” Gerald Turner, Managing Director, FOCUS, points out that over the past year, more than half of closed M&A deals at FOCUS have involved either a non-US buyer or seller. More than ever, middle market companies are pursuing worldwide opportunities with vigor.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to friends, colleagues and networking contacts. (Go to www.focusbankers.com for newsletter archives.)

Active FOCUS Deals

Operating nationally and internationally, FOCUS is currently working with buy- and sell-side corporate clients, private equity groups, holding companies and late stage venture capital firms in the following areas:

Advertising & Marketing
Building Materials
Business Consulting Services
Business Process Outsourcing
Call Center Services
Distribution
Education and Human Capital
Electronics
Energy
Engineering
Financial Services
Food, Beverage and Restaurant
Government, Aerospace & Defense
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Information Technology
Manufacturing
Media
Parking Operations
Retail Franchising
Semiconductor Equipment
Telemarketing
Warehouse Distribution

We have executed dozens of transactions in a range of market segments, but the same fundamentals apply across all of them. Our on-going transaction process provides us with up-to-the-minute market knowledge in these sectors that may be of corporate development interest to you.

Inquiries should be addressed via e-mail to info@focusbankers.com, by telephone to 202-470-1973 or by fax to 202-785-9413.

Dell Has Acquired Allin Corporation’s Microsoft Business

FOCUS initiated this transaction, assisted in the negotiations and acted as financial advisor to Allin Corporation. The acquisition involved Allin’s Microsoft IT consulting and solutions segments located in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, PA and San Jose and Walnut Creek, CA. Approximately 100 Allin employees joined Dell’s expanding services business. “Dell’s focus is on helping customers simplify their IT environments to deliver more flexibility and faster returns,” said Stephen Murdoch, vice president, Global Infrastructure Consulting Services, Dell. “Allin’s capabilities and customer focus fit perfectly in this strategy.” Read more...

Harris Computer Systems Has Acquired Global Software

FOCUS initiated this transaction, assisted in the negotiations and acted as financial advisor to Global Software Corporation, a leading provider of law enforcement records management, computer aided dispatch and jail management software solutions to the public safety market. Harris Computer Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Constellation Software, Inc., is a leading provider of financial management and customer information systems software solutions. Doug Rodgers, CEO of FOCUS, noted that “Deals like this illustrate that good deals can still be completed, despite the difficult economic environment. We believe strategic buyers, both public and private will be the buyers in the majority of transactions in 2009.” Read more...

FOCUS Elected to Membership in M&A Europe

By Gerald Turner, Managing Director, FOCUS

Over the past twelve months more than half of FOCUS closed M&A deals have involved either a non-US buyer or seller. As companies everywhere seek opportunities for their product or service, they go ever further afield. We believe that this marks a sea change in middle market M&A and is in no sense a temporary phenomenon. What most large companies have done for years--viewing their market potential on a worldwide basis and acquiring and divesting accordingly--middle market companies are now pursuing with vigor.

To participate in a like-minded network, FOCUS has been affiliated with M&A Europe (www.m-and-a-europe.no) for the past couple of years and in November, 2008, was elected a member. Founded in 2004, M&A Europe is a network of M&A boutiques with members and affiliates in most European countries from France and Belgium to Turkey, Poland and Israel, with affiliates in India and Brazil.

In general, membership is limited to one member per country which ensures meaningful participation by each. In particular, it means that we have ongoing access to a level of local knowledge which can only be obtained by long term experience in the particular market itself.

To learn more, contact: Gerald Turner at gerald.turner@focusbankers.com or 202-470-1972 (o) or Rick Thomas at rick.thomas@focusbankers.com or 202-470-1976 (o).

Gareth Clarke Joins FOCUS’ Southeast Office as a Senior Advisor

Gareth Clarke has joined FOCUS as a Senior Advisor in the Atlanta, GA office. Mr. Clarke is a seasoned, internationally experienced CEO with a diverse background in revolutionizing markets by commercializing breakthrough technology. He has demonstrated the ability to grow businesses in sectors dominated by major competitors, particularly in the healthcare industry.

“We are delighted that Gareth has agreed to work with us in the Senior Advisor capacity. His years of experience, particularly in the healthcare industry, will benefit our firm greatly,” said Jonathan Wilfong, FOCUS Regional Managing Partner.

About Gareth Clarke

Prior to joining FOCUS, Clarke served as Chief Executive at Inviro Medical Devices, an innovative medical device start-up in Atlanta, Georgia. He also served as President of Columbia Crest Consulting and held senior management, marketing and finance positions with the London International Group, a global leader in the surgical glove and family planning markets. Read more…

A new Harvard Business School working paper--with an amusing title but serious purpose--examines how employees do stupid things when their bosses tell them to focus on excessively narrow and demanding targets.

Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting features a handy ten-point checklist for managers to consult before they set goals for others, which translates into these questions:

Are the goals too specific?
Are they too challenging and what happens if they are not met?
Who sets the goals and is the employee adequately involved?
Is the time horizon appropriate or does it foster short-termism?
How might the goals influence risk-taking and what are the acceptable associated risks?
How might the goals promote unethical behavior and what safeguards are in place?
Can they be tailored to individuals while remaining fair?
How will they affect the organization’s culture? Are team goals more appropriate?
Does affected staff have an intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivation?
Would learning, rather than performance, be a better target?

According to the working paper, “Goal setting is one of the most replicated and influential paradigms in the management literature. Hundreds of studies conducted in numerous countries and contexts have consistently demonstrated that setting specific, challenging goals can powerfully drive behavior and boost performance.

Advocates of goal setting have had a substantial impact on research, management education, and management practice. In this article, we argue that the beneficial effects of goal setting have been overstated and that systematic harm caused by goal setting has been largely ignored.

We identify specific side effects associated with goal setting, including a narrow focus that neglects non-goal areas, a rise in unethical behavior, distorted risk preferences, corrosion of organizational culture, and reduced intrinsic motivation.

Rather than dispensing goal setting as a benign, over-the-counter treatment for motivation, managers and scholars need to conceptualize goal setting as a prescription-strength medication that requires careful dosing, consideration of harmful side effects, and close supervision. We offer a warning label to accompany the practice of setting goals.”

Download the complete 28-page PDF at http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-083.pdf.

RECOMMENDED READING:
Down Only 27%? We'll Take It! Enter the Era of Low Expectations

In a February 6, 2009 article by Frank Ahrens in the Washington Post, the author asks, “Has ‘not as bad as we thought it would be’ become the new ‘good’? Has the economy really come to that?

With the Dow Jones industrial average down 8 percent this year, with the national unemployment rate almost certain to rise when it comes out today, and with exports grinding to a halt in Japan and elsewhere, the answer is yes, it has come to that. Any sliver of not-terrible news looks like a silver lining. We'll take it…

Call it the era of diminished expectations. Implicit in the grasp for good news is this: People need to believe that things are going to get better… ”
To read the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020503154.html.