Many acquisitions fail to live up to expectations. The reasons range from poor deal structure, poor strategic fit, failure to identify problems with the quality of earnings, overly optimistic estimates of synergies, to lack of an integration plan.

Evaluating a company in another country compounds these risks. You are dealing with a different language and cultural barriers; different business ethics, legal systems, filing regulations, and accounting principles; transfer pricing that affects taxation – and often government involvement.

But international deals often provide the best growth opportunities. They can offer improved returns from economies of scale, new target markets for existing products/services, access to commodity materials, and a hedge against seasonality.

Even savvy managements and private equity investors cannot know everything they should to make a deal successful, so they need an experienced international advisor.