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The Bottom Line

Acquisition continues to be a preferred strategy for manufacturers seeking to increase revenue and create long term growth.  Early stages of a merger usually center on factors like strategic fit, market footprint and business integration. There is another less exciting but important factor to consider during these talks: vendor contracts which can cause costly, tactical headaches if not identified early in the process. However, if t

he contracts are assessed early enough in the acquisition process, a company can reap benefits greater than expected through a due diligence process.

For all procurement executives that oversee vendor relationships, see if this scenario seems familiar: A long-time vendor visits your facility and, unsolicited, offers a contract extension along with attractive incentives; e.g., prebates, rebates, pricing discounts, etc. To date, you’ve enjoyed a good relationship with this partner with no plans to break the contract at expiration, so this provides an opportunity to look like a hero to your facility, bringing in an unexpected windfall to fund other priorities. What could be the downside?