Speaking of enterprises, we like the type of R&D and innovation, but most companies do not like R&D, not so many entrepreneurs are short-sighted, but R&D and innovation itself is a process of trial and error, which may spend a lot of time and money, but the result is nothing.
Compared with R&D, many companies like direct mergers and acquisitions, intending to directly obtain technology through the purchase of foreign companies.
A few years ago, when I was looking for a robotics-related business, I accidentally came across a company that acquired robotics through mergers and acquisitions, Efort. In 2015, EFORT acquired CMA, an Italian spraying robot manufacturer and system integrator, to fill its gap in the field of intelligent spraying robots and strengthen its competitiveness in the field of spraying
In 2016, EFORT acquired EVELOLUT, a high-end robot system integrator in the field of metal processing in Italy, mainly for general industrial grinding, polishing, metal processing and other scenarios
In 2017, EFORT acquired WFC Group, an Italian manufacturer of mid-to-high-end automotive body-in-white welding systems
In 2017, EFORT made a strategic investment in ROBOX, an Italian motion control system design company, to strengthen the field of core components.
EFORT quickly mastered the cutting-edge technology in multiple segments, and went public in 2020, raising 82.8 billion, it stands to reason that EFORT has capital, technology, and market, and should develop and grow rapidly, but the actual business situation is a big disappointment.
Since its listing, EFORT's revenue has been around 1.2 billion, with no performance growth, and a loss of 16.9 billion, with a loss of 1 in 20219.3 billion, with a loss of 1 in 20227.3 billion.
Obviously, EFORT encountered a big problem after the merger and acquisition, in the process of digestion and absorption, there are core technical personnel are poached, subsidiary assets and other problems, so many years have passed, the technology purchased may not be considered advanced.
M&A can enable a company to achieve unconventional development, but the success rate of M&A is not high. According to McKinsey & Company, the success rate of international mergers and acquisitions is generally only 33%, and nearly 70% have no obvious effect or failure.
With the progress of China's technology and gradually catching up with the first-mover countries, even mergers and acquisitions with a low success rate are hindered, and enterprises may rely more on endogenous growth in the future.
On the one hand, enterprises should continue to make profits to ensure survival, and continue to research and development to ensure competitiveness, to research and development innovation as the driving force of the enterprise is very few, in the future hope to be able to hold such a company.