Growth by Acquisiton

...no value is created by such expansion.

The problem with engineering growth by acquisition is that when you buy a company, especially a public company, you usually pay too much.  If you have friendly investment bankers and lenders, you can grow as fast as you like by acquisition.  

But unless you can buy companies for less than they are worth, or unless you are specially positioned to add more value to the target than anyone else can, no value is created by such expansion.

ACTION POINT: Do your growth plans create more value?