Best Merger Book of the Year: Zero-Sum Game

Every year more than 250,000 books are published in the U.S.  Some 11,000 of these are business books, and Zero-Sum Game is one of the very best.

Go buy a copy right now.  If you’re involved in the fast-growth game of M&A, this new release by Erika Olson should zip to the top of your need-to-read list.

Zero-Sum Game is the gripping inside story of the wheeling, dealing, and corporate maneuvering that took place in the merger of the Chicago Board of Trade with its 109-year archenemy, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.  This is the deal that produced the largest derivatives exchange on Planet Earth:  CME Group.

As a Managing Director at CBOT, Erika had a close-up view of the high-altitude finance, hardball negotiating, and executive power plays that took place during this nine-month deal-making melee.  Her saga captures the essence of M&A—the ambition, angst, adrenaline, and uncertainty—and she uses this high-octane mixture to power her suspenseful narrative.

Zero-Sum Game reads like a novel, but the story is real. 

(I know, because PRITCHETT was there. Full disclosure:  My firm was heavily involved in the deal as advisor on merger integration.)