Post M&A Integration
In this situation, either your organization was sold and needs to be integrated in the buyer’s organization, or you bought or merged with an organization and need to integrate it into your own.
The implications of an M&A transaction depend on many factors. At one end of the spectrum, the acquired company remains autonomous and integration effort is kept to a minimum, mostly on financial reporting aspects. At the other end of the spectrum, the acquired company is fully integrated in the buyer’s business, which implies a significant changes to be implemented. When talking about approaches and challenges, we keep the view of the integrator, and we assume an integration program is necessary.
How can I make sure I get the right value from the acquired company?
You made the company acquisition with a purpose in mind. Whether you implement Buy and Build strategy or this transaction was a one time only transaction, the focus is now in making sure the perceived value brought by the new company is transformed in reality.
In the end, it is about what you should keep and what you should change in the acquired company, so you can both benefit from possible business synergies and, at the same time, to optimize for efficiency. These points will become the objectives of the required transformation program.
What are the main challenges I must overcome to have a successful integration as planned?
Assuming a moderate or close integration requirements, the transformations of the acquired company could be important. At the same time, it is most likely that the rest of the companies in the group will be affected to a certain degree.
So before planning the transformation program, you should take time to identify the issues and risks. For example, you might consider aspects in the business positioning, potential conflicts determined by the new portfolio elements in relation with the existing ones, compatibility of processes and IT infrastructure, compatibility of financial reporting. The people factor in such a transformation is also critical, so you need to have a proper communication plan and to take the right measures to keep affected people engaged and, eventually, accepting the changes.
How should I overcome the challenges?
The previous two questions helped identifying the transformation program objectives, and risk and other potential issues induced by such a change.
With this input, you are able to plan the transformation program, and then executing it. Since usually such a transformation program can be quite complex, the proper monitoring and steering should be put in place, so corrective actions can be taken fast, once deviations are detected.
The Results
Through our guidance, coaching and direct involvement, in this stage of your Company Journey you will achieve the following results:
Positioning
Aligned Strategies
Portfolio
Identified synergies between the two businesses, also reflected in the overall strategy
People
Straight forward communication plan mitigating the expected resistance to change
Compatible organization structures
Professional management using compatible management styles and fact based decision making
Processes
Integrated processes and IT infrastructures
Performance
Integrated reporting systems and procedures to support the new business steering