The most important rule in M&A is to avoid destroying value, so you need to take the time to design your processes and plan carefully to deal with the possibility of things going wrong. My experience has shown that the most frequent issues are around people, how they respond to change and their reluctance and their reaction when something doesn’t work as was planned.
We assist our clients in setting up the system that will allow them to spot issues early and quickly respond. This could be that, for instance, holding weekly meetings in which the IMO and functional work streams review progress against the plan and escalate issues and risks to SteerCo.
Once the process for tackling issues is established It’s important to concentrate on execution. This means ensuring that the team understands what it’s required to achieve, how that will be measured, and when. It also includes clearly publishing accountability (i.e. taking responsibility for the final results) and decision-making authority for the entire company.
It’s essential to ensure that the CEO and upper management are able to devote at minimum 90 percent of their time on essential business matters and avoid being distracted by integration tasks. A great way to do this is to choose an experienced leader to oversee the Decision Management Office (IMO) which will help triage the decisions and manage the work streams. This person could be from the acquisition company, or it can be a rising star within the newly merged company that has the backing of their boss in making this commitment.
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