msg industry advisors
Post Merger Integration
Realize growth potential and value enhancement with focused post-merger integration planning.
Takeovers and company mergers are essential parts of industrial expansion strategies. Still numerous studies have shown that more than half of such acquisitions fail, resulting in loss of value and failed growth. The primary goal of a Post Merger Integration Project is to avoid such failure by realizing the potential synergy of the growth potential in the merger.
Key to success is beginning as early as possible with planning the integration while calculating the cost and synergy factors. This can deliver also valuable input for the negotiation of the acquisition. Furthermore, it is important to identify early the growth potential so that it can be employed to add value after the integration.
Essential for the speed and final success of the fusion is realizing the identified synergies in the first 100 days. In focus are integration of customer and product portfolios, teams, structures, processes, and systems. Typically, the integration of the IT systems and their underlying business processes is usually one of the most costly subprojects.
Post-merger integration planning
msg Industry Advisors has extensive experience and a proven methodology for guiding fusions and acquisitions. We concentrate our efforts on 5 central aspects of the integration process:
Critical for the added value of a transaction is the utilization of synergies. It is insufficient to only estimate their potential – they must be realistically modelled and calculated as much as possible before the financial negotiations, and with consideration of the integration costs. Those reliable potential synergies enter into the Business Case, are important factors in the business negotiations and are the starting point for planning an integration with measurable financial effects.
The first goal of a successful Takeover is an uninterrupted business transition from the first day = no loss of income or customers. Planning of that first day includes all important business and supporting operations. Essential processes, such as marketing, delivery, controlling, and production are prepared to continue without problems. At this time communication with customers and staff cannot be neglected.
Before closing the deal there should be a comprehensive plan for the integration, covering all business and supporting functions, which becomes the Masterplan for the Integration. Timelines and required resources must be already defined. Priority should be given to the integration of IT systems since this often is a major cost factor.
Planning of the individual business and supporting processes are consolidated and controlled bz the PMO. The most important task is managing the realization of the potential synergies in the first 12 to 18 months.
In past years it has come to be recognized that „soft factors“, such as the company culture and worker motivation are becoming essential factors for a successful integration. Starting from a careful analysis of both company cultures, we apply our established methods of Change Management. Communicating professionally externally, and especially internally to the staff, is critical to success before, during and after the transition.