Potentialyze-M&A

The Challenge

A large percentage of the Top Global 500 companies target mergers or acquisitions as part of their growth strategy. Success of such projects is predicated on properly capturing synergies and realizing the expected value-add - greater top-line growth, broader geographical reach, new customers and markets, expanded product portfolio, as well as new and more scalable capabilities- within a specific timeframe.

Unfortunately, up to 90% of mergers fail. Of these 90%, 85% fail largely because of inability to properly manage the people and cultural integration. Factors such as lack of organizational culture and change agility, insufficient management and leadership, and the inability to create urgency and momentum early on, consistently make the top list for why M&A deals fail.

Quite often the magnitude and impact of these "people and cultural factors" are underestimated, particularly during the due diligence phase, resulting in delayed synergy realization and costs of 3 to 10 times over planned budget due to retrofitting. Synergy realization is often delayed because of resistance and undesirable attrition. This, in turn, negatively impacts knowledge transfer, productivity and performance, thereby further driving up costs.

The Approach

Potentialyze helps you avoid such costly and shocking surprises. In partnership with your leadership team, we develop a holistic integration approach, addressing people and cultural factors, thereby positively effecting engagement, retention, cultural integration and productivity, performance, and consequently the overall success of the integration.

Our merger and acquisition professionals bring hands-on experience at all stages of the transformation — from deal strategy to successful integration. We focus on the key factors which drive successful integration:

• Speed and pacing — Create a sense of urgency and jump-start key activities even before the announcement, starting with a clear and compelling vision and roadmap
• High performance integration team — Establish the right governance structure and "cross-company" team to collaboratively lead and execute the transition
• Strong governance and robust project management — Ensure strong centralized program management with best practice tools and reporting, as well as effective risk, program and escalation management
• Focus, prioritize and measure — Identify and focus relentlessly on the top 3-5 value creators and synergies. Establish and regularly track progress on critical metrics
• Behavior change — Identify and focus on influencing the key behaviors without which the change will not be successful
• Communication — Ensure comprehensive, frequent and consistent communications with internal and external stakeholders
• Culture — Leverage the strengths of both cultures to achieve the synergies of the merger, based on a foundation of mutual respect and learning
• Engagement and retention — Engage and retain top performers and employees who are key to a seamless transition

The Results

• Early identification of and plan to address top "people and culture risks" for your merger or acquisition
• A holistic integration plan and business case, which addresses people and cultural factors
• A merger vision, which inspires and engages internal and external stakeholders
• A high performance integration and leadership team, equipped to lead the transition and ensure long term organizational performance
• The right people with the right skills and attitudes in the right place to drive performance
• A successful integration of both cultures by agreeing on common values and ways of working together that bring out the "best of" both organizations
• Retention and active participation of employees to make the merger a success
• Laser-like focus on and execution of synergy realization, all while continuing to successfully run day to day operations
• Quicker and higher realization of the business case — i.e. market growth, profitability increases