I believe there needs to be very close co-ordination between HR, Finance and the project leader for several reasons. Firstly, HR involves all the internal stakeholders from the target and the principal. Apart from the administrative elements of ensuring that compensation plans are aligned, labour laws are met and that there are no hidden skeletons in terms of personnel litigation (all of which costs money!), HR is also critical in headcount planning, potential rationalizations and integration of the two companies workforce culturally and operationally. If there are red flags in any of these area that could cause financial and commercial assumptions to off, they need to be addressed prior to any deal closure.
