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In order to institutionalize such important aspect, & to retain the corporate memory, we as an M&A department are collaborating with the Center of Excellence in Aramco Corporate Development Organization in order to capture the lessons learned from the previous transactions. Those information are feeding the M&A toolkit that is currently being developed to facilitate & deliver multiple aspect, one of which is this crucial element.
Especially for financial sponsors embarking on ‘roll-up’ strategies, we saw that there is in fact a ‘programmatic’ approach to doing successful value-accretive M&As. The acquirer would need to assemble an experienced and dedicated M&A / PMI team that have a deep understanding of (1) type of company to acquire that delivers strategic and financial value, (2) likelihood of achieving the desired synergies from the acquisition, (3) potential risks and worse case scenario that could happen from making the acquisition, (4) have a strong ability to unlock value and realize synergies from the acquisition. With an experienced and consistent M&A / PMI team in place, the approach to M&A can be institutionalized and applied across future acquisitions.
Having a repeatable “Lessons Learned” process in place can certainly support further refinement of your “Best Practices” for M & A. We review key findings from the Lessons Learned to determine the best place to incorporate feedback. As we strive to continuously improve the overall process and depending on the feedback/suggestions provided, we may incorporate it into our M & A playbook(s) and/or Due Diligence or Integration planning/Execution process. For example, we may add it to the Integration Planning Framework or update templates and/or checklists that are used in various phases of the acquisition integration or due diligence.
We are consistently in touch with our leadership to ensure projects are on track as well as closing within the confines of our budget and timeline. This iterative process forces accountability on our project teams and forces us to think about what changes we’d make in the future if given the same situation. Informally, I have my own personal notepad with lessons learned that I’m updating weekly/monthly. This keeps me sharp when connecting with leadership on how we should correct course.
Little mistakes create large issues and thus, small tasks are very important to manage appropriately to mitigate risk.
Building institutional knowledge and expertise can take a multi-pronged approach. At my company, we are building an enterprise capability with post-merger integration expertise on the people/process/technology needs of small, medium, and large deals. These will be enduring resources that will be support all deals, whether directly or indirectly. They will refine the playbooks and execution plans based on other enterprise deals. Functional playbooks and operating procedures will be retained by the functions themselves, and will see continuous refinement as the number of deals and experience increases.
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