[Amy Crawford]

When working on post-merger integration, what have been your top 3 obstacles and related learning?

[LaurentG]

Let me start rolling the ball with – maybe – obvious ones:
– communication and change management: are all stakeholders on board on what we’re trying to merge and why? Repeating the communication via different channels for appropriate audiences. Stakeholder map, resistance management, governance and RACI.
– What makes the integrated business specific and unique and how it is different from the acquiring company: what needs to be changed in the global functions to address the specifics of the business being integrated: product families, new customer segment, different distribution, system and data changes…
– Are we missing any impacted function in the game: IT, Sales, Supply Chain and what about Legal, Regulatory, Customs, or other functions specifics to your domain?

Looking forward to seeing contributions from others.

[Oana]

– Lack of integration planning
– Arrogance of acquirer towards the acquiree
– Silo thinking

[RaQia Randall-Bouchard]

Change management in the form of setting the right total rewards expectations, frequent retention or “stay” interviews of top talent, and appropriate leader engagement and inclusion.

[Todd Hendon]

In a recent integration with an acquired company we ran into several issues the most impactful being:
– No communication as to the nature of the acquisition intention
– lengthy delay in restructuring of management reporting structure
– cancelling the integration project team to turn the tasks over to Run the Business

We in the PMO are working to build a better M&A playbook to not repeat these mistakes in the future.

[Jones Max]

In my experience, the top three obstacles in post-merger integration have been:

Cultural Alignment: Mismatches in company cultures can create friction. Addressing this early with transparent communication helps.
Systems Integration: IT and operational systems can be difficult to merge, delaying synergy realization. Careful planning and phased integration are key.
Employee Retention: Losing key talent during integration can disrupt operations. Offering retention bonuses and involving HR early has been effective in keeping crucial personnel onboard.

[Cristina Girtu]

DD not completed
Synergies not stimated before the closing
Change Management plan not created

[Author]

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