In high-growth industries, deals focus mainly on accelerating
growth through integration.
In these industries, cost synergies are fine as long as
they don't pose any risk on disrupting the business goals of
the newly acquired asset.
We enable our clients to drive growth through post-merger
integrations by focusing on three core strategic levers
Number 1, unlock the go-to-market potential.
The most successful integrations identify cross-sell and up-sell
opportunities using the value proposition of the expanded
product portfolio to target customer segments.
With strategic deployment of clean teams, organizations can
tackle go-to-market work during the pre-close period
so they can build momentum with customers immediately after the
deal closes.
Companies can also invest in go-to-market capabilities that
enable growth such as e-commerce platforms and R&D on
high-priority product road map.
Number 2 boldly address operating model issues even in
limited integrations.
It's natural for leaders to try to avoid any disruptions to the
target business.
But even with limited integration of high-growth
assets, leaders should be clear about what the final operating
model will be, how much integration will happen, and
when those changes will occur.
In our experience, the most successful high-growth
integrations are those that grapple with important operating
model questions.
For example, what is the right sequence and pace for the
integration?
Here we often see high-growth PMIs integrate corporate
functions first to capture low-risk synergies while taking
a more measured approach to parts of the target business
that are closer to the customer.
It's also important to consider how to collaborate across legacy
businesses in commercial and operational functions before
full integration. And if there are parts of the business that
will not integrate.
what are the right messages to send to employees and customers
about the long term integration vision?
The third main strategic lever in high-growth PMI involves
talent retention.
In high-growth merger situations, key talent is often
in demand, but retaining this talent is essential to keeping
growth on track.
We see successful integrations use two main approaches to
minimize unwanted attrition.
First, they proactively look at similarities and differences in
the corporate cultures. Instead of trying to create one
homogeneous culture,
the answer is often to keep the special sauce of both legacy
cultures while still making employees feel like part of the
combined company.
Second, they identify core talent and explain the benefits
of being part of a larger company--
from bigger investments in product portfolios to new career
advancement opportunities. With clear communications,
organizations can reduce talent flight risks and maintain their
high growth trajectory both during and after the
integration.