M & A Support

M&A Transaction Support

It is widely acknowledged that, despite the prevalence of M&A activity, too many transactions still fail to realise the full value promised pre-deal for a range of reasons. Effective due diligence and robust Day 1 and 100 day planning are critical to the successful execution of post-transaction changes and have a disproportionately high impact on the overall success of a deal.

We work with our clients to provide focused, effective support around transactions, with a particular focus on Technology and Change Management, helping them mitigate and manage the risks around their deal.

Should you be facing challenges with the execution of your plans, we are also highly experienced at recovering and resetting complex programmes to bring delivery back on track and help you to understand the options and impacts surrounding the recovery.

IT due diligence & discovery

The reality is that too many deals suffer as a result of due diligence that is inadequate, either in scope or in execution – and particularly so in relation to Technology. The impacts can frequently have a material impact on the post deal plans, integration/separation and growth. We can help to de-risk this through focused Technology due diligence across a range of areas:

systems and infrastructure – including Cloud architecture, networks and hardware, reviewing costs and risks

IT operating model and costs – reviewing the current operating model, identifying risks, benchmarking costs and identifying post deal synergies where applicable

legacy/technical debt – often a hidden area, we will help to flush out the risks extant in the current capabilities and roadmaps for remediation

information security – an area of heightened focus given the associated risks, including capability benchmarking and penetration tests where applicable

Post-deal Integration & Transformation

Early planning around key integration scope, activities, challenges and dependencies is the key to an effective post-deal integration, with minimal business interruption. Our team can bring a breadth of experience to help you develop clear, effective and achievable plans within the constraints of the deal terms:

planning for Day 1 and the subsequent 100 days changes, including an assessment of readiness across key areas, including organisational design/realignment, process and supply chain integration, product offers, technology and data integration, and benefits realisation tracking
establishing an enterprise-wide Programme Office to oversee the integration, providing robust governance, accurate and transparent reporting on progress and appropriate issue escalation and resolution as required
consideration of how employees will be integrated, from structure and target operating models through to the more emotive areas such as pay, rewards and benefits
crafting effective communications for dissemination across the organisation to support the cultural, organisational, operational and technology changes that will facilitate the integration

Separation, carve out planning & delivery

Successful separation is predicated on the execution of a broad portfolio of change which collectively delivers a clean and effective separation. With many moving parts, hard deadlines and, often, complex technology and supply chain interdependencies to be unpicked, we can provide robust planning, execution and monitoring of progress:

working with you to clearly identify the scope of the separation planning and activities, create a programme structure to effectively execute and govern the delivery of the changes and prepare financial modelling to estimate delivery and other associated costs
establishing an enterprise-wide Programme Office to oversee the separation, providing robust governance, accurate and transparent reporting on progress and appropriate issue escalation and resolution as required
establishing commercially effective and appropriate Transitional Service Agreements to support the separation period from both sides, anticipating where issues may arise and working through solutions to manage such risks
carrying out a robust risk assessment of the separation plans, with detailed mitigations for the most critical and highest risk dependencies