My client was negotiating the purchase of a global technology business from private equity and wanted to create a new business unit from this acquisition, plus 4-5 much smaller and earlier acquisitions which had never been integrated and largely ignored. The overall strategy was to create a new Hospitality technology business to become a strategic third ”pillar” to its global business.

I worked remotely from my home office and the Madrid corporate HQ.

M and A lead on everything people and communications related, plus early stage design and set-up of the new business unit.

1. Detailed due diligence
2. Input to the negotiation process and final purchase agreement – worked closly with Legal, Finance & the Business Development team.
3. Advised on the project governance process to minimise bureaucracy  & increase information sharing & fast decision-making – successfully bridging the demands of both my client and a large third party consultancy they had engaged.
4. Cultural assessment: identified significant cultural differences between the acquisition and purchaser – this work was expanded to include the earlier acquisitions joining the new BU, with a focus on common strengths & opportunities that could be leveraged.
5. Critical talent identification, retention programs focussed on deliverables – senior leadership ones were incorporated as ”closing conditions”.
6. Advice on new business unit design to the SVP who would be heading it up.
7. Development of (with internal resources) & oversight of global communications plan
8. Various cost analyses & business cases to justify appropriate integration related investments – presented as a return on investment rather than a cost.  Secured CEO approval on a key person retention plan and broke a ”logjam” by demonstrating that investing 0.01% of the acquisition price would significantly reduce the risk of acquisition failure.
9. Project management of a complex global acquisition
10. People integration, including employment terms & incentive plans.

Overall project was successful with the establishment of a new third pillar to the clients business – comprised of multiple different acquisitions.

Retention/people plans designed & implemented were successful with attrition reducing by 50% in the acquisition – resulted in a significant reductions in cost, lost business opportunity & lost knowledge.

Regular ‘pulse surveys’ indicated a high level of employee trust & confidence in both the integration methodology & the new BU leadership. Employee engagement levels shown to be consistently positive.

The acquisition process was highly successful, particularly on the people & communications work streams – at the assignment end, the client informed me that I was now considered their default external M&A resource on complex acquisitions.

This global travel technology business now has 3 key ”pillars” to its business (was 2) and a market cap of c. €30Bn (pre Covid)

• Acquisition due diligence research
• budgets
• business architecture
• Business Change Management & Communication
• collaboration
• Business Model Design
• M&A
• major project
• People Integration
• leadership
• Post-Merger Integration