Post-acquisition management and integration

Audience

• Managing directors
• Finance directors
• Business development directors
• Post-acquisition integration managers
• HR directors and executives
• Other business directors responsible for management and integration post-deal
• Corporate and private financing groups looking for ways to protect their investment

Skills Gained

By attending this conference, you will gain:

• 1. An understanding of how to develop a comprehensive integration plan that reflects and supports your acquisition strategy
• 2. Tips on how to enhance your due diligence and other pre- deal activities to support effective integration
• 3. A knowledge of key success factors for effective integration and how to address them in your business acquisition
• 4. Advice on how to minimise commercial and operational risk to your business during integration
• 5. Practical guidance on how to address integration areas such as culture people issues and IT
• 6. Suggestions on how to structure your integration programme team and who should be involved.

Course Outline

Introduction and objectives

The synergy myth - what constitutes a good acquisition, and the part integration plays

• Common success and failure factors for M&A integration
• Acquisition objectives, synergy and their implications for integration
• The relationship between acquisition price and integration objectives

Beginning with the end in mind - strategy, due diligence and planning for integration

• How to link acquisition strategy to integration planning, execution and measurement
• Information gathering and analysis for integration
• Integration strategies
• Risk analysis for integration
• How to develop an 'integrated' integration plan

Managing integration programmes

• Responsibility and accountability: who's in charge?
• Structure and staffing for integration
• Monitoring and reporting progress; knowing when you're done
• Managing the balance between integration and day-to day business focus

Talk Talk - the importance of communications to M&A integration

• Key stages of integration communication
• The relationship between communication and other aspects of integration
• Common techniques for effective internal communication
• External communication: the opportunities and pitfalls

Focus on culture

• The impact of culture on integration success
• How to evaluate culture and cultural integration
• Developing and executing a cultural integration plan

'Where did my business go?' How to immediately protect business value post-deal

• Key value eroders in integration, and how to spot them
• The announcement: how to ensure it makes, not breaks, the deal
• How to retain your customer base
• How to identify and retain top talent, for integration and beyond

'What about me?' Addressing the people issues early

• Typical people challenges before, during, and after integration
• Integrating HR: policies, benefits and processes
• Reconnecting the individual to the business: aligning objectives, reward and responsibility
• Common techniques for keeping people on-side

Restructuring the business

• Divisional and functional reorganisation
• Asset and technology transfers
• Facilities and office rationalisation
• Relocating people

Integrating information systems and technology

• 'Where do I start?' How to reduce and prioritise requirements for immediate IT change
• Integrating infrastructure
• Critical applications integration and the impact on core processes
• Managing business risk during IT integration

The first step - A checklist for action

Post-acquisition management and integration / LE-AC-PA