Areas to Watch During a M&A Transaction

Abstract

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) can cause stress to organizations and many transactions fail to meet their objectives. Several areas need to be considered during M&A transactions and if these areas are not fully understood, the expected value of the transaction may not be realized. This paper highlights how different areas to watch during a transaction are important to the overall success of the event. These areas include culture, institutional knowledge, experience of the management team, leadership, human resources, overall process, and existing systems which can each impact the success of the transaction. The combining of different organizations can be difficult based on their culture which guides how they interact with employees, customers, vendors, stakeholders, and others. Ambiguities need to be addressed as quickly as they can so that a solid transition plan can be developed, communicated, and implemented. Finally, the systems deployed to help manage the new organization can also impact the success of the transaction. The necessary steps across all of the discussed areas need to be understood and properly executed to obtain the desired value of the transaction.