Don’t let integration problems shrink your payout. This episode guide you through merger integration, revealing how preparing before closing is the secret to a smooth, profitable exit. Learn to proactively shape the transition, de-risk the deal for buyers, and ensure your team stays focused to maximize your sale value.
If there’s one and only one message that people take from this, I think it’s to think about integration early. Think about it as where the rubber hits the road; that’s where you will be judged a success or failure.
What You’ll Learn
Integration isn’t just the buyer’s problem: Integration is where the value of a business sale is delivered or destroyed. A proactive seller reduces risk for potential buyers, speeding up the deal and often securing a higher business valuation.
Prioritize your people: Your employees will be a top concern for any buyer, as all business is ultimately a people business. As a seller, your role is to lead your team through this change with transparency, even in the face of uncertainty. This builds trust and prevents fear from derailing the transition.
Make your business easy to integrate: The easier it is for a buyer to integrate your business, the wider the pool of potential buyers you can attract. Businesses that are easily integrated are often standalone entities with minimal reliance on the seller’s systems and services.
Prepare to let go of control: As a seller, you must mentally prepare for the transition of power. Even if you stay on in a new role, you’ll be reporting to a new boss. Understanding this mindset change is crucial for a smooth transition and ensures you don’t make counterproductive decisions that could harm the deal.
The closing isn’t the finish line: For a seller, the closing may feel like the end of the race, but for the buyer, it’s just the starting line. A successful integration requires both parties to work together to ensure a clean break, setting the buyer up for a profitable future.
Principal, Mijore Advisory Limited | London, United Kingdom
Julienne has 30 years’ experience in negotiating mergers and acquisitions and commercial transactions. She has supported portfolio activity from concept to completion in more than 45 different countries with exposure to many different legal systems and business cultures globally. She has worked on both private company and public company transactions and negotiated with multinationals, trading houses, private equity, governments, international organisations, family owned companies, major resource holders and entrepreneurs throughout Europe, Russia, the United States, Asia, Middle East and Africa.
Principle, Arcos Management | London, United Kingdom
Over his career, he has led business operations, managed global transformation projects and enabled step changes through the successful delivery of M&A deals. He set up and led M&A integration across more than 65 deals, spanning a diverse range of businesses and geographies and a full spectrum of acquisitions, divestments, and joint ventures. Notable examples include Shell’s acquisition of BG ($50bn, 5000 staff, multiple geographies), the divestment of Shell’s Oil Sands assets in Canada ($10 billion, 3500 staff) and the complex exit of Shell’s downstream assets in Africa (19 countries, diverse regulatory and business environments).
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