Post-deal integration in Europe

For the majority of their careers, the team members of Corporate Finance in Europe have been working in an international environment. They have been involved in a large number of post-integration projects ranging from small to large-scale integrations. The focus is on realizing efficiency and operational synergy gains. At the same time, we focus expressly on soft, cultural, and personal factors.

Communication, personal and cultural integration

While working on the technical, more project-oriented integration, our team members first take care of the human aspects to ensure they are well-arranged. We start with a clear vision that will be quickly communicated to all employees. This vision is shared and approved by both management teams. We try to arrange short-term wins for acquired employees and long-term wins for all stakeholders. We emphasize cultural similarities. Our international team with its broad language skills and understanding of diverse cultures can play a significant role here.

For successful post-deal integration, clear and open communication is crucial in the first period after the transaction has closed. People from different backgrounds and company cultures are challenged to start communicating with each other and start working together. They need to fully believe in this operation; that’s why we sell the benefits time and time again until people pick them up themselves.

Realizing synergies and post-deal project management

All synergies that have been planned in the pre-acquisition phase need to be realized. That’s why we bring sales teams together to share and provide the best services of both companies to each other’s customers. We help in streamlining the various operations to cut unnecessary costs. We evaluate and work on the implementation of similar back-office systems to improve consistency across companies. We set up consistent management reporting processes in the various fields (sales, finance, operations, etc.).

We write clear integration plans and start quickly, as employees of the acquired company are most open to change in the first phase. These are the main items we cover during integration:

Offering support on realizing the planned synergies (with a clear focus on the financial impact)
Preparing a plan of approach for the project in close collaboration with the management of both companies
Drawing up detailed integration plans for individual areas (e.g., sales, operations, finance, etc.)
Offering help in bringing together different cultures
Offering help in communicating the plan

European Corporate Finance in Europe

We provide our services in all European countries. Due to our team’s native skills, the following countries have our special attention: the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. Corporate Finance in Europe (CFIE) is highly qualified to help out with M&A advice, consultancy, valuation, taxes, and legal matters. See more details on M&A advisers.

Feel free to contact us if you have any issues concerning post-deal integration or for a free-of-charge brainstorming session and feedback on your plans.