Category: M&A

One of the things that has always fascinated me about integration meetings is that you can leave the room feeling surprisingly optimistic while unknowingly creating tomorrow’s problems. Everyone has contributed and every concern has been addressed: the meeting ends on time, action items are assigned, and there is a quiet sense that real progress has been made. If someone had wandered into the room during the last five minutes, they probably would have assumed the integration was in excellent shape. Then, a few months later, people begin asking why the expected value hasn’t materialized. Over the years, I’ve started to […]

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I have always admired people who restore old homes. Not the television version where someone walks through the front door, knocks down three walls, installs a kitchen the size of a small airport, and declares the house “modernized.” I mean the people who spend hours carefully restoring the original hardwood floors, repairing old stained-glass windows, or bringing century-old brickwork back to life. They understand something that is surprisingly easy to forget. Just because something is old or different doesn’t mean it needs replacing. Sometimes the goal isn’t to make the house look new. Sometimes the goal is to preserve the […]

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I stumbled across this painting while visiting Halifax and found myself standing in front of it much longer than I expected. For those of who know me, know that I am an art enthusiast who takes great joy in interpreting art as it fits my current situation. In this case, I should probably apologize to the artist because I’m almost certain my interpretation has very little to do with what they intended. Then again, perhaps that’s the beauty of art. We all bring our own experiences with us, and sometimes the painting says more about the person looking at it […]

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If you ever want to understand an organization, don’t start by reading the project plan. Sit in on the first integration meeting instead. Within twenty minutes you’ll hear Finance talking about synergies, IT talking about systems, Operations talking about continuity, HR talking about people, and Sales talking about customers. It’s the same acquisition, but everyone is describing a different reality. The first few times I experienced this, I assumed people simply needed to communicate more clearly. Surely if everyone sat in the same room long enough, the misunderstandings would disappear and the project would naturally move forward. It seemed like […]

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Over the years, I have noticed that every major transformation seems to follow the same emotional timeline. It does not matter whether it is an ERP implementation, an acquisition, or another large organizational change. The project usually begins with optimism. People are excited about what is being built, the timeline feels achievable, and every challenge seems manageable because there is still plenty of time to solve it. The kickoff meetings are full of energy, people volunteer ideas, and someone inevitably says, “We’ve got this.” Then, somewhere along the way, the calendar quietly changes everything. The funny part is that the […]

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Every acquisition seems to end in a familiar way. The major milestones have been completed, the critical systems are working well enough to support the business, and the integration team is finally able to take a breath. After months of navigating difficult decisions, competing priorities, and the inevitable surprises that accompany every acquisition, there is a sense that the hardest part is finally over. It is usually at that point that someone suggests holding a lessons learned meeting before everyone disappears back into their day jobs. I have attended many of those meetings over the years, and they are almost […]

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A few days ago, I returned to my old high school to speak at the retirement celebration of one of my teachers. I had not walked those halls in thirty years. As soon as I stepped through the front doors, I felt something I was not expecting. It was as though time had folded in on itself. For a moment I was no longer a consultant, a doctoral candidate, a wife, or a mother. I was as early teen again, trying to figure out where I fit in the world. The school looked almost exactly as I remembered it. The […]

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One of the strangest things about acquisitions is how much time we spend evaluating the company we are buying and how little time we spend evaluating ourselves. I have sat through diligence processes where teams reviewed financial statements, technology platforms, customer concentration, contracts, operating processes, management capability, and enough spreadsheets to make even the most committed Excel person consider a career in pottery. Every risk is catalogued, discussed, scored, challenged, and placed neatly into some colour-coded document that gives everyone a brief sense of control. Then the deal closes, and suddenly the organization that spent months examining someone else’s weaknesses […]

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Do you know what’s interesting? In M&A the deal team and the integration team are often running toward completely different definitions of success. None of these groups are smarter than the other, and not because they are intentionally creating problems, but because they are sitting inside completely different realities. The deal team is trying to get the transaction across the finish line. The integration team is trying to figure out whether the organization can actually absorb what is being purchased without creating operational chaos six months later. Both sides are intelligent. both sides are protecting value in their own way. […]

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One of the things that has always fascinated me about integrations is how quickly very sophisticated organizations can suddenly start behaving like a stressed family trying to assemble IKEA furniture without instructions. Everybody is present and has opinions, but nobody wants to admit they are confused, and at least one person is quietly questioning every life decision that brought them into the meeting. At the beginning, integrations usually feel incredibly organized. The organization moves with the confidence of something that still believes planning and execution are basically the same activity. Leadership feels aligned, and the deal rationale still sounds compelling. […]

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