As another M&A wave begins: three keys to success

Abstract

Purpose

As the Covid-19 crisis recedes, struggling firms will be bought by bargain hunters and suffering industries will consolidate, giving rise to another wave of M&A transactions. But buyers beware! There is ample evidence that M&A creates significant post-deal performance issues for acquiring “buy-side” firms.

Design/methodology/approach

New research shows that effectively managing three processes of acquisitions can have an outsized beneficial impact on M&A success.

Findings

Recent research has identified three mission-critical tasks that stand out as being vital to creating M&A success: Process 1: Accurately valuing targets. Process 2: Proficiently managing post-merger integration. Process 3: Skillfully addressing the “big-three human factors” of M&A.

Practical implications

Robust talent retention and re-recruitment plans initially entail identifying key talent, defined as individuals and groups who are essential to retain and re-recruit during a transitionary period and those required for long-term value creation.

Originality/value

The articles describes best practices for post-deal M&A activities companies could perform better including operations and technology integration, communication, cultural analysis and integration, talent management and retention, senior leadership involvement and measurement and reporting.

Citation

Galpin, T.J. (2021), "As another M&A wave begins: three keys to success", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 14-21. https://doi.org/10.1108/SL-01-2021-0008