Two merger integration imperatives: urgency and execution

Strategy and Leadership - Tập 31 Số 3 - Trang 42-49 - 2003
ArthurBert1, TimothyMacDonald2, ThomasHerd3
1Arthur Bert is a consultant specializing in mergers, acquisitions, and alliances in the consulting firm A.T. Kearney’s strategy practice. Art, based in Melbourne, Australia, leads the firm’s work in South Asia ([email protected]) see two articles in the A.T. Kearney journal, Executive Agenda: “Merger integration/take two” in Vol. 5 No. 2, and “Building a better bridge” in Vol. 6 No. 1). Additional M&A integration advice by the firm can be obtained from a recent book by three of its consultants: Winning the Merger Endgame: A Playbook for Profiting From Industry Consolidation (McGraw‐Hill, 2002) by Graeme K. Deans, Fritz Kroeger and Stefan Zeisel.
2Timothy MacDonald is a consultant specializing in mergers, acquisitions, and alliances in the consulting firm A.T. Kearney’s strategy practice. Tim, located in Toronto, is President of A.T. Kearney Canada ([email protected]) see two articles in the A.T. Kearney journal, Executive Agenda: “Merger integration/take two” in Vol. 5 No. 2, and “Building a better bridge” in Vol. 6 No. 1). Additional M&A integration advice by the firm can be obtained from a recent book by three of its consultants: Winning the Merger Endgame: A Playbook for Profiting From Industry Consolidation (McGraw‐Hill, 2002) by Graeme K. Deans, Fritz Kroeger and Stefan Zeisel.
3Thomas Herd is a consultant specializing in mergers, acquisitions, and alliances in the consulting firm A.T. Kearney’s strategy practice. Tom, a firm principal based in Chicago, specializes in merger integration ([email protected]). More of the firm’s insights on effective M&A practices is available at their Web site www.atkearney.com/thoughtleadership (see two articles in the A.T. Kearney journal, Executive Agenda: “Merger integration/take two” in Vol. 5 No. 2, and “Building a better bridge” in Vol. 6 No. 1). Additional M&A integration advice by the firm can be obtained from a recent book by three of its consultants: Winning the Merger Endgame: A Playbook for Profiting From Industry Consolidation (McGraw‐Hill, 2002) by Graeme K. Deans, Fritz Kroeger and Stefan Zeisel.

Tóm tắt

Today, with years of corporate experience in managing mergers and acquisitions, there is little excuse for deals that don’t create value. Regrettably failure is the case more often than not. Depending on the industry, a top‐performing merger can increase shareholders’ wealth anywhere from 4 to 65 percent above industry averages. But such rewards only go to companies that understand that merger success is built on two main factors: timing and execution. A.T. Kearney’s findings indicate that a company has just two years to make the deal work. After year two, the window of opportunity on forging merger synergies has all but closed. This article highlights the reasons why timing is so important to merger success, and lays out the seven ground rules‐from selecting leaders quickly, and establishing clear goals, to managing risks and expectations – that leading acquirers abide by to ensure merger success.

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