Save your energy
Deal advisors such as accountants don’t just have their respective expertise to bring to proceedings – they also have plenty of experience with a catalogue of ‘Lessons learned’ that they’ll only be too willing to share. Take this one: don’t take your foot off the gas at the critical moment. The basic premise here is that both sides expend so much energy in getting the deal over the line that they then collapse in that post-event euphoria, the adrenalin seeps away and tiredness and relief replace focus and momentum.
To be fair, most people are aware that the hard work begins after the ink is dry – after all, the business case that prompted the deal is just numbers and projections on a page, it needs the new entity to come together to actually deliver them. And those first weeks are critical, it’s no time to sit back. There are the obvious projects, from the integration of IT and finance systems, to the communications to staff, stakeholders and clients; but this is also a crucial time to lock in the next tier down.
Take the regional law firm whose ownership hinted to its next tier that there was possibly a buy-out opportunity for them as they themselves sought an exit. The three individuals in that next tier duly took some professional advice, advised the ownership of their interest and then….nothing. The first they knew about their future was when the firm’s owners announced their merger with Firm B some weeks later; they had not been consulted or been given any chance to move forward with their own offer. Being presented with a fait accompli was bad enough but then there was no effort in the immediate aftermath of the deal either to sit down with them, sort things out and lock them into the new partnership.
Less than three months in, they left and moved together to another firm, taking with them a client base large enough to take the shine off the projections – and striking an early and heavy blow to the prestige and standing of the merged organisation.
The takeaway here is to use your advisors, consultants and service providers so that they can take some of the weight off; let them do the detail, the heavy lifting, so you get to a good place with the numbers and the contracts and the project plans, and carry that impetus through to the execution post-signing. That way you leave yourself with the time and energy and perspective needed to look after your key people, ensuring not just a smooth transition but a firm foundation for future success.