Mergers & acquisitions

• Who is involved – the parties, their objectives, their approach to deal-making, their culture or “business style”
• When the deal occurs – the economic and political environment at the time of the deal
• Why the deal is happening – the specific deal rationale for each party
• Where the deal is happening – single or multiple countries, regional and local regulatory differences, national differences in culture
• What the deal involves – relative size of the parties, single or multiple lines of business?
• The people involved – the specific individuals managing the deal
• The workforce involved – and the underlying human capital strategies, issues and objectives in play at the parties.
  
  

And, yes, people issues matter to the success of mergers and acquisitions.* A recent global and cross-industry survey of 670 corporate senior executives and Board members (entitled M&A Beyond Borders: Opportunities & Risks, March 2008) by the Economist Intelligence Unit identified people issues as four of the top significant merger and acquisition issues:

• M&A culture issues
• Human capital integration issues
• Lack of employee engagement
• Leadership / management retention issues
  
  

For more information on Mercer M&A Consulting, contact one of the M&A consulting leaders at the top of this page.

* Mercer definition: Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) describes a business transaction that joins organizations together or splits them apart, triggering major changes for employees of participating companies. Such transactions include mergers, acquisitions, spin offs, divestitures or partial disposals, joint ventures, private equity deals, management buy-outs and buy-ins, and IPOs. Mercer also consults on the people implications of transactions for distressed and bankrupt companies and the companies that acquire from them.