M&A: Reshaping the industry

Case Study

M&A: Reshaping the industry

Situation

When one of the biggest services businesses in the world was acquired by a competitor, it didn’t just change the way they both operated, it changed the entire industry.

Strategy

A common failure of acquisitions is to buy something because it is different, and then to destroy value by forcing it to conform. Instead, this acquisition was treated as a merger. The acquiring company “reversed” its operations into the acquired business. The value of the investment was protected and enhanced.

Intervention

The business operating model of the acquired business was adopted to establish greater client focus and intimacy.

Many of the acquired business leaders were appointed to key positions. The practices, processes and terminology of the acquired business were adopted to reinforce the importance of the deal to clients. The performance and reward system was adapted to the newly integrated business.

We aligned the competencies of both organisations with a single strategy to create demonstrable, differentiated value for clients. Other business units in the parent company were realigned with the new go-to-market model, to drive sales volume and value.

The integration of the two businesses was completed with great speed and effectiveness.

Impact

This deal was a major driver in the transformation of the parent organisation.
Following the transaction, the parent company share price grew more than threefold.
Major competitors emulated the model and in so doing changed the industry.