03 · M&A Integration
From Pre-Close Planning
To A Functioning Organization.
We connect deal priorities to Day One continuity, the future operating model, and coordinated changes across people, processes, data, and enterprise systems.
Our Capabilities
M&A Integration
Explore the leadership, delivery scope, and practical outputs we bring to the work.
Pre-Close Integration PlanningWe identify the operating implications before the transition begins.
How We Help
- We coordinate operational and technology discovery with transaction leaders and functional specialists.
- We assess application landscapes, workforce processes, data, vendors, operating dependencies, and integration complexity.
- We translate findings into integration priorities, resource needs, risks, and a sequenced execution approach.
Key Deliverables
- Integration Assessment
- Priority Workstreams
- Risk Register
- Preliminary Integration Roadmap
Day One Readiness & Operational ContinuityWe make the first operating day a controlled transition.
How We Help
- We identify the essential services, access, payroll, finance, supplier, workforce, and reporting needs for Day One.
- We coordinate readiness across internal teams, acquired organizations, vendors, and transition partners.
- We establish cutover checkpoints, communications, issue escalation, and continuity arrangements.
Key Deliverables
- Day One Plan
- Readiness Evidence
- Continuity Checklist
- Transition Command Structure
Integration Management Office & 100-Day PlanWe create one governance structure across the integration.
How We Help
- We stand up the Integration Management Office (IMO), executive steering, workstreams, and decision rights.
- We develop the integrated 100-day plan and longer-term milestones with dependencies, owners, and resource commitments.
- We track risks, issues, benefits, and decisions across Finance, HR, Operations, technology, and external partners.
Key Deliverables
- IMO Charter
- Integrated M&A Plan
- Executive Dashboard
- Decision Cadence
Target Operating Model & Synergy ExecutionWe align the future operation and the changes needed to reach it.
How We Help
- We coordinate decisions on common processes, service models, organizational responsibilities, and enterprise platforms.
- We translate agreed value objectives into initiatives with owners, milestones, dependencies, and benefit measures.
- We balance standardization and consolidation with local requirements and operational continuity.
Key Deliverables
- Target Operating Model
- Integration Priorities
- Benefit Ownership
- Execution Roadmap
Systems, Data & Workforce IntegrationWe connect the functional and technical work into one deployment plan.
How We Help
- We lead ERP, HCM, Finance, payroll, benefits, reporting, and related application integration workstreams.
- We coordinate data migration, interfaces, access, process changes, testing, and workforce communications.
- We sequence deployments and transaction changes around operational dependencies and readiness evidence.
Key Deliverables
- Systems Integration Roadmap
- Workstream Plans
- Migration Checkpoints
- Deployment Readiness
Integration Stabilization & Value RealizationWe finish the integration with clear ownership and measurable results.
How We Help
- We manage post-transition issues, support coverage, operating performance, and remaining integration dependencies.
- We track agreed benefits, consolidation milestones, adoption, and outstanding decisions with executive sponsors.
- We close integration workstreams and transfer processes, applications, and improvement priorities to permanent owners.
Key Deliverables
- Stabilization Plan
- Benefits Dashboard
- Workstream Closure
- Operational Handoff
Selected Experience
The Experience Behind The Offering.
UK Acquisition Integration
We led workforce integration for an acquired UK organization, aligning Workday HCM, ADP / Celergo payroll, and benefits with the enterprise environment.
Acquisition Integration Across The UK And Germany
We integrated KaTech into Ingredion’s workforce environment and established an HR PMO to coordinate execution across the UK and Germany. At acquisition in 2021, KaTech had approximately 95 employees at four locations across Germany, the UK, and Poland. The deal expanded Ingredion’s European food-formulation and stabilization capabilities.
Animal Health Acquisition Integration
We supported Merial’s integration into Boehringer Ingelheim through the Workday HCM environment, helping align the acquired workforce with enterprise HR systems. The 2016 transaction announcement described a 6,900-person business operating in more than 150 countries and valued Merial at €11.4 billion. The business swap closed in most markets on January 1, 2017.
Enterprise And Workplace Integration
We led enterprise platform integration and a subsequent Google Workspace-to-Microsoft 365 migration as distinct delivery programs within one acquisition initiative. At the 2020 acquisition, ClearChoice had 65 centers across 27 states. The broader ADMI organization supported more than 1,000 healthcare locations in 45 states, creating opportunities for shared procurement and technology innovation.
Selected Insights
Perspectives For The Work Ahead.
Acquisition Integration Extends Beyond Day One.
Day One creates a transition point. Integration creates a functioning organization. We approach the work by connecting continuity, the future operating model, and the sequence of changes needed to get there.
Organize The Integration Around Operations
- Protect continuity. Identify what must work for payroll, finance, customer service, suppliers, and access on the first operating day.
- Define the target model. Agree on which processes, roles, controls, data standards, and platforms will become common and which must remain distinct.
- Build one dependency plan. Connect functional workstreams and system changes to transition commitments and organizational milestones.
- Validate readiness with evidence. Test end-to-end scenarios, reconciliation, ownership, and support before approving a transition.
Our acquisition-integration experience at AXIS Capital, Ingredion, Boehringer Ingelheim, and The Aspen Group reinforces the same principle: the integration plan must reflect how the acquired business will actually operate.
Design Day One Around Business Continuity.
The first day under new ownership is an operating event. We start with the services that employees and customers need to keep working, then build the transition around them.
- Identify critical services. Confirm payroll, access, customer service, finance, and other essential operating flows.
- Rehearse the dependencies. Test who performs each transition activity and what happens if a dependency is late.
- Set escalation ownership. Name the people who can resolve a disruption and make a time-sensitive decision.
Day One planning should establish continuity while leaving a clear route to the longer-term integration.
Turn Deal Priorities Into Integration Decisions.
A deal thesis becomes real through choices about people, processes, technology, and the operating model. We connect those choices to an integration plan with measurable ownership.
- Trace each objective. Link the expected benefit to the operating change and accountable business owner.
- Surface the tradeoffs. Show where timing, customer continuity, workforce needs, and system dependencies affect value.
- Track adoption and performance. Use operating measures alongside completed tasks to understand whether the change is working.
This keeps integration focused on the business purpose of the acquisition, with an explicit record of the decisions needed to get there.
What Needs To Change And By When?
Tell us the outcome, the timing, and where delivery needs leadership.