Latest thinking
Karen Thomas-Bland, founder at Seven, regularly writes and speaks on the subjects of business transformation, M&A integration, executive boards and leadership. We also contribute to leading business websites and publications.
M&As are always a challenge from the perspective of people and culture, but when organizations pay close attention to the people aspects of a merger or an acquisition, they greatly increase the chances that the deal will achieve its full potential.
Tony is today on the virtual sofa by Karen Thomas-Bland, the found and management director of Seven Transformation Ltd. Karen has proven expertise in strategy and transformation of complex global businesses.
The M&A environment is currently very strong, but many M&A deals fail to deliver the value case. Having completed around fifty M&A integrations I have found that there are five common barriers to success.
There has been an explosion in the number of M&A deals, but as we know the success rate of M&A deals isn’t great with the often quoted 60% failing to increase shareholder value, leaving the Board to be criticised for not achieving a better deal.
Companies undertaking large M&A deals follow four key practices that help their total returns to shareholders (TRS) outpace the market index, their synergy achievement to exceed public commitments, and organic growth to continue unabated.
I’ve been fortunate to work in and with and lead in some fantastic cultures and have worked with some truly great people and exceptional organisations. I have also worked with organisations (thankfully a truly very small minority) where a toxic culture pervaded at the time.
Business transformations are notoriously risky - there are 10 questions I use when talking to anyone who is about to embark on a transformation.
So how do you embed ESG into your deal making activity and avoid it becoming a box-ticking exercise?
Impact investing has been around for a long time – people putting money into businesses doing good things. Investing in ‘doing good’ often creates value, through increased market share or operational benefits
As we approach 2022, the general consensus seems to be that the future world of work is hybrid, and the blend of home and office working will continue.