The document discusses how using an integration playbook can help mergers and acquisitions succeed where often they fail. It notes that only about 50% of M&A deals achieve their financial goals. An integration playbook establishes a repeatable process for integrating acquisitions based on past lessons learned. It identifies key risks to address such as retaining employees, aligning cultures, and realizing synergies. Having an experienced leader execute the playbook with input from past deals can help mergers integrate functions smoothly and achieve their strategic objectives.

1. M&A success
Using an integration playbook
to make your deal work
grantthornton.com/Playbook

2. Only about 50% of mergers
or acquisitions will succeed
And even when deals go through, the
newly created company may not deliver
the hoped-for financial results.
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Will your deal succeed?

3. Why integrations don't work
Even companies who regularly do
acquisitions tend to go through it
as if it were their first time. They:
• Create an entirely new process each time
• Overplan
• Impose too much structure
• Don't build in enough agility
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4. 75% to 80% of integration
tasks are repeatable
But success isn't as simple as having a
checklist or a process template. It also takes:
Common sense
The ability to prioritize tasks
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The goal?
A sustainable, repeatable process

5. Integration playbooks can
make the difference
An integration playbook :
leverages past lessons learned
Harnesses intellectual capital
Includes proven tools from past integrations
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6. Humans are required
People with actual integration experience
are still required to execute the playbook:
• It takes experienced insights to align the vision of the
transaction with the integration process
• It also takes experience to accurately
perform the risk assessment
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Common sense trumps a checklist every time.

7. The integration framework
What areas will you integrate?
• Accounting?
• Financial reporting?
• Tax?
• Treasury?
• ERP platform?
• HR?
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Merged companies often end up
integrating 75% or more of functions.
• Employee benefits
and insurance programs?
• Safety policies?
• Sales?
• Operations?
• R&D?

8. Choosing an integration leader
Key integration leader attributes:
 From the business unit sponsoring the transaction
 Member of acquiring company’s leadership
development program
 Strong interpersonal and conflict-resolution skills
 The respect of management
 Hands-on business experience
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The No. 1 challenge to creating a repeatable,
sustainable process is the retention of the
knowledge gained through experience.

9. Identifying risks
Risk assessment is a critical component of
the process, setting the stage for mitigation
plans and the resulting tasks/checklists.
Next up, 6 key risks that acquirers need to
identify and address.
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10. Risk #1: Infrastructure
Supporting continuous financial/operations
tracking while evaluating, designing, implementing
and migrating to a long-term recommendation.
Key areas of concern:
• IT systems
• Accounting processes
• Internal controls
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11. Risk #2: Synergy realization
Finding synergies can mean saving money post-
acquisition. Ignoring synergies can mean higher
risk of process breakdowns and money lost.
Take these actions:
• Develop capture plans for identified sources of value
(targeted cost reductions, process improvements, changes)
• Improve operating margins by rationalizing core
and noncore functions and businesses
• Rationalize noncore operations
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12. Risk #3: Organizational alignment
It starts with aligning operating policies so that
the merged company can hit the ground running
on Day One.
Design an organizational
structure that:
• Enhances the combined organization's value
• Maintains focus on revenue enhancement,
cost reduction and cost avoidance
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13. Risk #4: Customer retention
Retaining your external relationships is an
important determinant for the merged entity's
future success.
Do this now:
• Identify key customer, prospect and
strategic relationships
• Identify key opportunities for revenue growth
• Stabilize operations
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14. Risk #5: Key employee retention
In most businesses, core employees carry
key institutional knowledge and
relationships.
Reduce risk by:
• Identifying and retaining employees key to
commercial relationships and business continuity
• Reducing productivity decline
• Addressing potential lapses in safety during transition
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15. Risk #6: Cultural alignment
Merged companies usually have different
cultures and values.
Develop a new, combined culture:
• Align behaviors to achieve the desired strategic objective
• Leverage commonality, addressing the differences
• Recommend an end-to-end solution
to reduce productivity decline risks
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16. Integration playbook benefits
• A sustainable, repeatable process
• Provides the necessary intellectual capital
• Improves with continued lessons learned
• Links transaction value drivers and vision
to the overall integration process
• Identifies critical risks
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17. Ed Kleinguetl
Managing Director
Transaction Advisory Services
Grant Thornton LLP
832.476.3760
ed.kleinguetl@us.gt.com
Daniel Galante
National Managing Partner
Transaction Advisory Services
Grant Thornton LLP
312.602.8290
daniel.galante@us.gt.com
Information
Contacts
Eileen Hwang
Manager
Transaction Advisory Services
Grant Thornton LLP
312.602.8507
eileen.hwang@us.gt.com
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