What others can't tell you

I've worked with small to mid-sized companies acquired by larger organizations from the public and private equity sectors. They all struggled to varying degrees.

The questions I ask myself:

Why do 30-50% of acquired business fail to meet expectations?
Why do these companies consistently go through unnecessary turmoil and emotional stress?
What's missing in the process?

Over these years, I've found the common problems with most acquisitions:

Misunderstanding or Misalignment of intentions from the beginning.
Misunderstanding or Underestimating what's really going to happen after the deal closes.
Not having a plan to formally transition Leadership.

It doesn't have to be this way.

Focusing on the business purely as a financial investment, without understanding the business, you'll churn through people creating a lot of unnecessary and painful disruption - you're creating risk.

By focusing on the Leadership and people who make the business work, openly preparing them for the coming changes, before they happen - we reduce risk.

You have to start this process BEFORE you negotiate the deal. It only takes one conversation to start.