M & A Integration Solutions

Driving M&A Value Through Strategic Human Capital Integration

People problems pose significant challenges to every organization’s day-to-day operations and strategic growth, which are magnified when it comes to an event as significant as a merger or acquisition. Months, even years, of painstaking diligence to identify the right target, to agree to the right terms, and to get the deal over the finish line can all be in vain because, within 30 days of the transaction, key personnel leave, a significant percentage of the workforce resigns, or operational disruptions cause customers to flee.

M&A transactions are hard enough. Sellers can’t find the right buyers. Buyers can’t find the right sellers. Financing challenges abound. Legal risks and regulatory complexities create obstacles. It’s all worth it, of course, to boost market share, capture synergies, diversify product offerings, and increase value to shareholders.

But only if you don’t forget your people.

At Axis HR Solutions, we alleviate the burden of human capital management and administration with comprehensive end-to-end HR integration solutions. Our customized HR processes and policy solutions for buyers and sellers ensure a seamless workforce integration and operational efficiency across the organization.​

In short, we help clients address the most critical HR success factors for any integration from start to finish and we mitigate the risks inherent in every deal—before, during, and after the transaction closes.

Don’t leave a lean, unified, and efficient organization to chance with a standard “playbook” for any integration. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work given the significant differences in company cultures, working environments, geographic locations, and management structures. Our framework for every transaction involves identifying the biggest HR and personnel challenges and providing custom integration solutions that address the unique needs of every client and every transaction.

There are key challenges in every phase of a M&A transaction, with specific goals and benchmarks to track and plan for success:

Pre-Bid

Key Challenges

Critical decisions related to:

  • Letters of Intent
  • Non•Binding Offers
  • Binding Offers

Our Approach

  • summary of HR position and social risks within the target
  • portrait of key members of management
  • summary of HR KPIs to be measured
  • estimate of target’s capacity for reorganization
  • mapping of key stakeholders

Due Diligence

Key Challenges

Estimating the HR costs (including debt) impacting transaction value

Our Approach

Estimate the HR costs affecting the target’s value, including:

  • executive compensation packages (including long-term incentives);
  • key personnel employment contracts:
  • compensation and benefit plans, including pension plans, profit-sharing plans, and stock-options plans);
  • severance and change-in-control payments;
  • post-deal restructuring costs:
  • post-deal synergy risks related to cultural differences;
  • assessment of structural and operational challenges;
  • social climate.

Pre-Closing

Key Challenges

Ensuring deal consummation and completion of social agenda

Our Approach

Ensure appropriate presentation by buyer to target representatives that addresses the following:

  • employee relations support;
  • review of transition services agreements and sale and purchase agreements;
  • action plan for ‘Day 1″ and beyond;
  • social strategy for all HR aspects of integration;
  • managed risk strategy;
  • monitor purchase price allocation achievements.

Post-Merger Integration

Key Challenges

Creating conditions to ensure HR value and expected synergies

Our Approach

“Day 1” readiness:

  • implement and secure HRIS
  • apply expected HR plans linked with acquisition strategy (such as restructuring, integration, and employee transfer, etc.);
  • monitor and coordinate HR activities

Key Benchmarks, as appropriate over 30-300 days

  • deploy cultural and change integration action
  • align HR governance, structure, processes, and tools
  • adjust leadership and performance models
  • define compensation strategies and design physical environments;
  • support social harmonization (compensation, benefits, healthcare, profit-sharing, and grading).

Driving M&A Value through Human Capital Integration

Acquiring companies can never focus too much or too early on a transaction’s people implications. Chief Human Resource Officers and the entire HR function play critical roles in determining whether a potential deal realizes its strategic, financial, and operational goals. Read more about how Axis HR Solutions can guide every organization through the M&A transaction lifecycle to ensure that each and every HR goal is realized.