Case 2: Horticulture Acquisition
Our Integration360°© methodology helped a private equity client achieve integration success for a newly-acquired horticulture and genetics company—in under six months.
Situation
A private equity firm was acquiring a new company that would create vertical integration opportunities for its horticulture portfolio.
A private equity client was acquiring a sales and distribution company to vertically integrate with a leading global horticulture company in its portfolio. They needed a consulting group that could deliver a highly bespoke array of services to facilitate the transaction and smooth the blending of the two organizations.
Challenge
The merging entities required a synergistic boost in sales, while ensuring they maintain enough independence to retain their full roster of clients.
The acquiring company was attempting to integrate a distributor, but still needed to maintain a strong relationship with all the other large distributors in the sector that carry and sell their products. Likewise, the distributor being acquired needed to keep their volume and business diversification by continuing to carry other clients’ products. This highly complicated integration required a synergistic boost in sales, while ensuring that both companies maintained enough independence, checks and balances to provide a level of comfort that enabled them to retain their “other” clients.
Action
Starting our engagement prior to the deal closing, Amira & Co. helped craft and deliver the messaging around the acquisition to the market in a manner that instilled confidence that both companies would remain commercially independent and continue to cherish and support their existing commercial-partner relationships. Equally important, we were able to help announce the merger internally to both organizations, creating excitement about the future growth possibilities for all involved.
We guided a team of 30 client staff through a very delicate integration process that delivered synergies and enabled scaling for both companies, while maintaining commercial independence and fair treatment of the commercial partners of both companies.
As integration lead, Amira helped the executive team define a post-acquisition strategy that ranged across the full spectrum of integration considerations, including strategically taking advantage of their new scale, integrating technologies, and whether or not to co-locate offices, etc.
This set the stage for effectively using our Integration360°© methodology and Transformation-from-Within© approach to guide a cross-continental team of 30 in developing a very delicate integration process that delivered synergies and enabled scaling for both companies, while maintaining commercial independence and fair treatment of the commercial partners of both companies.
Results
The client was able to integrate the brokerage firm and effectively double its size.
The client was able to integrate the brokerage firm and effectively double its size. Through the integration, they gained the sales talent, distribution channels and market access they needed, and did so in a way that maintained a productive relationship with both companies’ commercial partners. Most importantly, all of this was accomplished in under six months — within budget.
Based on the success of our integration support, the client retained us again to guide the new leadership team in developing a five-year growth strategy that captured the opportunities made possible by the acquisition and enabled the private equity firm to exit on schedule and at desired multiples.