Case 3: Series of Retail Acquisitions
Our Integration360°© methodology helped to integrate a $2 billion client, achieve 20% savings, and with zero downtime
Situation
The client was integration multiple companies into one, and thus needed to manage multiple stakeholders across geographies.
A large private equity firm had recently invested in an addition to their portfolio that, once integrated with their existing holdings, would create a clear market leader. Since this integration process would include multiple organizations (not just two as is customary), with each contributing a unique and valuable piece of the puzzle, the client needed to retain a firm that could manage multiple stakeholders and envision an integration plan that created a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
Challenge
The integration had to be coupled with operational transformation work to enable the merged organizations to operate effectively and efficiently at their new size and position as a market leader.
All companies were of relatively equal size, and none of them were structured or designed to support the aggregate size and processes of a market leader. Yet, each provided strong skills and legacy in one aspect of the business. The integration was therefore expected to be very complex and needed a highly customized approach. Furthermore, the integration had to be simultaneously coupled with operational transformation work to enable the merged organizations to function effectively and efficiently at its new size.
Action
A inter-continental team was assembled to objectively identify best practices across the firms, and define how to scale and adapt said practices seamlessly across geographies.
We identified a team of more than 50 people across all functions of all companies to create and execute a full integration plan, covering expansion strategy, financial restructuring, rebranding, technology integration, internal communication, people and culture change management, as well as administrative issues such as office relocation. The work included guiding the team to objectively identify best practices across the firms, and figuring out how to scale and adapt said practices into the merged organization.
Results
The companies were fully integrated with 20% cost savings, and less than 2% headcount reduction.
The companies were fully integrated with 20% cost savings. Driven by our unique integration approach, the staff were able to deliver their day-to-day work while being involved in the creation and execution of the integration plan, resulting in zero operational downtime and no loss of revenue during integration. Top talent was retained across the companies, and planned headcount reduction was kept to a minimum globally at under 2%, primarily from leadership consolidation.
Based on the success of the combined integration and transformation work, the private equity client asked us to use our proprietary approach to guide them through defining their 10-year global M&A portfolio strategy via a series of custom-designed and choreographed workshops.