Culture is Key in M&A Success

Millions of dollars per deal are lost because of cultural integration issues,  according to  Mercer’s Cultural Integration Snapshot Survey. Its Americas survey showed that 43 percent of those responding reported that $1-$5 million “was lost or not realized in a significant transaction their organization had recently undertaken,” with nearly 25 percent estimating such losses at more than $5 million. 

“Cultural integration has a significant impact on the benefits of deals of organizations,” according to Elisa Hukins, leader for cultural integration for Mercer’s M&A global consulting business. “We are working with one organization that estimated its failure to quickly manage conflicting cultures early on cost them hundreds of millions of dollars of lost revenue over a three-year period.” Those companies “citing a more positive impact of culture in recent major transactions were those who had invested in implementing structured cultural integration processes and programs from as early as the due diligence phase,” notes Hukins.