The final chapter (for now!) in our series on the unwritten rules of post acquisition integration. We’ve explored programme structures, leadership teams and the approach to acquired leaders and the fable of the business case! This last one is focused on the old favourite. We at Agile Gorilla think that this is as much to do with external consultants being able to understand cost line items much more easily than […]
All that is written cannot be changed…the tablets of stone of the business case! In what other walk of life can you imagine a situation where the thoughts, analysis and assumptions of one person (or perhaps a small team), drawn up before any access to the subject matter was granted and therefore based entirely on an ‘out to in’ perspective are entirely inviolate? …all because this was the rationale presented […]
Functions continue to dominate organisation structures, whilst perpetuating silo based thinking. Nowhere is this more the case than in mergers and transactions where the function based due diligence process just continues in the post deal period. Attached a short article to illustrate the issue. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/functional-teams-should-lead-way-ben-de-haldevang/?published=t hashtag#theagilegorilla hashtag#postdealintegration hashtag#mergersandacquisitions Look forward to hearing from you. Any comments, critiques welcome as ever.
The latest piece from my colleague, David Boyd, on the potential benefits of delivering deals internally rather than relying on expensive, external, experienced but rarely independent consultants. Worth a read as always…comment and critique welcomed! https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-bring-ma-integration-in-house-david-boyd/
Beyond the beautiful pictures and the well crafted and perhaps provocative words, we believe there is a fundamental issue with the way in which M&A is considered and delivered. This is the Agile Gorilla manifesto…have a read and let us know what you think. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-time-revolution-ma-david-boyd/
Latest blog from The Agile Gorilla. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/buying-business-which-performing-exceptionally-well-ben-de-haldevang/ I’d love to hear from you with any thoughts, comments, ideas. All the best Ben
A view from the Agile Gorilla on the challenges for acquirers who are looking at M&A as a strategic option. It turns out that those who are doing a ‘few’ have the most challenges, not necessarily those who are starting out in the world deals. As ever, I would appreciate your comments, thoughts and ideas. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ma-needs-true-commitment-david-boyd/
Morning all, thanks for all your encouragement and various messages from last week…I appreciate all of it enormously and I’m excited about the opportunities for our baby going forward. Here is a link to an article written by my colleague, David Boyd. He captures beautifully the inherent conflict between the behaviour which we’re expected to exhibit in our corporate lives and that which is critical for our daily survival….characterised by […]
Good morning / afternoon friends, ex-colleagues, family members (!) and random folk who have an interest in the world of consulting and mergers & acquisitions in particular. I’ve been remarkably quiet for quite some time…this is not due to a lack of thought / interesting experiences etc but the development of the next stage in my M&A journey. My new venture, The Agile Gorilla is the result of the above merger. Please […]
A first for iROAM (inarticulate Ramblings of a Management Consultant)! I have asked my co-inteviewer to give his perspective on the interviews we conducted. Abhay Pande made some comments below which I wanted to share with you. My friend Ben de Haldevang and I spent a fair bit of time over the spring and summer of 2016 talking to a number of Asian senior executives, across several sectors, about their […]
East Goes West is a series of podcasts focused on the challenge of Asian businesses coming to Europe and the US. Abhay Pande and conducted a series of interview with senior Asian leaders to understand a little more of the cultural complexity that exists across the Asian landscape, recognise the key differences and start to think about what an Asian owner might expect of a European and American business. The […]
East Goes West is a series of podcasts focused on the challenge of Asian businesses coming to Europe and the US. Abhay Pande and conducted a series of interview with senior Asian leaders to understand a little more of the cultural complexity that exists across the Asian landscape, recognise the key differences and start to think about what an Asian owner might expect of a European and American business. The […]
East Goes West is a series of podcasts focused on the challenge of Asian businesses coming to Europe and the US. Abhay Pande and conducted a series of interview with senior Asian leaders to understand a little more of the cultural complexity that exists across the Asian landscape, recognise the key differences and start to think about what an Asian owner might expect of a European and American business. The […]
Over the next six weeks, I will be publishing a series of interviews which I and a friend of mine, Abhay Pande, conducted whilst based in Singapore. These interviews were born of a shared interest and desire to get beyond the myth and legend of Asian corporate culture and business practice and actually get some insights from Asian leaders that we have in our network. The facts are plain enough. […]
The Guardian recently published a long but interesting piece on the history of time management (from Taylor forward). You’ll find the link here. For me, the bit that’s really interesting and that feeds well into the current discourse is the differentiation between productivity and creativity. If you have a moment, do a bit of research to see how these two concepts are portrayed. Even 20 seconds googling will provide you […]
Dear friends (those of you who have signed up to this blog are almost inevitably that!), it’s been a while and I realise that I have broken the cardinal rule of blogging… that is regular, predictable and interesting pieces of short, concise and opinion filled content! Today I wanted to reference an extraordinary speech made by Sir Christopher Meyer at an excellent networking event in October. Sir Christopher talked extremely […]
With many thanks to my good friend, Alastair Campbell, for an impromptu conversation this week, I wanted to raise an interesting issue. Do the principles of anchoring apply to companies as much as they apply to individuals? To remind you, the concept of anchoring is based on the short circuit in our brain which applies a correlation to unrelated facts / opinions and thereby can make us make some assumptions […]
At the risk of sounding trite, the opportunities for successful acquirers have never been as great as they are now nor the risks higher! The market generally views with suspicion those who would target growth through deals as their primary vehicle M&A disasters, but for those who do it well, the leverage of the low cost of capital, reasonable valuations and potential for disruption in industries which have been spoilt […]
I’m struck by a couple of transactions in the last 6 months which have some unusual characteristics….and absolutely demonstrate the passive nature of both institutional and retail shareholders these days. The one in particular which I want to look at today is SAB Miller / Anheuser Busch. The announcement of the transaction between SAB Miller and Anheuser-Busch INBEV in the form of the public statement issued on 11th November 2015 […]
The second in my series of capital flows from East to West….and the consequences for European / UK and American leaders. You will find the first here…I would recommend that you read them in the order that they are written! One of the biggest challenges for Western CEOs facing the prospect of Asian ownership is understanding the formal and informal nature of governance. There is a perception amongst many, based […]
Inarticulate ramblings of a management consultant 