Consumer brands carve-out and integration
Divestiture and Integration · Two snack brands from a global consumer goods company
In 2013 a global consumer goods company decided to sell two snack brands and their manufacturing assets.
Read moreM&A execution - Cultural transformation
Understand how both organisations behave, and design the joint behaviours that get the most value from the deal.
Culture is behaviour. Deciding which behaviours the organisation needs shows what you value in people. Businesses are created by people, so it matters to know what drives each team member, and why.
Cultural alignment needs strong communication throughout the organisation, and to customers and suppliers, so every stakeholder knows why things are changing, how, and what is expected of them. That is what shapes the culture of the joint organisation.
We run the change work as a workstream in the integration plan, on the same owners and dates as the systems work, not as a parallel effort.
What we cover - The work
Led by a senior practitioner from the first conversation to the last decision.
- Cultural assessment. Where the two organisations differ most, and which of those differences matter for the deal.
- Leadership alignment. What each sponsor does, and when: town halls, walkabouts, decisions and recognition, phase by phase.
- Communications. Messages for each audience at each milestone, from the announcement to Day 90, to staff, customers, suppliers and the press.
- Readiness and adoption. How ready each affected group is, where resistance is building and why, and what to do about it.
- Stakeholder engagement. Who matters to the change, where each person stands, and what has and has not worked with them.
- Knowledge transfer. Who holds knowledge that must move, and to whom, so a key person leaving does not take it with them.
How we deliver it - Run on atlanticma.ai
Project type in atlanticma.ai: Transformation, with the cultural / change subtype. Run on its own as a cultural or change transformation, or as the change workstream inside an integration. Either way it uses the Change Management module and the Stakeholder Co-Pilot.
Change Management module
Each part of the people side of the change has its own place in the project, worked through in three phases: assess, orchestrate, embed.
- Cultural integration. Both companies scored on nine cultural dimensions, showing where the gap is widest, tracked alongside the integration plan.
- Affected populations. The groups the change touches, by function, level and location, with headcount.
- Readiness by population. Each group tracked through five stages: understanding, engagement, capability, execution and embedding, with the barriers at each stage.
- Pulse surveys. Readiness, adoption, resistance, cultural and sponsor surveys, with the themes and the verbatim answers behind them.
- Resistance log. What is pushing back, how severe it is and its root cause, such as fear of job loss, change fatigue or a communication gap, with a response plan.
- Sponsor activities. Each sponsor’s commitments by phase, with due dates, so overdue ones show up before they become a problem.
- Communication kits. A kit for each milestone, from the deal announcement through Day 1, 30, 60 and 90. The Day 1 kit covers manager talking points, CEO emails for each side, the town hall, FAQs and customer, supplier and press pieces, each with approval.
- Knowledge transfer. Each transfer of knowledge, from whom to whom, by what method and by when, with single points of failure flagged.
Stakeholder Co-Pilot
The people behind the change, in the same project. Stakeholder data flows into Change Management, so sponsor pages and readiness show the people you track beside their population.
- Stakeholder map. Everyone who matters to the change: role, reporting line, where they stand, last contact and open questions.
- Briefings. A short briefing on any stakeholder before a meeting: what they care about, what they have said and what to ask next.
- Strategies that worked. Suggested ways to engage each stakeholder. The team marks each one tried, and whether it worked, so the record builds up.
- Questions across stakeholders. Ask who is still sceptical about the change, or who has not responded to the Day 1 briefing, by typing or by voice.
Agents and practitioners, together
Agent: Drafts the communication kit for each milestone and audience.
Practitioner reviewsPractitioner: Shapes the message with the sponsors and approves every piece.
Agent: Surfaces survey themes, resistance and overdue sponsor commitments.
Practitioner reviewsPractitioner: Decides what to act on, and works it with the leaders concerned.
Agent: Briefs the team on each stakeholder before a meeting.
Practitioner reviewsPractitioner: Has the conversation and records what worked.
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A roadmap and a 100-day plan both leadership teams own, so the business keeps running while the integration moves.
Read morePost-deal execution
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An integration, programme or transition office that keeps the priorities on track and gets decisions made.
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Plan and run the TSAs that let a buyer stand up its organisation, and exit each one on time.
Read moreHave a deal in mind?
Tell us about the transaction and the timetable. A partner will come back to you, not a sales team.
Where to find us
Atlantic M&A Partners
- Boston, MA
- London, UK
- Rijswijk, Netherlands
- Bonn, Germany