The intelligent clean room: ensuring value capture in mergers and acquisitions

Purpose – To illustrate the importance of speeded up merger integration process that creates value part of the M&A lifecycle. Design/methodology/approach – This paper relies on recent case studies, client work and a survey. Findings – Mergers that create maximum value treat the transaction as a complete lifecycle – beginning with pre‐deal strategy, progressing through deal execution and continuing with post‐merger integration. Most successful merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions are characterized by the superior execution of an explicit value‐capture strategy, which we call the “life‐cycle approach.” To achieve this, top managements in the most successful transactions have relied on four key principles: treat M&A as a holistic process; focus on value creation, not just integration; accelerate merger planning and execution; and use culture as a value‐creation tool. Practical implications – Companies which already have an in‐built M&A capability, will adopt new best practices in merger integration that treat post‐merger integration earlier in the M&A process. Originality/value – For companies who have an active M&A growth strategy, a speeded up merger integration allows for the early capture of M&A deal value.