Part 2: Six Essential Components for your IMO Playbook & The Single Most Overlooked Requirement
By Mark Herndon, Chairman and CEO of the M&A Leadership Council 

Part 2 in this series will help you identify how your current playbook stacks up and how you can improve it. If your company has acquired in the past, you’ll have components at a basic level for a solid playbook. In our experience with different types, sizes, and experience levels of acquirers over the years, we have found that most IMO playbooks fall short, both in what they should contain and more importantly, what they can accomplish. 

Part 1 / Integration Management Office (IMO) Playbook: Your Coach’s Handbook to M&A
Adapted from The Art of M&A Integration for Maximum Results

Famed basketball coach Bobby Knight wrote a defense playbook called Let’s Play Defense in 1968 that is still a prized possession and guide for many coaches over 50 years later.

20 Essential Requirements for Success 
by Mark Herndon, Chairman of the M&A Leadership Council 

We have said it, you have said it, we have all said it. Let’s say it together one more time: “There is NO “cookie-cutter,” formulaic approach to M&A integration success.”

Part One: Divesting for Maximum Value
Mark Herndon, Chairman of the M&A Leadership Council shares this part one of a two-part series covering the key requirements for achieving maximum value when divesting a business.

One of the most persistent and perplexing challenges many acquirers struggle with is inadequate M&A team resourcing.

The M&A resource problem plagues experienced acquirers as well as inexperienced ones. There simply never seems to be a good match between the resources actually needed and the resources made available. Predictably, resource constraints negatively impact the ability to achieve the deal’s intended financial and business objectives or impede the ability to quickly mobilize and execute on fast-paced, opportunistic acquisitions.

Stack the Deck in Your Favor
By Mark Herndon, Chairman of the M&A Leadership Council 

If you compare M&A results over the last 20 years, you’ll notice the data has barely changed. Between 50 and 70% of all deals underperform their original business objectives. Facing this very real risk, what can businesses do to improve their odds? 

The Impact of M&A on IT
By Mark Rapier, Senior Advisor, M&A Partners

Information technology (IT) is often cast in terms of its role in M&A and its significance to risk mitigation, operational continuity, and achieving optimal deal results. Yet, many C-level executives outside of IT don’t have an adequate understanding of how M&A impacts the IT 

Chairman’s Message – March 2021
By Mark Herndon, Chairman of the M&A Leadership Council 

Over the last two years, special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have dominated the IPO market. According to BusinessInsider, 219 SPACs raised $73B in new IPOs during 2020 alone. 

Are the New Employees Ready?
By Jahan Mirun Jaganmohan, Integration Leader at TIBCO; and Mark Herndon, Chairman, M&A Leadership Council

Brands and human capital are fundamentally important assets of any M&A transaction. Yet many acquirers fail to effectively prepare and align employees of the target company to embrace and adopt the acquirer’s brand and organizational values.

How to Lead Your Next Acquisition from Chaos to Consistent, Repeatable Results: Recommendations from Five M&A Experts 
Released by the M&A Leadership Council