M&A Solutions are Driven by the Need to Simplify Global Complexity
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Although merger and acquisition (M&A) activity is fairly common in today’s business environment, it is typically large, global enterprises that leverage the strategy most frequently. For organizations with billions in revenue and a steady stream of new investment, taking advantage of new market opportunities is often best achieved by acquiring companies that have already proven themselves successful in the field. In the case of the world’s largest enterprises like Microsoft and Apple, M&A activity comprises a significant portion of overall growth. In fact, Microsoft alone has acquired more than 216 companies since their founding, and Apple acquires a new company at an average rate of once every 2-3 weeks. Across other industries like staffing and HR, Fortune 500 firm ManpowerGroup has acquired four new companies in the past five years and ~15 total companies over the past few decades.
But while an M&A-intensive business strategy might be advantageous for eliminating competition, increasing revenue, and maintaining growth, there are a variety of challenges that must be confronted in order for the model to prove successful in the long-term.
Of course, any M&A project undertaken by a company will face obstacles, most of which revolve around how to best integrate the employees, products, systems, culture, and customers of the acquired company into the acquiring enterprise. These challenges are typically what executives and business leaders focus on most when evaluating M&A solutions, and for good reason. If employees and customers are dissatisfied with how the acquisition is managed or if the acquired company’s product line stagnates, it can quickly turn the entire project on its head and substantially hinder future profits and revenue.
However, in today’s digitally oriented business landscape, the above factors are not the only concern for M&A-intensive enterprises. Instead, one of the core challenges confronting modern acquisition projects lies along the technology front. This is particularly true when it comes dealing with finance, treasury, and banking technology.
This whitepaper evaluates how the success of long-term M&A activity on the part of large enterprises (and their underlying treasury and finance teams) is dependent upon their ability to integrate and connect the pre-existing technology stacks of newly acquired subsidiaries with their existing infrastructure.
Download the full whitepaper below to learn more about how treasury and IT teams can overcome these challenges!