M&A: From art to science
December 30, 2019
December 30, 2019
Of the companies most active in #MandA, more than ½ of their #acquisitions were related to gaining digital capabilities.
Three out of four executives (78 percent) agree or strongly agree that companies cannot rely on their current M&A capabilities for digital deals and must hire digital leaders into their M&A organizations to succeed.
61%
use a different pre-deal team and evaluation criteria
56%
follow different valuation and cost models
49%
use a different playbook
In addition, 58 percent say technology is already allowing them to achieve targets and capture value faster in their M&A deals.
If the traditional M&A toolbox is no longer sufficient for digital deals, it must be expanded and changed. But, applying digital to the ins and outs of a deal is only part of the equation for success. Companies must become more digital themselves to integrate newcomers as rapidly and effectively as possible—doing so provides them all the benefits of digital in a Swiss pocketknife effect.
Many acquiring companies are undergoing their own digital transformations, but most have not digitized completely. For instance, 57 percent say they have a platform in place to enable new businesses and systems to rapidly integrate, as well as digital expertise to support the integration.
Surprisingly, it is often M&A that pushes companies to digitize more broadly; 85 percent of executives surveyed agree or strongly agree M&A activity has forced their company to develop a data strategy.
Digital technologies help C-suite leaders transform M&A from an art to a science, to increase its capabilities as a driver of innovation and business growth. Leaders are already making some important changes:
Successful M&A teams already bring art to the deal in a way only humans can. Complementing that art with the science of analytics and applied intelligence only bodes well for the future of M&A.