NAVIGATING A GLOBAL ACQUISITION

THE HUMAN SIDE OF MERGERS

We partnered with the global industrial company to shape the integration strategy from the inside out. Recognizing that roughly 74% of mergers and acquisitions fail due to cultural misalignment, traditional financial and operational playbooks alone wouldn’t suffice.

Instead, we helped craft a communications approach around empathy, transparency, and action. Together with the company’s executives and change management teams, we:

• Conducted deep-dive stakeholder interviews across global facilities to understand the cultural landscape.
• Mapped the integration journey against the organizational change curve to predict employee sentiment over time.
• Developed strategic messaging tailored to both legacy organizations, grounded in shared values and future opportunity.
• Equipped leaders with tools to say “we don’t know yet” to help maintain credibility despite the inherent uncertainty.

The company invested in proactive communication and cultural integration. The focus was to 1) acknowledge the uncertainty faced by employees, 2) communicate even when the answers weren’t fully known, and 3) treat employees as participants rather than bystanders in the change.

FROM UNCERTAINTY TO ALIGNMENT

Integration complexities varied by region. In France, where both companies had facilities located near each other, we advised retaining local operations with minimal disruption. But in areas where the companies had overlapping production, tough decisions loomed and so did risk.

To reduce friction, our team led communications that:

• Acknowledged uncertainty honestly.
• Reassured employees through visibility and dialogue.
• Prioritized culture alongside logistics.

We transformed leadership communications from top-down memos into two-way conversations, reinforcing that this change was happening by and for employees − not just to them.

MEASURING WHAT MATTERS

Our communication strategy helped the acquiring company maintain
cultural cohesion and preserve productivity during turbulent times. Leadership teams, supported by our coaching and materials, responded to tough questions with clarity − even when answers weren’t final.

And by minimizing the duration of employee confusion and disengagement, we helped the organization move through the change curve more quickly, avoiding the costly stall often seen in large integrations.