The M&A integration process happens after the adviser has been paid and moved on, which is exactly why it is worth understanding from the deal side. Integration belongs to the acquirer's operations team, and almost every complaint about it traces back to something the deal team either knew and did not hand over, or promised and did not check. This page sets out the three things the deal side owes integration and where the handover reliably fails.
Owed one: the transition services actually agreed
A TSA is negotiated late and priced roughly, and it then runs for a year at a number nobody modelled. On this site's TSA arithmetic, seven services at $4,200 a month with an 8% markup charge $381,024 across a twelve-month term. Handing over a schedule list without those figures is handing over an argument.
Owed two: what diligence found and did not price
Every process turns up things that were noted, accepted and not reflected in the price: a contract that needs renegotiating, a system that is older than described, a key person with no agreement. Those are integration's first three months, and they live in the diligence file rather than in the purchase agreement.
Owed three: who has been told what
Which employees, customers and suppliers know, in what order, and what they were told. Integration inherits every commitment made during the process, including the informal ones, and the deal team is the only place that record exists.
Where the handover fails
There is usually no named owner on the buyer's side until after close, so the handover happens into a vacuum and then gets reconstructed from memory in week three. Naming that person before signing costs nothing and is the single highest-return thing a deal team can insist on.
Questions people ask about m&a integration process
Whose job is integration?
The acquirer's operations team. The adviser's job is the handover, and it is usually the part nobody plans.
What does the deal team owe integration?
The TSA with its real numbers, what diligence found and did not price, and who has been told what during the process.
Why do handovers fail?
Because there is often no named owner on the buyer's side until after close, so it happens into a vacuum and is reconstructed later.