The post M&A integration process is planned during the deal and executed by people who were mostly not in it, which is why so much of it consists of rediscovering things the deal team knew. Three inheritances shape the first hundred days, and one of them is a transition services agreement that was negotiated late and priced roughly. This page sets out the three and what to do about each.
Inheritance one: the transition services agreement
Whatever the seller agreed to keep running, at whatever price, for whatever term. On this site's worked example, seven services at $4,200 a month with an 8% markup is $31,752 a month and $381,024 across twelve months. Integration inherits both the cost and the exit, and needs a named owner for each schedule.
Inheritance two: what diligence found and did not price
Every process turns up things that were noted, accepted and left out of the price: a contract needing renegotiation, a system older than described, a key person with no agreement. Those are the first three months of work and they live in the diligence file rather than the purchase agreement.
Inheritance three: every commitment made during the process
What employees, customers and suppliers were told, in what order and by whom, including the informal reassurances. Integration is judged against those commitments whether or not it knows about them, so the handover has to include the conversations as well as the documents.
The one thing to fix before signing
A named owner on the buyer's side, appointed before signing rather than after close. Without it the handover happens into a vacuum and gets reconstructed from memory in week three, which is the single most common and most avoidable failure in integration.
Questions people ask about post m&a integration process
What does integration inherit from the deal?
The transition services agreement, the diligence findings that were noted and not priced, and every commitment made during the process.
What is the most avoidable failure?
No named owner on the buyer's side before signing, so the handover happens into a vacuum and is reconstructed later from memory.
What does a TSA cost?
On the worked example, $31,752 a month and $381,024 across twelve months, of which $28,224 is the markup.