Another by-product of the global pandemic is an increase in M&A activity globally resulting in C-suite professionals shifting their focus, now more than ever, to strategic divestiture and acquisition activities.

When it comes to M&A, there are a plethora of important details that need to be addressed – all with the added burden of quick turnaround times. Having worked with clients to support their M&A activities, here are the top 5 areas you should consider to prepare for the next big deal.

  1. The Clock is Ticking
    M&A projects require meeting tight timeframes, while ensuring accuracy. This applies to due diligence; an essential component of any M&A deal. Proper due diligence is designed to ensure that all involved parties have a working knowledge and are informed about the details of their transactions. This process typically occurs within a 30-90-day window. Expediency and accuracy are paramount. As timelines become more compressed, more resources are needed to get the work done on time.

    Solution: Ensure you are able to cost-effectively scale the size of the deal team up or down. Having this flexibility can give you a huge advantage and allow you to create a solid plan of attack while meeting internal and external deadlines.

  2. Translating Contracts
    Contracts are a rich source of information, holding key details and data that need to be gathered as part of any due diligence, including real estate, intellectual property, human resources, and commercial terms. Gathering large volumes of contracts and breaking them down into useful insights can be a headache, taking up significant time and resources.

    Solution: Breaking contracts down into structured data can equip you with the vital information you need to confidently make decisions.

  3. Plan, Plan, Plan
    When embarking on any M&A project, there are many factors to take into consideration. You have to juggle timelines, budgets, the contracts themselves, resources, as well as project manage to keep track of progress. Failure to properly plan for any of those factors can be costly – wasting precious time, money, and leaving vital work undone.

    Solution: In depth planning at the outset, as well as a battle-tested processes can prevent these expensive detours. Measure twice, cut once is surely the best strategy in such a risky situation.

  4. Contracts Projects Experience Gaps
    A first attempt at something is rarely the best. With contracts projects, so many things can go wrong. Beyond the insights contained within contracts, there are many logistical challenges. Gathering, organizing, and reviewing at scale can be a real challenge. Additionally, if you aren’t careful, the output of all that hard work will be a massive spreadsheet that may not be in the format you need to interact with your other systems.

    Solution: Working with an experience service provider, like Integreon, allows you to tap into deep contracts experience. A partner with the right expertise can help you steer around obstacles and ensure that the output is what you are expecting and most importantly – what you need.

  5. Technology – Friend or Foe?
    Technology is a valuable tool to leverage when undertaking M&A projects. These type of projects often involve virtual deal rooms, AI tools to complete diligence, and post-merger contract integration exercises. However, the learning curve to successfully deploy new technologies can be quite steep. The technology landscape changes quickly and it is important to stay current. Platforms and AI can provide extensive lift and efficiencies, but can’t fix everything – especially out of the box with no customization to meet your needs and processes.

    Solution: Make sure you select a best-fit platform that addresses your specific needs, processes and ensure that you have workflows designed utilizing those platforms…and a team that understands and can use them effectively.

To learn more about how Integreon can support your M&A contract needs, please contact us today or email info@integreon.com.

Corwin Eversley, Esq.