M&A - During which phases are consultants part of?

M&A
New answer on Oct 13, 2023
4 Answers
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Anonymous A asked on Mar 17, 2018

Dear community

I would like to know in which phases of an M&A deal consultants are involved in:

  1. M&A Strategy
  2. Target Screening
  3. Due Dilligence
  4. Execution
  5. PMI

And if they are involved in all, I would appreciate 2-3 activities in each step mangement consultants do, as I assume they will not do all the stuff for all phases.

Thx a lot!

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Benjamin
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Content Creator
replied on Oct 13, 2023
Ex-BCG Principal | 8+ years consulting experience in SEA | BCG top interviewer & top performer

Hi,

Interesting question. I would say that consultants can be part of every phase you have mentioned, although in different capacities. 

  1. M&A Strategy
    • Developing overall fund strategy
    • Developing the case/story for M&A 
  2. Target Screening
    • Developing thesis and industry/sector focus areas
    • Developing long list of potential targets
  3. Due Dilligence
    • Conduct CDDs or VDDs (majority of the work/time)
    • Conduct ODD and TDD (less of the time)
  4. Execution
    • Consulting firms will not be executing the deal but I have been on projects where I have supported PMO of the process
  5. PMI
    • Synergies identification
    • PMI PMO

Hope this helps to clarify!

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Jacopo
Expert
replied on Mar 22, 2018
Project leader BCG, Bain and A.T. Kearney / 200+ real interviews

Hi,

I agree with everything that has been written: consultants mainly intervene on due diligences, PMI and M&A strategy.

From a different point of view, when looking at M&A service offering, consulting firms generally offer the following:

  • Acquirer and Vendor Due Diligence: focus on market, competitors, target company, synergies assessment (for info, VDD are usually longer as more emphasis is given to business model and market analysis)
  • PMI (pre and post merger integration): focusing on merger management, value capture, merger enablement
  • Post-deal diagnosis: can focus on i) assessment of opportunities ii) first XXX days plan iii) business case and implementation roadmap
  • Divestiture management: (e.g. separation strategy, operational planning & realignment,...)

Hope this helps,

Jacopo

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Vlad
Expert
replied on Mar 17, 2018
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

The most common are:

  1. Due Diligence (Assessing the market, competitors and the company. Doing the valuation)
  2. M&A Strategy (Calculating synergies, setting the objectives for different departments)
  3. PMI (usually on a higher level like implementation strategy and PMO. Long implementation initiatives are usually executed by cheaper consultancies)

They don't perform the deal execution and rarely they do target screening.

Best!

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B
Expert
replied on Mar 17, 2018
NOT AVAILABLE

Hey,

Consultants can do projects across all, except for your point 4: we don’t take part in the actual negotiations/the deal itself, that’s only a task for the companies and often to the investment banks.

Best

Bruno

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Benjamin gave the best answer

Benjamin

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