Mergers & Acquisitions
Post-merger integration: the hundred days that decide the deal
Most lower mid-market value is realised or lost in the quarter after close — usually the least planned part of the transaction.
In short
Post-merger integration at Keel Partners starts before close: a written 100-day plan covering governance, cash, customers, people and systems, with named owners and weekly milestones, and the first thirty days decided to the week. We then chair the integration cadence for the first two to three months, because a plan nobody chairs is a plan nobody runs.
Structure
The five workstreams
Governance
Who decides what, at what value, from day one. The single most common gap.
Cash
Working capital, payment runs, banking mandates and the first ninety days of cash flow.
Customers
Who tells them, when, and what changes for them. Silence is the risk people underestimate.
People
Retention of the ones who matter, clarity for everyone else, and one operating cadence rather than two.
Systems
What must integrate now, what can wait a year, and what should never integrate at all.
Corridor
Cross-border timing
| GCC target | European target | |
|---|---|---|
| First constraint | Workforce mobility and visa transfer | Consultation and works-council obligations |
| Timeline effect | Fast, but attrition risk is high in the first quarter | Can add a full quarter before changes take effect |
| Hidden liability | Accrued end-of-service gratuity | Pension, environmental and historic employment liabilities |
| Common error | Assuming a European playbook transfers | Assuming consultation is a formality |
FAQ
Frequently asked
When should integration planning start?
Before signing. If the 100-day plan is written after close, the first month is spent arguing about email systems while the customers and the good people decide what they think.
Do you run the integration for us?
We chair the cadence and hold the plan for the first two to three months. Executive authority stays with your management — an integration run by an adviser is one nobody owns afterwards.
What is the most common failure?
No named owner for a synergy that is in the model. If it is in the number, someone has to have their name against it.
Next step
Book a 30-minute briefing
No deck, no pitch. Bring one decision you are stuck on and we will work it through.