Mergers & Acquisitions Integration Handbook, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 9Planning Your Integration’s End State

In this chapter, you will learn:

• How to define “end state” for your integration
• The end state process and steps required to officially wrap up your integration
• Tips and strategies to make sure you finish your integration well

Every integration needs to have an end. Planning for your end state is just as important as planning the integration itself. In the context of integration planning, end state is defined as a point of transition for the IMO where the bulk of the originally planned integration activities are complete. To be more precise, I typically define “bulk” as having 80% or more of the tasks complete.

One of the most important activities you can do early on to make end state a fairly simple activity is to clearly scope on the front end of the integration what your end state objectives will be.

Pre-planning is the ideal time to decide on a recommended time frame for the bulk of integration activities. For transaction in the lower and middle market, a healthy goal is to try and have the bulk of integration initiatives completed by Day 90–120. Note, there will always be workstreams that exceed this timeline, but the important thing is that they are defined and a completion timetable is included on the master integration roadmap. Examples of workstreams with a “long tail” include ERP migrations/implementations, facility closures, branding transitions, manufacturing production moves, and product consolidations. Also note that ...