So, what are you looking for in an M&A consulting firm? In short… trust and experience. When you hire an M&A consulting firm, you should expect the following:

• A company and team that has a repeatable methodology & playbook, along with expertise in strategy, process, technology, and delivery.

• Confirmation that the M&A consulting firm understands the human element and change management components to ensure that the merger generate superior value quickly!

• The M&A firm should have proven case studies, white papers, thought-leadership, and client references related to M&A Strategy, Sell-Side M&A, Buy-Side M&A, and large post-merger transitions.

Mergers and acquisitions bring a lot of anticipation, expectations, and enthusiasm. While the idea of increased market share, a strengthened core business, expanded product lines, enhanced technologies, and reduced costs—drive the desire to find that perfect strategic partner, studies have shown that that over 80% of merger and acquisitions fail to achieve targeted expectations. So why are so few M&As successful?

In reality, this less-than-20% success rate does not mean that the mergers and acquisitions fail on paper. But it does mean that they don’t meet expectations, and the new entity does not function as it should. Are the expectations too high? What should we expect with a merger or acquisition? How do we improve the chances for success?