Three Handy "Do's" for M&A Success

Buyside Tips that Go Beyond the Playbook

Playbooks are great.  Really.  They provide structure, reduce the chance of skipping steps, and make a solid starting point. But they’re not enough.  A playbook can’t deliver true acquisition value or protect you from the silent deal killers behind M&A’s notorious failure rate.

If you want to raise your odds of success, keep the playbook—but add these three critical Do’s. (Next month, we’ll cover the Don’ts.):

Do Number 1: Know Thyself

All companies have strengths and weaknesses, both in terms of success in business, but also in the ability to be successful when acquiring.  Our experience shows that companies honest about their capabilities, especially around culture, manage integrations far better than those with a scattershot approach.  Here’s are some questions to ask to “know thyself”:

• What is our Sustainable Competitive Advantage?  Or more simply, what is it about us that allows us to be successful and how can we bring that to our acquisition targets?

• How is work done around here?  Are we a series of fire drills?  Or do we plan everything within an inch of perfection?

• How are employees rewarded in the company?  Are we a sales-driven culture?  Do we reward relationships or longevity?  Are we cooperative or competitive?

Due diligence will reveal a lot about a target.  Be sure you are considering how that company would look in your management structure / style.

Do Number 2: Understand the Target

Similar to knowing thyself, spending the time to truly understand the target company is often given less attention than it deserves.  We get it.  Due diligence is done in a short period of time with less than perfect information.  The softer issues of HOW a company works and WHY it works that way are frankly unnecessary to come up with a purchase price.  But it is very relevant to the value of the purchase.

This isn’t true in all cases.  Maybe the target is failing, and the acquisition represents a fresh start (for them).  Or maybe it’s an asset deal that will be bolted on. 

But if you are acquiring a successful company, acquiring a division or even doing an acqui-hire, spending the time to understand how and why a company is successful, why its employees like to work there or how it competes in the market (and maybe beats you!?!) is critical to preserving that value. 

If you don’t take the time to understand these dynamics, you risk losing the very people and practices that made the target worth buying.

Do Number 3: Put a Senior Leader in Charge of Acquisition

Integrations are just big projects, right?  And senior leaders are busy people.  Hire a good project manager and the integration runs itself, right?  Wrong.  Many, many deals go sideways when the acquiring company fails to appoint a senior leader with true accountability for the acquisition.  We’re talking about someone with a title “Chief X Officer” who is both responsible (i.e. fired if it fails) and empowered to make decisions.  Why?

• Some decisions need speed. They may not have time to filter up through the Steering Committee and the Executive Committee.  One Executive needs to know that they are empowered to make a decision.

• Cross-organizational support is much more attuned to C-Level management.  Teams “too busy” to prioritize integration often change their tune after one call from a CXO.

• Accountability Matters.  Many unsuccessful acquisitions struggle because nobody at the C-Level is truly responsible.  When one leader knows their career is tied to success, the C-suite stays aligned and distractions are minimized.  At CorpDev Consulting, we like to say that every acquisition needs a “thick neck in the noose”.

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With nearly a century of combined experience, CorpDev Consulting has helped senior executives navigate M&A with clarity, confidence, and discipline.  Follow the Do’s, watch for the Don’ts, and increase your chances of joining the small minority of deals that actually succeed. Contact us today to learn how we can help your team set your next deal up for long-term success.

Written by Tim Christie

September 2025