Understanding Your M&A Challenges 

Throughout our many years working in this space we know that transition struggles with substantial post M&A integration is not uncommon; the nature of the issues just differ depending on industry. When we initially engaged with a Fortune 200 retail client, we immediately uncovered several challenges they would face as they tackled this transition, namely:

  • The cost of the large consulting firm they were using was not sustainable over the likely duration of the integration, and the planning versus execution skill sets were not really what was needed to proceed 
  • There was much larger redundancy in suppliers, products, and facilities than had been considered in pre-close due diligence 
  • A clear understanding of the integration plan, roadmap process, one-time cost tracking, and synergy attainment did not exist 
  • Time and attention spent on the integration process by key business operators severely putting to risk continuity of day-to-day operations 

With a commitment to shareholders to deliver $600 million in recurring annual synergies,the client struggled with the assembly and alignment of transitioning from the “what” and “when” stages to developing the “how” plan; those first steps as to where to begin remained elusive.

Achieving Success Through Partnership 

The end result of this integration well-exceeded the original expectations in the clients’ acquisition thesis. They hit targets before deadlines, improved integration efficiency, and in the end, our contributions were recognized through their awarding to ESG their Partner of the Year status.

Other concrete results included:

  • $750M annual recurring synergy realization in under three years (a 25% overachievement)
  • Rationalization of hundreds of thousands of SKUs
  • Conversion and / or closure of 21 distributions centers

The Right Partner Makes All the Difference

As we have learned, the only way through tough M&A challenges is bold and decisive action, but few companies are equipped to tackle these problems the first time they come up against them. This is where ESG makes our most substantial contributions with our clients.

Author

Mark Newhall

Founder of ESG

Other Blogs
May 5, 2021As learnings from the last year compel alternative thinking around outside versus inside sales, ESG is seeing heightened client focus on adapting go-to-market strategies.  What changes are you making?  Reinvigorating selling models to include an intensified emphasis on inside selling skills, process and technologies appear to make more sense than ever. Well-designed inside selling models clearly provide an increase in efficiencies, more prospect and customer touches, and all at a significantly lower selling expense than traditional outside sales models.  As one would expect, new customer acquisition has been challenged through COVID times. Travel challenges have impacted in-person trust-building, videoconferencing has emerged as a sort of quasi “new normal”—all underscoring the need to expand and maximize insights within existing client portfolios through virtual selling, line of business expansion, and an enhanced customer buying experience.   A well-trained, technology-equipped Inside Sales Professional typically achieves more frequent and well-informed touches than their counterparts in Outside Sales, resulting in more selling opportunities.  Reimagining your Sales and go-to-market model—to the volatility and uncertainty of today’s business landscape—requires experience, insights, and perspective as to how to best approach the myriad of this transformation challenge.  ESG has architected and delivered world-class inside selling capabilities for more than ten years. Let us learn about your challenges, and offer insights as to the optimal transformation path to achieve best-in-class through a combination of top talent, bulletproof business process, and technology that attracts and retains the very best sales professionals and customers.  —By Stephen Danizio, Director, Business Development, ESG Headquartered in Denver, with offices in Chicago and Boston, Execution Specialists Group (ESG) is a strategy execution-focused consultancy with extensive global experience engaging with client senior leadership to plan and deliver on complex innovation and transformation objectives. ESG relentlessly focuses on delivering meaningful client outcomes and leaving behind a culture of execution. Recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms for six years running in the areas of Business Strategy and Supply Chain, ESG clients include Advance Auto Parts, Bridgestone, Caesars Entertainment, Gordon Food Service, Office Depot/OfficeMax, Target Corporation, Whole Foods and more. To learn more about ESG, visit www.esgimpact.com Printer Friendly Version [...] Read more...
July 16, 2020In my recent conversations with past, current and prospective clients, as well as some consulting colleagues, I’ve heard a couple of different suppositions about the state of our business as we face down more of the unknown in 2020. One is that, as management consultants, our pipeline must be bone dry as companies scale way back on big-ticket projects, implementations and transactions. The others assumes that we are overwhelmed with companies that are looking for guidance as to how to safely open, operate and maintain continuity in the current environment. The reality, of course, is somewhere in the middle. While we aren’t as likely to see our clients investing in the same areas they were prior to the pandemic, we’re still seeing plenty of growth activity and certain segments where demand is way up. And while we are fielding inquiries on a number of topics related to day-to-day organizational functionality, the internal operations teams at most of the businesses to which we’ve spoken are not, for the most part, overwhelmed or in panic mode; they’re managing to do what they do best – triage situations on a case-by-case basis and react appropriately.   Instead, our engagements over the past few months have tended to be much more pragmatic. While many management teams are concentrating on getting their organization through another day, week and month without significant interruption, we’ve heard from a number of businesses that are now being forced to tackle some of the tougher initiatives that they had been putting off but are now considered mission-critical, such as digital transformation, ERP implementations, mobility, customer centric applications, etc. Utilizing limited resources within a challenging working environment, these companies are seeking a partner to help them map out their next significant, transformative move.  When ESG was launched in 2008, businesses were dealing with chaotic economic conditions that had no precedent. Those who worked with ESG at that time are likely to recall the position they were in when they first called us. Whether it was for M&A activity, a CRM implementation, workforce assessment, etc., their businesses were in vulnerable states, there was little clarity around the global economy and many companies were facing complex transformations with ambiguous outcomes. Working with ESG gave those management teams a neutral, third-party team of experienced pros with which to strategize, create and execute on big picture plans, freeing organizational leaders to focus on operating and maintaining their businesses profitably and efficiently. In 2020, the specifics are obviously quite different, but the overall conditions are strikingly similar. Just as they were in the last economic slowdown, business leaders, already operating with relatively low budgets and small teams, are facing down vulnerability mixed with a lack of clarity, and incredibly complex changes loom on the horizon. With executives dealing with everything from reconfiguring office floor plans to identifying transportation issues, or mitigating against manufacturing delays and shifts to the product roadmap, preparing for and successfully executing on any transformational initiative seems borderline impossible. And so, just as it was in 2008, ESG is well-positioned to support its clients in this time of ambiguity. Our team has only become stronger and savvier – not just through M&A integration activity, but other complex projects including discovery, roadmapping, prioritization, corporate positioning and full-scale changes to the customer experience. As organizational resources concentrate on responding to the COVID-19 crisis and maintaining business continuity, ESG is there to listen, learn and keep those organizations on track for growth and significant transformation of all kinds. We act as extensions of our clients’ teams, making their long-term goals our own, while supplying time-tested and unbiased guidance that reflects decades of corporate and commercial experience.  We would welcome the opportunity to learn more about your current business challenges and determine where ESG can provide support.   —By Mark Newhall, ESG Founder and CEO Based in Denver, Colorado, Execution Specialists Group (ESG) is a strategy execution-focused consultancy with extensive global experience engaging with client senior leadership to plan and deliver on complex post M&A integration and digital transformation objectives. Recognized by Forbes as one of America’s “Top Management Consulting Firms” for the past five years (2016-2020), ESG clients include Advance Auto Parts, Bridgestone, Caesars Entertainment, Gordon Food Service, Office Depot/OfficeMax, Target Corporation, Whole Foods and more. To learn more about ESG, visit www.esgimpact.com Printer Friendly Version [...] Read more...
April 28, 2017Execution Specialists Group LLC (ESG) has been named by Forbes as one of “America’s Best Management Consulting Firms” for the second year in a row. This annual list identifies top management consultancies that provide businesses across sectors with the best guidance in their respective practice areas. ESG, a Denver-based consultancy focused on strategy execution, was recognized as one of the nation’s leading management consulting firms in the area of business strategy. “We are extremely honored to be recognized for a second year in a row,” said Mark Newhall, ESG Founder and CEO. “Being named to this list not only demonstrates third party validation of our value promise, but to be nominated by our clients and peers means we are delivering on our commitment to make strategy happen. I am proud of the continued efforts by our team to deliver meaningful client outcomes and the enhanced culture of execution they leave behind.” To compile this list, Forbes collaborated with analytics company Statista. The lists of the Best Management Consulting Firms are based on two surveys: a colleague survey of more than 7,000 consulting experts (partners and project managers from management consultancies) and a client survey among 1,100 senior executives, who have previously worked with management consultancies. The client survey asked the executives which industries they worked in, and then prompted them to recommend the best consulting companies in those sectors. The ranking is comprised exclusively of consultancies that have a sufficient number of recommendations. About ESG Based in Denver, Colorado, Execution Specialists Group (ESG) is a strategy execution-focused consultancy with extensive global experience engaging with client senior leadership to plan and deliver on complex integration, transformation, and innovation objectives. ESG relentlessly focuses on delivering meaningful client outcomes and leaving behind a culture of execution. Recognized by Forbes as one of the “Top Management Consulting Firms of 2016,” ESG leaders have managed hundreds of integrations across all functional disciplines including sales, merchandising, supply chain, marketing, real estate, technology, human resources and finance to deliver disciplined program design and execution. Clients include Caesars Entertainment, Gordon Food Service, Office Depot/OfficeMax, Staples, Target Corporation, Whole Foods and more. To learn more about ESG, visit www.esgimpact.com.   ESG Contact: Jennifer Levasseur mediarelations@esgimpact.com [...] Read more...
January 31, 2018At this point on the calendar, near-and long-term business predictions for 2018 and beyond are easy to come by, and frankly not all that valuable. What is known, however, is that this year hundreds of mergers and acquisitions will be announced, planned or executed and, subsequently, companies will pay hundreds of millions of dollars to consulting specialists to help guide the M&A process. Whether these companies will be satisfied with the guidance they receive is an entirely different prediction altogether. For many companies, the M&A decision and process almost invariably becomes the responsibility of executives (financial officers, chief counsel, etc.) that won’t be involved in the day-to-day task of making an integration successful. This is why companies bring in management consulting specialists in the first place: they can provide valuable perspectives and advice across a number of important areas – from systems integration to team chemistry. The ideal partners have been through their share of successes and failures – it’s not their first rodeo. The most successful integrations we see are those where thoughtful advance planning takes place and clients take the time to carefully identify the specific skills and expertise they are looking for in a consulting partner. To provide some guidance related to some of the skill sets that matter – and those that don’t – following is a brief primer on some of the areas of value when making this selection. MUST-HAVES A “Been There, Done That” Approach: Obviously experience is critical in almost any strategic engagement, but M&A experience is just plain different. Successful M&A is about execution – understanding what can realistically be accomplished within a given timeframe and what the end result will look like. There are fundamental principles that can be applied to most M&A situations, but mastering execution within that set of principles requires repetition. When determining the right consultant, it’s critical to understand specific experiences and areas of expertise, whether as a consultant or at the corporate level. Were they the buyer or the seller? Determine if those projects were of comparable size and scope to your own. Ask about the complexities involved, including regulatory hurdles, supply chain issues or strategic and cultural gaps. Experience matters. Don’t act as a training ground for a consultant’s future clients; the right choice should provide you the value – not someone else. Less Optimization, More Transformation: There are plenty of management consultants that are wired like their clients in the C-suite – they want to make everything work as well as possible. It’s a noble pursuit, but M&A requires a somewhat different approach. For example, when companies integrate systems, such as CRM or HR solutions, one company with a newer, larger system might assume the best strategy is to force the other company to rapidly transition away from their legacy system. The forward-thinking and battle-tested management consultant has seen that movie before and understands that, more often than not, that approach leads to confusion, delays and costly downtime while IT departments scramble and employees catch up on unfamiliar processes. The ideal consultant is willing and able to invest time and effort into integration planning – asking the right questions at the outset of a project to determine where potential friction in a merger might take place, whether from a systematic or a cultural challenge. Newer doesn’t necessarily mean better. The right partner understands the operations side to a business and recognizes that clients don’t spend 24/7 thinking about integration – they’re focused on keeping the lights on and the doors open. Viewing a potential transformation from the perspective of both the C-suite and the operations staff may seem simple, but it’s actually a learned skill that requires a well-trained ear and plenty of time in the trenches. LESS GOOD Strategy without Execution: Bottom line – for M&A to be successful, it’s imperative that strategy and execution are in lock-step with one another. A solid management consultant understands how to translate strategy into day-to-day action. This includes identifying the unique traits that make each company distinctive – technology, processes, organizational structures, people skills, etc. – and creating an actionable roadmap that applies those areas into the integration. The right consultant contemplates all the possible scenarios and is able to make thoughtful recommendations that are cognizant of the unique cultures and characteristics of each side. UNNECESSARY Excessive PowerPoint, Expense Accounts: There will inevitably be management consultants who successfully overwhelm clients with flashy presentations and brand recognition (“nobody ever got fired for hiring ____”), that are often mistaken for value. During the evaluation phase, it may be more prudent to focus on references of successful engagements, as opposed to the slick nature of the marketing materials that are provided. Strategy without proper execution is a pathway to certain failure, and yet companies continue to find themselves in consulting relationships with big, high-level thinkers that don’t get things done. Instead, prudent executive teams will seek specialists who are capable of laying out the strategy, but are also able to roll up their sleeves and accomplish something. These types of partners have the opportunity to not only reach their clients’ business goals, but also to create a new culture of execution that will have an impact well after a transformation takes place. —By Mark Newhall, ESG Founder and CEO  Printer Friendly Version [...] Read more...
April 9, 2019Execution Specialists Group (ESG), a strategy execution-focused consultancy, today announced that the organization has been named by Forbes to its list of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms for 2019. 2019 marks the fourth consecutive year that the talent and performance of ESG’s people has been recognized on Forbes’ annual ranking of the highest rated consultancies across all sectors and functional areas. ESG is among just over 200 management consulting firms nationwide to earn a spot on the list and the only firm headquartered in Colorado. “We’re really proud to receive this continual recommendation from clients, peers and senior partners.  It’s our people who have earned this recognition and with the team’s combination of skills, talent and depth of proven  experience, we continue to deliver on our unique value proposition,” said Mark Newhall, founder and CEO, ESG. “ESG is extraordinarily well-positioned. Our people continue to be sought after to plan and deliver on  complex acquisition integration and rapid digital transformation initiatives.” To compile its list, Forbes partnered with market research company Statista to survey partners and executives of management consultancies, as well as senior executives who had worked with such firms over the last four years. Respondents were asked to recommend consultancies across predetermined sectors and functional areas and firms with a disproportionate number of recommendations were organized into star ratings.  The ratings are taken from more than 1,000 clients and more than 7,5000 other management consultancies.   About ESGBased in Denver, Colorado, Execution Specialists Group (ESG) is a strategy execution-focused consultancy with extensive global experience engaging with client senior leadership to plan and deliver on complex post M&A integration and digital transformation objectives. Recognized by Forbes as one of America’s “Top Management Consulting Firms” for the past four years (2016-2019), ESG clients include Advance Auto Parts, Caesars Entertainment, Gordon Food Service, Office Depot/OfficeMax, Target Corporation, Whole Foods and more. To learn more about ESG, visit www.esgimpact.com Media ContactJennifer Levasseur(720) 235-0816 x399mediarelations@esgimpact.com Printer Friendly Version [...] Read more...
May 8, 2018ESG is Sole Denver-based Organization to Receive Client and Peer-Nominated Distinction. Execution Specialists Group (ESG), a strategy execution-focused consultancy, today announced that the organization has been named by Forbes to its list of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms for 2018. Just ten years after its founding in Denver, 2018 marks the third consecutive year that ESG has appeared on Forbes’ annual ranking of the highest rated consultancies across all sectors and functional areas. ESG is among just over 200 management consulting firms nationwide to earn a spot on the list and the only firm headquartered in Denver. “What continues to make ESG’s appearance on the Forbes list such an honor is that the ratings are taken from more than 1,000 clients and more than 7,500 other management consultancies. To receive the recommendation of peers and senior executives is tremendously meaningful to me and our entire team,” said Mark Newhall, founder and CEO, ESG. “Among the consultancies on the list, we feel ESG is extraordinarily well-positioned, not only in its depth of strategic expertise, but also in its place as one of Colorado’s most unique and capable homegrown organizations.”   To compile its list, Forbes partnered with market research company Statista to survey partners and executives of management consultancies, as well as senior executives who had worked with such firms over the last four years. Respondents were asked to recommend consultancies across predetermined sectors and functional areas and firms with a disproportionate number of recommendations were organized into star ratings. About ESG Based in Denver, Colorado, Execution Specialists Group (ESG) is a strategy execution-focused consultancy with extensive global experience engaging with client senior leadership to plan and deliver on complex integration, transformation, and innovation objectives. ESG relentlessly focuses on delivering meaningful client outcomes and leaving behind a culture of execution. Recognized by Forbes as one of the “Top Management Consulting Firms” for the past three years (2016-2018), ESG has consistently delivered on client transformation across all functional disciplines including sales, merchandising, supply chain, marketing, real estate, technology, human resources and finance to deliver disciplined program design and execution. Clients include Advance Auto Parts, Caesars Entertainment, Gordon Food Service, Office Depot/OfficeMax, Target Corporation, Whole Foods and more. To learn more about ESG, visit www.esgimpact.com Media Contact Jennifer Levasseur (720) 235-0816 x399 mediarelations@esgimpact.com Printer Friendly Version [...] Read more...