Delivering the Deal
Decoding the M&A Market: Insider Insights for Today's Deal-Makers
June 18, 2024 | 20 | 19:00
The “Delivering the Deal” spotlight series is where Mercer’s leading experts discuss the most pressing issues facing business leaders and deal professionals in M&A today.
What does the future hold for M&A? In this episode, our guest William Jefferson Black, Co-founder of the Transaction Advisers Institute and Chair of the annual M&A Conference Series, discusses the ever-evolving transformation in the M&A market. He explores various aspects, including the regulatory environment, the increasing complexity of deals, and the potential challenges posed by the move to a hybrid workforce. Join us for this insightful discussion that sheds light on the future of M&A.
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Reimagining talent in M&A
"It’s been interesting over the past decade to see nearly every deal is now a talent deal. Even the most traditional fixed-asset heavy companies are looking for M&A to provide fresh energy, ideas, and knowledge from their acquisitions." -
Hybrid workforce challenges
"The move to a hybrid workforce is creating new and novel diligence and integration challenges. At the front of the deal it is more difficult than ever to get a true read on the decision making culture, and way organisations innovate, how they discuss workplace safety, and other in-office dynamics. During the deal phase it is hard to know who to retain and who should be excited. And, post close, it takes a more thoughtful approach to integrate culturally." -
Shifting regulatory landscape
"The regulatory environment has become murky. In the past, the so-called ‘consumer welfare’ standard made dealmaking pretty straightforward - if you executed a transaction that delivered a customer benefit, it would likely be approved. Now the competition regulators are looking at the impact of deals on the workforce." -
Transforming retention strategies
"In the past, to make the human capital acquisition strategy work, many companies looked to earnouts that were heavily negotiated and rarely effective.
Today we’re seeing far more advanced approaches to retain both the acquired team and the team that now has to do more to integrate the deal post close."
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