TSI partners with a wide variety of organizations ranging from Private Equity firms, Banks, Venture Capitalists and more, with pre-acquisition due diligence and post-acquisition mergers and acquisitions integration assistance. TSI specializes in quickly and systematically assessing and examining the operational, organizational, and technical environment, including the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats prior to the acquisition. Identifying key risks, hidden costs and potential liabilities is key in this area.
If a deal is consummated, TSI is often involved in leading and/or playing a significant role in integrating the acquisition in a manner that realizes the expected business value.
Failing to know about and address these critical operational and technical issues is one of the top causes of integration failure or unexpected operating expense overrun. TSI’s expertise helps avoid issues like this.
Our Approach to Mergers and Acquisitions
TSI leverages our proprietary due diligence checklists and our methodology in the context of the purpose of the acquisition.
We help to address key questions such as:
- Is the intent to leave the acquisition alone or merge it with the acquiring organization?
- Do you want to pursue a “shared services” environment and fold multiple IT, Finance and other administrative groups into one?
Answering these and other questions define the acquisition context. Compared with other consulting firms that perform similar work, TSI’s approach is unique, because of our contextual focus anchored by your desired outcomes from the acquisition.
With our industry and “Big 4 “consulting expertise, we quickly cut through complex, undocumented operations and circuitous technology architectures to assist with due diligence or turnaround efforts and implement a pragmatic transition plan. Always in the context of the acquisition context, TSI helps to manage the integration in a manner that increases speed and quality, while reducing the risk of delays and failure.
- Given the technology infrastructure and applications being used at the target organization, what risks exist that could cause business interruption or a significant expense?
- Does it make sense to keep the systems infrastructure alone, extend it, move everything to acquiring company’s data center or convert the system to the acquiring company’s enterprise system?
- What security risks exist?
- How is the data protected and backed up?
- What other vulnerabilities exist that could create a material weakness or exposure?
While we realize that every deal is different, we can leverage an approach that addresses the most critical areas in our domain.
Operational and IT Due Diligence Phase
- Conduct an analysis of the overall technology environment including the business systems, infrastructure and communications, security and data
- Interview staff to understand the critical business processes supported by the systems and create a system/process migration plan, including identifying the related risks within a risk mitigation plan
- Review system documentation and consult with IT and external vendors as needed to determine feasibility of migration options
- Review contracts and service agreements related to use of the software, hardware and other hosting services
- Assess feasibility of options for support and transition including a transfer of IT operations and staff to acquiring organization (as needed)
- Summarize initial findings, migration plan risks and issues
- Draft a report and review; clarify factors that may influence the Operational and Systems Transition phase
- Update and expand on the key steps required to transition the technology, review with IT and business managers
- Develop an Operational and Systems Transition Plan based on key milestones and other dates
- Prepare and review the Operational and Systems Transition Plan with Management
Systems Transition Phase
- Execute the Systems Transition Plan by coordinating the tasks, responsibilities and milestones
- Document status and communicate with Senior Management Team
Your Next Step
Use TSI’s specific expertise in Mergers and Acquisitions for everything from a single, specific area needing improvement to an entire reorganization.
Contact our team to start a conversation about a tailored project or more comprehensive program that is adapted to your needs and will enable you to compete and thrive. You’ll gain a better understanding of how TSI will approach the unique challenges of your organization.