Digital M&A Integration

Our client acquired a near-peer competitor and needed to develop and execute a strategy for integrating its digital products and services.

After announcing the planned acquisition of a near-peer competitor, the Digital leadership team at a hospitality company hired Metis Strategy to guide its efforts throughout the duration of integration activities. Our team helped the client articulate the desired end-state for fully integrated digital channels, understand the biggest risks ahead of the integration, and successfully execute and manage the effort from the first day after legal close through the launch of integrated consumer-facing digital channels years later.

Metis Strategy established the end-state goals, assessed risks, and created the governance structure to execute the integration efforts.

Metis Strategy helped the company through every stage of the integration, from developing a strategic vision to preparing to launch the new digital channels:

• Worked with the Digital leadership team and IT counterparts to define and socialize the preferred end-state vision for combined digital channels
• Assessed the biggest risks to successful integration prior to the acquisition’s legal close
• Created action plans for the leader of each digital functional team to follow after the legal close
• Designed a cross-functional governance structure to organize the execution of digital integration activities
• Identified risks and issues throughout the course of execution, and worked with leadership to develop and socialize mitigation actions
• Reported progress to other parts of the organization
• Prepared business continuity and customer messaging plans for the launch of integrated channels

The Digital organization successfully merged its consumer-facing channels and was positioned for a smooth rebranding process.

The Digital organization successfully consolidated the two companies’ channels onto a single platform and launched on schedule. This set the company up for a successful rebrand of the new experience a few months later.

• Shared end-state goals kept the organization aligned to big-picture priorities as it worked through complex, detailed challenges.
• Effective governance and risk management uncovered previously unaddressed dependencies and cross-department relationships throughout the integration process.
• Continuity planning and customer messaging helped leaders manage expectations and kept customers informed ahead of the launch.