Post-merger integration: the first 100 days plan
Much of the value in an acquisition is won or lost in the first hundred days, and a lot of that comes down to whether the integration plan existed before Day 1. This page sets out what that plan has to settle, and how I can write it with your team between signing and close.
Send the deal context in writingBackground and track recordWhat the plan has to settle before Day 1
What the deal has to deliver, broken into value drivers, each with a named owner and a date. If nobody owns a synergy, it does not happen.
The things that cannot break on the first day. Payroll, customer and supplier communication, order to cash, systems access and the controls the auditors will ask about.
Who decides what, how often the integration team meets, and how a blocked decision gets escalated. The office should be small and its decision rights written down.
Commercial, supply chain, finance, people and technology, each with a plan for the first hundred days and the decision gates along the way.
The baseline, the targets, the timing and the way each synergy will be measured, tied back to the deal case the board approved.
Which people the deal depends on keeping, how the change is communicated, and the risks most likely to make the plan wrong in the first quarter.
Where I fit
I worked on M&A integration playbooks at Kraft Heinz, where I was Senior Manager, M&A & Partnerships before leading Global Strategy. The plan I write is the one a deal team can hand to its integration lead, built so your own people can run it from the first week.
It is written in the window between signing and close, mostly in writing, with one alignment call at the start. The fixed-scope version arrives ten business days from that call.
Common questions
What is a first 100 days integration plan?
The working plan for the first hundred days after an acquisition closes. It covers what must not break on Day 1, who decides what, the plan for each workstream, and how the synergies in the deal case will be delivered and tracked.
When should it be written?
Between signing and close. Once the deal closes, the integration team is running the business and the plan is being written under pressure, which is when value leaks.
Is this an interim integration lead?
No. It is the plan, written so your own integration lead and team can run it. If you need more than the plan, say so in the brief and we can scope it.
How is it priced?
A fixed fee for a defined scope, agreed in writing before anything starts. An NDA is signed before any deal materials are shared.
Send the deal context in writing
The target close date, what the deal has to deliver, and what integration work has already started.