Hugged To Death

Seventy percent of M&A fails to create value. Boards commission expensive post-mortems to understand what went wrong. But they won’t invest the same time ahead of the deal, pressure-testing an integration approach that will protect what makes the asset valuable instead of hugging it to death.Valuation and deal structure get debated endlessly. Integration gets a cursory discussion and then falls apart. The difference between failure and success is Architecture (the integration approach you design upfront) and Choreography (your ability to adapt when plans meet reality).Andrew Ross draws on 20+ years as EVP of Strategy, M&A and Integration at Estée Lauder Companies, EVP of Strategy and M&A at ConAgra Foods, and Partner at McKinsey & Company. He provides a new approach that boards, CEOs, and integration leaders need: the 2x4 diagnostic to pressure-test Architecture before you sign, governance that enables Choreography without losing control, and what to do when you’ve got the Architecture wrong. 6