Why You Should Think Of An M&A Like A Marriage

Forbes

10-07-2025

Ashutosh Labroo is the Chief Mentor, Board Advisor & Co-Founder of SuccessionIQ.
In a career spanning more than two decades, 17 countries and five multinational corporations, I was actively involved in steering and driving 14 acquisitions, two joint ventures and three mergers. And in that time, I've come to see that the most useful model for M&As is neither a financial transaction nor a growth strategy, but a marriage.
Setting The Context
As funny as it may sound, aligning the vision of the acquirer and acquired company can mirror what happens in a marriage, and studies show two main reasons for this.
First, until a marriage actually happens, both sides are in a "courtship phase," with a continuous compulsion to remain desirable and attractive to their partner and keep each other happy, no matter what. The courtship phase is a dreamy phase where the intent is to enjoy and make things work; the pitfall is that both partners may fail to address some really serious disagreements that may not be addressable post-marriage.
Second, the married couple's respective families' visions—their values, traditions, culture and particularly the attitudes and behaviors of senior family members—might be dramatically different from each other. This can't be "fixed" post-marriage either, and it can lead to a great deal of strife.
Why Vision And Culture Are Key
In the same way, until the M&A formally happens, most deal-makers ensure that the serious issues around culture and values are not taken seriously; at best, they are conveniently labeled "HR issues."
This can affect even major multinational corporations. The same General Electric that rose to giant status decades ago through aggressive acquisitions later had to divest from many of those brands, for several reasons, including culture shock.
I recently read an article about some of the biggest M&A disasters, and while the author attributes these failures to many different factors, I vote that it was culture, in most cases, that caused these deals to fail.
Very seldom do any two companies share a vision and culture. But M&As don't fail due to vision, because the acquiring company can eventually try and enforce theirs; rather, it is largely the cultural differences between the acquirer and the acquired entity that lay the groundwork for an eventual separation or decline for both companies involved.
Due Diligence Is Not Enough
Yes, companies do go through a detailed analysis and due diligence review on all fronts—business, markets, financial, legal, etc. And in most cases, this is with the help or advice of none less than the "Big 4." But these companies' primary value is in their strong strategic, legal, accounting and financial experts. In other words, these are not people and culture experts. And they advise, run and steer M&A deals looking at the ROI through the lens of strategy, legal, financial, accounting, growth and commerce alone.
Then what is the solution to make any M&A deal work for the long-term benefit of both parties involved?
The solution is, simply, a complete feasibility study on all of the people and culture aspects of both companies. And no, this shouldn't be done by the Big 4 or by your own HR teams (on either side) because all these parties will come to the process with their own agenda.
Instead, you need to engage with a solid people and culture expert to audit and assess the cultural ecosystem and values on both sides.
Below, I will list some key cultural aspects that such an expert can consider, which are often ignored by senior management.
Major Mistakes Around Culture And Values In M&A Deals
• Ignoring or underestimating inaccurate rumors and gossip—these are highly detrimental to overall organizational and individual morale.
• Silence on what employees on both sides can expect in terms of timing.
• Or, the other extreme, when the chairman/CEO announces the deal by shooting off an official email or releasing an official letter or newsletter on the company's HR portal or intranet. There is no personalization here and no way to address all the questions employees will have as a result of the communication.
• Avoiding discussions around the possibility of any layoffs, downsizing or role changes.
• Both sides' key business leaders or managers either over-committing or under-committing to their reporting teams in terms of what the future entails, leading to confusion, anxiety and chaos.
• The absence of a clear People Project Plan (3P). If your 3P is not working, you are leaving it to the markets, social media platforms and society in general to share all sorts of news with your employees. A clear 3P also ensures that you are being transparent, logical, precise, simple and personal.
Key Culture/Value Elements Of Successful M&A Deals
These nine elements will help you deal with any hurdles and respond to contingencies.
• A strong due diligence and cultural assessment by an external expert
• Employee communication, such as a marketing pitch to share the benefits of the M&A
• Post-communication learning and knowledge transfer—employee skip huddles, workshops, conferences, Town Halls, etc.
• Reimagined organizational structure, people strategies and new leadership
• Timely execution of visible promotions, retentions and separations, as well as required role changes
• The best HR policies and practices from both entities, published in a common policy platform
• An active 24/7 employee help desk for at least six months, covering pre-, mid- and post-deal, that responds to any concerns within 48 hours
• Celebrations of quick wins, whether big or small, and rewards and recognition for people from both entities under one umbrella
• One year after the deal, a full employee engagement study covering all employees
The Final Takeaway
Like in a marriage, and an M&A situation too, the most complicated of the problems are the easiest to solve if we keep things simple. Most happy marriages have the same few things in common: acceptance, openness, quality time, learning of each other's strengths and weaknesses, communication, etc. These are covered in the scientific framework of transactional analysis. Simply stated, it is nothing but the science of building, managing and leveraging relationships.
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