In 2006, the volume of Global Mergers and Acquisitions touched an all time high of over $3.4 tn. Over the last 2-3 years with the upswing in the economy, M&A activity in India too, has increased manifold. Many organizations today grapple with employee related issues arising from M&As, whether it is dealing with alignment of structures and policies of the integrating entities or with matters of employee communication and employee retention. Another big challenge faced by organizations is to manage the change process and the cultural integration of the merging entities.
To dwell on these and other key issues of M & A, Cerebrus hosted a round table in Pune on 'Mergers & Acquisitions' on January 18, 2007 at the Le Meridien Hotel to coincide with the inauguration of its Pune branch. We have worked extensively in the M&A area, with a large number of organizations across sectors. In this conference, we shared some of our learning from such assignments and also invited senior HR and business leaders to share their experiences. The participants included HR and business professionals from sectors as diverse as Engineering, Manufacturing, IT, ITES as well as Academia.
The round table was chaired by Ms. Anita Ramachandran, Founder and CEO of Cerebrus Consultants. The Key note address was delivered by Mr. Maheshwari, CFO of Bharat Forge Ltd. who shared experiences of the company and the approach, especially in managing international acquisitions.
Ms. Sabitha Rao, Director, Cerebrus presents a bouquet to Mr. Maheshwari, CFO, Bharat Forge |
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Mr. Gautam Chakravarti, COO, Bilcare shared his experiences in managing integrations both from a business and people perspective. He shed light on the many advantages and pitfalls. Both Mr. Maheshwari and Mr. Chakravarti's sessions provided the business manager's perspective.
Mr. Dipak Gadekar of HSBC Software Development India Pvt Limited took questions from the audience in the area of managing integrations from a line point of view. Having been involved in a number of 3-4 processes, he also gave instances of well orchestrated knowledge transfer processes.
Radhika Mittal, Principal Consultant, Cerebrus Consultants made a presentation on our learnings from the extensive work we have done in the M&A domain - critical areas to be addressed from a people perspective, different approaches taken by companies, critical Do's and Don'ts.
Mr. Gautam Chakravarti, Ms. Anita Ramachandran, Mr. Elango R and Mr. Louis |
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Mr. Elango R, Chief Human Resources Officer of the integrated company Mphasis and EDS, provided insights on real life issues that crop up during integrations. This last session was especially interesting from the point of view that it dealt with an ongoing integration and the "emphasis" on simplicity. A sizeable HR contingent representing both Mphasis and EDS was present for this session.
Gist of the presentation
The total global M&A deals in 2006 was a whopping $20 trillion. India's share in this was $25.6 billion - almost 1/8th of the total M&A agreements penned. Indian firms have now started looking outside the domestic market to acquire or merge with companies that are strategically viable. There key area of focus needs to be the Human Resources.
Leadership, employee retention, policies, organization structure - these are but a few aspects of the multifarious activities that have to be paid attention to while going in for a merger or an acquisition. To make a strong entity after the union, the HR policies have to be on a robust foundation - need not be that of the acquiring company or the acquired - but a bit of both or an entirely new set of policies if necessary. A company that is perceived as fair and employee friendly, will definitely have the "people" edge to it.
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We will shortly host this event in Mumbai and Bangalore. Further details will be posted on this site.
