Smooth transition: How to increase your chances of merger success

In today’s competitive energy sector, a merger can be an excellent way for local distribution companies (LDCs) to reduce costs, expand their offerings and better serve their respective communities. But like many things in business, successful mergers don’t happen by accident. In fact, only 10 to 30 percent of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) stand up over the long-term.

Yet, if you look at the 70 to 90 percent of M&A deals that do not achieve their potential across industries, you’ll notice that many of the causes are preventable. Often, companies simply don’t have a clearly-defined  integration plan, which can result in misaligned expectations and a lack of accountability. Without clear communication and well-defined roles, major things can get missed, causing deals to miss the mark.