Mergers & Acquisitions

Navigator Consulting supports mergers and acquisitions through consultancy services provided across a range of industries and segments. In each case, our work comprises consultancy and communications services only, delivered to and commissioned by companies corporate investors, and should not be construed as a recommendation to invest.

Pre-Investment Services

Financial, technical and commercial analysis of merger, buyout or joint venture potential. While this is similar in scope to our due diligence consulting service, the objective of the analysis is often to identify and quantify the synergies and savings of a merger, the strategic overlap and expansion, and the competitive impact of the project.

Corporate valuation. This is typically based on an assessment of net asset value, free cash flow, industry multiples, and future savings and synergies. Valuation takes into account internal factors as well as benchmarks against a peer group.

Market share and regulatory risk analysis. Companies with a dominant market share in their respective industries require regulatory approval. The analysis includes an assessment of anti-monopolistic criteria based on EU and other regulatory priorities.

Management performance diagnostics and audits. A key issue in mergers and joint ventures is the future assignment of senior staff, who are often strategic resources of the firm. We implement management performance diagnostics and audits, and can expand this to include assessments of corporate culture, communications, decision-making, HR policies and a wide range of additional factors.

Post-Investment Support

Navigator provides a wide array of post-investment support, typically involving performance improvement of business units or functions, training, and business process re-engineering.

Salesforce Restructuring and Development

A particular area of expertise is in the restructuring and development and marketing and salesforce functions. This is a critical function, where two sales teams which formerly viewed themselves as competitors much be integrated into a single sales force. Issues such as customer relationship management, sales and pricing methods, restructuring of key account management, and development of trust and communications plays a critical role to the success or failure of a joint venture of merger.

Post-Merger Integration with Emerging Market Teams

A second key issue is the post-merger integration of teams and units from emerging markets. Mergers or JVs designed from the comfort of a headquarters division in the United States or Western Europe have a tendency to encounter difficulties if special care is not taken to properly integrated units or teams from far-flung business locations. Navigator helps clients work through sensitive issues, such as:

Merging business units and assuring management retention and involvement in locations where political or social contacts are a determining issue in winning business. This is a key issue in the Middle East or the former Soviet Union.

Assuring the retention of top sales staff who were former competitors, or managed the same sales region. This requires a change in incentive structure and responsibilities, and must be done carefully to ensure that the staff do not defect.

Implementing a western business culture on an eastern mind-set and mentality. This affects issues such as generating personal initiative (rather than following orders); engendering communication between teams; strategic thinking (rather than passive / reactive approach to order-taking); sharing of technological or trade secrets; results-based management or target-based management; and others.

In addition to active consultancy programmes, our post-investment services include period audits or check-ups of the integration process; board-level representation; and implementation of lean management or balanced scorecard initiatives which assist the forward momentum and management of integration.