HR, M&A and Transactions

People represent one of the most significant costs and risks in executing an M&A transaction and ensuring business performance after the deal. From identifying risks and mitigating financial costs, to  successfully integrating your new workforce, we can help you effectively manage your people matters throughout  M&A transactions.

What EY can do for you

People Risk and Cost Assessment

People considerations are critical to a successful execution of M&A. In fact, 67% of the executives surveyed for the latest EY Capital Confidence Barometer cite talent acquisition as a strategic driver for a merger or acquisition. This makes the integration and operation of the workforce following a transaction paramount to its success and, ultimately, to business performance.

Additionally, the financial risks associated with M&A can be huge — for example, those relating to pension plans, the employee cost base and further potential costs, such as long-term incentive and equity awards. Identifying and mitigating these costs and risks can significantly influence the economics of any transaction.

 Furthermore, the new workforce (blending the incumbent with the new, contingent with permanent) can work in new and exciting ways.
We can help you address your organization’s people issues during divestitures, acquisitions and joint ventures, and to keep key talent engaged and up-to-date within the new organization, resulting in a more productive and dynamic workforce.

We can help you to address your organization’s people issues during divestitures, acquisitions and joint ventures, and to keep key talent engaged and up-to-date within the new organization, resulting in a more productive and dynamic workforce.

Due Diligence, Day-One Readiness and Post-Deal Planning

We can help you with due diligence across the workstreams, providing support across finance, IT, operations, tax and HR functions. We work with you throughout the transaction to transfer knowledge on an ongoing basis, supporting post-deal integration and strategic people planning.

Throughout the deal cycle, our specialist HR M&A team can support you with critical people matters such as retention planning, organization design, deal related employee communications and change management, workforce restructuring and transitions, HR processes and benefits harmonization.  

Post-Deal Integration

We can help you identify and set up the organizational structures you need to deliver deal objectives, supporting a smoother transition from transaction to post-deal integration and a quicker return to business as usual.

Restructuring Target Operating Model and Organization Design

Following M&A, organizations often need to restructure their talent operating models and organizational designs. Doing so enables them to build a consistent and coordinated view of their new business, creating a clear plan of how the organization will operate to effectively deliver its strategy.

We can help you design and deliver the most efficient organizational structures that support your future-state target operating model, incorporating functional,  technology and governance aspects. The EY approach helps organizations to create a cost-effective models, with a focus on risk and performance measures, tracking synergy targets and to generate near real-time workforce insights that supports deal objectives.

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