Making M&A successful

Post-Merger Integration Survey 2017

  • 68%

    Communicate clearly and regularly with internal and external stakeholders

  • 64%

    Involve senior management in the integration team

  • 61%

    Have a dedicated integration team

  • 64%

    Establish a faster pace of integration, defined roadmap and achievable milestones to build momentum

Our Post-Merger Integration Survey 2017 uncovered major pitfalls and opportunities in an integration scenario, as experienced by various deals professionals and executives.

Comprising diverse points of view across different industry sectors, this report provides a perspective on post-merger integration experiences in India. Through this report, we aim to highlight how adequate focus on post-deal integration activities by dealmakers can unearth latent value and help in achieving the desired objectives from deals.

A sharp focus, strong commitment and customised approach are required to overcome the challenges in integrating business operations, and thus, optimising the value of a transaction.

Factors driving integration complexity

The survey respondents identified employee expectations, organisational culture and IT integration as the top factors responsible for integration complexity.

Synergies targeted by dealmakers

Nearly 70% of the respondents stated that revenue synergies were more important than cost drivers.

While revenue and growth targets are the major drivers in a deal, expectedly, respondents have reported a higher percentage of achievement in reaching cost reduction targets. 

Approach for synergy realisation

40% of the respondents did not have any formal approach for synergy realisation, while 50% said that they tracked synergy metrics with the functional owners but in an ad-hoc manner.

When do I start the integration process?

Overall, 70% of the respondents felt that, going forward, the integration process should ideally commence during the negotiation or due diligence stage. 

Focus on functional diligence

More than 30% of the respondents did not conduct comprehensive due diligence in operational areas such as sales, operations, HR and IT.



  • ‘If you are going to get just two things right in the integration process, let those be people and culture, and technology integration.’

    Yashasvi Sharma
    Leader, Delivering Deal Value, PwC India

  • 'Deal teams, generally globally and more so in the highly competitive Indian market, especially with PE money chasing good key assets, are often stretched to close deals. However, buyers are increasingly seeing merit in involving integration teams early on in the process and thinking through the key integration issues before they sign on the dotted line.'

    Sanjeev Krishan
    Chairperson, PwC in India

  • ‘IT due diligence provides a deep investigation of the technology landscape of the target prior to signing the contract. These insights provide a holistic perspective of the commercial risks and costs of the target’s IT integration or divestiture in an M&A deal.’

    Abhijit Majumdar
    IT Function Transformation, PwC India

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Yashasvi Sharma

Yashasvi Sharma

Partner and EPB South Market leader, PwC India

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