100 Days and Beyond: Kevin Collet Ep. 02

Welcome to another episode of one hundred days and beyond with Kevin collet, a finance director. Today we explore his broad experience of how large companies engage in mergers and acquisitions, Post-merger integration (PMI) and Post-acquisition integration. We also look over how M and As work pre and post-deal. 

Let's get started! 

Who is Kevin collet, and how did he become a finance director? 

 From serving in the department of accountancy in private equity and then senior finance manager in digital marketing and software companies to engaging in M&a integration to corporate management, he has had experience being a brilliant finance director with a working experience of 20-30 years. 

The process of merging two companies, assets, people, duties and capital to acquire the most worth for the company with efficiencies and teamwork is essential. Being a finance manager for 3 PMIs, Kevin thinks that one should always be willing and able to give an opinion on how things are operating. The critical success behind having a successful project is planning. And not just planning, but the capacity to do hard work. It's good to have a plan but being capable of doing the job and implementing it has a lot to do with it. 

Business management strategy Post-merger integration 

If you are going to carry out a successful m&a deal and post-merger integration, look at the staffing, capacity, recruitment, sales pipeline and system integration. The team dynamics may differ, with various people and cultures working together. Organise face-to-face workshops and onboard senior-level people from both sides. By Communicating with team members, start winning acquired people by showing willingness. 

Merger and Acquisition 

• Merger Integration 

Merger integration happens to be the combination of two separate organisations to create a new combined organisation. 

One of the first and easiest steps in a merger is to merge finance. The first casualties will finance people, as we probably would want to reduce staffing levels because you don’t need two or three people to do the job. 

Kevin thinks it does not need to be done gradually but in a measured and calculated way. 

1. Add new entities to the cash pool and if you don't have a cash pool, look at acquiring it. 

2. Expense management. 

3. Focus on how the payroll cycle works. 

4. Importance of working capital management 

5. Treating people somewhat and encouraging good behaviour. 

• Acquisition 

Acquisition integration is taking over one organisation with the other. In acquisition, the only thing changes are the owners of the share capital. Contracts, customers, suppliers, facilities and employees are there. The thing to highlight is planning your financial projections. Make sure to have a suitable allowance, retention bonuses, relocation bonuses, termination bonuses, office closure, or contract closure. Otherwise, the success of your business is going to be starting 2-3 steps back. You have to think about retaining key talents. You don’t need people to leave in a poorly managed way; even when you know they're no longer a part of a combined organisation, treat them well because that's what people will remember. 

Financial management 

Finance is the only function in the organisation that does see everything. Like commercial decisions, staffing, contracts, and property, everything costs money at some point. As a finance director, Kevin has been involved in the organisation at all levels, including planning, financial reporting, staff incentive, marketing and investment decision-making, etc. 

Cash is an essential factor; your business will grow if your operating cash flow is sufficient to fund your business to pay your liabilities. Another essential thing to succeed is having a strong financial person, manager or director who focuses on priorities and ensures that the planning is in place and the capacity within the team is maintained. 

Conclusion 

The critical success behind having a successful project is planning and having the capacity to do hard work about how you want the structure to work and deliver value to the organisation. These were the key factors that we got to know from Kevin collet. To know his whole journey, tune in to the episode. 

Connect with Kevin collet 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-collett-fca-amct 

Links: 

1. mergerintegration.co.uk 

2. www.skilfulpursuit.com