Due Diligence

     All too often companies rush this phase in the M&A process resulting in a failure to complete a comprehensive due diligence study. The Grasp Group provides support in the areas of human resources due diligence. Our comprehensive knowledge in these areas and our extensive experience results in our clients being able to make informed “go, no-go decisions” and prepares them for the negotiations stage of the transaction. Comprehensive fact finding during due diligence can make the difference between realizing your financial forecasts for a deal and grossly underestimating the costs and expenses necessary to make the deal work long term for the acquiring company.

Negotiation

     All of the hard work so far now comes to the table during negotiations. During the due diligence phase you have identified risk areas in the targeted company that will ultimately need to be discussed during deal negotiations, provided of course the risks are not significant enough to abandon the opportunity before negotiations commence. At the Grasp Group we bring years of past human resources negotiations experience to our clients. This includes negotiation strategies and tactics and constructs that are specifically designed to mitigate the risk associated with items uncovered during human resources due diligence.

Organization Integration

     It really isn’t over when the deal is signed (or closed.) In fact it’s really just starting. Consistently we have seen companies lose focus after the deal is closed and fail to dedicate the time, energy and resources required to successfully integrate the newly acquired company. Failure to focus on integration will at minimum result in significant attrition of acquired resources, missed business and sales opportunities, and non-realization of the objectives behind acquiring the company.

     At the Grasp Group we have a comprehensive integration methodology that we customize to the human resources needs of each client and the specifics of the transaction. This methodology was developed through the past integration efforts our people have been involved with, including domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, both as an acquisition target and an acquiring company.

Post Integration Assessment

     At the Grasp Group we believe that conducting a post-integration human resources assessment is probably the single most important HR element of any deal. Without this assessment companies are destined to repeat the same mistakes time and time again, with potentially significant costs never surfacing. If you are spending $1 million, $10 million, $50 million or more on an acquisition you absolutely need to understand if you achieved the people results you set out to achieve.

     We work with our clients to establish the post-integration elements, define the method of review/audit, identify the objectives and then implement the assessment to determine whether these human resources objectives were met. In parallel we capture company-specific best practices that we document and add to your HR M&A reference library so they can become part of the corporate knowledge for future deals.

The GRASP Group    2300 McDermott Road    Suite 200-389    Plano TX 75248    USA