Making acquisitions manageable
With a business strategy of expansion through acquisition, a chemical distribution company was facing the disruption and strain on resources of near constant merger activity.
Challenge
While the HR team recognised that every acquisition has unique challenges, they needed a process that could be replicated and was flexible.
They also needed an extra set of hands — a business partner that understood their organization and had the technical and practical knowledge to assist.
Solution
Our expertise in compensation, benefits, and HR allowed us to jump in mid-stream and be of immediate value. Our communication consultants coordinated with HR, payroll, benefits, and corporate communications departments in addition to attorneys, other consultants, retirement plan administrators, insurance companies and the HR teams from the organisations being acquired.
We created:
- A detailed implementation plan
- Key messages to employees to ensure consistent messages and tone
- Announcements
- Acquisition newsletter and updates (for both legacy and acquired employees)
- Onboarding kits
- Manager guides and meeting slide decks
- Payroll and time system transition materials
- Benefit enrolment kits
- Retirement fund mapping information
- Summary plan descriptions
Each communication piece, including the implementation plan, was designed to be usable (with modification) for the next acquisition. We developed multiple versions of key pieces to meet the needs of particular audiences.
Outcome
The company continued to partner with us on subsequent acquisitions. Having a robust strategy and set of materials to start from provided the team with a solid foundation so they could concentrate more on the unique details of each deal. Newly acquired employees had the information they needed to quickly understand their new benefits and make enrolment choices.
Contacts
Isabel Coles
Head of International Consulting, MBWL International
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Email:
isabel.coles@mbwl-int.com
Tel: +44 20 3949 5710
Isabel Coles
Head of International Consulting, MBWL International
A multilingual expert in employee benefits for multinational corporates.
Isabel heads up MBWL International, advising multinational organisations on their employee benefits arrangements around the world, with a focus on corporate sales and purchases, accounting disclosures and the financing, risk management and design of benefit plans.
Her vast experience includes leading global accounting consolidations under international, UK and US accounting standards for multinational companies headquartered in the UK and overseas – with consolidations ranging in size from two to over 50 defined benefit plans.
She has advised both corporate and private equity buyers on the employee benefit considerations (including pension liabilities) associated with corporate sales and purchases in Europe and worldwide, from due diligence through to closing and subsequent integration work. Isabel has also undertaken many benefit audits and benchmarking exercises, including a 25-country audit for a company in the technology sector.
Other areas of Isabel’s expertise include reviewing and establishing international pension plans, advice on individual expatriate employee benefit packages and supporting multinationals in agreeing and implementing global governance approaches and policies for managing their employer benefit plans.
Isabel chairs the International Committee of the Association of Consulting Actuaries and is fluent in German and French.
John-Paul (JP) Augeri
Managing Director and Global EB Consulting Leader, Milliman
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Email:
johnpaul.augeri@milliman.com
Tel: +1 347 541 1146
John-Paul (JP) Augeri
Managing Director and Global EB Consulting Leader, Milliman
A global human capital and risk management leader with wide-ranging technical and management experience.
JP joined Milliman to lead the Global Employee Benefits Consulting Practice, in partnership with MBWL. He has over twenty years’ experience helping multinational clients to design, deliver and manage programs globally across pensions, benefits and M&A. He specialises in solving complex global issues and delivering value and innovation to multinationals and their employees.
His expertise includes: global pensions and benefits; M&A; funding, investment, and derisking strategies; change management; total rewards and employee experience; global client management and business development.
He has also served as a board chair and senior advisor, as is a frequent external speaker who has helped lead several client roundtables.
JP is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in the UK, and he has lived and worked in the US, UK, Germany, and Austria.