Success in alliances and acquisitions is rare. Top executives focus – what, where and when. Developing such focus can take decades of trial, and error. Your company can ill afford errors. They delay benefits and divert resources. Value-Inflection Points (VIPs) capture and systematize the experts’ ability to focus on what matters. They increase value, accelerate success, optimize investment and develop leaders. VIPs are now foundational at several dozen major pharmaceutical and biotechnology comp...
Feb 20, 2025•32 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Success in alliances and acquisitions is rare. Top executives focus – what, where and when. Developing such focus can take decades of trial, and error. Your company can ill afford errors. They delay benefits and divert resources. Value-Inflection Points (VIPs) capture and systematize the experts’ ability to focus on what matters. They increase value, accelerate success, optimize investment and develop leaders. VIPs are now foundational at several dozen major pharmaceutical and biotechnology comp...
Feb 13, 2025•32 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast One in two people will develop some form of cancer in their lifetimes. Despite decades of work, one-sixth of worldwide deaths are due to cancer. High-stakes research underpinned by strong alliances are making possible new therapies, bringing new hope. In this podcast, Julie Little (Associate Director of Strategic Alliances) and Steve Wedge (Chief Scientific Officer) of Cancer Research UK discuss their organisation’s major role de-risking oncology research. CRUK has catalysed collaborations inclu...
Jan 31, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast A senior project, programme and integration professional, Louise Cooper joined the BTD team several years ago and has supported some of our largest and most complex engagements with clients such as Spectris and Glatfelter. In this podcast, Louise explores the differences between integration and more general transformation programmes, and what she finds challenging and fulfilling in her integration, separation and restructuring work. www.btd.consulting CLICK HERE to follow us on LinkedIn...
Oct 25, 2021•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast All pharmaceutical companies look to leverage their capabilities to benefit those in the World’s poorest countries. Novartis aims to go beyond corporate philanthropy to create a more sustainable therapy-development model. By marshalling partnerships and its own people, Charlie Bailey leads Novartis teams pursuing development initiatives addressing better-known conditions like malaria, as well as more obscure ones like leishmaniasis. These initiatives can span a decade or more taking therapies th...
Sep 16, 2021•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast John Palmer is a Senior Consultant who joined BTD in 2018, bringing his deep experience in business analysis and financial modelling to the team and our clients. John also leads our recruitment efforts and is pivotal in ensuring new team members – senior or junior – have the right skills, experience and values to join the BTD team. In this podcast, John shares his client experiences over the past few years and offers his view on what makes BTD, our team and our approach, different....
Aug 11, 2021•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Barbara Vrdlovec joined BTD over ten years ago, and as our newest Director has seen almost every aspect of the business and our client work since then, supporting clients such as bwinParty, Glatfelter, and Innogy. She also leads our relationship with the Institute of Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances (IMAA), providing training to groups worldwide. In this podcast, Barbara shares her view of how M&A and integration has changed over the past decade, what brought her to this field, and her ho...
Aug 02, 2021•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Introducing our newest Partner and Head of our US practice, Nick Palmer. In this podcast, Nick discusses his 35 years in consulting and his approach to creating value for clients. Nick and Carlos discuss approaches and ideas that can help executives and aspiring consultants to be more effective. Having developed and led Strategy Training at Accenture, Nick shares actionable recommendations useful to all. www.btd.consulting
Jul 28, 2021•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Congratulations – you’re now responsible for integrating the new acquisition, and therefore delivering the benefits of the deal. You’ve been given an integration Manager and team to support you, but ultimately you’re on the hook. If we closely track the project plan and manage the work efficiently, everything will work out fine; after all, leading and managing are just two words meaning the same thing, right? In this, the final in our Back to Basics podcast series, Diana Chiang and Nick Palmer j...
Mar 31, 2021•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast For over half a century, computing power has been an integral part of business models. Whether simply managing back-office functions or actually central to the company’s business, business needs ‘IT.’ For the same half century the prevailing icon of the IT-business partnership has been a cartoon-like conflict between the two – ‘pocket-protector geeks versus polyester-suited charlatans.’ During post-merger integration (PMI) this conflict is only heightened as IT has become a critical enabler of p...
Mar 24, 2021•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Culture culture blah blah. Yes, we all know it’s important for integration success, we all know it’s hard…but what impact does it really have on the ground? And more to the point, is there anything realistically that can be done about it, or is it an inevitable but passing friction that just needs to be endured? In this, the ninth in our Back to Basics podcast series, Nick Palmer and Barbara Vrdlovec join Carlos Keener to provide BTD’s thoughts and experience on how to understand and prioritise ...
Mar 12, 2021•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Having discussed what and when , an equally critical consideration is who . Some organisations will try to conduct M&A and integration entirely in-house, believing they can do it all themselves. Others will outsource most if not all of the exercise to professional service groups, hoping the entire exercise can be done by someone else on their behalf. Both extremes typically fail when tried; the best outcomes are found somewhere in the middle…but where exactly? In this, the eighth in our Back...
Mar 08, 2021•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Join Novartis executives Christelle Sanglier-Bornstein , Global Head of Post-Merger Integration, and Knut Sturmhoefel , Global Head of Alliance Management, as they discuss establishing Novartis as a Partner of Choice (PoC) across its portfolio of businesses with BTD Partner, Nick Palmer . Download our podcast to find what Alliance Management and M&A at Novartis are learning from each other and what they propose adding as a fourth “C” to the PoC formula: Cultural Flexibility + Collaboration +...
Feb 09, 2021•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast So the deal is done and the opportunity to transform the business and add value has been created; now the hard work begins. There’s lots to be done, uncertainties are everywhere, and the pace to deliver deal benefits if anything has become faster than pre-close. In this, the seventh in our Back to Basics podcast series, Kevin Knight and John Palmer join Carlos Keener to provide BTD’s thoughts and experience on why a structured approach to managing integration is critical to delivering on time an...
Jan 22, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast A nice consultancy phrase, but what does it really mean? A huge amount in this case: Designing integration specifically to deliver acquisition goals, and shaping your pre-deal process to consider integration challenges and opportunities is central to getting M&A right. In this, the sixth in our Back to Basics podcast series, Barbara Vrdlovec and Zijun Yong join Carlos Keener to provide BTD’s thoughts and experience on where the exchange of information between steps pre-deal and close is crit...
Jan 15, 2021•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Just as with leaving the new acquisition alone post-close, integrating fully into your own business is also a common approach. Doing so is often seen as the easiest, best and possibly only way to achieve your acquisition goals: full integration equals full benefits, correct? If only it were that simple; in fact, in many cases a full integration is the best way to destroy value, especially in small acquisitions where as the saying goes, ‘the gorilla smothers the kitten’. In this, the fifth in our...
Jan 06, 2021•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Leaving the new acquisition alone post-close is common and well-intentioned. After all, what’s wrong with getting to know them better first, then taking it slowly and supporting them to run their business better over time? In this, the fourth in our Back to Basics podcast series, Toby Tester and John Palmer join Carlos Keener to provide BTD’s thoughts and experience on the variety of integration strategies and practical steps to find the right balance between them. CLICK HERE to follow us on Lin...
Dec 14, 2020•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Walking away from a deal happens all the time, where’s the problem? Often there isn’t one, but many also know the dangers of deal momentum first-hand. What makes walking away so difficult for some, and more importantly, is this a real problem? In this, the third in our Back to Basics podcast series, Barbara Vrdlovec and David Olsson join Carlos Keener to provide BTD’s thoughts and experience on the root causes of ‘deal fever’, and practical steps everyone from the CEO to those on the deal team c...
Dec 10, 2020•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast When most consider M&A, they automatically think of the most common scenario in which the acquirer buys 100% of the target business. But this isn’t your only option; in fact in many cases it’s anything but your best choice. In this, the second in our Back to Basics podcast series, Nick Palmer and Toby Tester join Carlos Keener to provide BTD’s thoughts and experience on the pros and cons of different acquisition and alliance options, including their implications post-close, and practical ste...
Dec 01, 2020•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sure, everyone instinctively thinks they’ll be a better owner of their newly-acquired business, but is this really true? More importantly, do you, the acquirer, ask yourself the most important questions: What specifically will make you better? and how will you make sure it really happens? In this, the first in our Back to Basics podcast series, David Olsson and Lance Raley join Carlos Keener to provide BTD’s thoughts and experience on specific steps to take to confirm your own ability to be that...
Dec 01, 2020•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rusty Field , CEO of Upsher-Smith Pharmaceuticals, talks to BTD Partner, Nick Palmer , and explains building and maintaining strong capabilities for delivering M&A Integration and Strategic Alliance value in a 600-person company. In this discussion he details the balance between multi-skilled staff that can address M&A and Alliances with the need for deep specialization in particular areas. As a leader his focus is both concrete results and longer-term human-capital development. CLICK HE...
Oct 27, 2020•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast The success of Alliance-Management groups in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies has naturally led to their involvement in M&A integrations as well. At the Association of Strategic Alliances Professionals (ASAP) Bio-Pharma Conference in September 2020, senior Alliance leaders discussed this new role. In this episode, Mike Leonetti , ASAP CEO and Laura McCluer a leading Alliance-Management executive, discuss the major themes from those discussions with host, Nick Palmer , BTD Partner. ...
Oct 13, 2020•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the first of our Making Sense of M&A series, David Olsson speaks with Katherine Ellis , CEO of Boston Multi Family Office, to discuss private equity integration from a portfolio CEO's perspective and her experience of BTD's Supported Integration Framework as part of a buy and build strategy. CLICK HERE to follow us on LinkedIn www.btd.consulting...
Oct 08, 2020•21 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast More preparation – more value! When it comes to divestments it really does pay to think like the buyer, understand their needs and wants, and reduce their risk. In this session, Carlos Keener speaks with Toby Tester, Senior consultant at BTD about separation from a buyer's perspective, why a business for sale needs to be made 'future-ready', and how a Transitional Services Agreement can deliver value beyond the deal. CLICK HERE to follow us on LinkedIn...
Sep 30, 2020•19 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Love at first sight? Often that ‘perfect match’ acquisition target turns out to be less than ideal post-close: you may have thoroughly tested the opportunity, but not your ability as an acquirer to realise it. In this session, Carlos Keener speaks with Mark Leonard , Director of Global Business Development at IMI Critical Engineering, about steps you can take early in the M&A process to help ensure you’re able to deliver value beyond the deal. CLICK HERE to follow us on LinkedIn...
Sep 28, 2020•29 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast There will be a dramatic consolidation in the US Shale Gas industry - not "If?" but "When?" and, "How?". Will your firm profit or lose? Both acquirors and targets face a stark reality: There is limited value on the table. How can you act now to maximize your firm's take? BTD hosted a webinar on September 10th, 2020, in which we brought together Matt Palmer former Chevron executive, John Applegath of Applegath Energy and former executive of Range Resources, and ...
Sep 15, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast The economic turmoil caused by the corona virus pandemic is likely to unleash a wave of deals as companies look to offload business units to help generate cash, strengthen the balance sheet and become more resilient to what may be a more turbulent future. It’s during a crisis, like we have now, where organisations need to refocus their business and think about where they are going to invest. Divestments can be a highly profitable way of selling assets that, for whatever reason, are no longer cor...
Sep 11, 2020•24 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast 
