Episode description

It's the first podcast for 2023 from your hosts Rob and Toby and in this episode, Toby focuses on the top 5 post-close questions a CEO needs to ask on any deal.  But before we start let's put the CEO's task into perspective.  He's just spent the best part of last year focused on the deal, the constant back-and-forth conversations, the massive efforts around due diligence, the stress of negotiating the final deal value, and then the task of ensuring that all the legalities are properly managed and signed of etc etc.

There is, of course, the short-term elation when the deal is finally closed and ink is dry but it's short-lived, because before he can draw breath, that CEO is now faced with achieving the strategic vision, value, and synergies that were part of the deal thesis and a promise to the board and shareholders alike. Here's to another year of stresses that are stopping him from doing his day job.

Well as Toby puts it, there is some relief that can be gained if the CEO approaches the post deal activities by asking 5 simple questions.

1. Who is the integration manager for this deal
2. Are they appropriately skilled and experienced for the task at hand?
3. Is there a clearly defined integration strategy and plan?
4. Who is managing the myriad of synergy opportunities that have been identified
5. Do we have a strong governance program to keep everything on track?

From Rob's point of view, these questions might come over as too simple, but in reality, they are the foundational questions that any CEO must be comfortable with if he/she is going to deliver the post-deal promise to the board and shareholders alike.

And the final point in all this is that the CEO must not wait until the deal is closed before he tackles these questions. He should be thinking about these as soon as due diligence is underway. In fact the earlier one can consider these 5 important questions, the better.