By Anas Nader
With signs indicating that 2025 will finally bring the upswing in M&A the market has long been predicting, many management teams (and their investors) will be looking to pursue a “buy and build” strategy this year. For founders who are used to being in “sales” mode, the pivot to being a “buyer” can be a tricky gear change.
Last year, I helmed my scale-up through its first acquisition, bringing a fellow healthtech company into our business. This increased our headcount by more than 25% and significantly broadened our product offering and client base. It was also a major learning curve.
For founders and CEOs experiencing the acquisition process for the first time, here are my golden rules for successful M&A.
Establish your ‘known unknowns’
If you’re approaching your first acquisition, there’s a lot that you don’t know. Figuring out exactly what you aren’t prepared for and identifying things that could trip you up is essential.
To prepare for these known unknowns, seek expert guidance from people who have done it before. I’d recommend bringing in a range of trusted advisers who can support you on the legal, data, finance and technology aspects of the deal. These people will help remove blind spots and ensure you don’t stumble into uncharted territory.
However, when assembling this circle; keep it tight-knit. It can be tempting to opt for the safety in numbers approach, but too much advice can become counterproductive. About 40% of M&A deals drag on longer than estimated — key actions delegated to a small group of trusted experts keeps the wheels turning.
Over-prepare your communication
Just like fundraising, closing an M&A transaction takes a lot of time and attention. It’s easy to lose yourself in the details of the deal, only to look up and realize you’ve forgotten to bring your stakeholders along with you.
This is a major risk. You need to be thinking about how to keep your team, the team you’ll be partnering with, and your wider stakeholders in the loop as the deal progresses.
Don’t leave it until the contracts are signed. Build detailed plans for how you’ll communicate throughout the process: to teams, investors, customers, and, eventually, the public. Stress test messages with your in-house specialists and adviser network and prepare for how you’ll handle any leaks or misinformation. And don’t shy away from tricky questions from staff — create spaces where they can be aired and responded to constructively.
Setting out these plans early will also help you build a strong foundation for post-deal communications. An estimated 75% of acquirers struggle with cultural issues; bad or absent communication with existing teams and colleagues you’ll be welcoming to your business will make this far more likely.
During our integration phase (which is ongoing), we’ve been holding regular town halls, hosting away-days, socials and joint hackathons, and arranging product demos. The aim is to connect our teams and provide transparency, ensuring no-one feels left in the dark.
Define your integration framework before the deal is done
You need to start thinking about integration long before the deal is done: 83% of M&A executives who’ve experienced failed acquisitions pointed to integration as a primary issue.
A successful integration framework can ensure the right actions are handled by the right colleagues and that you don’t lose pace on deliverables. To aid our integration, we set up five “Integration Workstreams.” These span our product and customers, operational efficiency, people and culture, tech infrastructure, and brand and marketing teams. Each of these streams is led by a senior team member. They have a responsibility to keep our progress on track.
Crucially, any integration targets should be aligned with the reality that each of these workstream leads has a full-time job they also need to focus on. Make sure you’re carving out the capacity these individuals will need to move your integration plans forward.
There is so much to gain through successful M&A. You can expand market footprint, fold in new product, IP, and experience, and benefit from the talents of a widened team. If you can prepare accordingly and avoid the pitfalls along the way, the rewards are significant.
As CEO and co-founder of Patchwork Health, Dr. Anas Nader is on a mission to revolutionize healthcare staffing and make flexible work for medical staff compatible with sustainable healthcare systems. Having witnessed the healthcare staffing crisis firsthand, he co-founded Patchwork Health to build a digital solution to support clinicians and managers. To date, Patchwork Health has enabled more than 50,000 healthcare staff to gain access to more flexible work and saved the U.K.’s NHS more than $156 million in staffing costs.
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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