Post-merger integration or PMI is a complex process of combining and rearranging businesses to materialize potential efficiencies and synergies that usually motivate mergers and acquisitions. The PMI is a critical aspect of mergers; it involves combining the original socio-technical systems of the merging organizations into one newly combined system.
The process of combining two or more organizations into a single organization involves several organizational systems, such as assets, people, resources, tasks, and the supporting information technology. The process of combining these systems is known as 'integration'. Integration Planning is one of the most challenging areas to address pre-close during a merger or acquisition. The integration management office, or IMO, manages core functions of the integration effort and provides structure for integration delivery. In a survey by Global PMI Partners of 143 M&A executives, 67% of respondents incorporate IMOs during an acquisition on at least half of their initiatives in a cross-border setting.
Integration often requires a daunting degree of effort and coordination, but when done well, companies may deliver as much as 6 to 12 percentage points higher total returns to shareholders (TRS) than those that don’t.
Integration fits within an organizational lifecycle or specific business mergers and acquisitions cycle where businesses buy, integrate, then dispose of businesses: