Agile M&A Plays

This graphic outlines the key differences between the traditional and Agile way of conducting due diligence and integration. Traditionally, due diligence and integration are managed as separate and unrelated deal processes. Diligence is completed and then integration begins. However, this causes communication breakdown, longer deal timelines and an ill-informed decision making process. Agile suggests a smarter more efficient means of working the two processes in parallel with one another, reducing deal cost and timeline by 30 to 40 percent.

This graphic outlines the key differences between the traditional and Agile way of conducting the due diligence process. Traditionally, due diligence materials are requested and answered in batches through Excel and email. This leads to long wait times, an unprioritized workflow and costly delays. Agile M&A has developed a means for completing due diligence in small, incremental workflows to gain efficiency and close deals faster.

A key technique of Agile M&A provides that due diligence and integration planning should be completed in parallel with maximum collaboration in order to successful execution integration. This visual depicts that technique and can be useful in gaining team alignment when implementing Agile.

This graphic is a high-level look at the Agile M&A Implementation Roadmap that enables a smooth and efficient transition from traditional to Agile deal teams. This roadmap can be utilized during your next M&A transaction and is highly flexible to unique team needs and structures.

This graphic illustrates the Full-Scale Agile M&A Integration Model, which is specifically tailored to support M&A initiatives involving many project teams. Designed to allow large companies to manage multiple parallel work streams simultaneously, this model facilitates management of all activities, bringing with due diligence and following through post-close integration.

This visual illustrates the Agile M&A practice of developing cross-functional, goal-oriented teams to carry out the integration process. Traditionally, integration is executed by functional teams which can greatly limit vital information flow and result in duplicate work as well as grave missteps. However, cross-functional teams oriented around goals maximizes collaboration, productivity and leads to better informed integration decisions.

This is an incredibly useful chart outlining the key plays that form Agile M&A. This catalog includes a description of the play, the phase of the deal in which it should be implemented, along with its main function and scope. Practitioners should use this catalog to organize implementation efforts and gain team alignment.

This graphic provides a high-level look at what comprises the Agile M&A game plan. The Agile M&A game plan consists of a collection of core plays that serve as the operational reference guide for the M&A initiative. The game plan also contains a series of optional situation plays to be executive if specific situations arise during the M&A project.

These two graphics from the 12th Annual State of Agile Report by CollabNet VersionOne indicates, from their study, what organizational goals companies hope to accomplish through adopting Agile techniques along with which goals are actually reached. The study found that through the adoption of Agile improved their ability to manage change, effectively diagnose and overcome challenges, and assess project status.

This visual outlines the five elements that enable successful and viable Agile implementation. These strategies and tools help organizations implement Agile into their internal operations in an effective and smooth manner.

This snapshot from the 12th Annual State of Agile Report by CollabNet VersionOne outlines some of the challenges that organizations face while attempting to adopt an Agile approach. It is critical to understand the key challenges in order to manage change strategically.

The purpose of the template, Integration Plan Day 1 Readiness Checklist, is to provide teams with a framework for all the necessary day one responsibilities that should be met for a successful integration. The Integration Plan Day 1 Readiness Checklist is specially designed to help practitioners establishing an effective day one plan and execution.

• Designed to be used during integration planning and execution for complex M&A deals
• Includes standard guidelines and requirements needed for successful M&A integration
• Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

The purpose of the template, M&A Post Merger Integration Checklist, is to provide teams with a framework for integration requests. This template is specifically tailored  to M&A deals.

• Most suitable for transactions that involve complex integration processes
• Initial requests help prompt basic information for a general overview of the target company

Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

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The purpose of the template, Integration Charter Checklist, is to provide teams with a framework of requests for high level management presentations and is usually the first deliverable created by the integration team. This template is specifically tailored  to M&A deals.

• Designed to be used during integration planning and execution for complex M&A deals
• Includes standard guidelines and requirements needed for successful M&A integration

Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

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The purpose of the template, Corporate Development M&A Integration Checklist, is to provide a framework of integration requests for corporate development teams. The Real Estate and Leasing M&A Integration Checklist is specially tailored to M&A deals.

• Designed to be used during integration planning and execution for complex M&A deals
• Includes standard guidelines and requirements needed for successful M&A integration
• Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

The purpose of the template, Real Estate and Leasing M&A Integration Checklist, is to provide teams with a framework for all the necessary real estate and leasing responsibilities that should be met for a successful integration. The Real Estate and Leasing M&A Integration Checklist is specially designed to help practitioners accomplish the real estate and leasing aspects of integration during an M&A deal.

• Designed to be used during integration planning and execution for complex M&A deals
• Includes standard guidelines and requirements needed for successful M&A integration

Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

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The purpose of the template, Integration Plan Day 1 Readiness Checklist, is to provide teams with a framework for all the necessary day one responsibilities that should be met for a successful integration. The Integration Plan Day 1 Readiness Checklist is specially designed to help practitioners establishing an effective day one plan and execution.

• Designed to be used during integration planning and execution for complex M&A deals
• Includes standard guidelines and requirements needed for successful M&A integration

Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

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The purpose of the template, Finance M&A Integration Checklist, is to provide teams with a framework for all the necessary finance-related responsibilities that should be met for a successful integration. The Finance M&A Integration Checklist is specially designed to help practitioners accomplish the financial aspects of integration during an M&A deal.

• Designed to be used during integration planning and execution for complex M&A deals
• Includes standard financial guidelines and requirements needed for successful M&A integration
• Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

The purpose of the template, Communication M&A Integration Checklist, is to provide teams with a framework for integration communication requests. The M&A Integration Communication Checklist is specifically tailored for M&A deals.

• Designed to be used during integration processes
• Initial requests help prompt basic information for a general overview of the target company

Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

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The purpose of the template, Information Technology M&A Integration Checklist, is to provide teams with a framework for all the necessary tasks that must be completed during integration as it concerns IT. The Information Technology M&A Integration Checklist is specially designed to help practitioners accomplish the IT aspects of integration during an M&A deal.

• Created to be used during integration planning and execution for complex M&A transactions
• Contains the standard lT goals and requirements needed for successful M&A integration
• Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

The purpose of the template, Legal M&A Integration Checklist, is to provide teams with a framework for the legal requirements needed for pre-close and post-merger integration. The Legal M&A Integration Checklist is specially designed to help practitioners accomplish the legal aspects of integration during an M&A deal.

• Created for use during integration planning and execution for complex M&A transactions
• Contains the standard legal requirements needed for successful M&A integration, for pre-close and post-close.

Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

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The purpose of the template, Real Estate Due Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a list of premade diligence requests tailored to the real estate industry. Besides including standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the real estate playbook also emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for real estate related targets.

• Created for transactions in the real estate industry
• Initial requests help prompt basic information for a general overview of the target company
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, Accounting Due Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a list of premade diligence requests tailored to the accounting industry. Besides including standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the accounting playbook also emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for accounting related targets.

• Created for transactions in the accounting industry
• Initial requests help prompt basic information for a general overview of the target company
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, Legal Due Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a list of premade diligence requests tailored to the legal industry. Besides including standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the legal playbook also emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for law related targets.

• Created for transactions in the legal industry
• Initial requests help prompt basic information for a general overview of the target company
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, Selling a Business Due Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a list of premade diligence requests tailored to sellers’ needs. Besides including standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the selling a business playbook also emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for sellers.

• Created for sell-side transactions
• Initial requests help prompt basic information for a general overview of the target company
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, IT Due Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a list of premade diligence requests tailored to IT needs. Besides including standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the IT playbook also emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for IT-related targets.

• Created for transactions regarding IT
• Initial requests help prompt basic information for a general overview of the target company
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, HR Due Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a list of premade diligence requests tailored to HR needs. Besides including standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the HR playbook also emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for HR-related targets.

• Created for transactions regarding HR
• Initial requests help prompt basic information for a general overview of the target company
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, Private Equity Due Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a list of premade diligence requests tailored to transactions involving private equities or private-owned companies.. Besides including standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the private equity playbook also emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for private equity targets.

• Created for transactions in the healthcare industry
• Initial requests help prompt basic information for a general overview of the target company
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, Healthcare Due Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a list of premade diligence requests tailored to the consumer products industry. Besides including standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the healthcare products playbook also emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for healthcare targets.

• Created for transactions in the healthcare industry
• Requests focus on areas of due diligence where common issues arise for healthcare targets
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, Consumer Products Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a list of premade diligence requests tailored to the consumer products industry. Besides including standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the consumer products playbook also emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for consumer products targets.

• Created for transactions in the consumer products industry.
• Requests focus on areas of due diligence where common issues arise for consumer products targets
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, Technology Due Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a list of premade diligence requests tailored to the technology industry. Beyond standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the technology playbook also emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for technology targets.

• Created for transactions in the technology industry.
• Requests focus on areas of due diligence where common issues arise for technology targets
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, Manufacturing Diligence Checklist, is to provide teams with a premade diligence request list tailored to the manufacturing industry. Beyond standard diligence requests that are applicable to most transactions, the manufacturing playbook emphasizes the areas of due diligence where common issues arise for manufacturing targets.

• Created for transactions in the manufacturing industry.
• Requests focus on areas of due diligence where common issues arise for manufacturing targets
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, Master Due Diligence Checklist, is to give teams a broad and inclusive list of standard due diligence requests that can be used for a wide-range of M&A transactions.

• Relevant for most transaction types
• Requests gather general information to provide a detailed list of the target company, as well as its business and operations
• Customizable playbooks to meet deal specifics

The purpose of the template, Flow of Funds, is to help teams track and organize closing payments. This template is specifically tailored to M&A deals.

• Creates clear, organized instructions for all payments that will be made at closing
• Verifies payment and account details
• Helps ensure that closing runs efficiently

The Clean Team Agreement is designed to be used in conjunction with our (or any other) Confidentiality Agreement. This agreement allows the buyer and seller to exchange the most sensitive competitive information.

• Protects highly sensitive and/or competitive information
• Control access to the most sensitive confidential information
• Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

The purpose of the template, Form of LOI/Asset Acquisition, is to provide teams with a framework to evaluate offers from multiple buyers. This template is specifically tailored  to M&A deals.

• Compare and evaluate key issues and deal terms
• Strategize responses
• Analyze and compare multiple offers simultaneously to make sure your team is choosing the best deal

The purpose of the template, Form of LOI/Asset Acquisition, is to provide teams with a foundation for negotiating and memorializing the parties’ agreement on the key terms of an asset deal. This template is specifically tailored to M&A deals.

• Covers key deal terms that are present in most asset deals
• Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

The purpose of the template, Form of LOI/Equity Acquisition, is to provide teams with a foundation for negotiating and memorializing the parties’ agreement on the key terms of an equity deal. This template is specifically tailored  to M&A deals.

• Covers key deal terms that are present in most stock deals
• Agile M&A encourages teams to customize these checklists to accommodate your unique deal and process needs

The purpose of the template, M&A NDA, is to provide teams with a framework for mutual protection for buyers and sellers. This template is specially designed to allow both parties to freely discuss potential transactions, knowing that their confidential information is protected.

• Buyers and sellers can feel confident discussing a potential deal
• Mutual confidentiality agreement protects the confidential and proprietary information of both parties
• Helps prevent unwanted leaks and rumors about a potential transaction