CRISP™ 10-Trouble-free Scaling for Different Transaction Types and Sizes

Recap and Intro

So far, the M&A execution topics covered in this series have been:

1. Individual contributors are the key to success
2. M&A transactions are complicated, but with known parameters
3. Miscommunication is the largest single contributor to execution issues
4. Classic approaches are not communication-centric
5. Accountability, clarity and efficiency (ACE) are necessary for trouble-free execution
6. Getting people what they need when they need it
7. IMO Role and Challenges
8. Baked in accountability
9. Easy resource allocation

Regardless of type, size or complexity of the transaction, if the focus has been the cross-communication exchange of needed deliverables, then the ability to scale both vertically and horizontally can be easily achieved. This post will explain how it’s possible that a single method can optimize that exchange accommodating any transaction type across multiple dimensions.

Commonality Across Transaction Types

Acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, spin-offs, carve-outs or any of the various names given to describe legal transactions with financial and organizational implications all share the same need: to efficiently exchange deliverables between individuals who are part of different entities and functional groups. If you accept this premise, then it’s easy to see that using a common method to manage those exchanges ensures consistent execution, regardless of the transaction type or size.

For corporate development units, using a common method for all transactions, harmonizes the focus and alignment within IMO or governing bodies. For PE firms it looks like repeatability across the portfolio.

Core Principles That Traverse Initiatives

The core principles that traverse initiatives are accountability, clarity, and efficiency. The impact of each of these items is described in detail in CRISP™ 5-Accountability, Clarity, and Efficiency. The point? The relative ease by which enlarging scope or changing transaction context can occur depends upon the extent to which the common method supports the ACE triad.

Put another way, with ACE in play it means that the number of contributors doing their respective parts can adjust automatically, accommodating the appropriate number of people without resorting to additional governance bodies, administrative levels, or data collection tools and mandates. How is that actually done?

Leveraging HFO (High-Fidelity Observations) for Tailored Execution

In a lot of cases, with a horizontal spread of initiatives and the vertical dimension driven by any number of contributors, the ability to keep things straight seems daunting. And what’s meant by “keeping things straight”, is that the IMO, the Work-stream Leads, the Executives and the functional SMEs, all have visibility into what’s going on at the “atomic” level of deliverables. Whether it’s actual content or the meta data surrounding the content, fine-grained granularity increases the quality and speed at which understandings can be formed and exchanges made.  This is what CRISP™ refers to as High Fidelity Observation.

Using the CRISP™ Protocols and Nexus Point Exchange (NPX) Key Artifact, any contributor is 3 clicks or less away from their data or where their output goes. Why is this important? In addition to the speed and ease information can be accessed, the NPX data schema makes it easy to identify bottlenecks and resource needs specific to any transaction type, entity, work-stream producer and consumer, enabling precise adjustments.

Here are three examples of how HFO was used:

• For a divestiture initiative, post close integration phase, HFO was used to spot potential bottlenecks weeks in advance by exposing Seller contributors who were overloaded with critical initiative related deliverables resulting in reassignment for uninterrupted delivery..
• For an acquisition during pre-close due diligence, the Seller’s SME delivering contracts for review and the Buyer’s SME responsible for conducting and delivering results of that review each become Nexus Point Content observable instantly in the NPX.
• For a spin-off, pre-close, intentional sequencing of information exchange resulted in an 8 week reduction in IT readiness

Adapting CRISP™ for Specific Transaction Challenges

Due to CRISP™’s communication-centric design, adaption of the Method to meet the needs and challenges of different transaction types, is a non-issue. It’s a non-issue because the Method is agnostic with respect to transaction type or size.

Here are some examples that are handled without needing any major changes to CRISP™’s basic architecture or protocols:

• • Acquisitions: Streamlining on-boarding processes and aligning deliverables for newly acquired teams.
  • Divestitures: Ensuring seamless separation of systems and clear resource allocation to minimize disruption.
  • Spin-offs/Carve-outs: Coordinating the creation of standalone operations while maintaining operational continuity.

Benefits of Scaling Across Transactions

If your organization is handling multiple M&A transactions of differing sizes and type that involve people and systems (as opposed to “paper” transactions with no structural changes), the benefits to using CRISP™ to support the execution are significant:

• • Advanced potential issue visibility through HFO
  • Predictable integration outcomes whose accuracy improves over time
  • Reduced delays in exchanging critical information
  • Reduced re-work as a result of increased deliverable clarity
  • Minimized administrative cost due to self-servicing access and reporting
  • Optimized resource use based on actual loading considerations

CRISP™’s flexibility and use of HFO empower organizations to execute any number of transactions with consistency and confidence regardless of the size or type.

Not only does CRISP™’s design optimize the exchange of critical communication, but it also positions your organization to use AI in ways that do more than relieve the tedium of document review or run purchase scenarios on potential targets. The next post dives into how AI and CRISP™ can make the M&A process even faster, better and cheaper over shorter and shorter timeframes.

Thanks for reading! If this post has sparked any new ideas or questions about how to optimize your M&A integrations, I invite you to join one of my live intro sessions. Each session is 30 minutes and limited to 2 participants for an interactive, in-depth look at how the CRISP™ method can make your next integration faster, better, and more efficient.

📅 Register here -> CRISP™ Intro Sessions
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Let’s continue the conversation and dive deeper into a transformative approach to successful M&A execution!

CRISP™ is a pending trademark of Exertus, Inc.