Digitalization – The Pill For M&A Failures?

It is a generally accepted fact that a significant number of M&A deals fail to deliver value post-closing. In a recent survey (the Survey) discussed in the Deloitte 2018 M&A trends report (the Report), 55% of respondents agreed that up to 25% of their M&A deals fall short of meeting or beating expectations. We've discussed the factors that can contribute to this failure on a previous blog post and in a recent article, including: cultural and business integration issues, poor due diligence, negotiation errors, lack of involvement by owners, and an overall lack of clarity. Moreover, a lack of discipline and control has been linked to human error and miscalculations, lengthening the M&A process and placing undue financial stress on the transaction, all of which increase the risk of deal failure.