Integration planning, 100-day execution, and value realisation tracking from day one. Independent advisory with no vendor relationships - for mid-market acquirers where synergy delivery is the measure of success.
M&A integration is the operational, technology, and people work required to realise synergies and align two businesses after an acquisition. Assured Velocity provides independent integration advisory from due diligence through the first 100 days - without vendor relationships or implementation revenue - for mid-market acquirers where integration complexity is high and internal capacity is limited.
Integration workstreams that begin after deal close rather than during due diligence miss the window to identify and sequence operational dependencies correctly. The first 100 days then become reactive rather than controlled.
Decisions about which systems, processes, and team structures survive the integration are often deferred to avoid disruption. Deferred decisions become permanent ambiguity - and permanent ambiguity is expensive.
Integration programmes that treat the people dimension as a communications exercise rather than a structural one suffer avoidable attrition of the talent the acquisition was made to retain.
System landscapes that cannot be reconciled without significant rework - ERP, CRM, finance, and data infrastructure - are consistently the source of integration delay and cost overrun.
Integration requires decisions at a pace that normal BAU governance cannot support. Without a dedicated integration governance structure, decision velocity slows and momentum is lost.
The synergies and value drivers that justified the deal are rarely tracked with the same rigour post-close as they were modelled pre-deal - and most acquisition synergies fail at the operational level, not the strategic one. Assured Velocity builds value realisation tracking into the integration programme from day one.
Assured Velocity provides independent integration leadership and advisory across the full deal lifecycle. Typical scope includes:
No vendor relationships, no implementation revenue. Assured Velocity's only interest is a well-governed integration that realises the deal value.
Practitioners with direct experience across PE-backed integrations, corporate acquisitions, and carve-outs - understanding the different pressures each creates.
Process, technology, data, people, and governance - the integration dimensions that determine whether a deal creates or destroys value, addressed as a connected whole.
| Product | Fee | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Discovery Scan | Bespoke | 5 days | Learn more → |
| Company Wide Diagnostic | Bespoke | Up to 120 days | Learn more → |
| Programme Recovery & Stabilisation | Bespoke | Programme-based | Learn more → |
The earlier integration planning begins, the better the outcome. Start with a 30-minute call to establish where the risk is and what a useful first step looks like.
“The operational due diligence found three issues that would have hit the value creation plan in the first year. We renegotiated the price.”
“The integration programme was already stalling six weeks post-close. Assured Velocity reset the governance and got us back on plan.”
“They gave us an independent view of the target's operating model before we committed. The findings changed how we structured the deal.”
“The 100-day plan they built gave the portfolio company and the fund a shared view of what needed to happen and who owned it.”
“System fragmentation post-acquisition was creating reporting chaos. They fixed the root cause in six weeks without disrupting the combined business.”
“The due diligence report was the most operationally rigorous we had seen. Gave us the confidence to proceed and the roadmap to close the gaps.”
“The operational due diligence found three issues that would have hit the value creation plan in the first year. We renegotiated the price.”
“The integration programme was already stalling six weeks post-close. Assured Velocity reset the governance and got us back on plan.”
“They gave us an independent view of the target's operating model before we committed. The findings changed how we structured the deal.”
“The 100-day plan they built gave the portfolio company and the fund a shared view of what needed to happen and who owned it.”
“System fragmentation post-acquisition was creating reporting chaos. They fixed the root cause in six weeks without disrupting the combined business.”
“The due diligence report was the most operationally rigorous we had seen. Gave us the confidence to proceed and the roadmap to close the gaps.”
We work across the full post-deal lifecycle - from day-one readiness planning through 100-day integration execution and on to longer-term operating model consolidation. We do not provide deal origination or financial advisory; our expertise is in making the deal deliver its intended value once it has completed.
The most common causes are: integration planning that starts too late (after signing rather than during due diligence), underestimating cultural and people friction, technology integration that is more complex than assumed, insufficient leadership attention once the deal closes, and benefits targets that were set without a credible delivery plan behind them.
Ideally integration planning begins during the due diligence phase, so that day-one is operationally ready before the deal closes. In practice, many organisations start late and use the first weeks post-close to catch up. The later planning starts, the higher the cost and the greater the risk to business continuity.
A 100-day plan covers: legal and regulatory day-one requirements, leadership and governance structure for the combined entity, immediate people and communication priorities, identification of quick-win synergies, technology access and data sharing arrangements, customer and supplier communication, and the sequencing of deeper integration workstreams beyond day 100.
Resistance is normal and usually reflects anxiety about job security, loss of autonomy, or distrust of the acquiring leadership. We address this through transparent communication, early involvement of acquired business leaders in integration decisions where appropriate, and clear signalling about which elements are non-negotiable versus where genuine flexibility exists.
Yes - PE-backed acquisitions have specific dynamics: compressed timelines, value creation plans with defined financial targets, and investor reporting requirements. We understand EBITDA-driven integration priorities and can align integration activity directly to the metrics that matter to the investment committee.
The most common issues are: incompatible ERP or CRM systems with no clear migration path, data that cannot easily be extracted from the acquired business's systems, shared infrastructure with unclear ownership, and two IT teams with different standards and ways of working. Technology integration typically takes two to three times longer than initially estimated.
Always. We work alongside internal teams rather than replacing them. Our role is to provide the senior integration leadership, the governance structure, and specialist expertise that accelerates delivery - not to take over. Internal teams retain ownership of outcomes.
A post-acquisition operating model review typically happens 6-18 months after close, once the immediate integration is complete. It asks whether the combined entity is actually operating as intended, whether the synergies have been realised, and what the target operating model should be for the next phase of growth. It often surfaces issues that were de-prioritised during the initial integration push.
Success is measured against the specific synergy targets and integration milestones agreed at the outset - not against generic consulting metrics. We track financial synergy realisation, operational KPIs agreed with the leadership team, and qualitative indicators such as retention of key people from the acquired business.