Morning seminar for acquirers & private equity funds with add-on acquisitions

Reduce the risk of overpaying by screening for a matching target. How to assess culture and identity – the blind spots in M&As.

In the current financial landscape, the risk of overpaying for a target company is increased, which makes acquirers hesitant. – While the upsides of growing through an acquisition strategy remain.

In any add-on acquisition, the value creation relative to the purchase price depends on the integration success post-signing. We can intuitively understand that integrating a target with a cultural fit close to the mother company’s culture will be an easier task, promising a better chance of success. But still, culture and identity are rarely considered in the Due Diligence phase, resulting in 75% of acquirers struggling with cultural integration issues that require serious interventions. (Bain & Company, Global M&A Report 2023).

In this Morning Seminar, we want to inspire and share knowledge and experience on how and when to systematically assess the culture and identity of the target company – enabling more realistic synergy expectations and possibly addressing and managing cultural differences in the integration process. Ultimately reducing integration risks and increasing the value creation relative to the purchase price.

Alantra – international investment bank for mid-market companies and financial institutions, and IDna Group – identity-driven business consultancy & advisory – invite you to get inspired.

Time & place

Date: 26^th October 2023
Time: 8:30 – 10.00 am
Place: Nybrogade 12, 1203 Copenhagen K.

Agenda 

8:15 Breakfast, coffee, and networking
8:30 – 8:40 Welcome. M&A in 2023 and today’s risk of overpaying – Sebastian Hougaard, Alantra
8:40 – 9:10 How Maersk is working with culture in global acquisitions from target screening to integration to secure acquired value, Matias Teglgaard Caldera, Global M&A Integration at Maersk and Christine Ramskov Löwke, Head of Culture and Change Capabilities at Maersk
9:15- 9:35 Identity and culture – a common reason for deal failures and a way to assess before signing. Anne-Mette Højland, IDna Group
9:40- 10:00 Shared discussion and exchange of thoughts. How can we do better together? 
10:00- 10:15 Open networking

Access to the event is by invitation only. 
If you are interested, please contact Charlotte Steentoft at cs@idnagroup.com.

About the speakers 

Matias Teglgaard Caldera – A. P. Moller – Maersk
As Senior M&A Integration Manager in Mærsk’s Global M&A Integration Team, Matias co-led the integration of Martin Bencher Group, acquired for USD 61m in 2022. In this integration process, Matias and the M&A Integration team worked to include culture into the integration process from the beginning and gained valuable information on the role of culture in integrations. The lessons are being implemented in cultural assessment processes for future acquisitions. Matias is part of a cross-functional team exploring how Mærsk can make culture a core capability in their global screening and integration framework.

Christine Ramskov Löwke – A. P. Moller – Maersk
As Head of Culture and Change Capabilities, Christine worked closely with the Integration Management Office during the Martin Bencher Group integration, leading the change management workstream utilising her expertise within culture and change management and business transformation. Christine is part of a cross-functional team exploring how Mærsk can make culture a core capability in their global screening and integration framework.

Sebastian Hougaard – Alantra
As head of Alantra’s Danish subsidiary, Sebastian advises on M&A transactions with a root in the Nordic markets and often with an international aspect.

Anne-Mette Højland – IDna Group
Anne-Mette Højland is Denmark’s expert on working with organisational identity. She is the founder and CEO of IDna Group, an identity-driven business consultancy & advisory. Early on, Anne-Mette understood the impact of identity in M&As, developing a tool to assess the identity of a target company already in the Due Diligence. In the morning seminar, she will share her experiences from working with identity and culture in the screening and integration process.

About the hosts

Alantra is an international Investment Banking and Asset Management firm with more than 550 employees across 25 offices in 22 countries in Europe, the US, Latin America and Asia. Within investment banking, Alantra focuses on M&A advisory services in the global mid-market within a range of focus sectors. Alantra advises on both sell- and buy-side transactions and often assists in cross-border transactions, where the cultural fit is as important as the strategic and financial fit.

IDna Group is an identity-driven business consultancy & advisory. We believe that identity innovates business, and we are driven by the desire to support companies, organisations, and brands to capture and activate the power of this often-underestimated business asset – their identity.