Turning the deal into reality: The importance of a great PMI
Publications
Turning the deal
into reality:
The importance
of a great PMI
The deal advanced… Congrats! Now what?
The thesis has been defined, the target identified and the due diligence successfully completed. While this represents an important milestone, the real challenge begins now.
Post-merger integration (PMI) is the moment when the value of the deal is actually realized – or not. Even when synergies look clear on paper, bringing organizations together in practice is rarely simple. In addition to the expected hurdles – from cultural clashes to information gaps – companies face a dynamic environment that demands speed, clarity and alignment.
At this stage, the focus shifts to execution – and the risks increase. Success depends on the ability to:
- align the leadership around a clear integration strategy
- balance the continuity of operations with the integration of structures, processes and systems
- make business and strategic decisions from the start
This is a complex effort, requiring action on multiple fronts: harmonizing organizational models while retaining key talent, engaging teams with transparency, aligning potentially different cultures and preparing the organization to respond quickly to the unknown.
With the right approach, a PMI can go far beyond operational planning, becoming an engine to generate value and achieve the strategic thesis.
Challenges faced by our clientes
Executing the integration at high speed, while preserving the knowledge and history of the people on each side, continuing to run the business with the teams who came from these acquisitions.
Aligning the new company board, especially as it involved board members from both organizations – with different visions, cultures and interests – around a single path for the new organization.
The biggest challenge was getting to know this company that was completely new, and doing so in the most respectful way possible – getting to know each other in both the technical and the human aspects.
What can go wrong and how we ensure success
WHAT can go wrong
STRATEGY
Misaligned leaders and expectations
Lack of visibility for critical decisions
OPERATIONS
Disconnect between strategy and day-today execution
Drop in operational performance during the transition
PEOPLE
Cultural clashes and integration friction
Loss of traction after the first 100 days
HOW Integration Consulting enrues success
STRATEGY
Strategic alignment from the start
Readiness to adapt with agility
OPERATIONS
Engaged leadership
Balance between value capture and stability
PEOPLE
Cultural integration that begins with active listening
Clear and planned communication from day one, and beyond
From our experience in supporting hundreds of PMIs, certain challenges are critical for the success or failure of this phase.
Overcoming these in a structured way will to enable the business case, capture value quickly and ensure continuity and cohesion during the transformation.
Discover how to turn commercial synergy projections
into reality in the full report
TALK TO US
Bruno Torres
Bruno Torres is an senior manager at Integration and has worked in the Marketing & Sales Practice since 2017. Prior to Integration, Bruno worked as a software developer in Canada. At Integration, he has mostly participated in go-to-market strategies in various industries, including pulp & paper, agro, B2B services, steel, consumer goods, hygiene & beauty, [...]
Carlos Lima
Carlos Lima is the president of Integration and a founding partner. Carlos has worked with leading international companies across the globe as a consultant for the last 30 years and has developed a particular specialization in Marketing and Sales. He is considered an expert in the Consumer Goods sector and on the topics of Commercial [...]
Carolina Flores
Carolina Flores is a senior director an has been working in our Finance & Management Practice since 2010, helping our clients across industries achieve important transformations. She has often been involved in projects of large and international scale supporting organizations to achieve their financial objectives through efficiency programmes, Organizational Structure changes, Synergy Evaluation and PMI [...]
Diogo Selingardi
Diogo Selingardi is a director in the Finance & Management Practice and has been working at Integration since 2011. His focus includes strategy implementation, mergers & acquisitions, cost efficiency initiatives and developing management & governance models across the industrial, consumer goods, retail, private equity and financial market sectors. Diogo holds a degree in economic sciences [...]
Francisco Pereira Leite
Francisco Pereira Leite is a partner at Integration and has been with the company since 1999. During this period, Francisco has accumulated experience and led over 150 projects across diverse sectors in Latin America, mainly addressing supply chain, finance & management and implementation challenges. His focus lies the design of supply chain strategies & logistic [...]
Guido Solari
Guido Solari is a partner at Integration and the head of our LATAM offices. Guido joined the company in 2006 and is part of the Marketing & Sales Practice. He has carried out over 250 projects across Latin America, North America and Europe, serving clients in the areas of mass consumer goods, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, media [...]
Ian Matiussi
Ian Matiussi is a senior director and joined Integration in 2010 and now has over a decade of experience, working in our Marketing & Sales Practice. Comfortable with a wide range of topics in this area, he is especially known for his expertise in strategic marketing initiatives such as Market Scans, Go-to-Market and Commercial Policy. [...]
Leticia Molina
Leticia Molina is a director at Integration's Marketing & Sales Practice and has been with the company since January 2023. Prior to Integration, Leticia worked as director of marketing and sales at Vitamina Children's Schools. Her experience includes structuring acquisition & integration plans in the school market and leading profitability & company restructurings. Leticia worked [...]
Marília José
Marília José is a senior director at Integration and has been working in the Finance & Management Practice since 2014. Her main areas of expertise include post-merger integration, transformation & cost reduction, project management, process reviews and organizational model design in the retail, consumer goods, financial and healthcare sectors. Marília holds a degree in economics [...]
Paula Mercadante
Paula Mercadante is a partner at Integration and has been with the company since 2003. During this period, she has developed a focus on leading complex projects involving post-merger integrations, carve-outs, system implementation and shared business centers, as well as the recovery of projects in crisis and the implementation of project offices in sectors such [...]
Raphael Prado
Raphael Prado is a senior manager in the Supply Chain Practice and has been at Integration since April 2022. His experience includes projects focused on S&OP, logistics networks, post-acquisition integration and inventory management.
Rodrigo Seabra
Rodrigo Seabra is the partner at our Office in Munich. He joined Integration in 2006 in Brazil and led the Mexico Office, before taking on responsibility of the Munich Office. Rodrigo is part of our Implementation Practice, has amassed international experience in industries such as consumer goods, retail, food & beverage, pharmaceutical and healthcare and [...]
Rodrigo Weiler
Rodrigo Weiler is a partner at Integration and has been part of the Marketing & Sales Practice since 2000. During this period, Rodrigo has specialized in implementing highly complex transformational projects with a need for change management. He has led numerous projects involving go-to-market model implementation, category management, commercial model design for the retail sector, [...]
Wanderley Scatolin
Wanderley Scatolin is a senior manager at Integration's Supply Chain Practice, where he has worked since 2008 – with a break between 2016 and 2020, when he was the executive manager of integrated planning at Biolab Farmacêutica. Wanderley has extensive expertise across the entire supply chain, with a focus on projects related to planning (S&OP), [...]
- On 18 November 2025
