UNTIL DEATH DO YOU PART (MAYBE SOONER THAN YOU THINK)

"The difficulty with marriage is that we fall in love with a personality, but must live with a character."

Peter de Vries (1910-1993) American editor and novelist.

While originally describing the marriage of two people it applies equally well to the merger of two companies.

What you think you will get very often doesn't happen.

Carefully evaluate the potential "personality" you hope to get so as not to end up with the "character" you don't want.

AND SOMETIMES TWO

"One fool at least in every married couple."

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist and dramatist.

And just as true in business acquisitions, mergers too.

Just because you can buy some other company doesn't mean you will own them.

Till (Your) Death Do Us Part

"Marriage is one long conversation, checkered by disputes."

Robert Louis Stevenson

19th century Scottish essayist/novelist

And this is no less true in mergers.

Long after the deal is done there will be many on both sides questioning the wisdom of having done so.

I Don't Even Know You!

"Long engagements give people the opportunity of finding out each other's character before marriage, which is never a good idea."

Oscar Wilde

19th century Irish poet

Given a 50% divorce statistic, I'm not so sure.

And the same logic applies in business too where there are more failed mergers/acquisitions than successful ones.

Until Death Do Us Part?

"Marrying is easy, it's housework that's hard."

Proverb

In business merging is easy with successfully managing the merged business the hard part.

Why is that?

The Same Only Different

"If you would marry suitably, marry your equal."

Ovid

1st century BC Roman poet

Good advice in business mergers as well as in marriage?

I would say so.

But understand that equality is different than "same".  

In both marriage and business mergers, equality in differences is a good and preferable thing.

Together: What Now?

"To marry is to halve your rights and double your duties."

Arthur Schopenhauer
18th century German philosopher

Substitute "merge" for "marry" and do you think the quote still works in business?

When it comes to mergers, acquisitions, etc., I do, at least for the successful ones.

Mergers and Acquistions: More "Managing the Marriage"

"The single most important thing was to dismantle the organizational structure of Fiat. We tore it apart in 60 days, removing a large number of leaders who had been there a long time and who represented an operating style that lay outside any proper understanding of market dynamics."

Sergio Marchionne
CEO Fiat Group

"The Italians have been shocked by how bloated Chrysler's management still is--there are nearly ten times as many people in external communications as there are at Fiat."

The Economist
April 25, 2009

"If this thing (Fiat acquisition of Chrysler) comes off they're (Chrysler management) really in for a shock."

Anonymous Senior Fiat Executive

You are Fiat's CEO. How do you balance the immediate need to change while at the same time maintaining a minimum level of Chrysler employee morale?

Or do you even need to care?

Mergers and Acquisitions: Managing the Marriage

"A great marriage is not when the "perfect couple" comes together. It is when an "imperfect couple" learns to enjoy their differences."

Dave Meurer
Humorist

There are endless analogies connecting "marriages" to business "mergers" and/or "acquisitions" and as one who lived through both, I can attest to the appropriateness of their use.

For starters there is no "perfect couple", not in marriage nor in business and it is an absolute certainty that there will be differences. So by definition, if you are to succeed, you will either not only learn to "enjoy" them but to also use them to your mutual advantage.

If you've been part of a merger or acquisition, how has it gone? (Let's leave marriages for another blog.)