M&A
M&A Integration Checklist
A practical checklist for the organizational side of post-merger integration — from day-one structure to synergy capture — so two organizations become one without losing people, customers, or value.
Most of the value in an acquisition is won or lost in integration, and most of integration is organizational: combining two structures, two leadership teams, and two sets of overlapping roles into one organization without losing the people, customers, or synergies that justified the deal. This checklist focuses on the org-design side of post-merger integration (PMI).
Before close: prepare
- Define the integration thesis. Is this a full absorption, a merger of equals, or a standalone bolt-on? The answer drives every structural decision that follows.
- Pin down the synergy target. Know the headcount and cost synergies the deal model assumes — and which functions they’re expected to come from.
- Get both org structures into one view. You can’t design a combined org from two separate spreadsheets. Bring both organizations — roles, levels, reporting lines, and fully-loaded cost — into a single model.
- Protect confidentiality. Pre-close planning involves sensitive headcount modeling. Keep it isolated and access-controlled.
Day one: stand up the combined leadership
- Name the combined leadership team. Ambiguity at the top cascades. The first two layers of the combined org should be clear on day one.
- Establish reporting lines for everyone. Even if some teams stay as-is initially, every employee should know who they report to.
- Identify and retain critical talent. Map the people you cannot afford to lose and make sure their roles in the new structure are clear and compelling.
The first 100 days: design and harmonize
- Harmonize levels and titles. Two companies rarely share a leveling framework. Map them to a common scheme before you compare roles or costs.
- Map overlapping functions. Find the duplicate roles — two heads of marketing, two finance teams — and decide the combined design function by function.
- Model the combined structure as scenarios. Don’t converge on one answer too fast. Model a few versions of the combined org and compare headcount, cost, and spans. (See how to plan a reorganization.)
- Quantify synergy capture role by role. Tie the synergy number in the deal model to specific structural decisions, so the savings are ones you can defend — not a top-down placeholder.
- Check structural health. Make sure the combined org isn’t over-layered or carrying duplicate support functions. (See what delayering is.)
Throughout: communicate and govern
- Sequence the changes. Decide the order of structural moves and who owns each conversation.
- Keep one source of truth. Integration fragments fast across versions and teams. Keep the combined design, financials, and change detail in one model everyone works from.
- Track against the synergy plan. Report actual structural changes against the synergy target so leadership always knows where capture stands.
Doing the heavy lifting
The hardest parts of this checklist — harmonizing levels, mapping overlaps, and building the combined leadership team — are exactly where OrgDrafter’s AI org design does the heavy lifting, proposing the combined structure and surfacing efficiencies while you review every step. Our private equity & M&A solution brings both organizations into one tenant-isolated model so deal teams can size synergies and stand up the combined org day-one fast.
Integration is where deals deliver or disappoint. Treat the organizational side as the core of it, not an afterthought.