In the dynamic world of corporate PR, it won’t be long before a valued client you have been working with for ages tells you that their business is being bought, or is merging, or making an acquisition.  

It’s nothing to fear – it’s simply part and parcel of growing a successful business – being ready to scale up or to pass the baton on to a third-party to pursue the next stage of its growth plan. 

Effective and timely communications are vital to ensure merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, and more importantly post-deal integration processes, run as smoothly as possible. 

At Pearl Comms, we are no stranger to M&A having completed our own acquisition of a PR agency in 2023. We know how long deal negotiations can take and the care that is needed to ensure both sides aren’t faced with any unwanted surprises. The need for due diligence can’t be overstated, but a clear understanding of how the transaction will affect customers and people is important to ensure the merged or acquired business can continue to go from strength to strength. 

Preparing your M&A communications strategy

For the marcomms team and PR professionals, the reality is that they probably won’t hear about the deal until it is close to completion. The focus is understandably on preparing a suite of communications materials to deliver to the relevant stakeholder groups on Day One. There is usually limited time for this, but it’s important to understand the strategic benefits on both sides of the deal and consider how best to communicate the deal to the marketplace. 

When preparing a communications announcement for two corporate entities, a core message should be prepared to ensure consistency and this should form the basis of other communications activities. If one party is a publicly listed UK company, specific rules and regulations set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) must be applied. Other jurisdictions will have different rules and regulations. 

Press releases, customer emails and stock exchange announcements are only part of the picture. The PR team needs to consider what to communicate, when, and how, to each stakeholder group – from the board, managers and all employees, right through to investors, supply partners, customers, industry influencers, regulatory bodies, councillors, MPs, the media and more. 

A positive message

The next step is to prepare a running order of communications activity for Day One, which should be planned and delivered with military precision. Whilst it doesn’t often happen these days, forgetting to tell employees about the transaction before they read about it in their online news feeds, can create unnecessary upset and anxiety. Instead, kicking the day off with senior management briefings and all-employee meetings, preferably face to face, can help to smooth out any immediate issues and get post-integration processes off to a good start. 

In our experience, there is always a positive message to communicate about how employees will benefit from new opportunities. For customers too, there will be important benefits such as an increased geographic reach or access to databases, technologies and distribution networks that could improve efficiency and support their own growth story. Pulling out the positives and making them the keystone of all internal and external communications activity is a PR gift. 

Post-merger communication

After the deal is done, the real marcomms work begins. A workstream should be prepared to manage changes to the brand identity of the merged or acquired business and a timetable for delivery. Follow-up meetings with key customers should be fixed to reinforce the benefits that the deal will bring them. Integration project teams should be established and coordinated centrally to establish new ways of working together and direct any changes required. Navigating cross-departmental collaboration and identifying key opportunities to add value is not always easy, and the marcomms team may need hands-on support to lead the way. 

The cultural fit of the merged organisations is often a key consideration during the deal-making process, but this can be quickly forgotten afterwards. To ensure it remains a priority, the marcomms team should focus on using differentiating strategies and tactics to bring values, mission statements and new ways of working to life, whilst underlining the message that the merged organisation represents the best of both worlds. 

Being ready for anything is always important when managing corporate reputation. If issues arise whilst integration processes are ongoing, it’s important to know who will be responsible for managing them and have a well-considered marcomms response plan in place.  

And finally, a brief word about positive leadership. Being on hand to talk to stakeholders internally and externally, and constantly reminding them that the purpose of the merger or acquisition is to create one business that is better than the sum of its parts, can really help to inspire positivity and improve outcomes. 

For more information about M&A-related communications, contact our corporate PR team.