Case B: Technology Company – Evaluating a New Partnership

Client

A technology services company involved in Web marketing and search engine optimization evaluates a merger with a synergistic company.

Situation

After my client worked with another small company on several projects, the principals considered joining forces. However, there were two primary concerns. One was an overlap of expertise among leaders of the two businesses. The second problem was that the merger would produce more generals than soldiers.

Solution

I met several times with my client to determine what the problems and benefits of this merger would be. I initiated a plan to evaluate the feasibility of this potential relationship. In preparation for a joint meeting with the partners from each organization, I helped my client to:

• Refine the vision with his partner of the company's direction
• Clarify the values, goals and culture of their current company over the next few years
• Identify some of the pitfalls and understand what would make a successful merger

At the joint meeting:

• I facilitated a meeting with all the potential partners
• We developed a grid showing where the vision, values and goals were aligned or misalignedY´
• We created a list of what each partner would bring to the table
• I concluded the meeting by identifying issues that needed to be resolved

Results

The two companies continued to negotiate and define their proposed organization. After continued evaluation, they decided to create a new company.