PMI

Specialism

Post-Merger-Integration (PMI) is an abbreviation that I did not learn during my studies. During my years as a Management Consultant I have participated in my projects before and after mergers or carve-outs. I discovered that there a certain logic and sequence in these processes and there can be a quite hectic emotion during certain phases. Many managers involved do this for the very first time and work with their own logic. That is not bad, but not always sufficient. There are certain patterns in things that go well or go wrong. Checklist can be helpful, but never give a full solution. For me it has become evident that this specialism can make mergers more successful. 

KPMG Consulting (1990 - 2011)

In the work of a management consultant projects come and go. The new big customers did projects around huge transitions in the market. Many of the huge changes in the past decades have started with the transition from state monopoly to free market combined with the introduction of market-rules by the EU. Some examples from this 21-year period:

• Telco and Post market became a free market and as a consequence PTT split up in Post and Telco. Many changes followed. I was involved in a carve out of a part of Post which merged with ING into the new Post Office organization.

• NS as the National Rail Company was split up according to EU regulation in rails and trains. Many carve outs followed and some of these merged into their new owners (commercial companies). I was involved in many of these projects.

• The liberalization of the energy market followed by the split of infrastructure and the production, trade and sales of energy has caused many carve-out and merger projects. I was involved in the split of NUON and Alliander.

These are only a few examples out of many projects that gave me the background to set the next step. 

Interim Director (2012 - 2024)

In my interim management engagements, I have developed my knowledge further by the type of engagements I did.

• At DNV I was responsible for the fitting in of KEMA in the bigger DNV. Culture differences and governance have led to a change of portfolio based on the expertise of KEMA. Best-of-both-worlds sounds simple but is a delicate balancing act.

• Visionworks still had own culture elements 10 years after it had been acquired by Ordina. These had a negative value and needed to be replaced by a new strategic direction.

• The acquisition of ECN by TNO had a positive impact to complete the portfolio of TNO. We wanted the ECN employees to feel welcome and appreciated. That could be enhanced by adopting an ECN best practice by all of TNO. These simple actions have great value, but only if you see them, take action and communicate about it.