OFF-MUTE 🔈
🌱 It turns out that M&A is resilient.
🏃♀️ The pandemic accelerated the urgency for many companies to acquire new technology, capabilities and talent to stay relevant and competitive in the digital economy.
🚀 Acquisitions of all kinds (and sizes) are fueling market consolidation and growth for what’s next.
📈 The M&A market is hitting record highs with no signs of slowing down. In fact, 51% of tech executives say they plan to pursue M&A in 2022.
👀 We’re seeing this trend first-hand with our #clients!
📝 So whether you’re getting acquired or looking to acquire, here are six questions to ask that will help inform your communications plan:
☑️ How do you lay the groundwork for an M&A event? Build in time to set the stage for a market need. Position your company and founding team as thought leaders to help attract potential suitors. And once you find a match, ensure there are clear internal and external communications swim lanes between companies.
☑️ Why does this acquisition matter? Double down on your business story and know your numbers. For private company acquisitions reported in business outlets, stories include momentum metrics (ie. company valuation, funding, previous acquisition examples or user and market growth stats). We recommend pre-pitching this news under embargo to a select list of business and trade reporters—only if the company isn’t public—or offer an exclusive. And you may be able to leverage the acquiree's media relationships.
☑️ What does the future look like? There are very few times in a company’s lifecycle when the press actually want to know about your backstory and your vision. Your funding announcements and acquisitions are two of those moments. And your story will evolve in between them. You get to reinvent yourself a bit each time. Just make sure you can articulate that story clearly through your spokespeople.
☑️ What problem(s) are you solving? Explain how this acquisition expands your current capabilities. For example, Salesforce acquired Slack to enable organizations “to deliver customer and employee success from anywhere.” And don’t just communicate via a press release. How can you show the two companies are stronger together?
☑️ Who are the people it helps? Share how this deal will make your customers’ lives easier or improve their experience using your product or service. The more specific, the better.
☑️ What changes do you anticipate? Have an FAQ doc ready and prepare holding statements to address and mitigate any potential crisis scenario should there be any redundancies or layoffs as a result of the acquisition. Don’t overlook internal communications—employees can get nervous during these moments of change. Commit to a plan, be transparent and share updates frequently. And make sure to communicate to customers of both companies about the news and what that means for them.