The world of M&A is full of legends. Heroic CEOs. Legendary failures. ‘Transformational’ deals that weren’t.
Consultants who promise synergy. Playbooks that promise certainty.
But beneath the mythology lies a quieter, more uncomfortable reality: Most organisations are
structurally unprepared to deliver the deals they pursue. Over recent years, companies have faced an
overabundance of challenges: pandemic‑era volatility, supply chain shocks, inflationary pressure, talent
scarcity, geopolitical disruption, rapid digitalisation. And yet patterns of M&A performance remain
remarkably consistent – and they still deliver far less than they should.
So how to improve? After over 25 years of specialist work in this field, three insights stand out to us as
genuinely transformative.
