1 / 15

IT and M&A Seizing the Opportunity Ben Booth, CTO Ipsos MORI 13 th June 2006

Learn about the importance of involving senior IT, planning integration carefully, and the potential benefits and challenges in the Ipsos-MORI acquisition.

mrice
Download Presentation

IT and M&A Seizing the Opportunity Ben Booth, CTO Ipsos MORI 13 th June 2006

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. IT and M&A Seizing the Opportunity Ben Booth, CTO Ipsos MORI 13th June 2006

  2. The received wisdom • involve senior IT as soon as possible • involve both parties IT in due diligence • plan the integration programme carefully – it will involve systems, technical staff, business staff, business change

  3. Ipsos Acquisition of MORI • Ipsos Є700m pa turnover 6000 staff 44 countries • MORI Є63m pa turnover 450 staff 2 countries

  4. Rationale • strengthen (double) Ipsos capabilities in UK • complementary in UK • Ipsos Media, Marketing, Advertising • MORI Public Affairs, Loyalty • only 3/100 clients shared • provide more international opportunities for MORI

  5. The numbers Є88m cost of acquisition Є1.8m restructuring cost Є1.8m savings year on year

  6. The Process • secondary buyout 2004 – stability expected for 3-4 yrs • approach in summer 2005 (long history of interest) • Purchaser access to previous due diligence from 2004 • BB asked to go to Investment Bankers 23 September • 10th October agreement in principle announced

  7. IT Environment • Similarity of technologies • MS office, SQL etc • some LINUX • proprietary market research products

  8. Estate • 900 desk tops 1500 Interviewer tablets/laptops 600 telephone interview stations • Offices: London & SE 6 Edinburgh 2 Manchester 1 Republic of Ireland 2 Belfast 1 • 22 IT infrastructure staff, mainly London

  9. Philosophy • technically an acquisition; but reality in UK is merger of 2 similar sized and complementary business • IT critical operationally • data collection, analysis and dissemination • people expensive and important asset • IT seen as means of facilitating integration. Key element in integration process NB importance of communication

  10. IT Opportunities • strength in depth, bigger team • more opportunities for staff progression • UK scale of operation more economical • economies of scale throughout

  11. Group Opportunities • technology assistance with integration etc • well developed standards • opportunities for staff • investment available for substantial projects But: • bureaucracy and speed of decisions • rigorous cost control

  12. Organisation Plan • Two heads of function meet • Management teams meet • Re-assure staff who will remain • Deal quickly with redundant positions • Workshops to integrate teams and develop new style of working • Ongoing review

  13. Technology Plan • Network renumbering and integration • helpdesk & Desktop • active Directory & Exchange • Telephone / Face to Face / DP • Compliance and Security • savings

  14. Progress to date • new structure in place, two redundant positions • network mostly done • helpdesk well advanced • AD & exchange taking longer • Telephone / Face to Face / DP ongoing • savings on target Half way through - aim all done by end 2006

  15. Lessons learnt • very long programme, hard to maintain momentum • most staff receptive to new ideas, some not, possibly spent too much time on those not • importance of communication • disruptive to existing good operations – gets worse before it gets better • everything takes much longer than planned • Manage staff expectations

More Related