Provided finance M&A integration support

Provided finance M&A integration support

Stout provided finance M&A integration support to a business (the “Company”) with $500 million in revenue and annual acquisitions of six to eight bolt-ons.

In discussions with Stout, the Company recounted the myriad challenges encountered while continuously integrating multiple entities and highlighted lingering issues from past transactions. Stout was engaged to integrate current and future acquisitions by establishing a Finance Integration Management Office (FIMO). The FIMO manages ongoing and future integration efforts while also developing an integration playbook.

While engaged, Stout identified additional ways to add value as a trusted advisor. Specifically, Stout’s experienced technical accounting professionals partnered with the Company to account for five separate acquisitions with enterprise values totaling over $100 million. This support included the timely completion of net working capital adjustments and purchase accounting (ASC 805, Business Combinations).

Stout's deliverables to the Buyer included:

  • Stabilization of the FIMO and guiding of FIMO structure, strategy, and integration timeliness
  • Acceleration of overall finance integration timeline post-acquisition close
  • Pre- and post-close integration activities including, but not limited to, the following:
    • Discovery calls with targets
    • Creation of and tracking for comprehensive request lists
    • Financial institution administration and access cut-over
    • Completion and analysis for all ASC 805 matters
    • Opening Balance Sheet (OBS) work
    • NWC settlement calculation and settlement procedures with targets
    • Management of escrow releases and payments in conjunction with settlements
    • Review and administration of related contingent payments
    • Best practices for financial consolidation and management reporting
    • Cash to accrual conversion for acquired entities
    • Audit support for all created OBS walk-across workbooks
  • Creation of finance and accounting M&A integration playbook and templates that the Buyer can leverage for future acquisitions
  • Valuation services for material acquisitions (tradenames, intangibles, etc.)

Stout enabled the Buyer to successfully integrate the initial target, resulting in Stout continuing to manage the accounting/finance integration efforts for additional closed acquisitions and those in the pipeline.