Merger Ground Truth is a people-centered M&A integration assessment for private equity. We read the human factors that decide whether a deal's value is realized, then help you capture it.
The deal model assumes a smooth ramp to full synergies. The human reality dips and lags after close, and the gap between the two is value the deal already paid for. Merger Ground Truth reads the six drivers that decide which curve you get.
of mergers and acquisitions fail to deliver their expected value.
Study after study puts the failure rate of mergers and acquisitions between 70% and 90%. Source: C. Christensen, R. Alton, C. Rising, and A. Waldeck, "The New M&A Playbook," Harvard Business Review, March 2011.
The shortfall is rarely the financial model. It is the human layer: key people leave, two cultures grind, decisions stall, and customers feel the seams. The synergy plan is necessary, but people are what actually capture it, and that layer is exactly what deal teams are least equipped to manage.
A protocol-driven assessment of the combined organization, run across the parent and the target. It scores the six drivers of realization, shows where value is at risk, and then helps you capture it. One offering, two phases. Built for private-equity sponsors, from signed-to-close into post-close.
We read both organizations and the friction at the seam where they meet, not one company in isolation.
The layer most firms treat as one workstream is our entire focus, because it is where deals are won or lost.
We do not stop at a diagnosis. We embed to run the change that turns findings into captured value.
The factors that decide whether the modeled synergies are actually captured.
Diagnose and score the six drivers in four to six weeks. You get a clear readout and the priority moves.
We embed to run the plays that move each driver, alongside your integration team, and protect the curve.
A recurring read across the hold period that tracks whether the moves are working and where to intervene next.
A library of plays mapped to the six drivers, selected to fit your deal.
Illustrative examples, not a comprehensive list. The library is broader, and we tailor the plays to each engagement.
Emergent's workforce and transformation work across consumer, retail, software, healthcare, and industrials, including PE-backed engagements.
They own the synergy model and the systems. We own the human transition that determines whether the value lands. We sit alongside, not instead.
The human layer is our entire focus, brought with the rigor of a protocol and a scored framework, not a soft afterthought.
We are builder-operators. We embed to run the change through the first hundred days, not hand over a deck and leave.
When it fits the deal, we account for the combined workforce of people and AI agents, not just headcount.
Built for private-equity sponsors, deal by deal or across the portfolio.
Let's talk about your next integration