Your questions

• How do we plan to communicate to employees when so much has to remain confidential before the M&A is announced?
• How do we set the stage for a successful integration with our launch communication plan?
• When should we communication? What should we communicate? How do we communicate effectively?
• How do we use this opportunity to build trust in both the acquiring organization and the one being acquired?
• How do we communicate honestly and respectfully in a way that resonates with audiences who may have different perspectives?
• What’s the plan to ensure a smooth transition and integration?

Our solutions

We love helping organizations communicate successfully during change. We help your employees be aware of what’s happening, why decisions were made, how they will impact people and priorities, and what they need to do to help the company and themselves succeed.

We keep it confidential

We’ve worked with a number of organizations preparing for big announcements that may be material in nature. Perhaps you don’t have a strategic communication team or you are concerned about people from both sides working together when emotions are high and they are uncertain about their own future. We will sign confidentiality agreements and ensure your announcement becomes public when planned.

We create a proactive communication plan

We will work with you to create a proactive communication plan helping you identify a plan that is aligned with your business strategy. We’ll also help identify and train key communicators whether they are leaders, managers or colleagues so that they can deliver the strategy on message and on time.

We understand perspectives

When going through a merger, there are several perspectives to consider. The reaction of the acquiring organization will be different from the one being acquired, but the goal of ensuring people on both sides understand the opportunities is the same. We’ll help you plan tone and messaging for all stakeholders including your employees, vendors, partners, and customers to help them support you during transition.

We help you use this opportunity to build trust

In time of change, your stakeholders need to feel trusted in order to build trust. We’ll identify what information should be provided when in order to create awareness, understanding, action and belief in your direction. We’ll also prepare you to answer all their potential questions.

The projects

• Communicated proactively and successfully during several Loblaw Companies Limited acquisitions including Shoppers Drug Mart and T&T Supermarkets
• Worked on internal communication, marketing communication and brand transition during the HP/Compaq merger
• Worked with HP Canada during acquisitions of Intria/HP and Mercury