Medical network revitalization for PE exit, doubled EBITDA in preparation for sale through capacity and process redesign.
Food solutions manufacturer turnaround following acquisition, returning the business to profitability through operational stabilization.
Post-acquisition integration that captured synergies and built lasting operational capability across the combined organization.
Most M&A integrations underperform the deal model. Synergies show up late, partial, or not at all. EBITDA targets slip. Operating partners spend year two cleaning up year one.
The pattern is consistent. Deal teams build synergy targets from financial models without testing them against operating realities. Day one is ready on systems, structure, and reporting, but the management cadence that actually drives synergy capture never gets installed. By month four, integration leadership is pulled to other priorities and the workstreams slow down. By month nine, the deal model and the actual P&L tell different stories.
Adonis Partners runs M&A integrations differently. We work alongside deal teams and portfolio company leadership from pre-close through 12-month value capture. Our consultants are operators who have done this work before. Not in theory, but on the floor, in the financials, and in the weekly operating reviews.
We engage in three phases tied to the integration lifecycle. Each phase has clear deliverables, named owners, and a handoff structure that builds portfolio company capability instead of creating dependency.
We work in parallel with the deal team’s pre-deal operational diligence. The synergy targets in the deal model get validated against operating realities, not just financial assumptions. We identify which synergies are real, which are aspirational, and where the integration risk actually sits. By signing, the integration plan, the day one readiness checklist, and the 100-day priorities are built and aligned with the operating partner.
The integration management office is stood up before close. Operating cadence (daily standups, weekly workstream reviews, monthly steering committee) is installed in week one. Synergy workstreams launch with named portfolio company owners, weekly tracking, and direct line of sight to the deal model. Quick wins are prioritized to fund longer plays and build credibility with the management team. By day 100, the integration is on plan or the variance is explained, owned, and being addressed.
This is the phase most consulting firms skip. The integration management office shifts from coordination to capture. Operating model changes get embedded into management routines so they hold after we leave. Synergy realization is tracked monthly against deal model commitments. Knowledge transfer to portfolio company leadership is structured into the engagement, not hoped for. By month 12, the integration is finished and the operating capability to sustain it is built.
Our work spans the full integration lifecycle, from pre-close planning through year-one synergy capture. We focus on the areas that protect deal value and build the operating capability to sustain it.
PE acquisitions run on different math than strategic M&A. Hold periods are finite. Synergy capture is tracked to specific deal model commitments. Operating partners need integration leadership that understands the ownership model and reports in terms the deal team uses.
Adonis Partners is built for that reality. Our integration timeline maps to exit timeline. Our synergy tracking ties to the deal model. Our governance includes the operating partner by design, not as an afterthought. And our engagement model scales to deal size. We do the same disciplined work on a $40M bolt-on that we do on a $350M acquisition, scoped and priced accordingly.
First, we take the time to really learn about you:
Next, we gather baseline insights by:
Then, we align leadership around what we’ve learned.
Then, we select key opportunities to create value based on ROI:
Finally, we implement your desired future state:
An M&A integration consultant runs the operational and organizational work of combining two companies after a deal closes. This includes pre-close planning, day-one readiness, integration management office (IMO) operation, synergy capture programs, operating model integration, and post-integration capability building. The work spans roughly 12 months around the close date and is judged by whether the deal hits its synergy and EBITDA targets.
Post-merger integration is operational consulting under deal-specific constraints. The work is the same core discipline: process, operating model, governance, performance management. What’s different is the timeline, the measurement framework, and the audience. PMI runs against deal model commitments and exit timing. Standard operational consulting runs against ongoing performance targets. The skills overlap, but the rhythm and reporting are different.
The earlier the better. Engaging at LOI or during operational due diligence allows synergy targets to be validated against operating realities before the deal model gets locked. Engaging at signing means day-one readiness can be built properly. Engaging at close means the integration starts behind schedule and the IMO has to catch up. Most of our PE engagements start between LOI and signing.
Twelve months is the standard arc, broken into pre-close (4-8 weeks before signing), day one through 100 days (the most intense phase), and months 4-12 (synergy capture and operating model lock-in). Smaller bolt-on integrations can run shorter (6-9 months). Complex carve-outs or transformational acquisitions can run longer (15-18 months). The engagement scales to deal complexity, not deal size.
Integration management is the operating system: governance, workstreams, tracking, reporting, decision rights. Synergy capture is what the operating system delivers: cost reductions, revenue gains, operating model improvements that show up in the P&L. Most integrations have decent management and weak capture. The integration management office exists to make sure capture actually happens, not just that meetings happen on time.
Operating partners and deal teams sit on the integration steering committee by default. We report against the deal model on a monthly basis with variance explanations. Workstream owners are portfolio company leadership, not us, which keeps capability inside the company. Operating partners get direct visibility into the integration without having to manage it day-to-day. Deal teams get monthly synergy capture reporting tied to the model they built.
Bring Adonis Partners into your next deal early. We’ll spend an hour reviewing the operating thesis or the integration plan and tell you honestly where the risk sits.
