Merger integration is tough, and it takes the right approach to successfully tackle the challenges. Bain's approach to integration rests upon four principles:

1. Integrate where it matters.
   Being highly selective where you integrate is the most effective way to extract value and to reduce unnecessary friction. Companies should integrate only where valuable or necessary. Speed makes a difference, but only in the right direction.
2. Put culture high on your leadership agenda.
   Retool the culture in a way consistent with the strategy behind the merger. Decide quickly on a specific approach and use hard tactics -- organization structure, compensation incentives, and a shared decision-making system -- to address cultural integration.
3. Make tough decisions early.
   Ideally, acquirers should launch their integration planning several months before the deal is publicly announced. The best acquirers move quickly to determine the new organizational structure and the key people who will drive the integration. Some CEOs focus on the integration even before the final details of the deal are worked out, leaving the CFO to close the deal.
4. Focus firepower on the base businesses.
   Mergers can exert a gravitational pull on employees: most will want to be part of the integration team. But acquirers need to focus most of their talent on the base business. And they must have a plan to maintain the market share of both companies and their brands while the integration is underway -- acquirers are also most vulnerable to competitive attacks on customers and employees in the months following the announcement of a deal.

Bain has supported hundreds of merger integrations in the past decade and has worked with clients on some of the largest, most successful integrations. Historically, our merger integration clients have achieved more than 20% higher excess returns versus comparable deal performance. Our approach draws on our accumulated experience, but is highly tailored to the specifics of a deal. We have partners and managers with hands-on, practical merger integration experience in every Bain office.