The current business landscape is experiencing a surge in corporate deal-making, an M&A wave of historic proportions. As The Economist recently noted, we are in the midst of a booming deal economy, with the number of mega-deals (transactions over $10 billion) approaching record highs. This frenzy is fueled by a confluence of factors: technological advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence; readily available capital; and a dynamic regulatory environment. For ambitious leaders, this presents a golden opportunity for growth, market consolidation, and strategic repositioning.
However, the promise of a successful merger or acquisition is tempered by a stark reality: a significant number of these ventures fail to deliver their expected value. The challenge often lies not in the deal's conception, but in post-execution, where the finance function is at the epicenter of complexity. While a top-tier financial consolidation solution is critical, simply integrating the new entity and producing consolidated actuals is only half the battle.
While consolidating financials is a day-one necessity, long-term M&A success is ultimately defined by a commitment to proactive, continuous planning that shapes the culture, operations, and strategy of the newly merged business. This is where best-in-class integrated financial planning becomes your strategic advantage, ensuring the continued success of both the newly acquired entity and the parent company.
A better, faster way to plan and integrate
To navigate the turbulent waters of the current deal economy, organizations need a modern, agile, and powerful financial planning platform. Anaplan’s purpose-built Integrated Financial Planning application is designed to meet these very challenges head-on. It provides a secure, accurate, and real-time planning environment for your entire enterprise, empowering you to enhance decision-making and drive stronger outcomes, especially in the context of M&A activity.
Here’s how the Anaplan Integrated Financial Planning application can be your strategic co-pilot for M&A success:
- Achieve a unified financial view: The first step in effective planning after a successful integration is achieving a single source of truth. Anaplan allows you to integrate data from various enterprise resource planning (ERP) and general ledger (GL) systems into a pre-built data hub, providing a holistic and consistent view of the combined entity's financial health.
- Master scenario planning: M&A is riddled with uncertainty. Anaplan's powerful and dynamic "what-if" scenario modeling and multi-dimensional analysis capabilities allow you to evaluate various integration strategies, model their financial impact, and identify the optimal path forward to resource optimization.
- Accelerate time to value: In the M&A world, speed is of the essence. Our ready-to-deploy Integrated Financial Planning application, enriched with industry-leading best practices, can be implemented in a fraction of the time of traditional solutions. As a global paint manufacturer discovered, a fully functional system can be deployed in less than 12 weeks, accelerating the realization of synergies and a proactive planning process.
- Uncover hidden insights with AI: Anaplan Finance Analyst, our advanced AI assistant embedded within the Integrated Financial Planning application, can swiftly analyze vast amounts of your financial data. Using natural language queries, you can uncover trusted insights, forecast market trends, and get actionable recommendations to enhance your forecasts and decisions instantly.
The Anaplan advantage in the deal economy
The current M&A boom offers tremendous opportunities for growth and transformation. However, to capitalize on these opportunities, organizations must be equipped with the right tools to navigate the complexities of integration. Anaplan provides the platform for a successful finance planning transformation, enabling you to move beyond the chaos of spreadsheets and legacy systems. With Anaplan, you can embrace a more agile, collaborative, and intelligent approach to financial planning, turning the challenge of M&A integration into a catalyst for greater success.
