M&A process excellence is the path to success

Why M&A processes are often suboptimal

Inorganic growth is a powerful driver of business success. Its influence is only increasing—yet so are the challenges. With the growing reach of Private Equity, a more connected global marketplace, greater access to data and intelligence, and the introduction of emerging technologies like AI, the M&A landscape is more competitive than ever. In this environment, only the most agile and process-driven M&A teams will come out ahead.

Despite the critical importance of inorganic growth, many M&A processes remain inefficient, fragmented, and under-optimized. Waste is common. Technology adoption lags. It is widely communicated by experts that M&A deals have a high failure rate; indeed, in late 2024 Fortune Magazine analyzed 40,000 deals and reported a deal failure rate was 70–75%. Further, John Colley of Warwick Business School states in a recent article that “60 per cent destroy value and 50 per cent of acquired assets are sold off again within five years” The magnitude of the lost opportunity is staggering.  

Such ongoing poor performance would be unacceptable in other high-impact business processes—think supply chain or sales. Yet in M&A, the tolerance for inefficiency and mistakes remains surprisingly high. Right now, M&A professionals cannot claim to be examples of continuous improvement.  

The best teams aim higher

To better understand this disconnect, Midaxo has hosted a series of webinars, including one on KPI management. The results were illuminating; while 70% of participants said end-to-end (E2E) M&A performance monitoring was a priority, very few could claim they have capability to do it today—especially not easily or consistently.

The minority who could track E2E performance effectively all had one thing in common: they used a centralized E2E M&A platform, such as Midaxo Cloud. With all data in one place and accessible in real time, the ability to leverage technology increased, serving AI and reporting capabilities that led to more intelligence and predictability. These teams could act faster, with greater clarity.  

This growing desire for better E2E visibility is one of a few signs of a broader mindset shift and greater ambition. Competitive pressure and a new generation of M&A leaders more open to innovation and technology are pushing the industry forward. Particularly, the opportunities of AI and the growing access to actionable data and intelligence are further accelerating this change.  

Best-in-class teams prioritize M&A process excellence

M&A teams looking to gain the edge come to Midaxo looking for higher performance over the failing Excel based good-enough processes. Indeed, across Midaxo’s diverse customer base, the highest-performing and most ambitious M&A teams share four core behaviors:

• They measure for success – Leveraging real-time, end-to-end monitoring with predictive and historical insights.
• They drive a repeatable process – Standardizing workflows to enable scalable, automated execution.
• They seek continuous improvement – Embedding into the company culture a mindset of learning and evolution to adopt new best practices and technologies.
• They prioritize people engagement – Investing in collaboration and simplicity for all stakeholders involved: internal teams, external partners, and acquired employees. Culture is not an afterthought.

These traits overlap hugely with the foundation of Process Excellence—a strategy for continually improving business processes to maximize efficiency, effectiveness, and quality, aiming for smooth, automated, consistent workflows that deliver a competitive advantage and drive growth.

How to achieve M&A process excellence  

To embrace process excellence in M&A, teams must commit to a few foundational pillars:

1. Foster a culture of continuous improvement that has a low tolerance for accepting the long-standing status quo and rewards those who seek improvement.  
2. Apply change management principles to create clear goals and a shared need and expectation for change.
3. Leverage established process optimization methodologies—and engage expert support when needed.
4. Use technology as a catalyst for change, not just as a tool to be slightly better.

For many Midaxo customers, adopting Midaxo Cloud becomes a pivotal moment in their journey toward M&A excellence. As an E2E M&A platform, it offers out-of-the-box advantages—process standardization, high automation, instant access to M&A specific AI tools, access to best practices, and data transparency—helping teams quickly improve performance while reducing risk.

A caveat for applying AI to your M&A process

It should be said: while AI has tremendous potential, as with all technologies, one must fix the process before or at least in parallel to applying a technology to it. A recent article in the Havard Business review states:

“Process management and technology are mutually reinforcing. New technologies help companies significantly scale up improved processes, and it’s much easier to deploy and get value from a new AI algorithm when the process it supports is well-defined and well-managed. End-to-end integrated processes also make it easier to obtain the huge quantities of high-quality data needed to train AI.”

Real-world impact of M&A process excellence

Teams that adopt both technology—like Midaxo Cloud—and a process excellence mindset report measurable gains:

• Speed & Responsiveness: Time to market and speed of work increases e.g. 40% reduction in diligence time; 80% faster document analysis with AI; 3x improved real-time visibility.
• Risk Reduction: Lower recurring risks and failures: up to 60% risk reduction.  
• Efficiency: 70% reduction in project setup time through process reuse and automation.
• Accuracy: Improved data use and process consistency lead to higher quality outcomes.
• Team Motivation: Simple collaboration and streamlined workflows drive greater engagement.