M&A Science
Integration Starts with Hiring, Not the Deal with Brandon Batt
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Show notes
Brandon Batt – Chief People and Transformation Officer at Quadient
When Quadient announced its new strategy in 2019, it closed two divestments and an acquisition in roughly 30 days. Brandon Batt says the groundwork for deals like that starts with who you hire.
Brandon runs a transformation office that puts M&A, legal, HR, and sustainability under one leader, so the people who run diligence also plan and own the integration. He explains why Quadient looks for M&A experience when hiring a VP of product or a regional head of sales, why the company has walked away from deals over how a target's CEO treats people, and why he still trusts a human eye over "the summary of the summary" from an AI model.
Brandon names where M&A breaks: teams in silos, no PMO, and IT pulled in too late to ask how the target's ERP will ever fit. DealRoom Integration carries diligence findings into integration worklists, with tasks grouped by workstream and each one assigned an owner, so no one is left passing the ball after close. Quadient has run deals in DealRoom since 2020. See how it works: click here.