Post-acquisition integration for manufacturing group

Structural integration support for a €3.2B cross-border acquisition in the manufacturing and logistics sector.

Manufacturing Europe Integration & Execution
2023 - 2024 20 months

Client Profile

Our client is a €15B European industrial group specialising in automotive components and logistics services, with manufacturing facilities across 18 European countries. The group completed a €3.2B acquisition of a competitor with operations in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, and Romania, creating the second-largest player in the European automotive components market.

The acquisition, completed in Q2 2023, created immediate integration challenges, including overlapping operations, duplicate customer relationships, and fragmented legal entity structures that required urgent rationalisation and optimisation.

The Challenge

The post-acquisition integration presented significant structural challenges:

  • Entity overlap: Combined entity portfolio of 45 legal entities with significant overlap in Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic, creating redundant overhead and governance complexity.
  • Customer consolidation: Over 200 shared customers across both groups requiring coordinated account management and contract rationalisation while maintaining service continuity.
  • Supply chain reconfiguration: Overlapping production facilities in 6 locations requiring capacity rationalisation, workforce transition planning, and supplier contract consolidation.
  • Regulatory complexity: Merger control clearance conditions requiring specific structural remedies and ongoing compliance monitoring across multiple jurisdictions.

Our Approach

We led the structural integration workstream as part of the broader integration programme:

Phase 1: Integration Planning (2 months)

Developed detailed integration roadmap including entity rationalisation plan, customer migration strategy, and supply chain optimisation framework. Established integration governance with weekly steering committee reviews.

Phase 2: Structural Design (3 months)

Designed target entity structure reducing from 45 to 28 entities, with clear holding company hierarchy, operational company delineation, and elimination of duplicative intermediate holding layers. Developed customer contract novation and transfer strategy.

Phase 3: Execution (12 months)

Managed entity mergers, liquidations, and transfers across Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, and Romania with local counsel coordination. Executed customer contract novation for 180+ contracts with zero service interruptions. Implemented unified ERP system at merged facilities.

Phase 4: Optimisation (3 months)

Completed remaining entity rationalisations, implemented group-wide governance framework, established consolidated reporting, and documented integration playbook for future acquisitions.

Outcomes

38%
Reduction in legal entities
€28M
Annual run-rate cost synergies
180+
Customer contracts novated
0
Service interruptions during integration

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