Integrating A Recently Acquired Business

Me vs Chat GPT - This Is Going To Be Interesting!!

If you’ve known me for a while, you’ll know that I spent many years working in Private Equity Enterprise SaaS.

My roles ranged from product management to value creation and portfolio management - it was the sort of business where you got to wear lots of hats!

Having integrated dozens of business acquisitions in my time, most of them in the software space (but there have been a few across other industries such as finance and supply chain management), I thought it might be fun to test my experience against the often chosen arbiter of LinkedIn wisdom … Chat GPT.

Below I’ve pasted Chat GPT’s answer to my question and then I’ve added my personal experience (in italics beneath) in for good measure.

I’ve used a typical Private Equity Enterprise SaaS acquisition example.

Let me know what you think!

How to Integrate a Newly Acquired $15M ARR SaaS Business into Your Private Equity Portfolio

Integrating a newly acquired SaaS company into your private equity portfolio can unlock tremendous value — but only if done with a clear plan and decisive execution.?

Let’s assume the company has a $15 million ARR and a team of around 125 people. Your portfolio already includes complementary SaaS products, making this acquisition a strategic move to boost market share, cross-sell opportunities, and innovation.

Here’s a practical, step-by-step approach to a smooth and effective integration:

1. Define Clear Integration Goals

? Identify the strategic outcomes you want from this acquisition.

? Examples include revenue synergies, customer base expansion, product innovation, or cost savings.

? Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success in each area.

I don’t see anything specifically around value creation - I would expect to see some focus around how this strategic acquisition bolsters the portfolio proposition and creates greater value for new and existing customers.

2. Align Leadership and Culture Early

? Clarify leadership roles to avoid confusion and turf wars.

? Introduce key leaders across both organisations to foster collaboration.

? Prioritise cultural alignment — integrating different cultures is often underestimated but vital for success.

? Communicate a unified vision and strategy to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Communicating the unified vision and strategy early on is key.?

Ultimately, if this is an acquisition rather than a merger, it’s important to establish expectations from the get go and unless the newly acquired company has substantially better systems or processes, they need to accept the fact that they will be transitioning to the acquirer's methods of doing business.

3. Optimise the Product Strategy

? Conduct a product roadmap review to align the new SaaS solution with your existing portfolio.

? Identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities across the combined customer base.

? Assess any overlaps between products and decide if consolidation is necessary to avoid internal competition.

Evaluate the overall cost-base and product infrastructure costs.? Also spend time understanding the commercial strategy.? These areas can be frequently overlooked and present a great opportunity for cost savings and cross selling.

You’re 7X more likely to sell more to an existing customer than sell to a brand new customer so take advantage of this fact and cross sell.

4. Streamline Go-to-Market Efforts

? Align the sales and marketing teams to maximise revenue synergies.

? Train both sales forces on the entire suite of products to drive cross-sell initiatives.

? Develop a unified messaging strategy that highlights the combined value proposition for customers.

Agreed but I’d also like to see something around communicating to customers of both the newly acquired company and also your existing customers, clearly explain the vision and why the acquisition is a natural fit for the portfolio.?

Excite your customers with your vision for the future and don’t let a lack of communication lead to speculation and attrition.

5. Unify Customer Experience and Support

? Integrate customer success and support functions for a seamless customer experience.

? Share best practices from other portfolio companies to improve customer retention and satisfaction.

? Ensure transparency with customers regarding any changes to service or product availability.

If your SLAs differ from that of the acquired business then you need to sit down with your company lawyer and understand what can be done to align your SLAs with your newly acquired customer base.

As with any and every acquisition, speed is of the essence here - these sorts of things need to be addressed in weeks or perhaps in the first few months post acquisition BUT not left to fester for years.

6. Integrate Core Business Functions

? Consolidate back-office functions (finance, HR, and legal) to reduce duplication and create efficiencies.

? Standardise key systems, such as CRM, ERP, and analytics tools, where possible.

? Leverage shared services or centres of excellence across your portfolio for economies of scale.

If you’re not going to grow your customer base, utilise your new tech IP or leverage the economies of scale that come from making an acquisition then you need to question why you bought a business in the first place.?

All of the above benefits should be a no brainer, as should be the cross sell and upsell to your wider customer base - it’s important to leverage ALL the value you can from an acquisition.

7. Harmonise Technology and Infrastructure

? Assess the new company’s tech stack and identify overlaps or gaps.

? Integrate data analytics and reporting systems to provide a unified view of business performance.

? Prioritise cybersecurity and data privacy compliance in the integration process.

Not a lot to add here other than move quickly and get a report within weeks of acquisition from a trusted advisor with recommendations as to the actions you should be taking with the acquired systems and tech stack.

8. Retain and Empower Key Talent

? Identify the top talent within the acquired business and ensure retention plans are in place.

? Incentivise leaders and critical employees with equity or performance-linked bonuses.

? Create clear communication channels to address any concerns and keep morale high.

The last point in this list from? ChatGPT is by far one of the most critical in the entire process - clear communication creates a lack of ambiguity or speculation.? Project your exciting vision within your entire business and reinforce the message frequently.

Never think that branded merchandise, a team-building day out, gifts or competitions are a motivational substitute for clear leadership, vision and direction - because they just serve as short-termism and don’t give the newly expanded team any reassurance about their future. As someone that has integrated many businesses, I can’t stress this point enough!

9. Implement Financial and Operational Controls

? Align financial reporting and key metrics with your portfolio standards.

? Monitor cash flow, revenue growth, and cost-saving targets closely.

? Establish integration milestones and review progress regularly.

Get on top of the newly acquired financials quickly.? Understand on what terms your new customers currently pay their invoices, how many of them are up to date and how many of them have passed due invoices.? Also examine the commercial proposition - it might not be as compelling or straightforward as you would like it to be.

Confusing commercial propositions serve to turn customers away - keep it simple.

Finally, understand how long each new customer has left on their existing agreements and formulate your retention strategy accordingly.

10. Leverage Portfolio-Wide Synergies

? Use the existing customer base to accelerate growth for the new product.

? Encourage knowledge sharing and innovation between portfolio companies.

? Explore partnerships or new solutions that can emerge from combined capabilities.

Yes, yes and yes!? Acquisitions should come brimming with synergies or opportunities or ideally both.? A good strategic acquisition should help move you closer to achieving your longer term goal for your wider business.

Final Thoughts

The acquisition of a $20 million ARR SaaS business is a powerful growth lever — but its success depends on disciplined integration. Clear goals, strategic alignment, and robust operational synergies are the keys to unlocking long-term value. The sooner you create cohesion between the new company and your portfolio, the faster you’ll see the returns on your investment.

Overall, I think ChatGPT did a good job summarising many of the considerations that you should include when integrating a new business acquisition.? As with so much ChatGPT output it provides a valuable framework for you to build on using experience and knowhow.

My additional comments are far from exhaustive but I do feel that they add quite a lot of needed colour to the ChatGPT framework.

Just remember that the success of an acquisition can go one of a number of ways and it’s really important that having spent all that money, you make a major success of the integration.