Client Problem

A major Australian bank was considering the acquisition of an overseas bank as part of their growth strategy. They recognised the need for professional assistance to perform due diligence and, subject to a successful acquisition, professional management of the integration.

The acquisition of the overseas bank was the largest acquisition and integration exercise ever undertaken by the Australian banking corporation. What's more, the opportunity arose at short notice and the bank had to act quickly to capitalise on it. They needed a strategy that would enable the successful acquisition and integration and also support future international growth.

The key initial requirements were to establish the strategy for, plan and manage the technology due diligence and to train staff.

SMS Approach

SMS developed, implemented and maintained a program and project management approach that was tailored to meet the exacting needs driven by the integration objectives and multifaceted implementation environments.

SMS's involvement was distinguished by its ability to: 

• apply thought leadership and experience to align the management and control systems with the bank's business objectives
• introduce productivity improvement services to run projects within the program
• identify the areas that were critical to success but which were at risk in delivery
• address the holistic objective and numerous work stream interdependencies and directions
• establish proven practices for program and project management
• integrate seamlessly with both the Australian and overseas banks
• achieve integration without ‘ownership’ of adverse internal company influences
• remain objective and unaffected by internal politics
• maintain program integrity in a significantly changing cultural and regulatory environment

Recommendation

In conjunction with the Australian bank’s management, SMS established the strategy for due diligence and initial integration planning, trained the Australian bank staff and managed the technology due diligence. SMS also facilitated some of the related business due diligence activity.

SMS found that the overseas acquisition and integration could only be successful if it was based on: 

• early and consistent addressing of regulatory influences
• stronger integration focus toward business direction 
• closer adherence to a consistent and well structured program approach

Outcome

SMS exceeded expectations and was sought out to implement similar approaches across all elements of the integration program and in other key change areas within the Australian bank.

Although SMS was initially engaged to set up and run the technology due diligence and training, this initial stage proved such a success that we were subsequently engaged to establish and run the total integration Program Office for the Head of Integration.

The Australian bank purchased and integrated the overseas bank, creating the largest corporation in that country with over 40% share of the retail banking market . The integration:

• passed a comprehensive audit by KPMG
• was judged by the client to be one of the bank's most complex, yet best executed, programmes
• exceeded the objectives set by the head of the integration project
• has resulted in considerable economies of scale for the bank, including streamlining of processes and the enablement of the bank’s international growth strategy