How a High-Risk Acquisition Became a Standout Success in Just 10 Weeks

For a major Australian service provider acquiring a specialist Australian manufacturer and distributor, Stoke Consulting provided hands-on project leadership across due diligence, risk management, stakeholder alignment, seller transition planning and post-deal integration. Acting as project owner and integration lead, we helped coordinate internal executives, external advisers and the seller through a commercially sensitive transaction where trust, pace and disciplined communication were critical to success.

Problems

The acquisition sat in a live competitor environment with confidentiality pressure, emotional complexity and real execution risk across both diligence and integration planning.
The seller was a long-term founder-owner who had built the business over many years and was understandably set in established ways of working, creating significant change management requirements if the deal was to succeed after completion.
Success depended on aligning multiple workstreams at once, including finance, legal, HR, HSE, ICT, operations, procurement, sales, tax, treasury, property and communications.
There were material risks around customer retention, transfer of key operational knowledge, cultural fit, safety maturity, systems limitations, stock accuracy and continuity of operations at settlement.
The buyer needed a practical project manager who could build trust on both sides, identify deal-breaking issues early, keep decisions moving and translate strategy into clear actions, accountabilities and messages.
The executive team was already carrying a heavy load of strategic priorities, so acquisition work risked becoming fragmented or delayed without disciplined external coordination and prioritisation.
The business had completed six acquisitions over the previous decade and all had underperformed. This was the first time an external project manager had been engaged, increasing both scrutiny and expectations around delivery.

Solution

Established and drove a structured acquisition and integration framework covering governance, milestones, functional accountabilities, escalation points and sustaining actions.
Acted as the key communicator between the parties throughout the process, managing liaison between senior executives, external advisers and the seller, and shaping consistent messaging at each stage.
Built an unusually high level of trust with both sides through transparency, pragmatism, genuine listening and a practical focus on solving issues rather than escalating emotion.
Surfaced potentially deal-breaking issues early and helped the parties work through them before they threatened completion or post-deal performance.
Supported optimisation of the internal business case, synergy list, risk register, mitigation actions and project plan accountabilities so the transaction logic was stronger and more executable.
Worked with the parties to retain the seller in a senior management role with a clear transition plan, helping preserve relationships, knowledge and stability while the business integrated.
Coordinated due diligence support across internal leaders and external advisers so critical issues were identified, assessed and progressed without delay.
Provided a prioritised cadence, practical follow-up and disciplined coordination that helped very busy managers stay on track without missing critical actions, decisions or handovers.

Outcomes

The acquisition was completed successfully and the integration remained on track through the critical first six months.
The transaction timetable was accelerated to around 10 weeks from an original estimate of roughly 16 to 20 weeks, bringing synergy delivery forward and materially improving expected business case returns.
All critical people were retained and remained engaged during the transition.
Financial performance ran ahead of plan after completion.
More synergies were identified and delivered during the process than were originally captured in the business case.
No customers were lost through the acquisition or early integration period.
Managers were highly appreciative of having Stoke Consulting keep the work prioritised, coordinated and moving so nothing important was missed while they handled other strategic demands.
Executives said they learnt practical lessons through the process that they could apply to future acquisitions as well as their day-to-day management and leadership approach.
The result stood in sharp contrast to the organisation’s prior acquisitions, which had underperformed over the preceding ten years without external project management support.
The project demonstrated Stoke Consulting’s ability to do more than advise. We provide practical acquisition project management that keeps deals moving, issues visible and integration grounded in business reality.

Client Feedback

“We owe significant thanks to Stoke Consulting. As a direct result of their involvement, we delivered a highly successful acquisition. It is clear that without their involvement, the acquisition would not have ended up in completion or success due to the emotional and business barriers that arose. Six months after the acquisition, the integration has been highly successful, with all critical people retained and engaged, financial performance higher than planned, significantly more synergies identified and delivered than originally captured in the business case, and no customer losses.”

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