Mergers and Acquisitions

Merger and Acquisition transactions in the downstream sector

Across the world, major oil corporations are disinvesting from their downstream business in order to finance their projects in the upstream areas that are heavily affected by low oil prices.

New market entrants are attempting to develop niche markets in the downstream business using flexible business models, lean management and organizational structures, and they are thus continuing to expand their high-grade portfolio. As a result, we are witnessing a steady increase in the number of Merger and Acquisition (M&A) transactions in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

As technology has become so pervasive, IT touches virtually all aspects of a company's operations, with many functions being mission critical. For this reason, the success of any merger or acquisition depends on efficient IT post-merger integration, a function which supports numerous important integration processes.

Challenges

Keeping the lights on, ensuring business-as-usual operations during the integration process
Establishing an end-state architecture for long-term business objectives
Providing a repeatable model for further successful integration processes and creating the conditions for growth
Controlling cost expenditure during and after the M&A process

What we do

For many years, Implico has supported companies in successfully implementing technology-based post-merger projects (disinvestment and investments). With its extensive consulting expertise, Implico has further developed its technology platform known as Implico Global Operation Services (iGOS) in order to help customers in the oil and gas downstream sector involved in mergers and acquisitions to ensure smooth integration and implementation and to support their operational business.

Application: refineries, tank farms, service stations, industrial plants
Modeling end-to-end business process operations (distribution, replenishment, reconciliation)
Operational business support (interface monitoring and managing error logs, communication with business partners, KPI reporting)
Integration of software, portal and mobility solutions
Provision of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS IT infrastructures
IT support for SAP^® ERP and SAP^® S/4HANA
Implementation of business intelligence, master data management, data exchange solutions
Implementation of compliance regulations

How we do it

We work together with our customers to address important technology and operational challenges related to M&A before and after the go-live.

Planning of post-merger integration: The integration plans for hardware, software, network, enterprise platform and corporate programs must be precisely tailored to each individual situation and integrated into the overall process at an early stage. Together with our customers, we evaluate existing IT environments and functions to identify opportunities and the risks of changes to the business and IT process landscape.
Development of IT integration approaches: Together we develop a bespoke roadmap for the IT strategy as well as a migration plan.
Acceleration of the integration process: We support our customers in developing an IT integration approach based on our existing technology platform, which is closely meshed with the operative business integration plan and the existing connected portfolio of key players such as terminals, haulers, banks-, markets, and POS suppliers.

Strong governance

The underlying goal is for all post-merger integration processes to be implemented on time and within budget. Implico's best practices help with the implementation of a successful governance structure.

The key lesson

Organizations which prepare early and effectively for M&A activities with the support of Implico’s iGOS technology platform are in a position to speed up post-merger integration projects in order to implement a stable environment for core business during the transition phase and to safeguard their merger goals.