Client Stories
Evidence from integration work — specific friction, specific interventions, and the occasional unresolved tension we still own.
— Operations director, Australasian manufacturing group · Post-Merger Integration Programme“They refused to let us celebrate synergy slides until the Christchurch branch managers had a single weekly cadence. That discipline saved us from three months of parallel reporting.”
— CFO, privately held services company · Pre-Deal Integration Diligence“The pre-deal brief flagged that our North Island service crews used a different overtime practice than the target. We almost closed without a plan for the first payroll. Awkward finding — necessary one.”
— CEO, multi-site retail group · Cultural & Leadership Alignment“Miriam’s alignment workshops did not produce a poster about values. They produced a decision charter our regional managers still keep on their desks. We still argue — but now we argue in the right forum.”
— Board chair, NZ industrial holding company · Synergy Tracking & Value Capture“Synergy tracking exposed that two of our twelve cost commitments were double-counted across workstreams. I would have preferred that news earlier, but better from our advisors than from the auditor.”
— Divisional MD, seller side · Carve-Out Separation Support“On the carve-out, they were meticulous about transitional services and a little slow to push the buyer on branding timelines. We accepted the pace because the TSA schedule held.”
Extended note: combining two South Island manufacturers
A Christchurch-based buyer acquired a Nelson fabrication business with overlapping customers and distinct shop-floor cultures. Legal close was clean; day-one nearly was not. Shared customers received two account managers for six weeks until the commercial workstream forced a single ownership map.
Enterprise Evolve stood up a weekly IMO with four workstreams, ran a leadership alignment session that named the overtime and quality-check differences explicitly, and rebuilt the synergy register so “overhead reduction” could not be claimed until a named supervisor role was actually retired. Twelve months later, the combined entity still ran two site brands in the market — a deliberate choice — but one customer complaint path and one production planning meeting.
The reservation the client still voices: cultural habits on the Nelson floor change slower than the org chart. We agree. Integration is measured in retained supervisors and on-time orders, not in the speed of a logo swap.
Extended note: professional services firm absorbing a boutique practice
An established Wellington practice purchased a specialised boutique with strong client loyalty and fragile partner dynamics. Our role sat beside their internal integration lead: clarifying which clients would move immediately, which partners needed retention conversations before announcement, and how billing codes would merge without losing WIP visibility.
The work was quieter than a factory merger and no less tense. Partners cared about name order on the letterhead more than lease terms. We facilitated two closed sessions, documented decision rights for client acceptance, and left them with a ninety-day client communication calendar. Not every partner stayed. The ones who did knew why.