M&A activity (whether acquisition, divestiture or joint venture) has become part of daily life for multinational companies. In recent years, these organizations have learned that their transactions are most successful when HR is involved early as part of the deal team, beginning in the pretarget phase and following through due diligence to integration. This way, the critical people issues, such as pension and benefit liabilities, can be spotted early and dealt with to influence the success of the transaction.

Despite this, we continue to hear from our clients about the difficulties and complexities of coming to grips with pension and benefit issues in such transactions – particularly in cross-border or multicountry situations.

Typical problems include:

1. Understanding local accounting treatments

2. Keeping up with new regulations

3. Planning for integrated benefit provision

4. Dealing with significant pension deficits relative to market capitalization

A global Mercer team with expertise in dealing with these and other issues in M&A situations will address common pitfalls and offer guidance in overcoming these issues. They will also discuss four activities that are critical to effecting change.

A thorough and robust examination of people risks and costs is a necessary component of any due diligence process – especially when doing an M&A transaction. And ignoring pension and benefit red flags can and will threaten the ultimate success of the deal.

Please join us for an enlightening presentation on effecting change through your pension and benefit plans during M&A transactions.