Merger/Acquisition

How I help:

I help bring leadership teams together to shape a shared strategic direction that maximizes the success of the combination.

I support acquiring leaders in clarifying what they need from a target company, defining evaluation criteria, and assessing potential acquisition opportunities.

I also work with the new combined team to guide the conversations that shape a new strategic path. My approach ensures:

• the leader owns the strategy,
• the strategy provides clear and actionable direction,
• the team buys-in to the plan, and
• the strategy becomes embedded in day-to-day operations.

My approach also helps build trust in the new leadership and helps new teammates to come together — getting to know and trust each other.

How faith factors in:

In business, as in all of life, anything not done for the Lord and relying upon the Lord is vanity. Working through a merger or acquisition often includes times of uncertainty and fear and often involves making hard decisions. Look to God for help and assurance, knowing that He is sovereign and what He desires will happen (although we might be tested and sanctified along the way). Here are a few guiding principles:

• Remember, God owns it all, we are just stewards.
• It is the Lord who establishes leaders, and all authority flows from Him.
• God's greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind,
• The second commandment is like it, to love your neighbor as yourself.
• We should always go to Him in prayer, asking for help, wisdom, and grace.
• We must spend time in His Word to know His will, His priorities, and His ways.
• We should proceed with humility and flexibility and patience, working hard but seeking God's glory as He works in His way and in His timing.

My relevant experience:

God has blessed me with many opportunities to participate in mergers and acquisitions, on both the buying and selling sides. Through these experiences I have learned much about the strategic decisions that can lead to the greatest success. Here are a few highlights from my career:

• In 1995 my co-founders and I sold Digital Frontiers, my first startup, to The Williams Companies, a Fortune 500 company, and successfully integrated our business into their WilTel division.
• As vice president of strategic development for Williams Communications from 1998 - 2000, I led the strategic planning that identified acquisition and divestiture opportunities.
• I helped Williams' leadership identify potential targets, perform due diligence, and integrate many acquisitions, including Critical Technologies, Comlink, SoftIRON, CycleSat, and Nortel's business solutions business.
• As Vice President and Chief Strategist for TeleChoice (2000 - 2002), I led strategy labs for post-merger companies helping them answer critical strategic questions including in which markets, products, and capabilities to invest.
• At the beginning of 2004, Sprint completed a transformative reorganization. As part of that, groups from three separate divisions (with very different cultures and objectives) were merged together to form Sprint Business Solutions (SBS). The president of SBS brought me in at the end of 2003 to work with him in establishing the strategic framework for the new business. Read the case study.
• As director of strategic planning (2003 - 2008) and vice president of corporate strategy (2008 - 2014) for Sprint, I led  strategic planning that identified acquisition and divestiture opportunities.
• Following the merger of Sprint and Nextel in 2005, I led strategic planning for the B2B division, facilitating strategy workshops to develop a strategic framework that helped identify strategic priorities, guide product portfolio rationalization, and inform critical organizational decisions.
• I helped Sprint's leadership identify potential targets, perform due diligence, and integrate acquisitions. For example we acquired several pre-paid wireless providers increasing our pre-paid subscribers from 2.6 million in 2005 to 10.7 million in 2009.
• As an advisor, I have helped investor clients clarify investment/acquisition goals, evaluate potential targets, and identify the most important strategic decisions post-transaction.
• I earned the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation in 2024, recognizing my understanding of the decisions and processes involved in selling a business.