Mergers & Acquisitions: Turning People Insight into Deal Value

Mergers and acquisitions succeed or fail on people. Yet people risk is still one of the most under-examined areas in transactions …despite often being the largest uninsured risk.

At OrgShakers, we help investors, acquirers, founders, and advisors understand, de-risk, and unlock value from the people and organization side of M&A. We combine seasoned HR practitioners with deal-ready thinking to deliver clear, decision-ready insight …before value is lost.

What We Do

Strategic HR Due Diligence

We assess the people factors that drive value and risk:

- Leadership strength and succession depth
- Culture compatibility and integration risk
- Organizational scalability
- Talent dependencies and key-person risk
- Synergies and people-led value creation opportunities

Operational HR Due Diligence

We surface the facts that impact cost, compliance, and readiness:

- Workforce structure, cost, and liabilities
- Employment terms, benefits, and compliance exposure
- HR infrastructure maturity and Day 1 readiness
- Policies, contracts, and regulatory risk
- Integration complexity and execution risk

Our goal: no hidden people surprises after close.

Common Problems We Help Solve

In mid-market and growth transactions, we frequently see:

- Over-reliance on founders or a thin leadership bench
- Hidden people cost that erode deal economics
- Culture clashes that derail integration
- HR functions too lean to support growth or bolt-ons
- Poor visibility of compliance and employment risk

We bring a ready-to-deploy HR diligence capability that surfaces and quantifies these risks early ….so they can be priced, planned for, or fixed.

How We Work

We integrate seamlessly into the deal team:

- Advisor-Aligned: We work client-facing or behind the scenes, aligned to your narrative and timelines.
- Decision-Focused: We translate HR complexity into clear, investor-ready insight.
- Flexible Models: Full diligence, targeted reviews, or rapid red-flag assessments.
- Confidential & Fast: Built for tight data rooms, compressed timelines, and high-stakes deals.
- Fractional Leadership: We can provide fractional HR leaders to carry organizations through transactions when capacity or capability is thin.

Why OrgShakers

Our difference is simple: we are practitioners, not theorists.

- Senior-led delivery on every engagement
- Highly commercial, value-focused thinking
- In-house and consulting experience across deals
- Clear storytelling that connects people to valuation
- Designed for mid-market, founder-led, and growth deals

We don’t create long reports that sit on shelves. We deliver insight that shapes negotiation, pricing, integration, and long-term value creation.

The Outcome

When you work with OrgShakers on M&A, you get:

- Fewer people-related surprises post-close
- Stronger deal narratives that link people to value
- Clearer understanding of leadership and culture risk
- Better Day 1 and integration readiness
- Greater confidence in scaling what you’ve bought

Because in every deal, the real asset walks out of the building every night …and comes back only if you get the people side right.

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