A well-defined strategic vision, combined with strong leadership and governance, is critical to delivering value in any deal.

This insight is backed by findings from the M&A Trend Survey Benelux 2024/2025 by M&A and Ansarada. The survey gathered insights from 175 Dutch and Belgian M&A professionals through an online questionnaire and in-depth interviews with 35 industry experts.

Leadership is another crucial element of post-deal success. Niek Kolkman, Head of Transaction Services at KPMG, emphasizes the role of leadership in steering a company toward value creation after a merger or acquisition. “Strong leadership and a clear strategic vision are both crucial. Management must create clarity for everyone involved and get everyone on board with the future vision and plans of the company”, he says.

Richard Reis, Partner at Argos Wityu, expands on this, emphasizing that leadership must be proactive in executing the vision: “You need strong CEOs to bring the vision to life. Having a vision is great, but it’s the execution that really matters. Due diligence is also important, of course, to prevent time and energy from being wasted on issues that could have been anticipated or avoided.”

Hans Swinnen, Partner at 3d investors, highlights the personal connection that strong leaders need to foster in post-merger scenarios: “If you have a clear strategic vision and strong leadership, everything else follows. You need leaders who communicate transparently and can connect with people. Good leadership is where it all begins.”

For a minority investor like Pontex Investment Partners, leadership and management are especially crucial. Unlike firms that might install an entirely new management team shortly after a deal closes, Pontex usually relies on the existing management to drive post-deal value creation. How do they approach management due diligence? "Our real focus is on the conversation", explains Iris Hesselink, Partner at Pontex Investment Partners. "What I always prioritize is understanding if people are self-aware about their strengths and preferences. Leading a scale-up through growth is vastly different from consolidating a buy-and-build strategy or executing a cost-saving program. While some leaders can navigate all three, that’s usually not the case. It’s essential to have a candid conversation about this to assess if the current team is truly the right fit for the next phase."

For investors like Ida Kuijken, Partner at Fortino Capital, a robust strategic vision means looking beyond short-term growth projections. “Strong leadership and management are always number one”, Kuijken notes. “But having a clear strategic vision is essential. Sometimes businesses look at just the next year, thinking, ‘I grew 11 percent last year, so next year I’ll aim for a bit more.’ But that’s not creating a vision.”

According to Kuijken, a true vision involves a clear picture of where the company wants to be in five years and understanding what customers and stakeholders will need. “This approach often ties closely to product vision. You need to think about which product you want to create for which customers, how different offerings align with varied customer needs, and how to organize the company to support this. Integration planning is essential here, too – ensuring teams are aligned with the vision is crucial for sustained growth.”

Integration planning goes beyond just operational merging; it involves clear communication from the top. Sander Neeteson, Head of Corporate Finance at ABN AMRO, highlights the importance of immediate communication from leadership once an acquisition is announced. “The CEO of the acquiring company should give a clear speech outlining the plan and ideas immediately after announcing the acquisition”, he says. “If communication is delayed for even a month, as much as 10 percent of employees may leave.”

By setting clear expectations and defining a cohesive path forward, CEOs can reassure employees and retain talent, which is often critical for realizing the full value of a merger.

While traditional M&A strategies often emphasize full integration to unlock synergies, a handful of dealmakers are exploring alternative paths to value creation. As seen in the recent Trend Survey, some firms find that success doesn’t always hinge on merging operations. Instead, they prioritize strategic autonomy within their portfolio companies, an approach that is championed by the Swedish Lyvia Group.

Founded in 2020, Lyvia Group has quickly established itself as a notable player in Europe’s B2B software market, following a unique buy-and-build strategy. A defining feature of Lyvia’s approach is its flexibility: the group does not require its portfolio companies to integrate with each other. "If one of our companies wants to pursue its own inorganic growth strategy – essentially its own buy-and-build – we fully support them", says Hossein Araghi, Managing Director and M&A Director Benelux at Lyvia Group. "We assist them in acquiring companies and managing post-merger integration, but we don’t push companies to merge or integrate just for the sake of it."

Araghi emphasizes that avoiding forced integration can actually foster greater growth potential. "I believe it’s better to invest in building strong C-level leadership teams who can elevate the company, rather than chasing superficial synergies and forced integrations", he adds. This freedom allows leaders to focus on strategic growth and operational excellence rather than aligning with another entity’s structures or processes.

Successful M&A is increasingly about more than simply sealing the deal. A strategic, forward-thinking approach with strong leadership and careful integration planning will give companies the best chance to ensure acquisitions deliver real, measurable value long after the initial excitement fades.

Additionally, some firms explore an alternative, less integration-focused approach, such as that of Lyvia Group, where strategic autonomy and selective integration allow portfolio companies to thrive independently.