From Strategy Shift to Performance Lift: Merck Group’s Integration of Versum Materials

After a business strategy shift and consequent acquisition of Versum Materials, FTI Consulting helped Merck Group¹ successfully integrate people, processes and systems, thereby strengthening its strategic focus on the electronics market.

Our Impact

Versum Materials was successfully integrated into Merck Group, thanks to thorough change integration planning and deliberate implementation that resulted in high motivation and identification with the company among employees.
During the integration, effective change management provided structure, helped overcome barriers and ensured business continuity, particularly during large-scale and critical changes like the migration of IT infrastructure.
As part of the larger project and advisory team, FTI Consulting helped the client deliver on business-critical changes which in turn led to the achievement of cost and revenue synergies worth approximately EUR 83 million in line with the deal rationale.

Situation

As part of a multiyear transformation program, Merck Group defined a new strategy for one of its sectors focusing on the electronics market and acquired Versum Materials in 2019. The goal was to strengthen the company’s electronics business sector in its global supply chain and R&D capabilities. The integration would enable the combined companies to benefit their customers and employees with growth in scale, product portfolio, innovation and depth of services. The acquisition was also an important step in executing the new strategy and returning the business sector to profitable growth. At the end of 2019, Merck Group engaged the firm’s Strategic Communications segment along other strategic advisors to support and actively shape the integration of Versum Materials from a people perspective.

Our Role

The FTI Consulting team assisted the client in managing the complexity of the situation, focusing on change management, by enabling leaders, multipliers, and employees to manage the successful implementation of critical business changes.
During the two-year integration, FTI Consulting was a trusted change advisor to Merck Group’s Integration Program Office (“IPO”) and 15 functional workstreams, with a project team of experts from Germany, the UK and the United States.
FTI Consulting conducted a thorough change impact assessment that identified, categorised and prioritised more than 210 changes to the business. The team mapped these changes out over time for various stakeholders to ensure a feasible implementation timeline and created a comprehensive employee change journey.
For all changes identified as having a high impact on employees — such as reorganisations, office consolidations, process and system migrations, as well as policy changes — the team developed targeted change management and communications strategies to enable the successful implementation and change adoption.

Footnotes:

1: In the US and Canada, the Electronics business of Merck operates as EMD Electronics.