Bolt-on Integration Planning
Find the processes and systems to keep or consolidate, and size the cost synergies.
Operating partners running buy-and-build strategies, and the platform company leaders who absorb each bolt-on acquisition.
Integrate each bolt-on without running the same work twice
Once a bolt-on joins the platform, the same work often runs twice: separate finance teams, separate ERPs, separate ways of quoting, ordering, and billing. Cerenovus reads the working records of both companies, finds the duplicated work and the inefficiencies it creates, and recommends which processes to keep, which to retire, and how to consolidate the systems behind them, so the combined business runs with less operational complexity. Each change comes with the cost synergies it should deliver, set out in the integration plan with the baseline behind each one. The review runs on read-only access to both companies, and the platform's process maps carry over to the next acquisition. Legal entity, tax, and deal structuring work sits outside this review.
From separate ways of working to a shared standard
For each difference, Cerenovus weighs cost, control, and the effort to change, using the volumes, prices, and handoffs in both companies' records. It recommends the standard that serves the combined business best and explains why, so the platform team can approve each decision with the evidence in front of it.
- 01
Read both companies
Read-only access to the working records of the platform and the bolt-on.
- 02
Compare
Each process, system, supplier, and price list lined up side by side.
- 03
Decide
For every difference, Cerenovus recommends the standard to adopt and gives the reason.
- 04
Plan the consolidation
The work to merge processes, systems, and teams, with the dependencies between steps and an owner role for each.
The integration decisions, made from the records
Process standard
When the two companies run the same process differently, which method the combined business should adopt, and why.
Systems consolidation
Which ERP, CRM, or tool to keep, which to retire, and the work that has to move before cutover.
Suppliers and contracts
Where the bolt-on pays more for the same items, and which supplier contracts it should move to.
Pricing
Where the two price lists differ for shared customers or similar products, and which price to align to.
Back-office teams
How to combine finance, purchasing, and customer service teams, sized to the real volume and timing of the work.
People to retain
Which people the bolt-on's work depends on, and the cover to put in place before roles change.
Find and size the cost synergies, then plan how to capture them
In one read of both companies' records, Cerenovus sizes each cost synergy from the volumes, contracts, and invoices, traces it to the work, system, or supplier it comes from, and sets out how to capture it in the integration plan.
Duplicated roles and work
Roles and tasks both companies staff for the same work, such as two order desks or two month-end closes, sized from the actual volume and hours.
Overlapping systems and licenses
ERPs, CRMs, and software subscriptions paid for twice, with the license and support cost that ends when one is retired.
Supplier consolidation and price harmonization
Spend on the same items split across two supplier bases, and items the bolt-on buys at a higher price, sized as the saving from moving to the better contract.
Shared back office
Finance, HR, payroll, and purchasing run once for the combined business, with the cost of each function before and after.
Synergy capture plan
Each synergy with its source, an estimated run-rate range, the one-time cost to achieve it, an owner role, and when it should reach EBITDA.
Optional follow-up scans
Each synergy comes with the baseline figures and sources behind it. If the client wants, Cerenovus runs periodic follow-up scans to check progress against that baseline.
Operational risks Cerenovus flags
Each one is flagged with an owner role and a recommended mitigation.
- Manual stepsSteps the bolt-on still does by hand that the platform has already automated.
- Duplicated work and systemsSystems, reports, and back-office work that both companies keep for the same purpose.
- Conflicting incentivesTargets in the two companies that pull the combined teams in different directions.
- Key-person riskCustomers, suppliers, or processes in the bolt-on that only one person knows.
- Single points of failureA system or step with no backup that the migration could break.
- Decisions with no ownerDecisions between the two teams that no one has been given the authority to make.
What your team receives
Your team receives a value creation plan for the combined business, a side-by-side comparison of how both companies run, and the plan to integrate the bolt-on. Each links to its sources.
Value creation plan
The ways to improve EBITDA, set out as operational levers. Each lever states the problem, its root cause, the recommended action, the estimated EBITDA or cash impact, an owner role, and the records behind it.
Side-by-side operating comparison
The bolt-on and the platform compared process by process, with every difference marked, its root cause, and the recommended standard. It covers the systems each company runs, supplier spend matched by item, and price lists and contract terms for shared customers and products.
Integration plan
The work to consolidate processes, systems, suppliers, and teams onto the platform, with the dependencies between steps, an owner role for each, and the cost synergies each step should capture.
Cerenovus recommends what the bolt-on keeps, what it retires, and what moves to the platform's systems and terms. The platform team approves each change and runs the integration.
Plan each bolt-on from how both companies run
Cerenovus reads approved company data through read-only access and ranks what it finds by value.