One operating model by day 200.
Integration fails when it is treated as a project. It succeeds when it is treated as an operating mandate. The difference is accountability. A project has a workstream owner, a milestone, and a status update. An operating mandate has a P&L owner, a number, and a date by which the number will move. The integrations that compound are the ones where the operating model is not negotiated — it is decided, communicated, and implemented with the same directness as any other operating decision. Atelier runs M&A integrations as an operating engagement — with a named leader, a defined 200-day milestone, and accountability to the combined entity's operating performance, not the integration project plan.
What the engagement covers
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- 01
Pre-close: operating diligence — the operating reality behind the data room.
- 02
Day-one operating plan: cash, service, and headcount decisions that must be made before the ink is dry.
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Talent decisions: who runs what in the combined entity, communicated early and clearly.
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Customer continuity: service levels protected through the transition.
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Operating cadence: one S&OP, one weekly review, one set of KPIs — for the combined entity, from day one.
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Synergy capture: procurement, footprint, and G&A — sequenced to the business case.
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Technology integration: system consolidation plan that does not disrupt service.
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Day-200 operating model: one business, one plan, one leadership team accountable to it.
Who engages a M&A Integration
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- 01
PE sponsors managing platform acquisitions and add-on integrations.
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Strategic acquirers without in-house integration operating capability.
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Businesses that have completed an acquisition and are 60–90 days in with integration stalling.
Engagement structure
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Full-time or near-full-time operating leadership through the first 200 days, then a lighter-touch retainer through the first full budget cycle.
Where the boundary sits
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Not a PMO producing slides — the work is decision leadership on the operating model.
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Not a change management practice — cultural integration is real, but downstream of the operating model decisions.
Where this discipline compounds.
If the deal has closed and the operating clock is running, a private conversation is the right first step.
Engage
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