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An organisation's culture can make or break the success of an M&A deal, so assessments need to be prioritised as highly as operational and financial due diligence, says an MD with plenty of experience in this field.

BMS Group, a global insurance broker that now has 28 offices around the world and more than 1,000 employees, was 100% staff owned when Australian MD Andrew Godden joined in 2018. In 2019 it took on two non-industry investors and has since continued to grow by acquiring like-minded organisations.

Godden, who has been involved with six mergers in the past 12 months, says the goal of any acquisition is for the combined entity to become greater than the sum of its parts, and that is heavily dependent on cultural fit.

"If our people love their work, our clients love our people," he tells HR Daily, and for employees to love their work, they need to love their company's culture...