#176 Scaling FP&A Navigating an Acquisition with the Virgin Media O2 FP&A Team

In the final part of the series on scaling FP&A, Catherine Marks brings together her old team from Virgin Media O2 to discuss the merger of the two organisations and what this meant for the finance teams within each merged company.

Regular podcast host Kevin Appleby chats with Catherine, formerly Head of Group FP&A at Virgin Media O2 and now FP&A and Team Training Lead at GrowCFO. They are joined by Julie Parker, who before the deal, was Pre-merger Planning Integration Lead, Finance at O2 and remains in the merged organisation as Head of Finance Integration & Transformation; Tom Writer, who took on the role of Head of FP&A – Consumer Commercial in the merged organisation; and Ed Dannan formerly Central Finance Director at Virgin Media, now CFO at Voneus Broadband.

The conversation covered key challenges and strategies for integrating finance teams after a merger or acquisition. The guests discussed their experiences bringing together Virgin Media and O2, highlighting cultural differences, resource allocation challenges, and the importance of speed during integration while managing change.

Other topics included measuring synergies, navigating systems integration, and maintaining motivation. The group agreed that having a clear integration strategy and dedicated leadership is crucial to avoid uncertainty during the transition period. Communicating authentically and focusing on both outputs and people aspects were also emphasized as important factors for success.

Links

• Catherine Marks on LinkedIn
• Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn
• Julie Parker on LinkedIn
• Tom Writer on LinkedIn
• Ed Dannan on LinkedIn
• Episode 175 Scaling FP&A 2 Choosing the Right FP&A Tools
• Episode 174 Scaling FP&A 1 Building Your FP&A Team
• GrowCFO FP&A Competency Framework
• GrowCFO FP&A Bootcamp

Timestamps

Scaling FP&A with guests from Virgin Media and Phineas. (0:11)

Post-merger integration challenges and strategies. (3:17)

Merger challenges in the telecommunications industry, including cultural differences and resource allocation. (6:59)

Cultural challenges after merging two companies. (9:12)

Cultural differences in mergers and acquisitions. (14:17)

Implementing change in organizations, managing uncertainty. (15:49)

Challenges and strategies for merging financial systems. (18:01)

Merger planning, baseline, and operational metrics. (20:07)

Communication and team alignment. (22:26)

Finance Processes in Mergers and Acquisitions. (25:25)

Finance transformation and change management. (28:54)

Mergers and acquisitions in the finance industry. (30:43)

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