People in Deals

As the deals environment continues to evolve, many organisations may look to acquisitions to find the right talent, technology and ideas to drive innovation and power-up growth. Whilst M&A tends to slow during times of uncertainty or market volatility, these can be precisely the times when valuations become more attractive and opportunity knocks.

Putting People at the heart of any M&A activities is critical to achieving deal value in today’s very competitive deal environment.

PwC People in Deals provides tailored people and organisation advice to corporates and private equity investors through each stage of an M&A, Divestiture or Business Restructure. We help clients identify people related risks and opportunities, execute deals or corporate change effectively and with cultural sensitivity, and create long lasting value.

We bring together a combination of industry, business, strategy, talent, HR, analytics and technology expertise with more than 10,000 people in 138 countries. That means you can get a team with the right skills and experience wherever you need around the world to help you deliver the value you’re looking for – from people strategy through organisational execution.

Featured - 4 items

Employment Tax and Payroll

Optimise your employment tax obligations with efficient innovative solutions

Employment and Equity Hub

A technology enabled approach

Workforce Risk, Governance and Reporting

Understand your workforce risk and opportunity landscape

Pay Governance

Ensure that workers are paid correctly and fairly

People Due Diligence & SPA

Our People in Deals specialists help you identify HR issues that affect price and deal deliverability. We work to establish and understand critical HR and workforce issues early in the transaction, identify their relevance and ensure appropriate protections are built into documentation. We focus on the Quality of Earnings (Income Statement) and Quality of Assets (Balance Sheet) adjustments which impact the financial proposition underlying the transaction, as well as cultural, ESG and HR legal considerations, and ensure appropriate protections are built into transaction documentation to mitigate risk and maximise deal value.

People Value Creation & Realisation

We work with clients to achieve maximum value by placing People at the heart of their deal or organisational change programmes.

During the deal preparation phase, we work to identify key strategic HR decisions required based on the nature of the transaction, and create a comprehensive project plan for HR and workforce activities. We help you to define your leadership team and organisation structure and assess the culture and change impact. And we help tie the financial implications back to the investment model developed in due diligence and manage the budget.

We can then support all HR and workforce transition activities to ensure a smooth Day One that achieves deal goals. This includes supporting you with the future state HR strategy and organisational structure, HR technology, processes and infrastructure, policies, rewards and benefits, workforce onboarding, culture-led transformation, stakeholder engagement, consultation and communications workstreams, to achieve maximum value through the deal cycle and beyond.

“A deal – whether you are a buyer or seller – is a powerful catalyst for change. It is a moment of intense disruption, inevitably involving a change in organisational design, and cultural upheaval. The perfect opportunity, in other words, to introduce a different way of thinking and introduce change that will bring real and lasting value.”

Vic McCullagh,Director, People in Deals

Culture and Capability

Organisations are under pressure to overcome an increasing tech skills gap. We discuss what is driving the gap, why finding the right skills and individuals is a challenge, and explore why the solution demands a combination of human ingenuity and technology.

Explore our series