As we start to see a resurgence of activity across the private sector in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) it is interesting to see how badly wrong it can go if insufficient attention is paid to the people agenda.
Earlier this year we witnessed the abortive merger of two of the world's largest marketing services groups – Publicis and Omnicom, a merger which would have created the world's largest advertising group with billings in excess of £14 bn.