Writing The Synergy Solution was in many ways a labor of love during our three-year journey. Contemplating the scope and essential topics for boards, executives, and managers; developing the content and examples; assessing the vast literature on M&A; and completing a major study all amounted to a grueling undertaking. We didn’t make the journey alone, however. We benefited greatly from the depth of experience in the Deloitte M&A and Restructuring practice and several outside experts who willingly offered their time, wisdom, and, often, critiques of our many drafts.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our core team whose invaluable contributions made this a different book: Ami Rich, Anupam Shome, Ben Kotek, David Nathan, James Rabe, John Forster, Madhavi Rongali, Philip Garbarini, and Sauvik Kar.

But there are more—when we said we didn’t make this journey alone, we were serious. The following professionals contributed their insights, perspectives, and leading practices, and we truly enjoyed working with them:

Alfredo Sakar

Amarjot Singh

Andrew Grimstone

Ayesha Rafique

Barb Renner

Bob Glass

Brian Kunisch

Brian Pinto

Brice Chasles

Bryan Barnes

Cesar Kastoun

Chris Gilbert

Chris Hutnick

Danielle Feinblum

Danny Tong

Dave McCarthy

David Hoffman

David Lashley

Deepak Subramanian

Derek Lai

Enrique Gutierrez

Eric Overbey

Franz Hinzen

Gary Levin

Gillian Crossan

Guillermo Olguin

Ian Lundahl

Ian Turner

Jared Bricklin

Jayant Katia

Jeff Kennedy

Jeffrey Canon

Jennifer Lee

Jiak See Ng

Joe Ucuzoglu

Joel Schlachtenhaufen

John Peirson

Jonathan Cutting

Joost Krikhaar

Jörg Niemeyer

Julia Rutherford

Karen Werger

Karsten Hollasch

Karthik Krishnamoorthy

Kazuhiro Fukushima

Kim Wagner

Lara Treiber

Lisa Iliff

Liz Fennessey

Maeghan Sulham

Mark Jamrozinski

Martin Reilly

Matt McGrath

Mengyuan Hou

Michael Jeschke

Mohammad Obeidat

Monika Rolo

Orlando Taylor

Phil Colaço

Rachel McGee

Raghav Ranjan

Ram Sriram

Randall Hottle

Richard Bell

Richard Houston

Richard Paul

Ronaldo Xavier

Ryan Gordon

Saadat Khan

Samantha Parish

Sandeep Gill

Shashi Yadavalli

Simon Howard

Sridhar Kollipara

Stephanie Dolan

Stephen Dapic

Stephen O’Byrne

Steve Lipin

Steven Wolitzer

Sumit Sahni

Susan Goldsmith

Toby Myerson

Uday Bhansali

Vincent Batlle

Additionally, over the last 25 years we’ve been fortunate to work closely with many Deloitte leaders in the M&A and Restructuring practice who have collectively served on tens of thousands of deals and complex restructuring projects. These leaders include Adam Reilly, Andy Newsome, Andy Wilson, Anna Lea Doyle, Asish Ramchandran, Bhuvy Abrol, Chris Caruso, Dan Gruber, David Carney, Faisal Shaikh, Glen Witney, Iain Macmillan, Ian Thatcher, Jack Koenigsknecht, Jason Caulfield, Jay Langan, Jeff Bergner, John Powers, Larry Hitchcock, Mark Walsh, Mike Dziczkowski, Olivier May, Punit Renjen, Rob Arvai, Russell Thomson, Sandy Shirai, Susan Dettmar, Tanay Shah, Tom Maloney, Trevear Thomas and William Engelbrecht—our heartfelt thanks for their wisdom, encouragement, and sense of partnership.

We owe special thanks to our editor at Harvard Business Review Press, Kevin Evers, for thorough reviews and helpful suggestions; to our amazing production editor, Angela Piliouras, for tireless assistance; and to our exceptional executive assistants, Diane Kavanaugh and Kari Liljequist, and chief of staff, Sharon Piech, for their patience and flawless support.

Mark L. Sirower
Jeffery M. Weirens