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
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