Tata group has done about $18 bn in global M&A since 2000. BusinessWeek has a commentary on its post-acquisition integration approach:

• Tata, India's premier industrial group, with an expected $50 billion in sales this year, has a different way to merge—more strategic partner than vulture capitalist. It has applied this approach to $18 billion in overseas deals since 2000.
• In all its deals, Tata has been careful to signal its respect for workers. While it chooses its targets carefully and doesn't do a lot of bottom-fishing, Tata is nonetheless unusual in that it hasn't laid off any workers or shuttered any facilities following its overseas acquisitions (though it has had layoffs at home in the past decade). "Tata buys companies overseas not to reduce costs but to improve [its own] capabilities," says Arun Maira, Boston Consulting Group's chairman in India.
• With its overseas acquisitions, Tata typically leaves executives in place. Instead of dispatching legions of Indians to the new company, Tata sets up a joint management board, which decides on issues ranging from growth targets to the development of new talent. Working groups find common goals, and managers of the acquired company are asked to help smooth out any cultural differences. This approach takes time, says Philippe Varin, chief executive of Corus, which Tata Steel bought for $12 billion last year. But it allows Tata to stay focused on bigger strategic issues "without sweating the small stuff," Varin says.

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Well written article.

By  Arlene, at 12:56 PM  

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