Has anyone been through an acquisition?

[The Critic]

The company that I work for has just been acquired by a larger company in our industry.

Without going into too many details (be glad to discuss via PM, however) and being too specific on the public domain, my understanding is that the acquirer lacks the product that I currently work on.

For those of you who have been in a similar situation, I would love to hear your experiences and any tips that you may have.

Thanks.

 

[daves87rs]

Buddy had this happen to him last year. He was in the department that the other company wanted.Unlike most companies, this one did not get torn apart...I think like 2 people lost their jobs...


His job has not changed, as the they seem to be happy letting both companies just share information and ideas.....

 

[oppirs]

Nope only the head-hunters. You know whats-up!

 

[Tim]

Happened to me twice in the petro-chemical industry. First time around 1988 and the second in 2002.

Both were non-events for me, and for most employees.

In both cases, the purchasing companies were based overseas (Germany and South Africa).

Just keep doing your job...that's the best advice I can give you!

 

[Spector]

keep doing your job but also work on the resume. As has been shown multiple times over the past few years management speaks with forked tongue. Great news one day pink slips the next.

 

[PandaBear]

Happened to me once, I was working for Maxtor and then suddenly one morning when I got to work my coworker said "Welcome to Seagate". Another woke up checking the stock and though it must be Samsung before realizing it to be Seagate. Seagate told us very early on that it is buying our customer base and the factory in China. However Maxtor management told us that just in case the merger falls through we still need to keep our product line so we need to continue the R&D work. They gave us a retention bonus of $8k to stay for 6 months or fired, and $15k if we stay till the merger close + 6 more months or fired.

4 months down the road the team said they'll keep 28 positions going into Seagate, and the exodus begin and most employees quit (to avoid unemployment without pay) and give up the $8k bonus. I still till a few day past the $8k timeline to collect it, and the list of 28 to transit to Seagate were very top heavy, and none of our lower level employee would have got on anyways.

Seagate later changed their mind and decide to close everything down, those 28 people end up not getting the positions. Most of them are now working in other companies, in SSD and related industry. 1/2 of them went to SanDisk with me and 1/4 of them join later. All ends well due to the SSD boom.

 

[Shannow]

Ask me in July

 

[PandaBear]

I've also worked for a division of a company that was acquired a few years prior. The division was formerly a very large subsidiary of Mitsubishi that went downhill due to poor management (using only off the shelf component and no internal R&D) and market changed (product no longer desired by the industry moving from 200mm wafer to 300mm wafer).

Under the new owner, the division gradually reduced and all "waste" were cut, from shipping and receiving to accounting, IT, manufacturing, R&D. There were all sorts of politics between the owner's old staff / division in Boston and the new one in Livermore, and in the end the Livermore division becomes merely customization for the customer base, reverse engineering competitors products, field service, and system integration.

I was told once upon a time the Livermore division had 500 people, and many of the giants of the industry were found by former employees of that company. When it was acquired by the Boston company, it had 125 people, by the time I joined it had 30, and by the time I left it had 10, and 2 years later it was completely shut down. I heard 5 years after I left the Boston company's owner sold the entire company of 20 people to another rival for only $20M (he originally bought the Livermore company for merely the cost of inventory). He end up being an employee after selling the company as well, and had made about $70M through out the years. I'd say he did pretty good.

 

[Turk]

Yes, a couple of them, including one famous debacle about 6 years ago.

Be careful. Keep busy. Do even greater things. Report well on what you do and can do.

 

[LeakySeals]

Yeah, several during the DOT COM bubble. All were ugly. In some cases they keep you around, make you think they want you, but its only long enough to train one of their own. Other rare cases they keep you, dump one of their own which is just as ugly. Layoffs within the next year. But the DOT COM bubble was the wild west of the internet, many companies, processes, and jobs in duplication. Thats what needs to be clarified. Why was the company acquired, to take away competition, or enhance/expand the business? Is there duplication of your job by the new company?

Not knowing much more, your current boss will likely get whacked or transferred, put your loyalty with the other guy your group is merging with.

 

[VNTS]

Usually it isnt good. Did they pay too much for your company? If so they will then chop/chop big time to realize the value of the merged companies.

Most mergers are based on synegy which in transaltion means the new management will look at period cost reduction by eliminating things.

I would take everything the new management says with a grain of salt, it will take over a year and then the heads will start rolling. So watch the tea leaves and start looking just in case, sometimes it is better to be first into the life boat than allow some clueless idiot decide your future.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Been through many acquisitions throughout my career. If the purpose of the acquisition is to gain client base/references or reduce competition, and you are the one being acquired, it's usually bad news. On the other hand, if you are being acquired because you have some technology/product which the acquirer lacks and you're an expert in this technology/product, then you should be safe, at least in the short run until others in the company figure out how to do your job.

 

[JavierG]

I'm always reminded of the time the Germans bought the nuclear power plant from Mr. Burns.

 

[Donald]

I think it all depends, not that you will be told all the reasons. But you may be able to figure most of it out.

Some aquisitions agree to keep current employees for a period of time. Other aquisitions want the product or technology or brand.

I know people who left IBM to go to another company that IBM bought and were back to being an IBM employee. I know a manager who fired someone, the guy got another job and the first company bought the company where the guy got a new job so he was back to working for the first comapny he got fired from.

 

[Danh]

Best advice I can give is to accept things have changed and embrace the new ownership. Liking the "old way" better, concluding new management doesn't know what they're doing and the like may be rational but it isn't productive.

Buy into the new ways, try it be as helpful as possible and if you have a contrary opinion present it in the most positive way possible. It's really easy to snipe and get caught up in the mostly negative emotions of the employee group being acquired - don't.

The new ownership could be great or they could be not. Until they really prove otherwise, go under the assumption they'll be wonderful.

And of course, if/when the opportunity presents itself to demonstrate your value to the new organization give it everything you've got.

 

[kb01]

I've been through a few acquisitions. It's best to go with the flow, accept change, and make the best of it.

At the same time, play it safe and get your resume put together, and start networking. Be cautious if you need to interview for your current job, provide time break downs, or revised descriptions.

Employees with more general skill sets are those who are most likely to be labeled as "redundant".

 

[The_Jake]

Keep one eye on your desk and the other on the door. You have just made a job change without getting out of your chair. Normally, whatever management says is the exact opposite of what will happen. If they come out and tell everyone that their job is safe...start looking.

 

[javacontour]

Yes, when Sun Microsystems was acquired by Oracle a few years back. It takes the new combined company some time to figure out what they are and who they need and who appears redundant.

I am "customer facing" and get "requests" from customers that they want me as their engineer to install and/or maintain their gear, so that's a good thing.

Others were not as fortunate, and our team was cut.

All in all, some things got better for me as an employee and others got worse. Ditto for our customers.

It's the nature of the game.

Sun wasn't profitable for a number of reasons, so the elements that were not making money had to go.

I have to say, it was far better that Oracle acquired us than if the first suitor, IBM had acquired us. Far more of the company would have been redundant and shown the door.

As others have said, keep your eyes open, clean up your act if you need to, and make sure you document your network of contacts such as customers, co-workers, etc. You don't know which side of the door you'll find yourself as it shakes out.

 

[KrisZ]

Yes, it's called marriage...

 

[Bladecutter]

I went through the monster that occurred when Google bought DoubleClick.
Wasn't a good time.

The day after all federal inquiries were completed, Google fired 1/4 of all DoubleClick employees. Over the next 2 years, they fired another 1/2 of the remaining employees.

BC.