Systems Integration for Buy-and-Build
Buying the companies is the straightforward part. A buy-and-build strategy delivers when those companies operate as one, and that happens at the level of systems, reporting, and process. Hollinford helps private equity platform companies join acquired businesses at the systems and process level, so finance, reporting, and operations work as one group rather than as separate companies.
For platform companies bringing add-on acquisitions into a single operating group.
The integration gap
Acquisitions are easier to buy than to join.
Each company in a buy-and-build arrives with its own way of working: different finance systems, different reporting, different CRM and operational tools, and different data standards.
Until those are joined up, the group runs as a set of separate companies that happen to share an owner. Reporting takes longer, comparisons are unreliable, and the operational gains the strategy assumed stay out of reach.
A common example: a platform company and three add-ons each run their own finance software, so group reporting is rebuilt by hand every month from four sources. It works, and it consumes days of finance time and leaves the group view perpetually behind.
Scope
How Hollinford supports integration.
Map the systems across the group
Understand what each company runs on, where the overlaps and gaps sit, and what joining them up requires.
Consolidate reporting and data
Bring finance, operational, and management reporting onto a consistent basis, so the group sees one reliable picture.
Connect operational systems
Connect CRM, finance, and operational tools across entities to reduce duplicated work and manual transfers.
Standardise where it helps
Agree common systems and processes where standardising adds value, and leave well-functioning local systems in place where it does not.
Plan integration in stages
Sequence the integration so each step delivers value and the group is not destabilised by doing everything at once.
Timing
When to involve Hollinford.
Before an add-on closes
Before an add-on closes, to understand how integratable it is.
Soon after an acquisition
Soon after an acquisition, to plan how it joins the group.
When the group has outgrown its systems
When an existing group has grown faster than its systems can support, and reporting or operations have become difficult.
Deliverable
What you receive.
- A systems map across the platform and its add-ons
- Integration opportunities and blockers
- A reporting consolidation plan
- A view of where to standardise and where to leave local systems
- A staged integration roadmap
- A recommended next step
The deliverable is written for value creation and platform leadership: practical, sequenced, and tied to operational gains.
Process
How integration works.
- Step 1
Understand the platform strategy
We start with the buy-and-build thesis, the entities involved, and the operational gains the group is aiming for.
- Step 2
Map systems across the group
We identify the systems, reporting, and processes in each company, and where they overlap or conflict.
- Step 3
Plan the integration
We set out what to connect, what to standardise, what to leave alone, and in what order.
- Step 4
Deliver in stages
We support the integration step by step, so each stage delivers value without destabilising the group.
Why Hollinford
An integration partner built around operations.
Systems and operations focus
Hollinford works with the software, reporting, and processes that companies depend on, framed around how each business runs.
Staged over disruptive
Integration is sequenced so each step delivers value, rather than attempting a single large cutover.
Pragmatic about standardisation
Hollinford standardises where it adds value and leaves well-functioning local systems in place where it does not.
Suitable for mixed legacy environments
Hollinford can integrate businesses running old databases, custom tools, and disconnected systems.
From plan to delivery
Hollinford can map the integration, plan it, and support the work that follows.
See also: portfolio company systems modernisation, technology due diligence, legacy systems we modernise, how we work, and contact.
Talk to us
Acquired companies that need to operate as one.
If a platform company and its add-ons run on different systems and reporting, Hollinford can map the integration and set out a staged plan to make the group operate as one.
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