4 Tips Every Agency Should Know Before a Merger or Acquisition

For agencies thinking about growth, a merger or an acquisition can feel like a fast way to reach that goal, but it needs to be done right.

Rocío Lama, Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at SAMY Alliance, knows exactly what buyers should look for.

She’s been at the forefront of SAMY’s global M&A strategy, and in our chat, she shares four practical tips for agencies that want to stand out, along with other useful insights.

Who is Rocío Lama?

Rocío Lama is the Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at SAMY Alliance, where she leads all Mergers and Acquisitions activity. She manages a team based in Madrid, focused on identifying and integrating companies that align with SAMY Alliance’s global growth strategy. Rocío has spent her entire career in M&A, holding previous roles at WPP and PwC.

Rocío tells me that growth via a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) strategy can lead to faster scaling than organic growth, but it can also prove challenging and overwhelming.

“M&A drives growth faster than organic, but needs proper oversight if it is to deliver the kind of growth you want at the pace you want.

You need to consider the kind of acquisitions that will add most value and where and how target businesses will be integrated into your structure to achieve your targets.”

 

 

 

 

 

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According to Rocío, acquisitions need to bolster organic growth by unlocking synergies within the company.

“New capabilities should allow you to offer existing clients new services or to execute them in new territories.”

4 Tips to Attract a Buyer

If you’re an agency looking for a merger or to get acquired, there are a few steps you can take to make your company more attractive.

Rocío shared these four key tips:

1. Understand the Demand: Study what leading acquirers are targeting — whether it's enhancing services, expanding into new regions, or gaining new capabilities.
2. Focus on Areas of Interest: Prioritize key areas that matter to buyers now and for the foreseeable future: data, commerce, tech, AI, and social.
3. Lead Into Growth: Build a leadership team with clearly defined roles and a strong track record of year-on-year growth.
4. Show a Strong Business Pipeline: Showcase a healthy pipeline and an upward trajectory to prove your company has long-term scalability and future value.

By following these four tips you can position your company as a good investment. After all, acquirers aren’t just looking for a capable agency.

They’re looking for opportunities that offer consistency, clarity, and long-term potential.

Getting Ready for the M&A Process

Once your agency is ready to move ahead with a merger or acquisition, there are a few key factors you need to consider for the process to go smoothly.

“Both sides should make sure they have the right people from within the business negotiating the deal as well as advisers who understand the nuances of our industry.”

In recent years, company culture and values have also become a critical factor for investors, acquirers, and entrepreneurs, a point Rocío emphasizes.

“Even the hardened money people now spend plenty of time on the culture piece and understand the role it plays in building financial value.

Ahead of getting into an M&A, entrepreneurs should be confident that they can convincingly outline to a roomful of strangers what makes their culture special and that they invest in it.”

In other words, you need to make sure your company values and culture align with those of potential buyers — and that takes time and effort.

“It’s about people. After the first couple of meetings, buyers and sellers should be asking themselves: do we like these people and do we see ourselves doing business with them?

And once the deal is done, make sure the teams in both businesses have opportunities to meet in formal and informal settings,” Rocío adds.

Proper planning is crucial, and it should begin early. That’s how all the biggest mergers and acquisitions happen.

If you only start thinking about integration after signing the deal, you’re already too late.

“Conversations around integration need to happen as soon as you’ve decided a particular business might be your future home.

It can be one of the most complex aspects of a transaction and done wrong, it will destroy value fast.”

Rocío was clear: agencies need a strong plan for the first 90 days after the deal is made, so everyone understands what will happen.

“Integration should be a key element of this plan and everyone should be clear on what’s changing and why.

If you don’t take people on this journey with you, you will lose them together with the special character of the agency.”

Aligning for Success

Growing via a merger or an acquisition has its benefits, but you need to ensure you’re taking the right steps, at the right time, and perhaps most importantly, with the right people.

“When we make an acquisition at SAMY, validating the personal fit of the founders with our team and making sure we see the important things the same way is the single most critical factor in deciding whether to pursue conversations. Possibly even more so than the financials.”

There is a lot that can go wrong in M&A, so aligning values from the get-go is the only way to ensure both businesses maximize synergies and benefits.

“So far, this approach has stood us in good stead and the results speak for themselves,” Rocío concludes.