[Dustin Delewski]

With the increased focus by companies on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) over the past few years, has anyone seen changes to M&A criteria or integration approaches to reflect this increased focus on DE&I?

[Helen Mitchell]

Yes, I have seen different examples across different organisations. It’s important to understand the acquirers diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) strategy and then carve out the key objectives that need to be achieved within M&A. For example, there may be key due diligence questions to ask and a clear model as to how roles and levels are to be benchmarked for consistently. The diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) strategy will impact how you approach the full M&A lifecycle.

[Corbin Metz]

Interesting question, Dustin. Yes, I agree with Helen. I think the degree to which DE&I is incorporated varies across the organization type. From a lifecycle standpoint, DE&I is important as a strategic consideration, however in my experience, I have not found this to be a key priority for my clients. Rather, I’ve found it to be more important in a customer’s supply base. On the other hand with other types of orgs like funds, DE&I are seemingly the primary driver for their M&A portfolio criteria.

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