ROBERT TONIN

Director of finance, RWDI

If LeadShip wants to extract any value out of its acquisition of Aquarius then it shouldn’t think about combining the two firms under a single roof until an integration plan can be properly developed and acted upon. Identifying a target for purchase and closing the deal is often only half the battle on the road to a successful acquisition.

It is important that both parties be valued for the strengths they bring to the table. Otherwise, one party will feel marginalized and begin to undermine the entire exercise, which, at best, will consume valuable time and resources that are much better deployed servicing clients and fighting off competition.

Geldersen has acquired Aquarius to meet an emerging need identified by his existing client base. Perhaps a tight integration of the two companies isn’t as necessary as it first appears — at least from the outset — as LeadShip will have two products in its arsenal to meet the needs of two distinct customer types. Those customers that choose to continue using their legacy systems will be able to employ LeadShip’s existing software, while those customers migrating their businesses towards smartphones can use the newAquarius software.

Eventually, customers using legacy systems will upgrade their technology to the Aquarius platform as they respond to competitive forces in their businesses. Geldersen now has a product, supported by a collection of people with an entrepreneurial spirit, to meet the constant advances in the tech world — something that is clearly lacking in his existing workforce.

This dual approach will allow LeadShip to move ahead in an efficient, methodical manner without changing the existing culture on a dime and jeopardizing what has been built. The company’s culture will naturally evolve over time to a more entrepreneurial, agile environment driven by marketplace demands.

In any event, Geldersen must set the tone and direction and not muse about extracting LeadShip from the acquisition process. The move was key for the future and he must focus his energies on making it a success. Employees of both firms will be watching him closely. The LeadShip and Aquarius teams needed their engineers and sales personnel to focus on redeveloping both products so they were complementary. LeadShip CEOBrad Geldersen reassured Aquarius’ founders that, as it was in both their interests to preserve Aquarius’ momentum, no physical or managerial changes would be made until early in 2014. “I’ve tried to handle this acquisition carefully,” he said. “We still have not moved Aquarius from their downtown office.” Geldersen hired a transportation service to shuttle the teams between the two offices when face-to-face meetings were needed. “I waited for the Aquarius team to feel like they were part of the LeadShip team,” Geldersen said. Over time, the Aquarius team began asking about relocating so they could be part of the LeadShip organization. “In this case, the ‘do nothing’ option worked out best,” he said.