Mergers and acquisitions are channels of growth and innovation, but they can end up hurting the companies involved if not undertaken with a clear strategy and executed well. Such decisions require extensive planning and detailed evaluation coupled with expert technical assistance to aid in the smooth execution of every stage of the transition process.
Centelon Solutions aids organisations in their expansion strategies by giving them the capabilities they need to maximise the value from mergers and achieve the synergies anticipated. We provide organisations with the management expertise, technology, and tools to deal with the complexities involved by deploying meticulous planning, communication, and execution strategies.
Recently, Centelon led the merger program between UniSuper – one of Australia’s best superannuation funds and Australian Catholic super, known as the largest Catholic super fund in the country.
UniSuper wanted to merge with Australian Catholic Super to:
The Challenge
As the first merger program undertaken by UniSuper, the process was highly challenging due to the circumstances under which it was being executed-
- Existence of a close market
- Regulatory scrutiny and due diligence
- Risk of a poorly managed program that could lead to a significant impact on the retention of members
- Susceptibility to change in market perception
The Process
- Designed the program for open and transparent execution with collaboration from both organisations
- Defined the program structure and determination of the program plan as critical inputs into the business case approved by the UniSuper Board
- Managed outcomes such as investment and fund mapping, people-centric change and transition, supplier contracts, and system decommissioning
- Channelised effective internal & external communications
- Executed tech integration such as system and process uplift
- Conducted risk-free, streamlined and efficient data migration
The Outcome
By having Centelon’s team manage the planning and execution of the entire process, UniSuper successfully implemented a smooth leadup to the Successor Funds Transfer (SFT) and an incident-free data migration process. With its in-depth knowledge of the superannuation funds industry, Centelon delivered streamlined integration of the organisations.
Following the conclusion of the SFT, all ACS members have transitioned into the appropriate products and investments at UniSuper.
In a merger like this, where we are taking over a smaller fund, it is critical to smoothly integrate the members into our fund’s products and services. We needed strong design principles set by the program team to transition members while maintaining the same comfort and experience. The team at Centelon Solutions helped us formulate the strategy and principles for migrating members and executed it exceptionally well across all dimensions, including member communications, product, investment mapping, and technology readiness.
Data migration was the most critical aspect of this entire program, and it was the one area we could afford no mistakes. The planning and execution by the Centelon team were truly exceptional. This workstream required a deep understanding of the Super industry and the definition of success criteria to make data migration successful. The Centelon team brought a lot of rigour and discipline to the data migration process through multiple dress rehearsals and constant fine-tuning, providing us with the comfort and readiness we were looking for. Centelon seamlessly worked with the UniSuper staff and upskilled them in the Data migration process.
Praveen Miranda
Head of Mergers, UniSuper
