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M&A Day 1 readiness reviews serve one purpose: surface show-stoppers before close so there are none at close.
This cross-functional review covers IT, Finance, HR, Communications, Legal, Operations, and Corporate Services — every function that has to perform on the day the deal becomes real. The format of the presentation is structured and unambiguous. Each workstream reports status, flags open items, and confirms whether Day 1 mandatories are complete or queued for execution at close.
IT enters Day 1 at 100% readiness with no show-stoppers identified. Infrastructure testing for SharePoint, email, and Skype passed in full. Active Directory and Global Address List integration, file system access, and SAP Day 1 interface are all executed. Application access across both company sites is confirmed. The IT integration roadmap, vendor contract analysis, and onsite Level 1 and Level 2 support plans are finalized and in place.
Finance has leadership named, accounting policies conformed, and legal entity structure finalized. Treasury has completed debt consolidation with lockbox changes and loan paydowns queued for Day 1 execution. HR has completed benefits and pension plan amendments, finalized the retention plan and placement process, and has stock and equity conversion, severance processing, and careers web page linking staged for Day 1. Legal has delegation of authority documents ready, change-in-control notifications sent, and contract assignments complete.
Operations tells two different stories by region. East Operations is fully complete — org structure, customer and vendor communications, safety practices, delegations of authority, onboarding schedules, and overhead cost synergy identification are all checked off. West Operations is further behind, with org structure finalization, management staffing, and HR transition still in progress for Day 1 execution. Customer communication and signage plans are ready. Corporate Services has the external stakeholder outreach plan, media relations plan, and all certifications and regulatory notifications handled, with website updates and role clarifications queued for Day 1.