3. Final thoughts
M&As are complex, and many factors, both controllable and uncontrollable, can impact their fate. Often overlooked among the questions of ‘‘How much a company will pay for a merger?’’ and ‘‘Who will be in charge of what in the post-merger company?’’ is the issue of how managers will integrate IT systems in the newly merged company. Enhanced IT capabilities, however, represent one of the most important advantages that a firm can gain through an M&A. Thus, it is reasonable to expect that the ability to integrate these systems across merger partners will become an increasingly important driver of whether M&As succeed or fail.
