In July, Sun Life announced an agreement to acquire Dialogue, a Canadian virtual health and wellness company. For the financial services firm, it was part of a strategy to venture further into online health care. And for Montreal-based Dialogue, it was “a natural next step for the future of the company,” said Navaid Mansuri, chief financial officer.
Panelists spoke about the need to go deep under the hood when assessing possible deals. Multiple parties were pursuing a deal with Dialogue, noted Mr. Mansuri. The company’s leadership went with Sun Life because “there was alignment on many different fronts”, including culture, growth strategy, mission and vision.
To keep the objective in mind, Mr. Black said it’s important to have a sound pre-deal plan and strategy, asking: “Do the targets line up with what we’re trying to accomplish?” A robust due diligence process should look not just at the financials but at things like the cultural fit. “And if you don’t have a professional in-house, seek an advisor to help you,” he said. “These are high-risk decisions. Having the right diligence plan involves operations, legal, financial, market strategy, regulatory, competitive analyses. You need to cross all of those off your list and do it properly.”