The Catalyst 02:
When M&A Makes 1+1=3

Welcome back to The Catalyst.

Justin here, PlatinumBlack’s CMO. This month, our Strategy Director, Ben Kleckley, shares a practical roadmap for how to plan for and realize revenue synergies across the deal cycle. In a market where growth is harder to come by and capital isn’t cheap, M&A remains a key growth lever. Yet too often, growth takes a backseat to cost cutting in deal models. But at PlatinumBlack, we’ve seen that when you connect the dots across product portfolios, GTM teams, and customer bases, M&A can unlock more than just efficiency—it can accelerate organic growth.

If you’re evaluating an acquisition or trying to make a recent one pay off, I hope it sparks some ideas.

Thanks again for reading.

The underused M&A growth engine: commercial synergies

Most acquirers can find cost synergies; that’s typically the lowest-hanging fruit in a transaction. Far fewer however, consistently capture the top-line potential: cross-selling, up-selling, bundling, pricing power, and channel expansion. Leading research has long shown that revenue synergies are harder to quantify but are often a big swing factor in deal value when pursued with rigor.

Companies involved in M&A transactions often emphasize cost synergies to achieve the EBITDA gains promised. But more and more, investors are looking for announced revenue synergies, followed by meticulous reporting on progress to support valuations. Detailed analysis of projected commercial synergies and commercial integration are key to success. In a separate study, 80% of executives in a selection of deals stated that revenue synergies have become more important for deal valuations (KPMG).

Only 1 in 5 companies that made acquisitions actually announced synergies (McKinsey). Why? Because they are challenging to realize. But companies who do publicize their synergy plans, regularly report on progress, and realize planned value are handsomely rewarded. Companies that announce synergies have seen approximately a 6% increase in total shareholder returns compared to those that don’t announce (McKinsey), even after accounting for the deal premium.

The challenges to achieving commercial synergies are numerous. As such only half of executives even include revenue synergies in their deal models according to Bain (Bain). The top three challenges to capturing revenue synergies are:

Failure to integrate product portfolio
Failure to integrate go-to-market teams
Failure to incentivize and/or mobilize commercial teams

These challenges can all be mitigated with detailed analysis of customer and product/service portfolios to identify margin-accretive revenue growth opportunities.

Making it real: 1+1 can equal 3

This is where rigorous planning and tight execution come in. To effectively and quickly achieve revenue synergies, acquirers must start planning for them early. As early, in fact, as target identification. By identifying M&A targets that not only complement their existing product/service portfolio but also bolster their capability set through cross-sell opportunities, companies will be more enabled to actually realize the revenue synergies they seek beyond traditional cost synergies.

Companies focusing on revenue synergies throughout the deal cycle, and starting early, will be better positioned for success. The five areas to place greater emphasis on revenue synergies below will allow acquirers to better prepare themselves to achieve higher deal valuations by estimating and achieving synergies.

Anchor target identification to growth: Start with the growth thesis, not a broker’s list. Build a scorecard that prioritizes: customer overlap and cross-sell pathways, geographic reach, product/service adjacency, capability lift (what they have that you need), integration complexity/risk, distinction in competitive landscape, and regulatory friction. Shortlist only the targets where you can articulate a concrete “1+1=3” revenue story including initial bundles, attach-rate assumptions, and a 100-day commercialization hypothesis.
Quantify commercial synergies in diligence: Build the revenue “theory of the deal” before you sign: where cross-sell is viable, which bundles will win, which segments/geos to pursue first, and the capability gaps to close.
Design a combined GTM: Map both customer universes and align coverage, offers, pricing, and success metrics to the highest-value opportunities. Map accounts to specific individuals to avoid commercial teams across the legacy organizations calling on the same customers for the same products with two different prices – become one GTM organization, and quickly. Align GTM and sales materials maintain consistency in messaging to audiences, brand identity, and value proposition across the customer journey.
Realign incentives: Pay sellers to sell the combined portfolio. Reward success of initial cross-sell opportunities realized and celebrate synergy wins to motivate continued efforts. Protect near-term momentum with smart interim compensation and territories, then migrate to a unified model.
Measure what matters: Don’t stop at “synergy dollars.” Track attach rates, cross-sell penetration, win rates by bundle, time-to-first-sale, and NPS/churn in overlapping accounts. Tracking and reporting on these metrics allows for visibility into what’s working to further push and where to decrease emphasis. Beyond the deal, track typical marketing metrics such as pipeline velocity, campaign attribution, content engagement, and lead-to-close conversion to ensure the synergy story translates into sustained commercial impact.

Learning from case studies

Disney’s acquisition of Pixar: a classic example

In 2006 Disney acquired Pixar for around $7.4 billion, combining Pixar’s creative engine with Disney’s global distribution, theme-parks, merchandising, and brand footprint. Pixar’s characters and stories reached far wider and deeper into Disney’s customer base, through films, fan products, theme parks, and digital platforms. This deal shows how expansion across end-markets, geographies, and offerings can make an acquisition create growth that neither company could deliver alone. It’s not just cost cuts, it’s capability and scale that supported step-change growth.

Thermofisher’s acquisition of Clarios: a recent example (Thermo Fisher)

While still yet to execute, Thermo Fisher’s $8.88 billion acquisition of Clario illustrates a strong commercial-synergy play. Adding a digital company into a strong instrument-and-services platform to access new customers and new solutions. Clario’s endpoint data and AI capabilities deepen Thermo Fisher’s clinical-trial offerings, and the deal is expected to unlock around $175 million of adjusted operating income within five years, primarily from revenue synergies. Here you see how a target was selected not solely for cost savings but for what it enables: selling new tech into existing customers, and using Thermo’s global reach to scale Clario’s offerings faster.

Where PlatinumBlack fits

If you’re evaluating M&A, or if you’re struggling to realize the revenue you already modeled, we help across the continuum:

Growth opportunity identification: white-space by market/geo/offer, adjacencies, portfolio strategy
Target identification aligned to the growth thesis: product/market expansion
Market assessment: revenue synergy sizing, customer journey, positioning
Post-close commercialization: combined GTM strategy, pricing and revenue modeling
Marketing & Creative to turn the plan into pipeline

If you want your next deal to produce more than the sum of its parts, let’s talk. PlatinumBlack brings strategy, go-to-market, and creative under one roof, so your M&A doesn’t just close; it compounds.

Ben Kleckley

Director of Strategy, PlatinumBlack