Culture DD & integration · M&A
The human side of the deal, on the record.
Culture, leadership and integration tracked with the same rigour as the financial workstream — one live grid from pre-LOI scoping to year three. Every finding carries evidence and a citation your board can challenge.
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of deals fail to deliver expected returns. The number has not moved in twenty years.
most-cited cause is cultural mismatch — and it is the workstream nobody owns.
is when it surfaces. Long after the data room closed and the deck went stale.
Failure range from KPMG 1999 and Cartwright & Schoenberg 2006; culture as leading cause from Stahl & Voigt's 2008 meta-analysis of 46 studies.
How it works
One grid. Owned by the advisor, readable by the board.
Workstreams down, deal phases across. Every intersection holds status, owner, activities, evidence and the friction found there — and it keeps its history when the deal moves from diligence into integration.
Shape the grid
Pick the workstreams and phases this deal actually has. Cross-border carve-out and domestic bolt-on are not the same shape.
Gather the signal
Pulse surveys, leadership interviews, HR data and documents — each attached to the cell it belongs to, not a shared drive.
Classify the friction
Every observation gets a severity, an owner and a research pillar. Four steps, colour and label, legible in print.
Publish the memo
The Culture Risk Memo and Deal Committee Pack draft themselves from the grid. You write the judgement; the evidence is already attached.
Research backbone
Four pillars. Real citations.
Every classification in Cuddly maps to published M&A research. Configurable per engagement — set the scrutiny level the deal deserves.
Pricing
Start on one deal. Pay per deal until it pays to subscribe.
From your fourth deal, Professional costs less than buying Deal Passes. We tell you that up front rather than hoping you don't do the arithmetic.
See it on a real deal before you talk to anyone.
The Aurora demo is a fully populated engagement — canvas, friction register, evidence and a drafted Culture Risk Memo. Open it read-only, no account.