Post Merger Integration Expert

The When you need senior PMI judgment, not a full firm engagement

Most companies looking for a "PMI expert" don't actually want a consulting engagement. They have an integration team. They have a plan. They have an IMO standing up. What they want is a senior practitioner who's done this many times — to pressure-test the plan, sit in the room when the hard calls get made, and tell them where the integration is actually at risk before the steering committee deck does.

That's a different need than hiring a firm to run the integration. And it's a need most consultancies don't serve well, because their model is built around full engagements with leveraged teams, not embedded senior judgment.

Stonehill operates differently. Our PMI practitioners have run integrations as operators — integration directors, COOs, functional heads — which means we're staffed to work in advisory, fractional, and embedded modes alongside your team, not in place of it.

How a PMI Expert engagement actually works

We offer four formats — chosen based on what the buyer actually needs, not bundled into a single SOW.

• Fractional Integration Director. A senior Stonehill practitioner serves as the integration leader on a defined time commitment — two to three days per week, typically — embedded in the client's IMO and accountable for the integration outcome. Used most often in middle-market deals where hiring a full-time integration director isn't justified and full firm engagement is more than what's needed.

• Advisory and pressure-testing. A senior practitioner reviews the integration plan, the synergy bridge, the IMO structure, and the Day 100 deliverables — then provides direct, written feedback on where the plan is at risk. Typically delivered over 2–4 weeks. Used by PE sponsors and corp dev teams who want a senior read before committing to execution.

• Embedded sounding board. A senior practitioner is on call to the integration leader for the duration of the integration — weekly check-ins, ad-hoc decision support, and access to Stonehill's methodology and frameworks. Used by in-house integration directors who want senior judgment available without the overhead of a firm engagement.

• Phase-specific expertise. A senior practitioner is brought in for a specific phase — pre-close planning, Day 1 readiness, Day 100 review, synergy realization audit, or operating model decision support. Scoped tight, delivered fast.

The kind of work that fits this model

This format works best when the question is concentrated and the stakes are high. Some recurring engagement types:

• A PE sponsor wants a senior read on a portfolio company's integration plan before committing to a Day 1 close timeline

• An in-house IMO director is running a complex carve-out and needs a sounding board on TSA management decisions

• A CFO is six months past close and the synergy numbers aren't tracking — they want a senior practitioner to diagnose what's actually happening

• A board wants an independent assessment of a recently-closed deal's integration health before approving the next acquisition

• An operating partner is evaluating a target's integration readiness during diligence and wants senior PMI judgment in the room

What you get when you engage a Stonehill PMI Expert

• Senior judgment, not analyst output. The practitioner you engage is the practitioner who does the work. No staffing pyramid. No junior team translating the work back.

• An operator's lens, not a framework dump. Our practitioners have led integrations as operators. The advice you get reflects what actually happens inside a portfolio company at Day 47, not what the textbook says should happen.

• Stonehill methodology, applied selectively. Our full PMI process is available as a reference, but applied with judgment to the specific engagement — not imposed as a checklist.

• Direct, written deliverables. Whatever the engagement format, you get written outputs — pressure-test memos, plan reviews, synergy diagnostics — that hold up in front of a board, an investment committee, or an executive team.

How to engage

Send the situation — the deal, the timeline, the specific question — and we'll come back within 48 hours with a recommended engagement format, scope, and fee. Most engagements are scoped in days or weeks, not months, and most start within two weeks of first conversation.