{"id":9363,"date":"2024-07-03T22:22:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T22:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/?post_type=resources&#038;p=9363"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:47:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T16:47:35","slug":"podcast-mergers-and-acquisitions-and-hr","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-strategy\/workforce-planning\/podcast-mergers-and-acquisitions-and-hr\/","title":{"rendered":"Mergers and acquisitions &#8211; HR&#8217;s seat at the table"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-b5fc8583 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:25px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7fc3d43a wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:70%\">\n<p class=\"\">Steve Allan joins us to talk about HR&#8217;s role in mergers and acquisitions and offers five top tips for getting M&amp;As right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Among the subjects Steve discusses are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list is-style-brightmine-list-item-spacing-small\">\n<li class=\"\">Company culture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">The impact of AI.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Understanding TUPE.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">How to get integration right.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"listen\" class=\"\">Listen now for actionable insights, expert analysis, and a look at what\u2019s next for HR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Mergers and acquisitions - HR&amp;apos;s seat at the table\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/2p8QSQfn8yDUHJzTYr9tx1?utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<details id=\"transcript\" class=\"wp-block-details has-secondary-blue-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-68ce41f28179321233a799bf301f5535 is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\" style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.548), 18px);\"><summary>Read the transcript<\/summary>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Hello, and welcome to the Brightmine podcast, formerly known as the XpertHR podcast. Brightmine is a leading provider of people data, analytics and insight, offering employment law expertise, comprehensive HR resources and reward data to meet every HR and organisational challenge and opportunity. You can find us any time of the day or night at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/\">www.brightmine.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">My name is Robert Shore, and I am your host today, and we\u2019re going to be discussing mergers and acquisitions, and specifically HR\u2019s role in mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;As). I\u2019m delighted to say that I\u2019m joined to do this today by Steve Allan, a HR M&amp;A expert. Steve, welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: Hello, Robert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Can I get you to begin by having you tell us how you got into HR and into mergers and acquisitions (or M&amp;As) in the first place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: Yeah. So I started, alarmingly, about 30 years ago now. I trained as an actuary. So I started doing actuarial work on defined benefit pension plans in the UK. Very quickly decided that ongoing actuarial evaluations wasn\u2019t particularly exciting. We\u2019d added a couple of projects in M&amp;A where clients of mine were doing deals, and certainly within the UK if you\u2019re buying a company with a defined benefit pension plan, it\u2019s a big number. Pension plans are complicated, they\u2019re difficult, they\u2019re hard in M&amp;A. And that really interested me. I found that fascinating. And so I started doing more of that work, and the work evolved from defined benefit pensions to broad pensions, to broad pensions and benefits, then into total reward, then into things like broad employer value proposition, then into broader HR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And at the same time I again followed my nose on what was interesting and ended up working for several years in London, followed by several years in New York, and then several years in Tokyo, very much doing global work, multi-country work, but again frequently and increasingly dominated by M&amp;A. I\u2019ve been back in the UK now for about a decade, and for about the last 20 years, frankly, M&amp;A\u2019s what I\u2019ve done. It\u2019s been the centre of my work. I\u2019ve led the global HR M&amp;A consulting business, one of the big global consulting firms, and the last three years I\u2019ve been in a large global tech company leading all of their deals. And we had a portfolio of about 100 deals or so we were looking at and running, where they were onboarding, very talent-led acquisitions, buying people for their skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So really it\u2019s just been really interesting. I enjoy M&amp;A because it\u2019s a moment of huge change. Generally a lot of deals are driven by this desire to buy and grow talent which is, again, fascinating and it puts people at the front of the business agenda, which again I find really<br>interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: You said there you\u2019d been working in the tech sector, and I think before that you were in pharmaceuticals. I wonder whether there\u2019s a big difference between a tech M&amp;A deal and a pharma M&amp;A deal, or are they essentially the same?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: There are similarities, there are differences. Certainly in my pharma experience, some of the pharma deals I worked on were very large, if you like, industrial-scale deals. So we\u2019re looking at 20, 30,000 people in 30, 40 countries. If you like, very much a sort of portfolio transformation-type of deal. Imagine someone buying the entire consumer products business off a competitor or the entire global vaccines business off a competitor. So those sort of major, global-scale transformational deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">There\u2019s a lot of choreography required. You\u2019re moving a lot of people all at the same time and there\u2019s a lot of what we kind of call \u2018plumbing\u2019, project management involved. You have to move people over. You have to make sure that you\u2019ve done all the consultations, all the communications to works councils, all the practical things, if you\u2019re moving that number of people, that you\u2019ve got them all onto the payroll on the right day. You\u2019re doing all of that at the same time in all of these countries, and you have to make sure that that process is driven and is choreographed and is compliant and is organised. And at the same time you\u2019ve also got then the transformation element of the deal because there\u2019s going to be a portion of that 20 or 30,000 people whose jobs are fundamentally going to change. For most people, they continue doing what they\u2019re doing. But for some people \u2014 and it could be the executives, it could be the salesforce \u2014 some people it\u2019s going to be a fundamental change. You have to manage that at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: When you\u2019re doing these big deals with vast numbers of employees involved, what sized team are you part of? You\u2019re talking about the plumbing there. How many plumbers do you need, exactly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: Yeah. It\u2019s a large team and it\u2019s a multifunctional team. So I\u2019ll very much lead the HR side of that, and we would often have a global\u2026a core, central team. But also we would have colleagues in each and every country. \u2018Cause every country is complicated. Every country has its own local nuances and you really have to have boots on the ground there who get it. Not just language but can also look employees in the eye and say, \u2018I understand what matters to you because of how this country works.\u2019 So you\u2019ve got that complication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">You\u2019ve also\u2026HR is only one of the workstreams. We\u2019re hand-in-glove with legal, we\u2019re hand-in-glove with tech, in terms of the systems. Hand-in glove with tax. So there will also, as well as all those workstreams, on top of that you\u2019ll then have that. Typically you\u2019re organised by corporate development or global integration PMO pulling all those strings together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So it absolutely is a\u2026I mean, people say it takes a village, and in some of the big deals it takes a small township. We could have a dozen workstreams, and if you think about it you\u2019re going to need probably some element of boots on the ground in every country plus a global hub for each of those workstreams. It\u2019s a lot of people. It\u2019s a lot of project management. But it\u2019s very focused, business-driven project management set to an external timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Are tech deals generally similar in scale in your experience? Obviously experiences will vary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: Yeah. I mean, that\u2019s the beauty of M&amp;A; every deal is different. But certainly the tech deals, there are some very large tech deals. They do happen. But the vast majority of deals, certainly in the tech sector, are much smaller. And a lot of the deals I worked on were very much around talent acquisition. We would be buying companies which might have 100, 200, up to 1,000 people type of size. But we were very much saying, \u2018Well, we need skillsets in\u2026pick a topic\u2026AI, for example. Or cloud or\u2026\u2019 things like that, the up-and-coming technologies where you can either grow people, you can hire people, you can buy people with those skillsets. And we were buying companies \u2018cause we needed that skillset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And actually, in those deals there\u2019s a lot more\u2026you have to get the plumbing right, clearly. If you fail to pay people on time you\u2019re going to lose engagement and lose talent. But it was much more about saying, \u2018This is where this big global organisation who\u2019s buying you\u2026it\u2019s much more exciting. We can offer you more.\u2019 We can bring those people in, we can make them excited about what they can do on a global scale that they couldn\u2019t do in their smaller, 200-person startup. So there\u2019s a lot more focus on that employee engagement, on that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/guides-how-to\/how-to-leverage-change-management-in-hr\/\">change management<\/a>. We\u2019re buying it \u2018cause we really, really, really want those people to be excited about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Managing organisational culture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Right. Let\u2019s talk about culture now, organisational culture. When you\u2019re doing an M&amp;A, possibly transnationally or globally, bringing together businesses with very different cultures and very different ways of working, what should HR be trying to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: So I think the first thing to do is just be aware about what you are trying to do. You\u2019re never going to change national culture. If you\u2019re doing a global deal, people live in different countries. They live in different ways of living, and they\u2019ve been brought up in different ways etc. That is what it is. So there\u2019s a lot about awareness. So if you\u2019re doing a global deal and you expect to drive culture change, you\u2019re not going to drive culture change if it\u2019s a national culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">If you\u2019ve got a business culture way of working\u2026and again it happens a lot, particularly in, let\u2019s say, the tech deals \u2014 large company will buy a small company \u2014 very different ways of working. The best thing to do, in my opinion, is don\u2019t beat yourself up about defining culture. Say to yourself, \u2018How do they get these things done? What is crucial? In this business we\u2019re buying, we\u2019re buying it because they are brilliant at how they innovate around AI,\u2019 let\u2019s say. \u2018What do we mean by \u201cinnovate around AI\u201d? How do they do that and how do we do that, and how do we want them to do that after the deal?\u2019 Very much focused on the business driver for the deal. If you focus on that, that is culture, \u2018cause you\u2019re talking about how people work and how people get things done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">But it\u2019s much more practical \u2018cause then you can sit down with the business people and say, \u2018You\u2019re doing this deal because\u2026\u2019 \u2014 it\u2019s around innovation and AI, let\u2019s say \u2014 \u2018Okay, then we need to understand, \u201cHow do we want them to do that and how\u2019s that going to change?\u201d\u2019 And if you focus on that, you can get much more practical around things like, \u2018How do we empower managers? How do we allow people space to go and work across functions and work with different teams and form teams that have less problems when they\u2019re needed? Is that what we do as a large tech company (\u2018cause it\u2019s probably different to how they work as a small one)? And are we going to ask them to change to our ways of working? Are we going to be comfortable if we let them continue?\u2019 Those sorts of questions are much more practical and are going to get you a much more tangible handle on actually how we\u2019re going to integrate this business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Some companies do a lot of naval-gazing around defining culture, and you\u2019re never going to get there because everyone knows what culture is but we all have our own answer. So actually, the focus on the practical business sense makes much more sense. But yeah, national culture you\u2019re never going to change. And really, that\u2019s much more about recognizing and acknowledging that, as opposed to trying to change it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Have you been involved in many deals with the culture of the company you\u2019re buying has changed the culture of the acquiring organisation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: Absolutely. And many deals, particularly if you\u2019re buying a business because you are trying to expand in to a new area, let\u2019s say, you need to say, \u2018Well, it\u2019s going to change the acquiring company.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">A very clear example comes from my time in Asia. We had an Asian client who came from a country which was very much driven by status, and people higher up the food chain and higher up the corporate ladder have an element of control. And they were buying an innovative company in a different country. And they couldn\u2019t understand why they had such a large talent drain. Because the leaders were saying, \u2018Well, we give them a call every Monday morning and talk about what\u2019s going to happen, and we give them a call every Friday evening and ask them what they\u2019ve done.\u2019 And in the eyes of the Asian leadership, this was being hands-off management. We\u2019re leaving them alone five days a week. It\u2019s never what we do for our own people in our own home country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Of course, from the eyes of the acquired people, this was like, \u2018I\u2019m being checked up on every Monday morning and every Friday evening. It\u2019s like teachers coming to see have I done my homework.\u2019 And the leaders of the acquired company were getting really fed up, and a huge talent drain. And we had to just say to the acquirer, \u2018If you\u2019re going to go into these other countries \u2014 again, talking about national culture \u2014 that\u2019s not what they mean in their national culture about being hands off. And you\u2019ve bought an entrepreneurial business. You need to set some goals at the start of the year, be very clear about what you want from them, but let them get on with it. And if you\u2019re not going to do that, you\u2019re going to continue to see this talent drain.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And we did a lot of coaching with them about future deals. Could they be comfortable, could they get their head around this idea of hands-off management and empowering leaders to run a business when they wouldn\u2019t empower their own leaders in their own home country to the same extent? It was incredibly difficult. And so you have a lot of that type of coaching where you have to kind of say to the buyer, \u2018You\u2019ve bought someone because they\u2019re different. Now don\u2019t change them and make them who you are because you\u2019re destroying the value.\u2019 And that\u2019s really hard. Most buyers think, \u2018Actually, look, I\u2019ve bought them \u2018cause they\u2019re different but we bought you so surely what we say goes?\u2019 It can be really hard. It\u2019s really hard. And you see that all the time, asking buyers almost to step back and say, \u2018Yeah, but they\u2019re better at what they do than we are, which is why we bought them.\u2019 And that\u2019s a really hard thing for many buyers to get their heads around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The impact of AI in M&amp;A<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: It\u2019s 2024 so I have to ask you about AI. What impact is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/blogs\/ai-and-human-resources-why-ai-is-hrs-best-new-partner\/\">AI<\/a> having on deals of this kind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: Lots, which is a very unhelpful, glib answer. So coming from where I came from in tech, and also in pharma, deals are being done where AI is the target. So people are buying AI capabilities. It\u2019s a whole business in its own right where a lot of companies are buying AI talent. So there are a lot of AI startups selling like hotcakes \u2018cause everyone wants to get a hold of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">But more generally, AI is changing the deal process. Because when I started M&amp;A, and we talk about data rooms, there was literally a room full of piles of paper, and you sat there and you read stuff. Now you can point a computer engine at that and it will go through and analyse it for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So AI is speeding up the process. You can point AI at an electronic data room and a set of accounts or whatever it wants to be, and it will find it. You can point it at the web and you can get sent an analysis on the business culture instantly, at a touch of a button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So it\u2019s changing the ability to process volumes of data. Which means M&amp;A can move much faster. However, it doesn\u2019t mean that you can just use the computer to do it all because AI is brilliant but will only actually synthesise and consolidate data. What you do then need is that kind of intellectual experience and say, \u2018Well what does this mean? And what questions have we not asked and what information have we not found?\u2019 \u2018Cause that\u2019s what\u2019s really important in M&amp;A. It\u2019s not what you\u2019re told; it\u2019s what you\u2019ve not been told, and it\u2019s the questions you haven\u2019t asked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So AI, I think, is going to speed up the process, is going to make it easier to handle those volumes of data. But it is going to then put much more emphasis on the M&amp;A teams and the M&amp;A\u2026the people involved in M&amp;A to ask the intelligent questions. \u2018Cause that\u2019s what will differentiate the\u2026if you\u2019ve got lots of potential acquirers, the ones who are going to be successful are the ones who answer the best questions and ask themselves, \u2018What don\u2019t we know? What else should we have asked?\u2019 That\u2019s where the value\u2019s going to lie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Understanding TUPE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: I have to ask you also, Steve, about TUPE, of course. TUPE stands for Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment rights. So we need to know the difference between a deal that engages TUPE and one that doesn\u2019t. What\u2019s a good way of thinking about this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: Yeah. And TUPE obviously is the UK version and we have similar rules across Europe and actually similar rules in many other places in the world. Essentially TUPE is if you are moving work from one legal entity to another, essentially TUPE says that people come with it and you can\u2019t adversely affect the employees\u2019 terms and conditions in that process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So there may be many\u2026there are many deals where someone will say, \u2018We\u2019re going to buy this division of your business but we\u2019re not going to buy the company. We\u2019re just going to buy that division. The work will move over, therefore the people will move over.\u2019 That\u2019s classic TUPE. So you\u2019ve bought the business but you haven\u2019t bought the employer legal entity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The other way of doing a deal, of course, is you go out and say, \u2018We\u2019re actually going to buy the shares in the company,\u2019 in which case the employment status of those people never changes. They work for Such-and-such Company Ltd., they still work for Such-and-such Company Ltd., it\u2019s just the owners of that company have changed. That\u2019s not TUPE. So it\u2019s only TUPE if you buy a business and you effectively move people from one legal entity into your legal entity. That triggers TUPE and triggers lots and lots of protections. In simple terms. I would say, however, in any deal that\u2019s a very kind of rough and ready guide. It always depends on the exact legal structure. You have to go back and actually consult with your lawyers based on the legal specifics. But at a high level, if you\u2019re moving work into your legal entity and not buying a legal entity, that\u2019s when you\u2019re going to risk triggering TUPE or ARD, or similar rules elsewhere in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: ARD, I think you said there. Remind us what that stands for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: ARD is Acquired Rights Directive. So the Acquired Rights Directive is European-wide legislation. That\u2019s where TUPE came from. In fact, the EU passed the legislation when the UK was still part of it, and then each country have a choice of how they implement that locally. TUPE, the Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment, is how the UK implemented the European Acquired Rights Directive. So every country in Europe did a similar thing but they did it in a slightly different way depending on their local legislation. And lots of countries across the rest of the world \u2014 Asia, Latin America etc. \u2014 have similar legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">M&amp;A top tips for HR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Right. We\u2019ve got to that point now, I think you said you had come up with some M&amp;A top tips for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Get involved early<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: Yes, absolutely. As a consultant people always ask for the top tips and they always have to be an odd number. So I\u2019ve got five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The first one is, be involved early. To be successful in M&amp;A, HR needs to have a seat at the table, particularly if your business strategy is based around buying skills and talent. If you want to grow by acquiring people you don\u2019t currently have, those types of people, fundamentally HR has to be there long before a deal is set. So you need to be in there with corp dev, you need to be in there with the businesses. So when you\u2019re going to the initial management meetings and you\u2019re looking at a company for the first time and saying, \u2018Do we want to buy you? Do you want to buy us?, HR\u2019s there. So HR has to be a seat at the table while corporate strategy is being set. I think that\u2019s the first top tip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Okay, great start. What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Understand the deal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: I would say the second one is, really ask yourself when a deal is happening, understand, \u2018What\u2019s the deal purpose?\u2019, \u2018Why are you buying this?\u2019 and \u2018What are you buying and when?\u2019 So we talked briefly about TUPE and the difference between buying a legal entity or not. Many deals, some of those deals that I\u2019ve talked about where we had 30 or 40 countries, there could be different legal structures in every country. You can have some elements where you\u2019re buying a legal entity, in some places you\u2019re just simply buying the business and not buying legal entities. So all can be very different; even in one deal the structure can be different by jurisdictions or by business unit. So understanding, \u2018What are you buying? Why are you buying it?\u2019 Ask yourself, \u2018Who is selling and why are they selling it?\u2019 That can be very informative just to be very clear on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And be very clear in the business, \u2018Once we\u2019ve bought this thing how are we going to make value from it?\u2019 It\u2019s expensive to buy a company. How are you going to make more money than you paid for it? It\u2019s not hard to buy a company. It\u2019s much harder to make more money from it. So understanding the business rationale, how you\u2019re going to change, deliver value. What\u2019s that going to mean for your existing business? Are we expecting our existing people to change? And how are we expecting our existing business to change to absorb this thing to make it better? Really getting down to the meat of that, and then trying to take those abstract questions into real, practical metrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So how are we going to measure these things? What do we mean by success? And if we have metrics, things like revenue growth or things like penetration into new markets etc., where are we now so actually we can see how these things are changing over time? If you don\u2019t have metrics it\u2019s very hard to determine success, or indeed to have signposts when the wheel may or may not be falling off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And I think very early on is, \u2018Are we ready? Do we have things like a proforma playbook? Do we have things like templates and project plans on the shelf ready to go?\u2019 Not that you can ever just follow a proforma template. But starting off with a proforma you can then say, \u2018Okay, this deal is different. How is it different? How do we change our proformas?\u2019 But you\u2019re not starting off from scratch each time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Wonderful. So two tips so far. HR should be involved early with a seat at the top table. And then HR needs to understand the deal, its purpose, structure and timing. What\u2019s the third tip?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Prioritize due diligence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: So the third one is around due diligence. Essentially there, due diligence is a process that\u2019s you understanding, \u2018Do we want to buy this thing or not?\u2019 And I would say do not be afraid to say no. So you\u2019re not obliged to buy it. It\u2019s much better to walk away from a bad deal than to charge ahead regardless. And deals get a lot of momentum. And it can be very hard for someone to turn around and say, \u2018Look, this is not going to work.\u2019 But don\u2019t be afraid to say that. So you go into that process, you ask all the questions we\u2019ve talked about, understand what you\u2019re buying, understand where are the problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">As I said, we\u2019ve talked about AI. What are the questions we haven\u2019t asked? What are the questions we haven\u2019t asked in our process? What have we not been told? So really important, if you like, to be a professional cynic during due diligence. You\u2019ve got your proforma playbooks. You want to understand, \u2018If we buy this thing how are we going to make it work?\u2019 Keep on coming back and saying, \u2018Are we sure?\u2019 Because at the end of due diligence you\u2019re going to make a decision to buy this company or not and for how much. Once that decision is made, you are stuck with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Deals get a lot of momentum. So that natural cynicism to say, \u2018What could go wrong? And if it could go wrong, how are we going to mitigate that? How are we going to feed that into our plans and our planning and our change management etc. to make sure that we actually deliver the value we\u2019re committing to (recognizing we\u2019re paying a lot to buy this business)? What\u2019s that plan?\u2019 And if we\u2019re not comfortable with our plan, articulate those risks, and then the business can make an informed decision, \u2018Should we go ahead or not?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And particularly if you\u2019re doing a talent-led acquisition \u2014 so you\u2019re buying it because of the people \u2014 you\u2019ll find HR should have a very loud voice in that conversation. I\u2019ve done some deals where we were buying raw materials or access to those sort of things. And actually, the people were not that important a part of the deal. But in most deals they are. So HR\u2019s voice will again come back to the deal purpose and what you\u2019re buying, but if people are a fundamental part of it HR needs to have a very loud voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So in your due diligence it\u2019s that process. And just be very careful that the deals will get natural momentum. So be that professional cynic and be ready to speak up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Yeah, that\u2019s brilliant. And as you say, HR is really crucial in that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Great. Tip number 4?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Careful plan integration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: So, number 4 is around integration. Integration is where your deal is going to succeed or fail. There\u2019s a lot of noise happens at the end of diligence. You decide to buy it, everyone signs a piece of paper, someone pops a bottle of champagne. Life is good, we\u2019ve done a deal. That\u2019s the start of the work. All you\u2019ve done up until that point is actually spend money. Integration is where you say, \u2018Now we\u2019ve bought it, how are we going to absorb it? How are we, as the buyer, going to change? What do we want them to do?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So we\u2019ve talked a lot about having that project plan and that process and how we\u2019re going to drive integration, the element of the plumbing, making sure the systems, the contracts, reporting lines, all the consultation, total rewards etc. all happens in the right order, the right time, the right country. On top of that you\u2019ve got your behaviour change. \u2018What are we going to change about this business and what are we going to change about ourselves to make this successful?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And at the same time, you know, these guys have actually got a business to run. They were running a business before we bought them. We\u2019ve just turned up and thrown everything up in the air. Our existing business who\u2019s going to work closely with them, we\u2019ve made their lives more complicated. They\u2019ve all got a business to run and a day job to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So all this plumbing and process and change management, we need to work out how we tread \u2014 if we can \u2014 relatively lightly because they\u2019re also trying to run a business. So that integration process needs to be very carefully thought through, and you\u2019re always going to have this tension between move fast, get on with it, really let\u2019s make the impact, but also actually this is not their day job. Their day job is to run the business. So we need to work out how we drive that change gently but consistently, and also if we can as fast as possible. Because you don\u2019t want to let deals fester. I mean, we\u2019ve seen many companies who\u2019ve done a deal and years later people will still say, \u2018Well I\u2019m legacy this, and I\u2019m legacy that.\u2019 Because they\u2019re never really integrated. And if the acquisition was predicated on the basis that, \u2018We are stronger together,\u2019 and you\u2019ve never integrated, you actually haven\u2019t really achieved your deal objective. So you\u2019ve spent a lot of money but for what purpose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: So I think we\u2019re saying HR\u2019s most important role in any deal is in integration. Is that it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: Absolutely. On any given deal, you\u2019ll spend far more time doing integration than you will doing due diligence. That\u2019s the bulk of the work. It\u2019s much less glamorous. It gets much less attention. But that\u2019s really where actually deals succeed or fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Wonderful. What\u2019s tip number 5?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Create a communication plan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong>: I think the last one is communication, particularly if you\u2019re in the HR arena where you\u2019re buying people. People want to know what\u2019s happening. Silence can be very corrosive. People will naturally assume the worst. People will think, \u2018Well they\u2019re not telling us something because we\u2019re going to lose our jobs. They\u2019re going to close us down. They\u2019re going to do this, they\u2019re going to do that.\u2019 And none of that may be true at all. Generally if you\u2019ve done a deal it\u2019s because you really want the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So having a very clear communication plan based upon why you\u2019ve done the deal. Your communications have to be consistent with your business objective. Because if you say to your stock-holders one thing, that information\u2019s out there. We\u2019ve all got access to the internet, we can all pick up news wires and press releases. So it all has to be consistent and you have to have that constant flow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">You can\u2019t come out with platitudes that don\u2019t tally to what you\u2019ve told your shareholders. But you do need to go out there and communicate to people. Try to be positive, try to be consistent. Communicate early and often. That doesn\u2019t mean you always have to have brand new news. Your communication could say, \u2018Well, we\u2019ve agreed to buy you. We\u2019re going to close a deal in six months\u2019 time. Over the following six months you\u2019ll start to see some changes.\u2019 That\u2019s brilliant. People now know, \u2018I\u2019ve got a year\u2019s plan of what\u2019s going to happen to me.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And just make sure that you\u2019ve got that communication plan, that the managers know what\u2019s happening, you\u2019ve got talking points for line managers. Be ready to listen to people. People will be naturally very nervous about what\u2019s going to happen. Give managers talking points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">One of the dangers you\u2019ll see in communications is if you don\u2019t tell people what to say, people will make something up. And the number of times we\u2019ve seen managers go around and say, \u2018Oh don\u2019t worry, nothing\u2019s going to change.\u2019 That\u2019s clearly untrue because in an M&amp;A everything changes. You\u2019ve got a new owner, you\u2019ve got new ways of working. That\u2019s coming. But people will make something up to fill a silence. So give them the facts, be honest, but don\u2019t feel you have to constantly come out with something new. It\u2019s around empowering people and giving them the message, again to allow the vast majority of the workforce to simply carry on with their day jobs. They want to be carrying on with doing what they\u2019re doing knowing they\u2019re not going to be blindsided. And also because they\u2019re the people who are also talking to your customers. They\u2019re talking to future candidates, they\u2019re talking to clients etc. They\u2019re talking to the broader market. So all of that needs to be consistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So that communication plan is really very, very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong>: Some brilliant insights there, Steve. Thank you so much. And of course, we have lots of supporting materials on the Brightmine website, and we will put links to those in the show notes. It just remains then now for me to say thanks again to Steve Allan. Until next time.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"speakers\">Brightmine host<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c531013 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-thumbnail is-resized is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/17154338\/Robert_Shore-150x150.webp\" alt=\"Robert Shore, HR Market Insights Editor at Brightmine\" class=\"wp-image-10115\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:100px;height:100px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong><br>HR Markets Insights Editor, Brightmine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Guest speakers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c531013 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/13162251\/male-speaker-avatar.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15123\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:100px;height:100px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Steve Allan<\/strong><br>HR M&amp;A Expert<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column lnrs-hide-block-on-mobile is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"border-left-color:var(--wp--preset--color--secondary-gray);border-left-width:2px;padding-left:10px;flex-basis:30%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained wp-container-2 is-position-sticky\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-secondary-gray-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-db4c44a6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:14px;padding-top:10px;padding-right:10px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:10px\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4b827052 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom:5px;font-style:normal;font-weight:400\" class=\"\">In this resource:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-459ffb2a7b3dc338c93226d3be8270c8\" style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\"><a href=\"#listen\">Listen now<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-53b045a32da828cda288ce2a72946a2d\" style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\"><a href=\"#transcript\">Transcript<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-71518ad09f03d83428d3713a9cbb6f21\" style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\"><a href=\"#speakers\">Speakers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-bleach-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a36fa716 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:14px;padding-top:10px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Navigate HR complexity with confidence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">With Brightmine, you can build powerful people strategies, implement best practices and set your organisation up for a brighter future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Learn how our tools, resources and automation can empower you and your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\/uk\/solutions\/?intcmp=cta|blog|solutions|learn-more\" style=\"border-radius:25px\">Learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"#top\">Go back to the top<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4b7a3f7f wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:25px;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You may also be interested in&#8230;<\/h2>\n\n\n<section id=\"resources-search-filter\" class=\"wp-elements-a7531da982a24d7b782746d77187259e wp-block-brightmine-resources-filter has-text-color has-primary-black-color has-background has-primary-white-background-color\">\n\n\n<div class=\"ajax-filter\">\n<div class=\"lnrs-resources-search-filter editor-posts-filtered-types  \">\n\t\t<div class=\"search_terms_bottom\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom_left\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"search_terms_result_count\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom_right\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"loader-container\">\n\t\t<span class=\"loader\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-filter-widget__container\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource\" style=\"background-color: #f3f2f0\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/bullying-harassment\/2025-workplace-harassment-law-changes\/\"><div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource_image\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/11203503\/Brightmine-third-party-harassment.webp);\"><\/div><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__inner_content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__categories\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__category\">Podcasts<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"title\" style=\"color: #00728B\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/bullying-harassment\/2025-workplace-harassment-law-changes\/\">Employment Rights Act 2025 harassment changes &#8211; a fresh perspective from the high seas<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"color: #000000\">Prepare for 2025 UK harassment legislation updates. 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value=\"Australia\">Australia<\/option><option value=\"Austria\">Austria<\/option><option value=\"Azerbaijan\">Azerbaijan<\/option><option value=\"Bahamas\">Bahamas<\/option><option value=\"Bahrain\">Bahrain<\/option><option value=\"Bangladesh\">Bangladesh<\/option><option value=\"Barbados\">Barbados<\/option><option value=\"Belarus\">Belarus<\/option><option value=\"Belgium\">Belgium<\/option><option value=\"Belize\">Belize<\/option><option value=\"Benin\">Benin<\/option><option value=\"Bermuda\">Bermuda<\/option><option value=\"Bhutan\">Bhutan<\/option><option value=\"Bolivia, Plurinational State\">Bolivia, Plurinational State<\/option><option value=\"Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba\">Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba<\/option><option value=\"Bosnia and Herzegovina\">Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/option><option value=\"Botswana\">Botswana<\/option><option value=\"Bouvet Island\">Bouvet Island<\/option><option value=\"Brazil\">Brazil<\/option><option value=\"British Indian Ocean Territory\">British Indian Ocean Territory<\/option><option value=\"Brunei\n    Darussalam\">Brunei\n    Darussalam<\/option><option value=\"Bulgaria\">Bulgaria<\/option><option value=\"Burkina Faso\">Burkina Faso<\/option><option value=\"Burundi\">Burundi<\/option><option value=\"Cambodia\">Cambodia<\/option><option value=\"Cameroon\">Cameroon<\/option><option value=\"Canada\">Canada<\/option><option value=\"Cape Verde\">Cape Verde<\/option><option value=\"Cayman Islands\">Cayman Islands<\/option><option value=\"Central African Republic\">Central African Republic<\/option><option value=\"Chad\">Chad<\/option><option value=\"Chile\">Chile<\/option><option value=\"China\">China<\/option><option value=\"Christmas Island\">Christmas Island<\/option><option value=\"Cocos (Keeling) Islands\">Cocos (Keeling) Islands<\/option><option value=\"Colombia\">Colombia<\/option><option value=\"Comoros\">Comoros<\/option><option value=\"Congo\">Congo<\/option><option value=\"Congo, the Democratic 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value=\"Guam\">Guam<\/option><option value=\"Guatemala\">Guatemala<\/option><option value=\"Guernsey\">Guernsey<\/option><option value=\"Guinea\">Guinea<\/option><option value=\"Guinea-Bissau\">Guinea-Bissau<\/option><option value=\"Guyana\">Guyana<\/option><option value=\"Haiti\">Haiti<\/option><option value=\"Heard Island and McDonald Islands\">Heard Island and McDonald Islands<\/option><option value=\"Holy\n    See (Vatican City State)\">Holy\n    See (Vatican City State)<\/option><option value=\"Honduras\">Honduras<\/option><option value=\"Hong Kong\">Hong Kong<\/option><option value=\"Hungary\">Hungary<\/option><option value=\"Iceland\">Iceland<\/option><option value=\"India\">India<\/option><option value=\"Indonesia\">Indonesia<\/option><option value=\"Iran, Islamic Republic of\">Iran, Islamic Republic of<\/option><option value=\"Iraq\">Iraq<\/option><option value=\"Ireland\">Ireland<\/option><option value=\"Isle of Man\">Isle of Man<\/option><option value=\"Israel\">Israel<\/option><option value=\"Italy\">Italy<\/option><option value=\"Jamaica\">Jamaica<\/option><option value=\"Japan\">Japan<\/option><option value=\"Jersey\">Jersey<\/option><option value=\"Jordan\">Jordan<\/option><option value=\"Kazakhstan\">Kazakhstan<\/option><option value=\"Kenya\">Kenya<\/option><option value=\"Kiribati\">Kiribati<\/option><option value=\"Korea, Democratic People&#039;s Republic of\">Korea, Democratic People&#039;s Republic of<\/option><option value=\"Korea, Republic of\">Korea, Republic of<\/option><option value=\"Kosovo\">Kosovo<\/option><option value=\"Kuwait\">Kuwait<\/option><option value=\"Kyrgyzstan\">Kyrgyzstan<\/option><option value=\"Lao People&#039;s Democratic Republic\">Lao People&#039;s Democratic Republic<\/option><option value=\"Latvia\">Latvia<\/option><option value=\"Lebanon\">Lebanon<\/option><option value=\"Lesotho\">Lesotho<\/option><option value=\"Liberia\">Liberia<\/option><option value=\"Libyan Arab Jamahiriya\">Libyan Arab Jamahiriya<\/option><option value=\"Liechtenstein\">Liechtenstein<\/option><option value=\"Lithuania\">Lithuania<\/option><option value=\"Luxembourg\">Luxembourg<\/option><option value=\"Macao\">Macao<\/option><option value=\"Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic\n    of\">Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic\n    of<\/option><option value=\"Madagascar\">Madagascar<\/option><option value=\"Malawi\">Malawi<\/option><option value=\"Malaysia\">Malaysia<\/option><option value=\"Maldives\">Maldives<\/option><option value=\"Mali\">Mali<\/option><option value=\"Malta\">Malta<\/option><option value=\"Marshall\n    Islands\">Marshall\n    Islands<\/option><option value=\"Martinique\">Martinique<\/option><option value=\"Mauritania\">Mauritania<\/option><option value=\"Mauritius\">Mauritius<\/option><option value=\"Mayotte\">Mayotte<\/option><option value=\"Mexico\">Mexico<\/option><option value=\"Micronesia\">Micronesia<\/option><option value=\"Moldova, Republic of\">Moldova, Republic of<\/option><option value=\"Monaco\">Monaco<\/option><option value=\"Mongolia\">Mongolia<\/option><option value=\"Montenegro\">Montenegro<\/option><option value=\"Montserrat\">Montserrat<\/option><option value=\"Morocco\">Morocco<\/option><option value=\"Mozambique\">Mozambique<\/option><option value=\"Myanmar\">Myanmar<\/option><option value=\"Namibia\">Namibia<\/option><option value=\"Nauru\">Nauru<\/option><option value=\"Nepal\">Nepal<\/option><option value=\"Netherlands\">Netherlands<\/option><option value=\"New Caledonia\">New Caledonia<\/option><option value=\"New Zealand\">New Zealand<\/option><option value=\"Nicaragua\">Nicaragua<\/option><option value=\"Niger\">Niger<\/option><option value=\"Nigeria\">Nigeria<\/option><option value=\"Niue\">Niue<\/option><option value=\"Norfolk Island\">Norfolk Island<\/option><option value=\"Northern Mariana Islands\">Northern Mariana Islands<\/option><option value=\"Norway\">Norway<\/option><option value=\"Oman\">Oman<\/option><option value=\"Pakistan\">Pakistan<\/option><option value=\"Palau\">Palau<\/option><option value=\"Palestinian Territory, Occupied\">Palestinian Territory, Occupied<\/option><option value=\"Panama\">Panama<\/option><option value=\"Papua New\n    Guinea\">Papua New\n    Guinea<\/option><option value=\"Paraguay\">Paraguay<\/option><option value=\"Peru\">Peru<\/option><option value=\"Philippines\">Philippines<\/option><option value=\"Pitcairn\">Pitcairn<\/option><option value=\"Poland\">Poland<\/option><option value=\"Portugal\">Portugal<\/option><option value=\"Puerto Rico\">Puerto Rico<\/option><option value=\"Qatar\">Qatar<\/option><option value=\"Reunion\">Reunion<\/option><option value=\"Romania\">Romania<\/option><option value=\"Russian Federation\">Russian Federation<\/option><option value=\"Rwanda\">Rwanda<\/option><option value=\"Saint Barth\u00e9lemy\">Saint Barth\u00e9lemy<\/option><option value=\"Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha\">Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha<\/option><option value=\"Saint\n    Kitts and Nevis\">Saint\n    Kitts and Nevis<\/option><option value=\"Saint Lucia\">Saint Lucia<\/option><option value=\"Saint Martin (French part)\">Saint Martin (French part)<\/option><option value=\"Saint Pierre\n    and Miquelon\">Saint Pierre\n    and Miquelon<\/option><option value=\"Saint Vincent and the Grenadines\">Saint Vincent and the Grenadines<\/option><option value=\"Samoa\">Samoa<\/option><option value=\"San Marino\">San Marino<\/option><option value=\"Sao\n    Tome and Principe\">Sao\n    Tome and Principe<\/option><option value=\"Saudi Arabia\">Saudi Arabia<\/option><option value=\"Senegal\">Senegal<\/option><option value=\"Serbia\">Serbia<\/option><option value=\"Seychelles\">Seychelles<\/option><option value=\"Sierra\n    Leone\">Sierra\n    Leone<\/option><option value=\"Singapore\">Singapore<\/option><option value=\"Sint Maarten (Dutch part)\">Sint Maarten (Dutch part)<\/option><option value=\"Slovakia\">Slovakia<\/option><option value=\"Slovenia\">Slovenia<\/option><option value=\"Solomon Islands\">Solomon Islands<\/option><option value=\"Somalia\">Somalia<\/option><option value=\"South Africa\">South Africa<\/option><option value=\"South Georgia and the South\n    Sandwich Islands\">South Georgia and the South\n    Sandwich Islands<\/option><option value=\"South Sudan\">South Sudan<\/option><option value=\"Spain\">Spain<\/option><option value=\"Sri Lanka\">Sri Lanka<\/option><option value=\"Sudan\">Sudan<\/option><option value=\"Suriname\">Suriname<\/option><option value=\"Svalbard and Jan Mayen\">Svalbard and Jan Mayen<\/option><option value=\"Sweden\">Sweden<\/option><option value=\"Switzerland\">Switzerland<\/option><option value=\"Syrian Arab Republic\">Syrian Arab Republic<\/option><option value=\"Taiwan\">Taiwan<\/option><option value=\"Tajikistan\">Tajikistan<\/option><option value=\"Tanzania, United Republic of\">Tanzania, United Republic of<\/option><option value=\"Thailand\">Thailand<\/option><option value=\"Timor-Leste\">Timor-Leste<\/option><option value=\"Togo\">Togo<\/option><option value=\"Tokelau\">Tokelau<\/option><option value=\"Tonga\">Tonga<\/option><option value=\"Trinidad and Tobago\">Trinidad and Tobago<\/option><option value=\"Tunisia\">Tunisia<\/option><option value=\"Turkey\">Turkey<\/option><option value=\"Turkmenistan\">Turkmenistan<\/option><option value=\"Turks and Caicos Islands\">Turks and Caicos Islands<\/option><option value=\"Tuvalu\">Tuvalu<\/option><option value=\"Uganda\">Uganda<\/option><option value=\"Ukraine\">Ukraine<\/option><option value=\"United Arab Emirates\">United Arab Emirates<\/option><option value=\"United\n    States Minor Outlying Islands\">United\n    States Minor Outlying Islands<\/option><option value=\"Uruguay\">Uruguay<\/option><option value=\"Uzbekistan\">Uzbekistan<\/option><option value=\"Vanuatu\">Vanuatu<\/option><option value=\"Venezuela,\n    Bolivarian Republic 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