COMPLEX CORPORATE FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS
THE CHALLENGE:
One of largest US banks was facing a bitter and complex proxy fight. It wanted to merge with another bank while fighting off a hostile bid. In this complicated merger situation, employee votes were crucial but, so far, internal communication had failed to have an impact.
The bank’s strategic advisors and its CEO needed to develop the strategy for employee-directed proxy communications. We were called in.
Research
Time was of the essence. In less than a week we conducted 35 individual interviews with management, 70 “bring-your-friends” employee group interviews, and presented our results to top management.
Insight
Employees felt betrayed by top management and did not trust its motivations. For them, the future value of the stock mattered less than retaining the value of the company’s ethics and culture which they believed deeply. Communications had failed to address their emotional concerns while inundating them with confusing proxy directives .
Strategy
The client launched an “election-style” campaign driven by management with no perceived vested interest in the merger, focused on preserving the bank’s cultural values, and supported by meetings between employees at both banks.
Three weeks after we were called in employees’ vote shifted to a 3- to- 1 margin in favor of the merger, and the fourth largest bank in the US was created.