Mike Creasey heads M&A and Divestments unit of Moorhouse
Mike Creasey has left Deloitte to join business transformation consultancy Moorhouse as Client Director, a position that will see him leading the merger, acquisition and divestment service line. Creasey has more than 15 years’ experience in the consulting industry.
Prior to joining Moorhouse, a London-based management consultancy, Mike Creasey spent 5,5 years with Deloitte, most recently serving as a Director in the firm’s Integration & Separation unit (a service line within Deloitte’s Corporate Finance practice). He joined the Big Four in the summer of 2010, after spending – also 5,5 years – with rival KPMG, where he was part of the integration and separation advisory team in KPMG's transaction services arm. At both advisory firms, Creasey’s work spanned every stage of the deal cycle, from pre-deal business case development through to post-deal integration planning and execution. He also has extensive experience in managing divestment programmes, including BU separations and carve outs.
Creasey started his career in 1998 with KPMG Consulting, which in 2002 was rebranded as Atos KPMG Consulting following Atos’ acquisition of KPMG Consulting*, a move that was part of the wider consulting carve outs that at the time dominated the accounting landscape in the aftermath of the Enron scandal in the US. At Atos Consulting, Creasey grew through the ranks to the role of Principal Consultant before he moved (back) to KPMG Consulting in 2005.
Over the past 15 years Creasey has worked for blue chip clients across a number of sectors including energy and natural resources, business services and consumer business. Companies he advised include Royal Philips, Co-operative Group, Unilever, GSK, Glencore, Shell, Wolseley, Ford, Santander, Bank of America and RBS.
In his new role at Moorhouse, Creasey will lead the firm’s M&A practice, which focuses mainly on the deal execution side of transactions. “In the last few years Moorhouse has built a reputation for supporting clients in the successful delivery of high profile deals”, states Stephen Vinall, Partner at Moorhouse. Reflecting on Creasey joining the firm’s ranks, Vinall says “With his deep, cross-sector experience, Mike will be instrumental in leading the acceleration of this business critical capability for Moorhouse that will further ensure our clients’ success.”
With the M&A market on a high – globally almost $5 trillion in deals were noted according to McKinsey & Company – and with the UK deal market no exception, Vinall says demand for deal support is expected to be rosy the coming months. “2016 continues to show significant levels of activity”, says the Partner. According to EY, more than half (59%) of executives are currently looking to invest in acquisitions, up from just 31% two years ago.
Realising synergies and business case drivers remains an issue, however. “Our recent Barometer on Change clearly showed that, although nearly two-thirds of FTSE 250 companies, UK multinationals and major public sector organisations have recently undergone or are about to undergo a merger, acquisition, or divestment, just 29% of those have managed to realise the anticipated benefits.” Vinall says that there is therefore a “clear need” for the expertise of specialists that are able to “ensure that major corporate transformation initiatives deliver their full potential value.”
For deal value to be captured a string of factors should be in place, including strong leadership capacities and a rigid due diligence process. A recent study by Mercer reveals that human capital considerations too should be incorporated into M&A roadmaps, while another study earmarks integration capabilities and speed of deal execution to be among the most important factors for successful benefit realisation.
* In 2002 Atos bought the British and Dutch arms of KPMG Consulting for a fee of €657 million (then £423 million) from under the nose of the separately listed US-based KPMG Consulting.
