How to Decide the Right Integration Level for Each Acquisition

You've just closed an acquisition. The ink is dry, the champagne has been drunk, and now everyone's looking at you with the same question: "So... what happens to their systems?"

The instinctive answer is usually one of two extremes. Either "we'll move them onto our systems as fast as possible" or "let's leave everything as is for now and figure it out later."

Both instincts are understandable. Both are often wrong.

The truth is that integration isn't binary. You have real choices about how deeply to integrate each acquisition, and the right choice depends on what you're trying to achieve. Treat every acquisition the same, and you'll either over-disrupt simple tuck-ins or under-integrate strategic deals.

According to Bain & Company, programmatic acquirers (those with structured, repeatable approaches) achieve 8.5% TSR growth compared to 3.7% for ad-hoc acquirers. Part of that edge comes from having frameworks for decisions like integration depth, rather than making it up each time.

This article gives you a framework for making that decision deliberately rather than by default.

This article is adapted from Chapter 2 of The Roll-Up Integration Playbook, our free guide to post-merger technical integration.

The Integration Spectrum

Think of integration depth as a spectrum. At one end, the acquired company effectively disappears into your platform. At the other, they continue operating almost independently. Most acquisitions land somewhere in between.

We've found it useful to think about three broad levels:

High-TouchMedium-TouchLow-TouchIntegration DepthFullSubstantialMinimalBrand & Customer-FacingUnified under platform brandSeparate brands maintainedSeparateBack-Office SystemsConsolidated (CRM, ERP, HR)Consolidated (CRM, ERP, HR)Financial reporting onlyOperational SystemsStandardisedFlexible (may retain specialist tools)UnchangedProcesses & WorkflowsFully standardisedCore processes aligned, some flexibilityUnchangedTypical Timeline60-90+ days60-90+ days15-30 daysRisk ProfileHigherModerateLowerBest ForTuck-ins, scale synergies, unified brandCapability acquisitions, brand equity preservationNew verticals, short holds

Let's look at each level in detail.

High-Touch Integration (Full Absorption)

This is complete consolidation across systems and brand. The acquired company moves onto your CRM, your ERP, your operational tools. They rebrand. Within 60 to 90 days, they're operating on the same systems as the rest of your platform, and customers see one unified company.

The acquired entity effectively disappears as a distinct business. They might remain as a legal entity for tax or contractual reasons, but operationally and externally, they're fully absorbed.

What High-Touch Looks Like in Practice

• Single CRM, ERP, and HR system across the group
• Unified email domain and collaboration tools
• Standardised processes and workflows
• Full rebranding (name, signage, vehicles, uniforms)
• Customers interact with one company, not two
• Centralised functions: one sales team, one marketing team, one finance team

When High-Touch Makes Sense

• The acquired company is a straightforward "tuck-in" (less than 20% of your platform's size)
• You're building a unified brand and customer experience
• There's significant customer overlap requiring a single view
• The acquired company's systems are clearly outdated or inferior
• You're targeting scale economies through standardisation

The Value Case

When executed well, High-Touch integration typically commands higher valuation multiples at exit. Buyers pay a premium for a genuinely unified platform over a collection of loosely connected businesses.

Research from Eight International found that 75% of acquirers achieved their strategic goals when they had a dedicated integration leader. High-Touch requires that kind of focused execution.

The Risk Trade-Off

High-Touch carries the highest risk during transition. When you consolidate systems and rebrand simultaneously, any operational mistakes become associated with your platform brand. If invoices go out late during the migration, customers blame your company, not the legacy business you acquired.

This isn't a reason to avoid High-Touch. It's a reason to execute it well, with proper planning, testing, and contingency. For the execution playbook, see The First 100 Days After an Acquisition.

Warning: High-Touch integration magnifies both upside and downside. Get it right, and you've cleanly absorbed a business. Get it wrong, and you've damaged your platform's reputation with the acquired company's customers.

Medium-Touch Integration (Back-Office Integration, Brand Separation)

Medium-Touch consolidates the back-office systems that drive operational efficiency and reporting, while keeping the customer-facing brand and identity separate.

You get unified data, streamlined operations, and consolidated reporting. But customers continue to see the acquired company as a distinct business.

What Medium-Touch Looks Like in Practice

• CRM consolidated (unified customer database, single pipeline view)
• ERP and finance consolidated (one chart of accounts, unified reporting)
• HR and payroll consolidated
• Customer-facing brand remains distinct
• Some flexibility in processes and workflows
• Operational tools may be consolidated or kept separate depending on the situation

When Medium-Touch Makes Sense

• The acquired brand has equity worth preserving
• They serve a distinct market, geography, or customer segment
• The acquisition is larger or more strategic (not a simple tuck-in)
• You're acquiring a capability or market position, not just revenue
• Full brand consolidation would cause customer confusion

The Flexibility Question

Within Medium-Touch, you still have choices about how standardised to make processes and whether to retain specialist operational tools.

You might consolidate CRM and ERP but allow the acquired company to keep their industry-specific scheduling software because it's genuinely superior. The key is that the core systems are integrated, even if some peripheral systems remain separate with data flowing into the core.

For guidance on which systems to prioritise, see System Migration After Acquisition: CRM, ERP, Email, HR, and Operational Tools.

Low-Touch Integration (Financial Layer Only)

Sometimes the right answer is minimal integration. You establish a financial reporting layer to get the visibility you need, deploy baseline cybersecurity, and leave almost everything else alone. The acquired company continues operating as they were.

What Low-Touch Looks Like in Practice

• Financial reporting connection (structured monthly exports or basic integration)
• Cybersecurity baseline (endpoint protection, access controls)
• All other systems remain separate
• Processes and brand unchanged
• Minimal disruption to acquired team

When Low-Touch Makes Sense

• The acquisition represents entry into a new vertical or geography
• Regulatory or legal requirements favour separation
• You're testing a new market before committing to deeper integration
• The hold period is short (planned resale within 2-3 years)
• Integration costs clearly exceed the synergy benefits

The Risk of Low-Touch

Low-Touch is the lowest-risk approach during transition. But it carries a different risk: you're not capturing integration value, and you're accumulating complexity.

Every Low-Touch acquisition adds another set of systems to your portfolio. Research shows that platforms burn £50K+ annually on redundant software alone when they don't consolidate. That cost compounds with each acquisition.

Low-Touch should be a deliberate choice with clear rationale, not the default because integration seemed hard.

Brand Integration: The Strategic Decision

One of the clearest differentiators between integration levels is what happens to the brand. This decision should be made alongside your integration level decision, not separately.

The Case for Brand Consolidation (High-Touch)

• Unified market presence and customer experience
• Enables centralised teams (one sales team, one marketing function, one customer service operation)
• Stronger platform brand recognition over time
• Clearer internal identity and culture
• Eliminates customer confusion about relationships between entities

The Case for Brand Preservation (Medium-Touch or Low-Touch)

• Acquired brand has established customer loyalty and recognition
• Different brands serve genuinely different market segments
• Local/regional brand strength in specific geographies
• Acquisition was partly motivated by the brand value itself

The Middle Ground: Endorsed Brands

You don't have to choose between full consolidation and complete separation. Many platforms use an endorsed brand approach: the acquired company keeps its name but adds a connection to the parent.

For example: "ABC Fire Safety, a SafetyFirst Group company" or a logo lockup with the parent brand.

This lets you start building platform brand recognition while preserving the equity in the acquired name. It's also a practical stepping stone if you plan to fully rebrand later.

Questions to Guide the Brand Decision

• Do customers know and value the acquired brand?
• Would rebranding cause confusion or concern?
• Does our platform brand have recognition in the acquired company's market?
• What's the cost of rebranding (signage, vehicles, uniforms, marketing materials)?
• Do we want to centralise customer-facing teams, or keep them separate?

Making the Decision: Key Questions

Choosing the right integration level isn't about following a formula. It's about asking the right questions and letting the answers guide you.

Questions That Favour High-Touch

• Are you building a unified platform with a single brand?
• Is this a small tuck-in (less than 20% of platform size)?
• Are the acquired company's systems clearly inferior?
• Is there significant customer overlap?
• Are you under pressure to realise cost synergies quickly?
• Do you want to centralise sales, marketing, and operations?

Questions That Favour Medium-Touch

• Does the acquired brand have value worth preserving?
• Do they serve a fundamentally different customer segment?
• Did you acquire them for a capability or market position?
• Is the acquisition large enough that full absorption feels risky?

Questions That Favour Low-Touch

• Is this your first move into a new vertical or geography?
• Are you planning to exit this business within 2-3 years?
• Do regulatory requirements favour separation?
• Would integration costs clearly exceed synergy benefits?

For a detailed checklist to work through these questions systematically, see Post-Merger Integration Checklists and Templates.

Common Mistakes

Over-Integrating

The platform imposes High-Touch integration on every acquisition because "that's how we do things." The result: operational disruption, destruction of brand equity, employee turnover, and transition problems that damage the platform's reputation.

Real Talk: If you acquired a company because they're excellent at something, and your first move is to rebrand them and change everything, you might be destroying what you bought.

Under-Integrating

The platform defaults to Low-Touch because "it's complicated" or "we'll get to it later." The result: redundant software costs accumulate, no unified customer view despite overlap, and the technology landscape becomes increasingly unmanageable.

Deloitte research shows that 53% of acquirers experience delayed integration of core business functions like ERP and CRM. This delay has real costs.

Real Talk: Deciding not to integrate is still a decision. Make it deliberately with clear rationale, not because you hoped the problem would solve itself.

Inconsistent Integration Without Strategy

Some acquisitions get High-Touch, some get Low-Touch, but without clear rationale. The decisions were made based on who was available, what seemed easiest, or what the acquired company's founder preferred. The result is a patchwork with no coherent architecture.

The framework doesn't require treating every acquisition the same. It requires treating every acquisition deliberately.

The Sunset Policy

For Medium-Touch integrations where you keep some systems separate (or for Low-Touch integrations you plan to deepen later), establish a Sunset Policy.

A Sunset Policy sets clear criteria for when a legacy system must be replaced:

• The system becomes unsupported by its vendor
• Security vulnerabilities can't be adequately mitigated
• Maintenance costs exceed a defined threshold
• Key personnel who understand the system leave

Without a Sunset Policy, temporary decisions become permanent by accident. You end up with a "Frankenstein" architecture of legacy systems connected by ageing custom integrations.

Warning: Legacy systems have a way of becoming permanent. If you're keeping a system in place, document your decision rationale and your Sunset criteria. Future you will thank present you.

Two Examples

Example 1: The Tuck-In (High-Touch)

Situation: £2M revenue HVAC company, 12 employees. Running QuickBooks, Google Workspace, and scheduling via spreadsheets. No meaningful brand recognition beyond the owner's personal relationships.

Decision: High-Touch integration. Move them onto platform systems and rebrand within 60 days. Small relative to platform, inferior systems, no brand equity worth preserving, and clear cost savings from consolidation.

Example 2: The Market Expansion (Medium-Touch)

Situation: £8M revenue specialist fire safety compliance firm, 50 employees. Strong brand recognition in their niche. Running Xero, Microsoft 365, and a bespoke compliance tracking system. Your platform does general facilities management but wants to add fire safety as a service line.

Decision: Medium-Touch integration. Consolidate CRM for unified customer view. Finance already aligned on Xero. Keep the fire safety brand (possibly with a "part of [Platform]" endorsement). Their specialist compliance system stays with a Sunset Policy review at Month 12.

Key Takeaways

• Integration depth is a spectrum with three practical levels: High-Touch (full absorption including brand), Medium-Touch (back-office integration, brand preserved), and Low-Touch (financial reporting only).
• The brand decision should be made alongside integration level. Consider whether you want centralised teams and unified market presence, or preserved brand equity and market positioning.
• High-Touch carries the highest transition risk, but the highest value when done well. Unified platforms typically command better valuations than loosely connected portfolios.
• Medium-Touch gives you integration value with brand flexibility. You get unified systems and reporting while preserving customer-facing identity.
• Low-Touch should be deliberate, not default. It makes sense for new verticals, short holds, or regulatory constraints. Not for avoiding hard work.
• Use a Sunset Policy for any systems you keep separate. Define when legacy systems will eventually be replaced.

Get the Full Playbook

This article covered the High/Medium/Low-Touch framework for deciding integration depth. For the complete guide, including the 100-day execution timeline, system migration guidance, and ready-to-use checklists, download The Roll-Up Integration Playbook.

Download the Playbook

About PMI Stack

PMI Stack helps small-to-mid cap roll-ups unify systems, data, and workflows across their acquired companies. We specialise in the technical side of post-merger integration: data migration, system consolidation, and the change management that makes new tools stick.

If you're planning an integration and want to talk through your specific situation, book a free discovery call.

Statistics cited from Bain & Company, Deloitte, Eight International, and PwC. For the full research compilation, see 50+ Post-Merger Integration Statistics (2026).