Crelan’s acquisition of Axa Banque Belgium finalised with a digitised plan in proPilot

• To ensure automated monitoring of the closing of the €691 million M&A deal and free up capacity, the players relied on the digital control system in proPilot.

In order to monitor the closing phase of the M&A, a master plan has been drawn up to prepare the sale of AXA Banque Belgium‘s banking activities to Crelan. The transaction is valued at 691 million euros. The financial and legal requirements prior to such an operation necessitate precise monitoring of the progress of the plan, synergies and savings achieved. For example, it is essential to provide the ECB with solid guarantees regarding the financing of the takeover. In this type of operation, making information available to the many parties involved is another major challenge.

Bain Consulting‘s teams implemented the master plan in proPilot with the support of dFakto’s Business teams. The plan is based on a coherent three-level tree structure, which makes it possible to monitor at each level the indicators and qualitative information that reflect the commitment of resources and the concrete impact of projects in relation to the objectives set. It also makes it possible to identify the risks and successes encountered in each area. proPilot has thus made it possible to monitor the levels of responsibility for all stakeholders.

Digitising the plan with proPilot has eliminated much of the manual work and automated the monitoring and updating of the plan for all stakeholders. Real-time information and freed-up capacity meant that resources could be focused on analysis and high added-value tasks.

proPilot enabled Bain Consulting‘s strategic teams and Crelan’s Integration Management Office to monitor integration streams, projects and milestones for all those involved. In total, more than 500 projects were integrated into the digitised plan, divided into 11 integration streams. Reports were generated on an hourly basis to ensure monitoring at different frequencies.

By digitising the plan and monitoring it in real time, potential synergies were identified and explored, an essential step in meeting the regulatory requirements prior to the merger and acquisition. The transaction, valued at €691m (of which €611m in cash), was successfully completed.

Sander Muylle, Head of Transformation Office at Crelan: “The proPilot platform enabled Crelan’s Integration Management Office (IMO), supported by Bain Consulting, to digitise the Master Plan to monitor progress and create synergies in order to meet the financial and legal requirements prior to the merger and acquisition.”