How do I announce my acquisition to employees?

August 16, 2021

by a searcher from Stanford University - Graduate School of Business in Alameda, CA, USA

We're about to close on a plumbing business where the owner has been there 40 years and his name is on the truck (so central to the business's identity).

Am looking for advice on how to announce the sale to his employees (there are ~40). Our current plan is to call an All Hands where we announce it together and then arrange for 1:1s with everyone over the next few days so they can sign their new employment agreement (everyone is getting a retention bonus, some people are getting raises - no one's comp is going down).

Any good resources/articles you'd recommend for handling business transition announcements/messaging? Any watch outs or things to avoid?

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Reply by a searcher
from Pennsylvania State University in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

There are some great answers in this thread! Just remember that it is a very stressful situation for the employees as they don't know what is going to happen to them. So be transparent with your plans and intentions and reassure them that you are here because of how amazing the company is and that you want to keep on growing the company and build on that legacy left by the previous owner. ^redacted‌ made a great point to stress to them that the owner chose you because you had the most potential to grow the company. In my case, the owner announced to the people that she was selling on one day and the following day, I was meeting all of them with her. She explained why she chose me, and I told them that I was super excited to grow this business with them. I kept it short but reassuring and then during the week did my 1:1.

Reply by a searcher
from Carnegie Mellon University in Chagrin Falls, OH, United States

Go over the story with the seller at least 4-5x. You want to make sure that every employee will hear the same message regardless of which person they ask. Don't make a lot of promises early other than focusing on the fact that their job and their pay will stay the same. If you are changing any benefits be ready to talk about why. Keep the all hands short and make sure to do the 1-on-1s within the first couple of days. Be clear how you are scheduling people - if it's leadership team first and then everyone else that is fine, but someone has to be last and that may offend someone. I'd ask the seller for guidance about who is likely to be sensitive so you can talk to those folks first. DO NOT delay 1-on-1s - good intentions are not enough for that issue - you have to follow-through on meeting with everyone quickly.

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