Post-Merger Playbook: Building the Financial Backbone
In the early stages of a merger, organizations rely on a deep bench of advisors to help shape and close the deal, spanning bankers, lawyers, and consultants. But once the merger is complete, execution falls squarely to management. While many operational areas benefit from continued advisory support, treasury is often an afterthought. That oversight can result in missed opportunities for shaping the financial path of the organization, entirely avoidable with a proactive, integrated strategy for managing financial resources.
It is understandable that certain treasury concerns rise to the top of the priority list in the early post-merger period: establishing cash flow controls, confirming capital allocation pathways, and beginning credit consolidation. But after these immediate needs are addressed, finance leaders face a choice: continue addressing issues one at a time, or step back and design a comprehensive treasury strategy aligned to the organization’s new, larger profile.
A unified strategy not only strengthens execution but also sends a clear message to internal and external stakeholders: this organization is aligned and financially prepared for the future.
Treasury’s Place in a Complex Integration Landscape
Mergers impact nearly every organizational function, including brand, culture, people, contracts, processes, and technology. It’s no surprise that integration consultants focus deeply on these areas. But in not-for-profit healthcare especially, where the business model depends heavily on managing a complex and segmented balance sheet, financial strategy deserves more deliberate attention.
Take board-designated funds as an example. These assets don’t function like a traditional endowment, yet they’re invested in risk assets and must support both near-term and long-term organizational needs. Further, liquidity strains from the revenue cycle can complicate cash management, requiring lines of credit or CP programs with carefully tailored terms. Meanwhile, long-term debt has often evolved into a managed portfolio, requiring regular issuance strategies rather than episodic borrowing. Over all of this hangs the need to maintain credit ratings and financial planning discipline.
Given these interdependent decisions, the treasury function should not be managed piecemeal. Instead, it deserves an integration strategy of its own, focused on:
Cash management and short-term funding facilities,
Bank and counterparty relationships,
Long-term credit and investor relations,
Board-designated and unrestricted investments,
Credit rating strategy and financial planning targets,
Organizational risk capacity balancing, and
Perpetual strategy process linked to strategic and financial planning.
From Reactive to Strategic
In stable conditions with ample resources, treasury decisions can often be made in isolation, focused on incremental optimization. But in today’s strained environment, those decisions must be evaluated against the organization’s broader risk capacity.
What worked before may not work going forward. The newly combined organization likely faces larger capital demands, more complex cash flow dynamics, and heightened strategic ambitions. Leaders must understand how core operations and planned initiatives translate into both scheduled and contingent capital needs.
Some organizations already have enterprise risk management capabilities that can support this work. But more often, supplemental analytics like sensitivity modeling, scenario planning, and financial capacity assessments are needed to quantify potential impact. Ultimately, the balance sheet must serve as a shock absorber for risk and a platform for growth. Only through a structured, organization-aligned treasury strategy can it fulfill that role.
Clarifying Roles and Enabling Execution
With a strong understanding of the organization’s risk and resource profile, finance leaders are positioned to make thoughtful decisions about internal teams and external advisors. A common question post-merger is: when is the right time to reassess advisor relationships? Too early, and you risk misalignment. Too late, and you limit the advisor’s ability to shape outcomes.
Before launching advisor selection processes, organizations should first set clear directives: what should treasury support, and how should financial platforms be governed? As those directives take shape, the right team structure, policy framework, and advisor role definitions begin to emerge anchored in strategy, not just urgency.
Support Offered by Reasoned Advisory
This work is complex and often benefits from the perspective of an objective outside advisor. Reasoned Advisory assists clients through its focus on integrated financial risk and resource strategies. We help health systems and non-profits consider their full balance sheet platform and set coordinated strategies across cash, credit, investments, and governance.
Our work often includes teaming with internal leaders and external specialists across:
Treasury operations
Cash and investment management
Credit structuring and debt issuance
Rating agency strategy
Governance education and policy design
We welcome the opportunity to support your treasury strategy, especially when urgently required in a post-merger context.