Testimonials for M&As
Shlomo Amir, Vice Chairman of the Board, Isra Vision
Rami Dar, CEO, Hazera Genetics, Limagrain Group
Yagev supported AVT's Due-diligence processes with 2 prospected acquisitions, and later advised me and the company's management on the integration process. His vast experience and outstanding professionalism were an important factor for our success.
I have worked with Yagev on the integration of Hazera Genetics with a Dutch company during the planning stage and the first steps of integration. Yagev’s contribution was very important both to reach the right decisions during the planning phase and also to lead group meetings and seminars that dealt with the challenges and solutions at the initial integration stage.
I consider Yagev as top professional in this field and appreciated a lot his support and advice.
When I was the CEO of Bagir, we acquired a company in Germany as part of our growth strategy. I hired the services of SG to help us in the integration process. With Yagev's help on the Israeli side and Ulli on the German side, we were able to map the risks, understand the complexities and build a good integration plan. SG's professionalism was imperative in this complex cross - border acquisition.
I had the pleasure of working with Yagev in developing the M&A strategy for Paz Oil Group. Yagev and his team were able to analyze a very complex company with unique strategy and needs, and establish a best of breed methodology and implementation process for the group M&A activity.
I met Yagev during my time at C-nario/YCD when his company SG was appointed to provide consulting and lead the merger between C-nario and YCD. I worked closely with Yagev and found him a true professional, experienced and great person to work with. He lead the complex merger (business, organization and personal aspects) from the preparation phase, planning and execution, with great motivation until the successful goal was achieved. His experience and openness helped a lot to position the merged company and set the targets for the coming year. I highly recommend Yagev and I am sure his engagement can contribute to successful mergers and overcome all the challenges in the way.
As appointed PMI (Post Merger Integration) project manager in my firm, we hired S.G. as consultants to help us perform this imperative process. From Day-One, the owners of S.G. (Yagev & Eitan) were "hands on" and immersed themselves in the project. They offered valuable methodologies, tools and insights, which allowed me to focus on actual task fulfillment, without wasting valuable time on administrative issues. Their professional attitude, their analysis, their positive state of mind and their mentoring helped me run this process smoothly and professionally, while successfully meeting milestones and deadlines. I will definitely hire their services again, and I would strongly recommend them.
When you are in a Company that acquires another Company - a lot is at stake; and after the business case has been made and the deal has been signed - it's just the beginning of a long journey with many details, knows as PMI - Post Merger Integration. Yagev is a leading expert in this field, and he has lead, together with his partner Eitan, the PMI project for us. Yagev's advantage is that on top of his specific PMI expertise he has a strong HR-centric view of companies and businesses - and this is crucial for the success of a project like this. Also he has a very personable way of interacting with the various execs in each company, and plainly said, he is a combination of smart, experienced - and nice!
Yagev has done a great assessment work for me, providing unique perspectives during a cross-cultural M&A due diligence process we went through. Yagev was able to take over a critical task and deliver within a very tight schedule a professional and insightful CEO and board level analysis backed with recommendation and a related action plan.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Ben Itzhak over a period of three years. During that time I found his combination of insight, humor and pragmatism invaluable in assisting us to transform ACT EMEA from a collection of barely connected start ups to a coherent region”.
Erez Levi - Business Accelerator Chairman, Israeli Innovative Industry Forum
"I worked with SG M&A on Gat’s M&A strategy execution. They assisted us in scanning, targeting and approaching suitable candidate companies in new territories. The work with them was professional, focused and conducted in a positive climate. I look forward to working with them in the future".
Yagev was hired to help in a complex process of a Merger and Acquisition involving the purchase of a European/North-American corporation. From the very early sessions it was quite obvious that Yagev is an outstanding professional in these areas and his team is highly capable.
Through his thorough study of the issues and by accompanying the phases of the process most matters requiring delicate attention were brought to light and to the attention of management. As a result, and through Yagev's obvious skill and experience, potential difficulties were controlled and possible pitfalls were avoided. The process of Merger and Acquisition was hence dealt with in a professional and organized manner. Yagev is highly recommended in his line of business.
S.G and Yagev Ben Itzhak worked with our Russian holding companies several times.
In 2008, our media company made an acquisition of a competitor company of almost the same size. Yagev was invited to consult top management on the post-merger integration stage.
Our business goal was to achieve synergistic increase in turnover, reduction of operational costs and dissemination of the corporate culture in the merged company.
A huge scope of work was done, including the actual merger of two offices and teams, taking decision on the optimization of all the business processes for each company, staff reduction, unification of the business format, etc.
A special place in the integration project was given to communication strategy, which aimed to help reduce the risk of human capital loss in the merged entity.
We were more than pleased with the results and afterwards used the experience and developed additional methods more than once. We were pleased to recommend the cooperation with S.G. to many of our partners.
On October 2011 we have hired S.G. as consultants; to help us with the PMI process we were going through (YCD + C-Nario). Yagev managed the entire process, leading us through this challenging and complex stage. Yagev is a professional consultant, with vast experience in PMI processes. He brings with him many important tools and insights. Working with him was a real pleasure. I can highly recommend him.
As the Marketing & Sales V.P. of Getter Graphics, I faced the challenge of building a new organizational unit out from scratch and plan the integration of two new acquired companies. The SG team accompanied me throughout the planning stage of these processes. I enjoyed working with them due to their professionalism, knowledge and their way of moving these projects forward. I look forward working with them in the future
Yagev worked with me on an integration process of an Israeli company into a US entity. Yagev’s organizational experience flavored with his international perspective helped the company to plan and cross this complicated task successfully. Using his unique skill set, Yagev understands the overall picture yet knows how to focus on priorities and deliverables. Yagev is a great person to work with and will be a great asset to any organization.
I had the pleasure to meet Yagev when the company I worked with was acquired. Yagev did an outstanding work to prepare all members of that merger for a positive view and approach of that fundamental step. He was very open to all suggestions during the preparatory and final work in both sites. He supported all and each of us with much professionalism. I will enjoy very much to work with him if needed in the future and I highly recommend him if the main goal is a successful merger or optimization of a company.
I worked with Yagev as a consultant for Applied Materials M&A Integration process and challenges. Yagev was a professional and open partner, with vast experience and expertise.
"Yagev has been working as a consultant in Hazera Genetics for the last 3 years. During this period he helped us in a significant number of processes including strategic, structural and operational changes. Throughout those changes, Yagev managed to enlighten us with his insights and experience and show us the several warning signs we needed to face. With Yagev's help, we built up a unique management forum and designed our company's vision and values. These days, Yagev helps Hazera's top management and takes part of the company's merger with a Dutch company. The work with Yagev is pleasant and it contributes enormously to the company"
I had the pleasure of working with Yagev Ben Itzhak twice: The first time was while working in Applied Materials. Yagev worked closely with the HR department. He did a great job by leading, developing and building the group, handling workshops by focusing on relevant HR topics. The second time was when Yagev accompanied the acquisition process by working with AVT management team. Yagev showed great Professionalism by guiding the management team in order to complete a successful acquisition process.
I had the privilege to both work with Yagev on his SG's PMI courses and to be in a course he facilitated in London for YPO. Yagev is a great facilitator but on top of that he has huge experience that he shares openly with the team. I learnt a lot from Yagev and continue to seek his support ever since. Yagev is a source of wisdom and knowledge in everything related to M&A, PMI and business development in general. I highly recommend every manager not to go for any M&A process without Yagev on his side.
Eitan joined our management team during the acquisition planning stage in mid 2009. We then defined our PMI plan and scheduled the planed time table. Eitan managed this process, presented inputs from his past experience, and encouraged us when we were puzzled and tired. When the execution of the transaction took place, Eitan facilitated several teams PMI process and. Eitan scheduled weekly meetings, followed up tasks lists and suggested solution for the challenges we encountered in the process. In addition, as a C level executive, Eitan has helped me personally in the following tasks and responsibilities: 1.Create a process to integrate my team, which is 50% from cVidya and 50% from Ectel. Since the team had to be reconstructed to facilitate a company which is now double the size we had before, this was critical and it was executed correctly. 2. Facilitate the PMI process by scheduling follow up meetings for executing the action items. 3. Measure the success of certain processes and find alternative solutions for others. I believe Eitan’s contribution was enormous and allowed us to create positive and professional PMI dynamics with the acquired company”.
"I had the opportunity to work with the S.G. team in the acquisition of Unipier by Flash Networks. This was a merger of 2 providers of intelligent mobile Internet solutions. SG assisted us in all the Post Merger Integration areas. They served as project managers, actively managing the PMI progress including: designing the PMI plan, monitoring progress, addressing the day to day problems as well as the strategic, organizational, cultural barriers that could prevent achieving post merger success. The SG team worked with several task teams and created an organized work frame. Having them on board clearly helped us advance with the merger plan and create synergies at an early stage. They are dedicated professionals, with good managerial capabilities and they know how to get results while creating a positive working climate. I will be glad to work them again in the future".
“I worked with SG on several projects where their team analyzed the actual work done in the P.M.I. of several transactions Ness had performed. Our goal was to analyze why some integration processes are more successful than others. In these projects the SG team defined relevant KPI's to measure the post acquisition success. It was a very good experience to work with the S.G. team. Their professional attitude, their ability to learn quickly about new areas, key players and company's dynamics along with their accumulated experience in M&A's and PMI processes were instrumental in achieving transaction success. We learned a lot from these projects and improved our PMI processes, best practices and methodology in a very meaningful way. I highly recommend their work".
"The Arad group acquired a Spanish company called Contazara. Yagev Ben Itzhak was the consultant that worked with me during the due diligence and post merger integration phase. Yagev brought with him a major contribution to the most critical process which was the integration process after the closing, and especially in the soft issues, of culture, people and creating teamwork and cooperation between the two companies. I highly appreciate his significant contribution”.
Yagev worked closely with me for several months during the merger between two companies. His vast experience in his line of expertise and his hands-on experience enabled him to identify and provide solutions to our company and the challenges throughout the merger process.I was fortunate to have a partner in the process who cared and was a part of the decision making process. He assisted in the creation of the methodology of the process, taking responsibility and exhibiting commitment till the end.
We used S.G.s services to plan the integration process of six transportation companies Egged Europe acquired in Poland. Yagev, Shai and Eitan focused on various areas such as operations, organization and structure, Strategy and business, as well as cultural and human aspects. The work they delivered was professional and thorough and has contributed greatly to the success of the integration process.
"During the last year, Netafim's growth strategy focused on a number of M&A's. In several of them, we used the help of S.G. in order to plan properly "the day after the merger"- all the Post Merger Integration activities. Yagev Ben Itzhak helped us building the infrastructure and the execution model and was part of the company's M&A team. During these processes, Yagev was in charge of putting this project in motion, getting key people involved and preparing the company for "the day after" the deal closes. His unique contribution in addition to his vast PMI experience helped us in the negotiation process to move forward through a deep understanding of all the implications ".
An experienced manager in the Hi-Tech industry with a broad range of knowledge and highly professional skills in the implementation of advanced management tools, as well as experience in M&A by managing the acquisition processes, from setting the acquisition operational/business goals to manage the integration and post mergers reviews.