Agenda Day 2, Thursday, October 8th, 2026:   (see Agenda Day 1)     (back to Merger Integration Event Summary)

09.00 – Opening Remarks from the Chair

09.00 – How can M&A Integration Influences the CEO and Senior Management of a Target

·        When integration challenges ego, legacy & ownership

·        Leadership decisions under radical ambiguity

·        The invisible emotional load of integration

Anna Reva, Head of M&A Integration, IKEA Group (Ingka Investments)

09.30 - Building an Integration Capability in a Digital-First Company

·        What makes digital-first integrations different

·        PMI capabilities: from ad hoc to a repeatable engine

·        Creating integration buy-in and engagement throughout the deal lifecycle

·        Best practices for capability and consolidation integration (Bloom, United Wardrobe, Homerr)

·        Key challenges and lessons learned

Kinda Dalla, Director Corporate Development Integration, Vinted

Gerard Taboada, Manager, Corporate Development Integration, Vinted

10.00 -  Delivery Hero Session

Christian Heydrich, Senior Project Manager - M&A Integration, Delivery Hero

10.30 – Morning Coffee and Networking

11.10 - From Standalone to Integration: Building & Embedding Integration into Ricoh Europe M&A Programmes

Hollie Jones, Director, Integration Design & Governance, Ricoh Europe

Peter Wallace, Senior Manager Merger Integration Programmes, Ricoh Europe

11.40 -  Case Study: Novo Nordisk’s Acquisition & Integration Journey in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Bjoern Leschny, VP of Mergers and Acquisitions Integration Global, Novo Nordisk

Simon Kjær, PMI Project Director, Novo Nordisk

12.10 – Breakout Groups

13.00 – Lunch Break

14.00 - Case Study of our Separation of AkzoNobel India

Americo Fernandez, M&A Deal Integration Program Manager, AkzoNobel

14.30 – Preparing for Serial Divestments & IT Carveouts

Matthijs Diepenhorst, M&A Integration and Disentanglement Program Director, Philips

Gera van der Loo, M&A Integration and Disentanglement Program Director, Philips

Tom Wondergem, IT Business Partner Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestments, Philips

15.00 – How are Corporations Using AI in their M&A Cycle  

·        How far companies progressed in the use of AI

·        Concrete business cases that are used by the panelists

·        AI agents, AI for analysis, and AI for the M&A Integration process:  what works, what is not yet ready, and how is it working?

Tomasz Kosinski, Head of Discovery and Growth Projects, Scope Fluidics

Caroline Bilbrough, Director of Post-Acquisition, IBM Consulting Ventures, Ecosystems & Acquisitions, IBM

Matthias Wiltschek, Head of Post-Merger Integration, RHI Magnesita

15.30 - Brief Afternoon Break

15.40 – Acquisition/Integration in Emerging Markets

·        Challenges in deal making in emerging markets

·        Overcoming internal hurdles

·        Due diligence and integration focus

·        Compliance in emergency markets

Alistair Stephen, Senior Director Integration, Equinix

16.10 – Saving an Integration Gone Wrong

Case studies on failed integrations:  what went wrong, how could it have been avoided

·        Learnings that could be applied to future deals

Staci van Schagen-Toback, Head of PMI Excellence, ZEISS

16.40 -Closing Remarks and End of Forum

(see Agenda Day 1)      (back to Merger Integration Event Summary)