2025July/August

Focus on people, culture needed to navigate wave of M&As

The upstream industry has seen record levels of M&As in the past few years. And each time a transaction happens, the onus is on the organizations involved not only to ensure a smooth integration but also to ensure that the combined company can achieve greater value than its disparate parts.

Speaking at the 2025 IADC World Drilling Conference in Amsterdam, H&P’s Head of Business Development Rodrigo Rendon outlined some of the integration work that has been ongoing since H&P announced its acquisition of KCA Deutag in July 2024.

From the outset, culture was recognized as one of the biggest challenges. How would an American company adapt to a company with an amalgam of cultural influences from the UK to Germany to the Middle East?

To start with, the efforts focused on putting the customer at the center, Mr Rendon said, and making sure the transition is as seamless for them as possible. This means redoubling the focus on HSE and ensuring there are no disruptions to operations.

“Second stage is to make sure that 1 + 1 will be more than 2,” he said. This means that both sides of an M&A must investigate with curiosity how the other approaches the business. Corporate communications alone won’t cut it – leaders must win the hearts and minds of their employees by talking face to face. “It’s not about changing the color of the coveralls they wear; it’s about getting people to wear the new coveralls with pride,” Mr Rendon said.

To get further insights into the challenges of aligning different cultures following a merger, as well as uniting distinct technology offerings, DC spoke with Mr Rendon at the conference for a one-on-one interview. Click here to access the video. DC

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