Liminality also in acquisitions

Some time ago I spoke to someone who spoke enthusiastically about liminality. During a seminar, he was triggered by this concept: when major changes occur in your life or within an organization, you take goodbye to the old, familiar situation, and in effect step into a threshold over to a new situation, but this eventual new stable situation has not yet been reached immediately. There is a transitional phase in between. This transitional phase is called by anthropologists referred to as liminality, and has its origins in the Latin “limes” which means border or threshold meaning. The seminar made him aware how with this to to deal with it.

In many cases we face this liminality. This is true for a child when they first start high school, or when an employee accepts a new job. You probably know your own examples when you get out of your comfort zone into a new situation. It takes time to “land.

This is also true in society when it comes to the current energy transition or climate change. A new desired situation has not yet been achieved and is a process of (decades). In a takeover, this plays out no differently. There, too, we have to deal with this so-called liminality. The transitional phases lead to uncertainty. When the entrepreneur sells his/her business, a new phase of life is created personally. The entrepreneur’s experience apparently no longer matters. He wonders who he still is. No one asks about him anymore. The business network dries up. It leads to an uncomfortable situation.

Effects on staff are also there. When the company is sold and it is announced that another company will be the new owner, an uncertain time ensues. What is going to happen? What is going to change?

The first meeting with the buyer is crucial. Trust must be gained and connection sought. I witnessed a staff meeting years ago, where the buyer presented himself to the staff of the acquired company with a slick Powerpoint: there was a battle to be fought in the large competitive market! As a result, they were number three in Europe, number one in Australia and two in the US!

The message did not come across. People were still processing the co-sharing of the acquisition. Our years of experience help entrepreneurs with the liminality during takeovers. We know from our experience how to assist them in this uncertain transition phase. A rewarding role!

This article was originally published in INTO Business magazine Haarlemmermeer-Schiphol of April 2024.