# The Merger of Equals: Leading When the Deal Starts to Look Like a Takeover

> For chief executives, chairs and directors of companies merging with a peer. Rescue a deal in trouble: govern power fairly, tell the truth about synergies…

- Provider: BrandsClass Executive Academy (a Brands Nexus Network Limited company)
- Format: online lessons, then a live virtual boardroom simulation with AI board members, scored against a published rubric
- Duration: about 240 minutes (9 lessons)
- Access: 365 days from the day you start
- Price: ₦302,000 (NGN)
- Certificate: a certificate that anyone can verify online. It is not a regulated or accredited qualification.
- Level: Boardroom
- Who it is for: Chief executives, chairs, directors, CFOs, people and strategy heads of companies planning or completing a merger with a peer, especially in regulated sectors such as insurance and banking.
- Page: https://brandsclass.com/courses/the-merger-of-equals-leading-when-the-deal-starts-to-look-like-a-takeover/
- Last updated: 2026-10-20

## What you will learn

- Understand why mergers of equals fail and where the risk sits
- Govern the deal fairly, with clear rules for power, roles and decisions
- Test and communicate synergies honestly
- Keep key people and build one culture without humiliating either side
- Hold customers, brokers and partners through uncertainty
- Work honestly with regulators and shareholders, and respect rules on pre-closing conduct
- Make the hard decisions, from renegotiating to walking away, and run an integration that works

## Lessons

1. Anatomy of a merger of equals
2. The first hours: command, facts and the rules of the gap
3. Governance and power
4. Synergies and the truth about numbers
5. People, talent and culture
6. Customers, brokers and partners
7. Regulators and shareholders
8. Hard decisions
9. Integration that works

## How to enrol

Open https://brandsclass.com/courses/the-merger-of-equals-leading-when-the-deal-starts-to-look-like-a-takeover/ to create a free account and buy a seat.