Case Study – GSK’s Acquisition of Sirtris: Independence or Integration?

Questions to be answered:
1. Slaoui and Andrew Witty, GSK’s CEO must sell the acquisition of Sirtris to two key constituencies: the GSK board of directors, as well as to Westphal and the senior team at Sirtris. How would you make these pitches?
2. If you are Westphal, how do you feel when you get the call from Slaoui? What terms are you most inclined to negotiate?
3. The vast majority of startups “exits” during the past decade have been through acquisitions by larger companies. What is likely to change at Sirtris after the acquisition? More generally, how do entrepreneurial companies change after they are acquired? Is there a role for an entrepreneur
Another important issue involved in the acquisition that has to be raised; are the subsequent synergies that may be achieved, and to get back what we just established above, how these synergies are going to be achieved. One of these would be the sharing of cutting edge equipment that facilitates the development of specific drugs.

In the case of the acquired company, it also essential to present a strategy in terms of how the parent is going to integrate the new business unit, or rather, whether integration into the corporate structure is necessary at all or maybe even unfavorable. We can conclude that the issue of integration or separation after an acquisition is essential for the employees and companies of both parties involved. Also, this issue has been recognized as a prevailing dilemma that has to be approached by both parties after the acquisition.
Since Mr. Westphal seems to be one of the major success factors of Sirtris, Slaoui and GSK have recognized this and developed initiatives to prevent an exodus of Westphal and key members of his current staff, namely the scientists that are currently working on the development of new drugs. As Slaoui, I would make sure that Westphal feels confident and motivated about his future within GSK, by adding further responsibilities to his position while preventing those very responsibilities from keeping him from further managing his own DPU (Discovery Performance Unit). I would