"Let's Sync on Pricing Before We Close"

The most expensive word in M&A might be "efficient." This week, a deal team tried to be efficient about pricing. Before closing.

The message

"While we wait on clearance, let's get our teams synced on a common price list for the overlapping accounts so we can hit the ground running on day one."

Why it mattered

Until the deal closes, the two companies are still competitors, and competitors coordinating prices is the oldest antitrust violation there is. Doing it under the banner of "integration planning" doesn't help — the FTC and DOJ pursue exactly this conduct as gun-jumping, with penalties that now run past $50,000 per day. The email doesn't describe getting ready to compete jointly. It describes ending competition early.

Before you hit send

There's a real line between planning the combined company and operating as one before you're allowed to. Coaching flags the moment a message drifts into current or future pricing, customer allocation, or "let's coordinate now," explains why it crosses that line, and redirects the team to the planning that's actually permissible.