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Digital Workplace & Collaboration

Google Workspace migrations
for mergers and acquisitions.One company, one Google Workspace.

When companies combine, so do their email, files and domains. We move an acquired company's users and data into the Google Workspace account you keep, add its domain, change your primary domain if the name changes, and flag the steps that can't be undone before you take them.

Plan your M&A migration Alias or secondary domain?

What is a Google Workspace tenant migration?

Moving one company's users and data out of its own Google Workspace account, or another system, into the account the combined company keeps. Google doesn't merge two Workspace accounts directly, so the data moves first and the old account closes after.

The tool depends on the size and the source. The Admin console's data import tool imports email from another Workspace account once a super administrator there authorizes it, up to 1,000 users per mapping file; Google Workspace Migrate is built for 1,001 users or more. Google Cloud Professional Services also offers Domain Transfer for core Workspace services: data is moved rather than copied, keeping settings, history, document IDs and URLs, and permissions, but there's no rollback.

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M&A migration services

Data migration support

Mail, files and calendars from the acquired company's Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or other system, with accounts mapped so file sharing comes across.

Primary domain name changes

The new domain added and verified as a secondary domain, mail set up for it, then made primary, with every user and group renamed.

Re-branding considerations

The old domain kept as an alias so mail to old addresses still arrives, the organization name that people see in sharing updated, and users told what changes when they sign in.

Guidance through common watch points

Apps that store data by email address, domain aliases that must be added back, people with accounts in both companies, and steps such as deleting an account that can't be undone.

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How Real Property Management joined Century 21 Canada's Google Workspace

When Century 21 Canada welcomed Real Property Management, 95 users had to move into Century 21 Canada's existing Google Workspace tenant. Suitebriar planned the schedule around the business calendar, identified risks from data integrity to authentication conflicts, and migrated mailboxes, Drive content and calendars with Google-native tools, keeping metadata and permissions. The migration was completed on time.

Read the story

95users moved into the parent company's tenant

Zerodowntime, as the case study reports

“The migration was incredibly smooth. Suitebriar’s project management and technical expertise meant our team experienced zero downtime and could start collaborating in the new environment immediately.”

Sandy DeoMarketing Manager, C21 Property Management Division

Alias or secondary domain?

Two ways to add the acquired company's domain to your account, depending on whether its people get new accounts. If the domain is in another Google Workspace account, it's added once that account is deleted.

Compare	User alias domain	Secondary domain
Who it's for	Your existing users, with a second address	A separate set of users at that domain
Email	Every user and group gets an address at both domains	Each user has one address and mailbox at the secondary domain
Cost	Included with each existing account, up to 20 alias domains	Each user account is licensed
Signing in	Only with the primary address	With their own address at the secondary domain
Becoming the primary domain	Has to be removed and added back as a secondary domain first	Can be switched to primary once verified

How an M&A migration runs

Choose the account you keepAnd which domain is primary: only the primary domain can have domain aliases, and its name is the organization name people see when they share. People with accounts in both companies are matched up before anything moves.
Move the dataMail, files and calendars imported, with each user mapped to their account in the one you keep. From Microsoft 365 or another system, the acquired company's domain can be added and verified before this step; from another Google Workspace account it can't, because Google's order is move the data, delete the old account, then add its domain.
Switch mail and close the old accountFrom Microsoft 365 or another system, mail keeps arriving at the old one until the MX records change, which can take up to 48 hours. An old Google Workspace account is deleted only once everything has moved and been checked: the deletion is permanent, and data exported from it can't be uploaded to another account.
Add the domain and its peopleAs a user alias domain or a secondary domain, verified through its DNS records, with each person associated with the domain they belong to. After a Workspace-to-Workspace move this comes after the deletion, so the domain may not work for a while, which is why it's scheduled for a quiet period.

Plan your M&A migration

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M&A migration FAQ

What IT leads ask when two companies' Google Workspace accounts become one.

Two companies, one Workspace?

Tell us how many people are joining, what they use today and whether the name is changing, and we'll talk through the order of steps.

(888) 545-3685 Plan your M&A migration

Can Google merge our two Google Workspace accounts?

Not directly: Google doesn't support merging separate Workspace accounts into one. Either the data moves into the account you keep and the other account is closed afterwards, or Google Cloud Professional Services runs a Domain Transfer, which moves core Workspace services rather than copying them, keeping settings, history, document IDs and URLs, and permissions. Domain Transfer has no rollback and doesn't merge people who have accounts in both.

Should the acquired company's domain be an alias or a secondary domain?

An alias if the same people just need a second address: everyone gets mail at both domains, and aliases aren't licensed separately. A secondary domain if its people keep their own accounts and addresses: each account is licensed. Nobody can sign in with an alias address.

We're rebranding. Do we have to change our primary domain?

Not if people only need to send and receive mail at the new name: an alias does that. Change the primary domain when people should sign in and share under the new name. Google's steps add the new domain first and keep the old one as an alias, so mail to old addresses still arrives; changes can take up to 48 hours.

Will email stop during the move?

It depends on where the company is coming from. From Microsoft 365 or another system, mail keeps arriving at the old system until the MX records change, which can take up to 48 hours. Between two Google Workspace accounts there can be a gap: the domain is added to the account you keep only after the old account is deleted, and Google warns it may not be usable for a while. Google advises doing it when downtime won't disrupt the business, which is why it's scheduled for a quiet period. When Real Property Management moved into Century 21 Canada's tenant, the case study reports zero downtime.

The company we acquired uses Microsoft 365. Is that different?

The tools are. Microsoft 365 mail and OneDrive files move with Google's data migration service or, for 1,001 users or more, Google Workspace Migrate. Outlook rules and signatures have to be rebuilt in Gmail. Our Google Workspace migration page covers those moves.