PE Firms Archives - Page 37 of 43

Executive recruiting firm needed to place VP of Operations

VP of Operations urgently needed to take charge at bakery portco

A PE firm came to us with a critical need for an executive recruiting firm that could place a VP of Operations in their bakery portfolio company. Since buying a second bakery as an add-on to their original portco, they urgently needed someone that could take the reigns, keep operations running smoothly, and implement minor process changes as the add-on adjusted to being part of the firm’s existing bakery portco. They were looking for a recruiting firm that could connect them with a person that had both operations and bakery experience and was also local to the geographic area.

BluWave assess needs and identifies top executive recruiting firm

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade recruiting needs. BluWave utilizes technology, data, and human ingenuity to pre-map, assess, monitor, and maintain deep pools of recruiting firms that uniquely meet the private equity standard. We interviewed the PE firm to understand their specific key criteria, and then connected the client with the select pre-vetted executive recruiting firm from our invitation-only Intelligent Network that fit their exact needs.

Client engages provider and quickly begins recruiting search

Within 48 hours of the initial scoping call, the PE firm and portfolio company were introduced to a PE-grade recruiting firm that specialized in recruiting executives for the food and beverage industry. The PE firm engaged with them and was able to confidently and quickly begin their VP of Operations search. The firm liked the recruiter so much that they also engaged them for their R&D Chef search.

Commercial Due Diligence Provider Immediately Needed To Assess Potential Target

Commercial due diligence provider needed for software market study

A PE firm vice president came to us with a critical need for a commercial due diligence provider that could complete a proactive market study for an asset that they expected to come to market in the next month. With their go-to providers at capacity, no access to the company’s information, and a desire to understand the major players in the IT management software market before the target went to market, the firm was in critical need of a diligence advisor that had background knowledge of the IT management software industry and could perform a full market study in the next week.

BluWave identifies top providers meeting client’s criteria

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade commercial due diligence needs. BluWave utilizes technology, data, and human ingenuity to pre-map, assess, monitor, and maintain deep pools of providers that uniquely meet the private equity standard. We interviewed the PE firm to understand their specific key criteria, and then connected the client with two select pre-vetted providers from our invitationonly Intelligent Network that fit their exact needs.

PE Firm engages provider and gains needed market insight

In less than 24 hours after the initial scoping call, the PE firm was introduced to the first of the two PE-grade commercial due diligence providers. The client selected their ideal choice that had specific experience in proactively assessing industry attractiveness. The PE firm was able to quickly gain the market knowledge they needed to confidently assess whether or not the potential target was something they wanted to continue pursuing.

Strategic post-merger integration support

Firm vitally needs integration support for ecommerce portco

A PE firm came to us with a critical need for post-merger integration support for their ecommerce portfolio company. Since investing in the company, M&A was part of the strategy but the company had no experience in executing or managing the post-merger integration process. They immediately needed post-merger integration support as they were in the process of acquiring another website that was a duplicate company they planned to merge with the existing portfolio company.

BluWave identifies exact-fit merger integration provider in network

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade post-merger integration needs. BluWave utilizes technology, data, and human ingenuity to pre-map, assess, monitor, and maintain deep pools of merger integration resources that uniquely meet the private equity standard. We interviewed the PE firm to understand their specific key criteria and then connected the client with two select pre-vetted groups that specialized in integration and ecommerce from our invitation-only Intelligent Network that fit their exact needs.

Firm engages ideal provider to execute integration

Within 48 hours of the initial scoping call, the PE firm and portfolio company were introduced to the two exact-fit e-commerce integration resources that we identified for them. The client selected their ideal choice. The PE firm was able to confidently drive an excellent outcome without wasting time and opportunity cost and quickly execute their merger integration goals for the portfolio company.

PE Human Capital Event Recap

July 20, 2021 Kyle Johnson

Every quarter we bring together top PE HR and talent executives to discuss current industry topics and to offer leaders in PE Human Capital the chance to gather, share intel, and decompress with one another. In our most recent event, we discussed many topics and listed our top takeaways below.

These forums are invite-only and follow Chatham House Rules, so listed below are high-level takeaways only. Are you in private equity and interested in joining fellow leading PE professionals during our next Human Capital Forum? Please contact us at events@bluwave.net.

Hiring Portco Execs  

Hiring the “perfect fit” executive for portcos is taking much longer, and many search firms and recruiters are tapped out.  Firms are getting more proactive—even engaging specialist recruiters before the deal closes. 
Many shared tips including focusing on the journey of a candidate—ensuring every interaction involves selling the value of your company and assessing the skill set of the candidate.  And when they find the right person, they are moving quickly.

Attracting and retaining internal PE talent 

To find people (particularly at the senior associate and VP levels), funds are considering hiring off-cycle and considering non-traditional (non-banking) backgrounds, and committing to onboarding and training. Firms are offering mentorship opportunities with VPs or MDs and regular check-ins—proactively soliciting feedback from junior team members to unearth previously un-voiced concerns and providing them a “safe place” in which to do it.
Many are leaning into the culture within the firm.  Branding has become even more important for both fundraising and attracting talent. 
Some firms are leaning into further defining career paths for juniors versus the historical opacity.  Junior talent will get poached if you are not clearly communicating how they stand within the fund.

Lessons learned from hybrid and remote arrangements

Hybrid flexibility varies by firm—some are full-time in-person, some are requiring in-person on certain days, others offering full hybrid with the expectation of in-person during a prescribed number of times per month.  Flexibility is the current perk du jour.  Try the best model for your office, and regularly reflect on whether it is working. It is ok to revisit your model and make changes if needed.

We appreciated this latest session bringing together leaders in PE Human Capital, enabling peer-to-peer discussions on current industry hot topics. During our last quarter, Human Capital projects comprised 40% of our overall project mix, so we are well equipped and ready to help you with those needs.

Interested in learning about how we can help you instantly access PE-grade specialized recruiters, organizational effectiveness advisors, compensation study providers, interim talent, and other custom fit human capital resources you may need? Check out our case studies here. If you have an immediate need, contact us here and one of our team members will be in touch shortly, we’ll be happy to help.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Preparing A Company for Sale

July 17, 2021 Sean Mooney

After a nearly 20-year career in private equity, I’ve learned to appreciate that it takes just as much work to effectively sell a company as it does to excellently buy a company. It’s also easy to slip up or not pay enough attention to vital steps that could profoundly change the final price upon sale.

Sellers make a number of common mistakes during sale processes, including a lack of advance preparation, not knowing key questions about themselves, and not appropriately resourcing the business to concurrently run operations and support a sale process. Each of these mistakes causes sellers to lose credibility and slow down their process, which, in turn, increases real and perceived risk, and inevitably kills value.

To help get better outcomes, here are the three most common mistakes we see made when selling your business and how to fix them:

Lack of Preparation

As a private equity investor, we made it our business to optimize the sale process. We would talk virtually every month about the right time to sell various businesses. When we finally decided it was the right time to sell, we, of course, wanted to be in the market within six weeks of our decision. Even with professional sellers of businesses like PE investors, this decision is often followed by all sorts of scrambling by investors, portfolio company teams, investment bankers, lawyers, and related support professionals to get ready for sale. For family-held or entrepreneurially-held businesses with fewer resources and less experience selling companies, this process is multiple times more chaotic.

Don’t try to squeeze months of work into six weeks: preparing for sale should start well in advance of the sale process. Taking some time in advance will enable you to run an aggressive process while also effectively running your business at the same time.

We recently held a management forum for a top private equity find and their managers, during which we discussed best practices for planning for sale. The key takeaway was preparing for sale should start years in advance, ideally the day the first wire from investors clears, so you can hit the market at any moment when the time is right.

Not knowing yourself before you’re asked

Time and time again on the buyside, I’ve asked fundamental questions that should have been known by the sellers, but weren’t. When we asked these questions, the process had to slow down as their team hustled to find the answers. These slow-downs give everyone in the process time to rethink assumptions and value.

Make sure you know the following key items before you start an M&A process because you’ll most likely be asked these right at the time you can least afford to pause your process:

The size and growth rate of your direct markets
Your company’s market share in their addressable markets and how it compares to competitors
Volume, revenue, and profitability by customer and product over a trailing 3-year period

Once you know these elements, incorporate them into a detailed financial model that projects your performance over the next five years (make sure you also have monthly projections for the next two years). If you do this, you’ll build credibility with buyers and disarm much of the skepticism that naturally occurs during sales processes.

Also, try your best to predict what buyers will be asking during the sale process. Have open conversations with your investors, executives, and investment bankers to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Save yourself from having to scramble to produce appropriate reports and information in the heat of the sale process. Having a general idea of what buyers are looking for and preemptively having answers to those questions, disseminating the information to those who need to know, and confirming overall readiness will ensure that buyers feel confident and comfortable when meeting with you and your team.

Truly best-in-class companies bring in third parties to pre-opine on the state and opportunities of the business. Spend a little money on pre-due diligence, including sell-side quality of earnings reports, tax diligence, market studies, and IT. The cost is minor as it compares the value of the company, and these third-party stamps of approval from credible advisors will give your buyers confidence that the company is what it is and not see (or go looking for) ghosts during the sprint to the finish line.

Under-Resourcing with Interim Staff

The single biggest mistake I saw time and again during my private equity career was understaffing the sale process. It’s nearly impossible to both aggressively run a sale process and proactively run your company.

Most sellers’ intuition is to put the bulk of the workload on their investment bankers’ shoulders. Your investment bankers can help, but you are not paying them to be your accountants, lawyers, market strategists, and data entry specialists. You hire top investment bankers to intimately know the buyers, appropriately frame the opportunity, and manage a process to optimize valuations. Don’t distract them by getting them bogged down in the weeds. Let them focus on the job you hired them for and they’ll deliver outstanding results.

Every business undergoing a sale process should bring in some level of interim staff (ranging from interim controllers to interim CFOs) to either help with the production of analyses and data requests or help manage day-to-day operations. This is a relatively small expense compared to the sums that will be gained by running a fast and credible process. If you don’t resource appropriately, something usually has to give: either your sale process, your operating results, or both.

We work daily to help top private equity firms, and their portfolio companies and proactively-managed independent companies more effectively assess opportunities and build value. It’s hard to know who is good: we make it our business to be the expert of experts.

Find out how we can help you during due diligence, value creation, or the sale process!

Video: Q2 Insights Overview

July 16, 2021 Kyle Johnson

Every quarter our team analyzes the projects we work on with our 500+ PE fund clients to get a bird’s eye view of the market. In this video, our leadership team shares the trends we are seeing across due diligence and value creation. Watch the video below to learn more.

If you would like to get a copy of the report, reach out directly to your BluWave contact or our team at insights@bluewave.net and we’ll be happy to assist.

Digital marketing expert needed with experience in food manufacturing

PE Firm needs digital marketing expert for food manufacturing target

A middle-market PE firm came to us with a critical need for digital marketing expertise for a snack food manufacturing company they had an LOI with. Knowing that digital marketing was going to play a key role in their go-to-market strategy, they urgently needed a PE-grade digital marketing expert who had proven expertise in the industry to come in and take their digital marketing to the next level, with the ultimate goal of helping the company grow post-close.

BluWave uses pre-vetted network to identify exact-fit providers

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade digital marketing needs. BluWave utilizes technology, data, and human ingenuity to pre-map, assess, monitor, and maintain deep pools of digital marketing resources that uniquely meet the private equity standard. We interviewed the PE firm to understand their specific key criteria, and then connected the client with select pre-vetted digital marketing agencies from our invitation-only Intelligent Network that fit their exact needs.

Firm engages ideal, PE-grade digital marketing expert

Within 24 hours of the initial scoping call, the PE firm and portfolio company were introduced to two PE-grade digital marketing agencies that specialized in the food and beverage space. The client selected their ideal choice. The PE firm was able to confidently drive an excellent outcome without wasting time and opportunity cost and the portfolio company was able to quickly fill this critical need and execute their aggressive growth strategies post-close.

Large Cap VP urgently needs post-merger integration support

Post-merger integration needed for healthcare portco

A PE firm vice president of portfolio operations came to us with a critical need for post-merger integration support for their healthcare services company. They were five months into the value creation plan for the portco and were in the process of due diligence for an add-on that had a high chance of being executed. They urgently needed someone to come in and lead the post-merger integration efforts at the portco that had healthcare services experience, specifically in the benefits market.

BluWave identifies pre-vetted, PE-grade provider with industry background

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade post-merger integration needs. BluWave utilizes technology, data, and human ingenuity to pre-map, assess, monitor, and maintain deep pools of merger integration resources that uniquely meet the private equity standard. We interviewed the PE firm to understand their specific key criteria and then connected the client with a select prevetted post-merger integration group that fit their exact needs.

PE firm introduced to exact-fit post-merger integration support provider

Within 48 hours of the initial scoping call, the PE firm and portfolio company were introduced to the exact-fit match and were so pleased that they decided to quickly engage with them. The PE firm was able to confidently drive an excellent outcome without wasting time and opportunity cost, and the PE firm was able to promptly execute their merger integration goals for their portco.

Interim CHRO Needed to Quickly Spearhead Departmental Change

Firm needs interim CHRO for multi-site portco

A PE firm came to us with a critical need for a head of HR for their multi-location healthcare services company. With the current head of HR leaving and an ineffective HR department, the healthcare services company needed a strong HR leader with role and industry expertise to come in and restructure the entire system in 3-6 months. Already with ~1000 employees and additional acquisitions on the horizon, they urgently needed a local interim CHRO leader that could be boots on the ground in HQ during the pandemic in order to quickly spearhead change.

BluWave presents PE-grade interim executives with industry expertise

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade interim CHRO needs. BluWave utilizes technology, data, and human ingenuity to pre-map, assess, monitor, and maintain deep pools of experienced HR leaders that uniquely meet the private equity standard. We interviewed the PE firm to understand their specific key criteria, and then connected the client with the select pre-vetted interim CHRO candidates from our invitation-only Intelligent Network that fit their exact needs.

Firm selects top choice to serve as interim CHRO

Quickly after the initial scoping call, the PE firm and portfolio company were introduced to four PE-grade interim CHRO candidates that specialized in healthcare services. The client selected their ideal choice, allowing them to quickly retain this critical role without wasting time or cost. The candidate ended up being such a great fit thanks to their background in M&A, PE, and healthcare, that they were flipped to the organization’s permanent position after only three months of serving as an interim resource.

Interim talent means more equitable environments for the future of work

July 14, 2021 Katie Marchetti

As the chaos and uncertainty around the pandemic starts to settle and businesses dust off the debris of the last year, it’s becoming clear that a new world of work is upon us. What many were predicting would soon be the “new normal” is now the actual normal—especially when it comes to work. The transition back into physical office spaces does not mean the end of remote work. Instead, companies are embracing a hybrid workforce.

Hybrid work combines virtual and onsite employees, whether on alternating days or on a permanent basis, and is a trend that companies are embracing across the country. A recent report from Gartner revealed that 59 percent of companies intend employees to work remotely occasionally, while 32 percent are allowing remote work full-time. For many leaders, however, this now means transitioning again into a new working style: one that facilitates productivity and collaboration among in-office and virtual workers (think: all-hands meetings with half the team sitting together at a conference table and the other half calling in from Zoom).

This is why project-based work is on the rise. Instead of onboarding full-time employees remotely, which has been one of the biggest challenges for HR leaders during the pandemic, companies are calling on skilled experts to complete tasks on a contractual, as-needed basis. As we drive ahead in the new normal, project-based workers will be fueling the future of work.

Project-based work is an integral part of a successful remote workforce

Across the 1,000-plus private-equity-based projects BluWave supported in the last 12 months, one thing stood out: investments in people continue to be the number one focus area in 2021. While technology has helped companies to adapt to remote work, hiring employees who have the skills to work with the technology has been even more valuable.

Hiring workers for specific, often discrete, projects means you can vet candidates based on their ability to meet the demands of that project. Using an Intelligent Talent Network can help you match potential interim workers to those interim needs. This model works well for private equity firms, from senior partners to portfolio company executives, because it engenders trust and rewards results. If you hire people who are skilled, action-oriented, and self-motivated, you can set goals and give them “rope” to freely deliver the best result. Ultimately, project-based work ensures that rewards are aligned and incentives are rewarded in exchange for top performance, which is more difficult to achieve with a more amorphous scope.

Interim work means more equitable environments

Hiring based on a potential employee’s ability to perform against predetermined, outcomes-based objectives helps eliminate bias (unconscious or not) in the recruitment process. According to Harvard Business School, “In recruiting … unconscious bias and affinity bias often express themselves as a preference for one candidate or another because of ‘culture fit.’ Resumes may be selected because of a shared alma mater, or because of an unconscious bias to one name over another.”

When hiring for a long-term fit, companies may choose to give preference to candidates who meet unspoken criteria off-paper—because culture-fit and soft skills are generally more relevant for full-time employees. With project-based work, it’s the results that matter. If someone has a track record of success, they meet the criteria. It’s that simple. Plus, in this system, rewards are made equitable, too. If your project scope is clear, you can offer fair and just compensation for the work that is done—it provides equality of opportunity to perform.

Creating collaborative environments with distributed workers

The key to effectively utilizing project-based workers is putting the right systems in place to seamlessly integrate them into the existing processes and work efficiently across project stakeholders for the duration of their contract.

Clearly defining and communicating goals from the onset, delineating established deadlines, and integrating collaboration tools into operations will help leaders stay on top of a project. These are hallmarks of agile development, which involves short, project-to-project scrums with siloed teams that collaborate consistently through the scrum. Research has shown that agile teams are 25 percent more productive than their industry peers because team members focused on one task at a time.

You can also implement clear structures for assigning roles and accountabilities. A RACI chart is a tried-and-true matrix used to assign roles on a project. A properly used RACI outlines who is responsible for executing tasks, who is accountable for the work, who is consulted throughout the project, and who is informed on project progress. This helps eliminate confusion, reduce duplication or redundancy, and ensure those deadlines are met.

For a workforce still in flux, those equipped for project-based work act as connective tissue and can build the foundation for future stability. Companies that embrace this wave of “normal” will likely be the ones that ultimately find themselves in a winning position.

This article originally appeared in HRFuture Magazine.

Interim CFO Urgently Needed after Abrupt Resignation

Firm has immediate need for PE-grade interim CFO

A PE firm came to us with an immediate need for an interim CFO for their automotive aftermarket company. With the existing CFO transitioning out within two weeks after an abrupt resignation, they needed to act fast to find a replacement. Not having the time to sift through candidates, they critically needed a candidate from a focused set of referenced, PE-grade interim CFOs that understood the automotive aftermarket and the nuances to the complex accounting and financials associated with this type of organization.

BluWave connects firm with in-network, pre-vetted interim executives

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade interim CFO needs. BluWave utilizes technology, data and human ingenuity to pre-map, assess, monitor, and maintain deep pools of interim CFOs that uniquely meet the private equity standard. We interviewed the PE firm to understand their specific key criteria, and then connected the client with three select pre-vetted candidates from our invitation-only Intelligent Network that fit their exact needs.

Firm engages their top choice to fill the role

Within 24 hours of the initial scoping call, the PE firm and portfolio company were introduced to the first candidate that had CFO experience in the automotive aftermarket industry. After a series of interviews, the client selected their ideal choice that was able to start immediately and was open to converting to a full-time role. Because the candidate was such a perfect fit, the PE firm decided to convert them to full-time from the get-go. They were able to drive an excellent outcome by quickly retaining this role without wasting time or cost.

June 2021 Roundup: BluWave Private Equity Client Insights

July 7, 2021 Kyle Johnson

BluWave works with over 500 PE funds from around the globe, connecting them with pre-vetted, best-in-class, interim executives and small groups across a variety of resource and functional areas. From information technology and manufacturing to healthcare and consumer goods, our clients are paving the way for “Industry 4.0.” In other words, they have their heads in the game and their hands on the pulse of news you can use.

Check out the latest, curated collection of reports, insights, and musings from a handful of our PE funds.

Baird Capital’s venture team partner, Benedict Rocchio, was tapped for a Crain’s Chicago Business roundtable on the future of work. In this recap, he shares his thoughts on “solutions, strategies, and resources shaping the future of work and what business leaders should anticipate for their organizations.”