Need: Value Creation

Interim CFO To Support Current CFO During Add-On Acquisition

Interim CFO needed for post-close accounting support at portco

A CFO at a PE-backed consumer products portco came to us with an urgent need for post-closing accounting support for an add-on acquisition the firm was about to close on for the portco. With the add-on about to close, there was an immediate need for an interim CFO that could translate the target’s accounting to align with GAAP, help with monthly closes, prep for audit, begin budgeting, and more. The portco CFO quickly needed an interim CFO for the new add-on that had small company experience, analytical skills, industry experience, and who was available to be onsite for the interim work.

BluWave quickly identifies exact-fit interim available to work

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 portco CFO to understand their specific key criteria, and then connected the client with two select pre-vetted interim CFOs from our invitation-only Intelligent Network that fit their exact needs.

Client selects ideal candidate to ensure smooth transition with add-on

Within 24 hours of the initial scoping call, the portfolio company CFO was introduced to two PE-grade interim CFOs that specialized in helping companies close books when undergoing a PE add-on acquisition. The client selected their ideal choice. The portco CFO was able to confidently engage the interim resource without wasting time or cost and gain the extra pair of hands he needed to ensure the add-on went smoothly.

Critical need for firm to lead digital transformation of portco

PE firm needs group to lead digital transformation for portco

A VP at a LMM PE firm came to us with a critical need for a group that could lead their transportation portco through a full digital transformation project. With the portco’s field service division expanding rapidly and potentially tripling in size soon, they were experiencing pain points related to the amount of paperwork that had to be handled as they dispatched their growing number of employees throughout the region. They urgently needed an IT strategy practitioner with experience in the LMM, transportation industry, and field services area that could help them take steps towards becoming fully paperless.

Using pre-vetted network, BluWave identifies IT strategist

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade IT strategy-related needs. BluWave utilizes technology, data, and human ingenuity to pre-map, assess, monitor, and maintain deep pools of IT strategy practitioners 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 IT strategy consulting firms from our invitation-only Intelligent Network that had specialized practitioners in leading digital transformations.

Firm engages selected provider and begins digital transformation

Quickly after the initial scoping call, the PE firm and portfolio company were introduced to the three PE-grade IT strategy consulting firms that specialized in leading digital transformations for similar-sized companies in the transportation industry. The portco selected their ideal choice and was able to confidently begin their digital transformation without wasting time or cost, and while trusting it to an expert pair of hands.

In The Know: Inflation’s Impact on Private Equity

December 15, 2021 Kyle Johnson

As part of an ongoing series, we’re sharing real-time trending topics we are hearing from our 500+ PE fund clients. In our most recent installment, our consulting manager, Keenan Kolinsky, talks about the impacts of inflation he is hearing across our clients. We are hearing this manifest in two primary ways:

 

  1. A surge in leveraging specialized pricing experts to help adjust portfolio company pricing structures
  2. The increased need for sourcing and procurement resources to identify and secure cost-effective supplier and logistics relationships

To learn more, watch the video below.

Interested in learning more about the cases Keenan mentioned, view them here.

ESG: 3 Proactive steps your PE firm should be taking

December 14, 2021 Delaney Walker

ESG has grown in importance and prominence amongst the investing community in the past few months. After a year and a half of unprecedented times, investors have found that they can help cause positive change by placing a focus on ESG. Additionally, investors have found that ESG criteria often points to improved long-term returns, with roughly 53% of institutional investors agreeing that companies with better ESG track records generate better investment returns. 

With the importance of ESG rising in terms of investment evaluation across the board, we are hearing from our more than 500 private equity firm clients that questions on ESG policies and reporting are increasingly coming from LPs. Before you start raising your next fund, here are three steps you can take to start being proactive in being able to answer any questions that may come.

1) Develop policies at the fund level. 

If you don’t have them already, the best place to start with ESG is to develop policies at the fund level. These policies can serve as a guiding light for how actions can be taken throughout the firm, down into portco investing, to help advance ESG efforts. 

Our clients have leveraged third-party ESG experts to help them develop and implement ESG strategies for the first time. 

2) Conduct diligence on your deals. 

ESG diligence should now be part of the routine diligence process when assessing any target. However, ESG criteria varies by industry and is extremely trade-specific, so it is most valuable to have an outside resource do this work for you. In fact, we saw this trend occur so much in Q3, that ESG diligence crept into the top 10 of the BluWave Private Equity Due Diligence Index for the first time ever.  

Additionally, third-party ESG diligence resources have tools and scorecards they use to audit companies against SASB standards, allowing for an easy way for you to measure your target company against other companies in the same field.

3) Monitor progress against ESG targets at both the fund & portco level. 

 LPs are no longer just going to look for ESG policies to be in place, they are going to look to see if action is being taken against these policies. The best way to prove this is by having metrics that show progress, and we have third-party resources in our network that will help you build in ways to track them over time. 

At the portco level, these resources will allow you to collect and visualize your ESG data, making the impact of your efforts easy to understand, demonstrate to LPs, and analyze.  These resources will also allow you to implement software tools that will make tracking and monitoring your efforts more automated.

 

No matter your ESG need, we have the resources to help you streamline your efforts and prove your action. Contact us to schedule a scoping call, we’d be happy to hop on the phone and quickly get started in providing you with the solutions you need.  

Posted in ESG

How does BluWave help with value creation for deal QBs?

December 6, 2021 Delaney Walker

As a private equity deal QB, BluWave founder & CEO, Sean Mooney, faced challenges in the value creation process. He felt as though he was consistently getting generalist results from generalist providers. He also faced the pressure of knowing that one wrong move could follow him around for the rest of his career in private equity. After dealing with these challenges and working his way up to be a Partner at a PE firm, Sean decided to create the solution to the problems he always had by founding BluWave. The solution he envisioned gave deal QBs the exact provider they need at the exact time they need them. Providers who have a specialty in specific areas will be connected with the private equity deal QBs as soon as the need arises. This gives success with ease for private equity deal QBs who are lacking value creation with their service providers. That is exactly what BluWave has become today.

BluWave helps with value creation for deal QBs by providing them with:

Learn more about how BluWave helps with value creation for deal QBs. Contact us if you have a need we can help with.

Merger Integrations: How BluWave Helps

October 26, 2021 Kyle Johnson

In our latest BluWave Studios video, Keenan Kolinsky, a BluWave Consulting Manager outlines ways BluWave supports clients looking for third-party merger integration expertise:

  1. Scope out the type and level of support that the client is looking for.
  2. Match client with select exact-fit providers in our network based on criteria, budget, timing, and more.
  3. Connect clients with extra merger integration support such as pre-merger synergy assessments and TSA support.

Watch the video to learn more.

Interested in learning more about merger integration support and how we can help? Visit the Merger Integration Hub.

How we did it: Critical ops performance & improvement consultant to increase warehouse efficiency

October 21, 2021 Kyle Johnson

A PE fund managing partner came to us with a critical need for an operational performance and improvement consultant that could evaluate and redesign the existing layout in one of their manufacturing portcos’ warehouses. Since acquiring the portco, the PE fund had discovered that there were foregone profits due to the lack of logistical reason that had gone into organizing the warehouse. They immediately needed a lean six sigma type consultant to come in and optimize the layout, process, and flow of the warehouse in order to increase operational efficiencies. We quickly worked to understand the key criteria of their need and then leveraged our data and human ingenuity to match them with two select, exact-fit, pre-vetted healthcare services senior advisors from our invitation-only Intelligent Network. The client selected their ideal choice and the PE fund was able to confidently engage the individual to drive operational performance and improvement by increasing warehouse efficiency.

Read the full case study.

We have a deep bench of ops performance and improvement consultants with a wide array of industry experience and skillsets. We would be happy to quickly connect you with the exact-fit ops performance and improvement consultant or any other service provider you need. Contact us here and our team will begin helping you within 24 hours.

Dual Commercial Due Diligence, GTM Provider Vitally Needed

PE Firm needs commercial due diligence and GTM strategist for construction target

A PE firm managing director came to us with a critical need for a commercial due diligence and GTM strategy provider for a target they had in the construction industry. Since identifying this target, they were looking for a group that could quickly perform diligence to determine if the market was strong enough for investment, and then promptly post-close help them develop a GTM strategy. Close to obtaining exclusivity, the PE firm was looking to find a provider with experience in the construction materials space that could move quickly once exclusivity was gained and stay engaged to create value post-close.

BluWave identifies provider to meet exact needs

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade commercial due diligence and GTM 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 three select pre-vetted providers from our invitation-only Intelligent Network that fit their exact needs.

Firm engages with ideal provider to confidently move forward with investment

Less than 24 hours after the initial scoping call, the PE firm was introduced to three PE-grade providers that specialized in commercial due diligence and GTM strategy with experience in the construction materials industry. The client selected their ideal choice, and the PE firm was able to confidently engage this provider without wasting time or costs. They were able to leverage their insights to move forward with the investment and then utilize the same provider to quickly begin creating value in the new portco by developing a GTM strategy.

They have done a good job, been very responsive and given us valuable insights. I would give them good ratings on everything, would recommend them to others and I expect we will use them again in the future.

Managing Director at PE Firm

Critical ops performance & improvement consultant to increase warehouse efficiency

Managing partner needs operational performance and improvement consultant for warehouse redesign

A PE firm managing partner came to us with a critical need for an operational performance and improvement consultant that could evaluate and redesign the existing layout in one of their manufacturing portcos’ warehouses. Since acquiring the portco, the PE firm had discovered that there were foregone profits due to the lack of logistical reason that had gone into organizing the warehouse. They immediately needed a lean six sigma type consultant to come in and optimize the layout, process, and flow of the warehouse in order to increase operational efficiencies.

BluWave identifies two exact-fit providers from pre-vetted network

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade operational performance and improvement needs. BluWave utilizes technology, data, and human ingenuity to pre-map, assess, monitor, and maintain deep pools of ops performance and improvement groups and independents 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, exact-fit, pre-vetted operational performance and improvement consultants from our invitation-only Intelligent Network.

Client engages provider to drive operational excellence in portco

Within 24 hours of the initial scoping call, the PE firm and portfolio company were introduced to two PE-grade ops performance and improvement consultants that specialized in optimizing efficiencies in small assembly-oriented manufacturing companies. The client selected their ideal choice and the PE firm was able to confidently engage the individual to drive operational performance and improvement by increasing warehouse efficiency.

Q3 PE Industry Insights

October 14, 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. This report (grab your copy here) calls out the trends that we are seeing across thousands of projects.

 

Key findings include deal surge continues – but due diligence is still a major area of focus, value creation is gaining momentum – one thing to specifically call out is that portfolio company operation performance and improvement had a huge spike in Q3.

 

 

To see these insights and more, watch the video below.

To get the report, click here and we’ll get that over to you.

 

 

 

 

Critical boutique pricing consulting firm need

Pricing consultant essential for value creation in portco

A PE firm vice president came to us with a critical need for a pricing expert that could help several of their portcos in the manufacturing industry. Facing pricing challenges such as trouble getting price increases from procurement groups and historical company cultures of not raising prices, the PE firm knew a pricing expert was critical in building value at these portcos. They were looking for a single-shingle pricing consultant or boutique pricing consulting firm with industry experience that could provide analytical support to the management teams as well as strategic planning.

BluWave has exact-fit provider with industry experience

Leveraging our founder’s 20 years in private equity, we have extensive frameworks for assessing PE-grade pricing strategy needs. BluWave utilizes technology, data, and human ingenuity to pre-map, assess, monitor, and maintain deep pools of pricing consultants 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 boutique pricing consulting firms from our invitation-only Intelligent Network that fit their exact needs.

Firm engages consultant to address pricing issues and more

Quickly after the initial scoping call, the PE firm was introduced to three PE-grade boutique consulting firms with extensive experience in manufacturing. The client selected their ideal choice quickly and was very pleased with the outcome the pricing consulting firm provided. The PE firm was able to use the consulting firm to not only address the pricing issues, but identify the root cause of the problem, and train the sales teams in all portcos on pricing strategies.

How we did it: Immediate senior advisor with niche pharmacy expertise

September 22, 2021 Kyle Johnson

A PE fund came to us with a critical need for a senior advisor for their healthcare services pharmacy company. Having recently acquired the company and already struggling with direct specialty contracts, they urgently needed someone to help on the payor side. They were looking for a local resource with expertise in pharmacy contracting that could guide them through the necessary certification and contracting process within 2 to 4 weeks. We quickly worked to understand the key criteria of their need and then leveraged our data and human ingenuity to match them with two select pre-vetted healthcare services senior advisors from our invitation-only Intelligent Network. The client selected their ideal choice and the PE fund was able to confidently drive an excellent outcome without wasting time or cost and the portfolio company was able to quickly gain the help they needed in order to get their specialty contracts in place

Read the full case study.

We have a deep bench of senior advisors with a wide array of industry experience and skillsets. We would be happy to quickly connect you with the exact-fit senior advisor or any other service provider you need. Contact us here and our team will begin helping you within 24 hours.