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Restructuring the Hold. Optimizing Private Equity and Portfolio Company Partnerships. Edition No. 1

  • Book

  • 368 Pages
  • January 2021
  • John Wiley and Sons Ltd
  • ID: 5842210

Establishing an effective partnership and achieving improved outcomes for investors and management teams during the hold cycle 

Private equity represents a productive and fast-growing asset class - building businesses, creating jobs, and providing unlimited opportunity for investors and management teams alike, particularly if they know how to work together in candid and effective partnerships. Restructuring the Hold demonstrates how investors and managers can best work together to optimize company performance and the associated rewards and opportunities for everyone, not just the investors.

Through brief references to the parable of the Gramm Company, a middle market portfolio company, readers will follow the disappointments and triumphs of a management team experiencing their first hold period under private equity ownership, from the day they get purchased through the day they get sold. Restructuring the Hold provides the reader both general knowledge and more detailed better practices and frameworks relating to specific time periods during the hold. Within this book readers will find:

  • An examination of a typical middle-market private equity hold period
  • Guidance for newly acquired management teams on what to expect during the hold period
  • Descriptions of better practice operating cadence between investors and management teams
  • Examples of effective partnerships between investors and management teams
  • Discussions of topics relevant to typical hold periods, including organizational structures, operations improvement, selling pipelines and acquisition integrations

With guidance from Restructuring the Hold, private equity principals and portfolio company executives can take steps toward greater collaboration and better outcomes. Through updated practices and strong relationships, they can partner effectively to improve portfolio company performance, which will lead to better outcomes for both investors and management teams.

Table of Contents

List of Figures xi

Foreword xv

Preface xxi

About the Authors xxv

Acknowledgments xxix

Introduction 1

Core Audience 4

Organization of the Book 6

Chapter 1: Private Equity 9

The Asset Class 11

The Middle-Market 17

The Investment Cycle 22

The Motivation 24

Chapter 2: New Ownership 31

The Ideal Partnership 33

Anticipating Management Sentiment 36

Key Investment Period Roles 42

Operating Partner Involvement 49

Core Values 55

Chapter 3: Month 1: Consternation 59

Onboarding Together 62

Confirming Portco Leadership 69

Teaming Authentically 77

Overcoming Resistance 81

Chapter 4: Month 2: This Might Be Okay 87

Baselining the Investment Period 90

Reporting Monthly Financials 94

Starting with Momentum 97

Identifying Value Sources 101

Chapter 5: Month 3: Guarded Enthusiasm 113

Generating and Aggregating Ideas 116

Evaluating and Prioritizing Opportunities 122

Profiling and Planning Initiatives 127

Suspending Strategic Planning Formalities 137

Finalizing the Value Creation Plan 141

Chapter 6: Quarter 2: A Bit Overwhelmed 147

Ensuring Leadership Coverage 150

Organizing the Value Creation Team 159

Managing the Value Creation Program 162

Targeting, Tracking, and Triaging Value Creation 165

Chapter 7: Quarter 3: Gaining Momentum 173

Managing with Performance Indicators 176

Standardizing Operating Cadence 182

Incorporating the Board of Directors 189

Overcoming Bumps in the Road 195

Chapter 8: Quarter 4: Ringing the Bell 203

Confirming VCP Results 206

Rewarding Success 210

Planning Strategy Pragmatically 212

Integrating Plans and Budgets 216

Investment Period Outputs 227

Chapter 9: Year 2: Improving Infrastructure 229

Organizing Effectively 231

Operating Efficiently 238

Sourcing Strategically and Spending Economically 247

Financing Internally 256

Chapter 10: Year 3: Expanding Beyond 263

Optimizing Profitability 266

Pricing Intelligently 271

Pipelining Systematically 279

Integrating Pragmatically 286

Chapter 11: Year X: The Exit 297

Exit Timing 300

The Exit Process 302

Exit Preparation 305

Enjoying the Rewards 309

Chapter 12: Conclusion 313

References 317

Index 319

Authors

Thomas C. Anderson Mark G. Habner