How to Maximize the Value of a Peo

Behind every smooth PE recap or acquisition is a plan and critical execution.. I have seen this many times: companies get excited when private equity interest grows, but forget the real work starts before the deal even begins. What separates the winners? Preparation. Here’s what I think matters most: 1. Build your internal team first-finance, legal, operations. Pick a point person to keep things moving and keep everyone informed. 2. Bring in the right advisors. An experienced banker, strong legal counsel, and a solid accounting firm. Trust matters here. 3. Get your financial house in order. Audited statements, clear forecasts, and well-defined KPIs. Timely reporting builds trust-delay kills deals. 4. Organize your data room early. Every document, every process, every metric-ready to go. 5. Choose your investment banker wisely. Chemistry and experience count. 6. Know your buyers. Strategic and financial buyers see value differently. Be clear on your pitch. 7. Stay on top of due diligence. Keep updates flowing, answer questions fast, and track every version. 8. Negotiate with care. Valuation, deal terms, and roles post-closing--every detail shapes your future. What’s your biggest challenge in preparing for a PE transaction? If you want a deeper dive or tailored strategies, let’s connect. Your path to a value-maximizing deal starts with the right plan.

Can you take PE money and control the terms? The idea of fresh capital sounds great, but capital without leverage means you're scaling someone else's agenda. Along with funding, private equity brings pressure for faster timelines, stricter metrics, and often, less control. But you CAN negotiate leverage before you take the money so that you don't just scale fast, you scale on your terms. Here's how you do it: ♟️ Control the Board, Control the Game. PE firms will want governance rights in the form of board seats, decision-making power, and over key hires. If you don’t negotiate voting rights and approval thresholds upfront, you’ll find yourself sidelined in critical decisions. Retaining influence over M&A, leadership changes, and how capital is deployed should be non-negotiable. 📈 Metrics Matter. Define What Winning Means. PE firms love aggressive targets. They’re looking for a high-growth story to sell. But if you’re chasing unsustainable growth just to meet their short-term KPIs, you could break the very foundation that made your firm successful in the first place. Set realistic, balanced metrics that drive both growth and long-term value so you're not just hitting revenue, you're keeping margins healthy and clients happy. 🎯 Own Your Capital Strategy Capital is a strategic weapon, but without clear terms on who controls it, PE will often push spending into initiatives that maximize their valuation, not necessarily your firm’s longevity. Lock down control over where and how capital is deployed so that they direct spending into talent, tech, and growth initiatives that strengthen the business for the long haul. ✈️ The Exit Should Be on Your Terms Every PE deal has an exit in mind, whether it’s a resale, IPO, or recapitalization. If you don’t set clear expectations on valuation and timing, you could find yourself forced into an exit that doesn’t maximize your outcome, so ensure you’re part of the exit strategy design and negotiate valuation milestones, buyout options, and timelines upfront. The bottom line - if you’re negotiating a PE deal, the most important thing you can do is lock in the leverage before they bring their playbook to the table.

10 keys to success for a multiple-maximizing exit in a PE-backed company: 🔹 Build a great, attractive business worth a buyer paying up for. 🔹 Start planning your exit early in the hold period. 🔹 Keep a tight finger on the market pulse. Timing an exit perfectly is tough, but timing does matter. 🔹 Know your buyers—their careabouts, their strategy, their needs. Position your business in a way that plays to each's strategy. 🔹 Get the right investment banker. Hire/select a banker with the same diligence as you would a key exec hire. 🔹 Get your financial/legal/administrative house in order. More orderly DD process = higher probability of close + better signaling to buyers ("This company really has its act together.") 🔹 Sell the vision, not the business. Doing so will inspire confidence in a buyer that the company is going places, and they better hop aboard. 🔹 Identify the few "metrics that matter most" to the exit story, and build momentum in those metrics ahead of a sale. 🔹 Anticipate buyer questions/issues, and get ahead of those. You want to be addressing issues on your front foot. #PrivateEquity #PE #MultipleExpansion #ValueCreation