From close to exit.
The IRR in your model was built on assumptions — EBITDA growth, multiple preservation, a clean exit. VBP provides the operating infrastructure to make those assumptions real: from the 90-day plan through to exit readiness, with a senior operator in the business and a portfolio monitoring layer in between.
Most mid-market PE value is created in two windows. Most firms only focus on one.
The first 90 days, when the operating model is set and management's confidence in the new owner is formed. And the 24 months before exit, when the equity story is written and the business is prepared for diligence. The hold period in between is where most firms lose the thread.
Day 1 to Day 90.
Management decides within the first quarter whether the new owner is a partner or a problem. The operating model — KPIs, governance cadence, value creation priorities — is set in this window. What is not established now requires expensive correction later.
24–36 months before sale.
Buyers pay for a business they can diligence cleanly and a management team they can back. The equity story — the reasons a sophisticated buyer should pay a premium — is not written in the sale process. It is earned in the two years before it starts.
Four phases. One continuous thread.
Each phase hands off to the next. The operating partner who runs the 90-day plan becomes the senior resource in the VCP governance cadence. The Execution Tracker feeds the exit readiness diagnostic. Nothing is lost between engagements.
Capture what the model assumed.
- Operating Partner — senior operator in the seat from day one
- 90-Day Value Creation Roadmap — structured plan across six value areas
- Management alignment and board reporting from week one
Run the value creation programme.
- Value Creation Planning (VCP) — Baseline, initiatives, governance, execution
- EBITDA from AI — AI adoption as a budgetable EBITDA line item
- Quarterly governance dashboard and initiative health tracking
Manage the portfolio, not just the deal.
- Portfolio Intelligence — cross-portfolio KPI tracking and EBITDA bridges
- Capital allocation signals — where to concentrate management attention
- Exit readiness scores by company, updated quarterly
Prepare the asset for a premium exit.
- Exit Readiness Programme — equity story, data room, buyer universe
- Vendor due diligence preparation and management presentation coaching
- Sell-side M&A process — senior-led from teaser to close
What each engagement delivers.
Operating Partner
A former CEO, COO, or CFO embedded in the portfolio company two to four days a week for six to eighteen months. Reports to the board, owns the 100-day plan, and manages the operating transition — including the gap that almost every searcher-backed business faces: no COO or CFO-level resource between acquisition and scale.
90-Day Value Creation Roadmap
A structured post-close plan built around six value-creation areas: revenue, margin, working capital, capex, management, and AI. Initiative charters with named owners, milestones, and a governance cadence the board can track. Designed to be operational by the end of week four — not a slide deck delivered at day 100.
Value Creation Planning
A four-module programme that converts an acquisition thesis into a running value creation machine. The Baseline Builder reconstructs 24 months of operating history and sizes the value pool. The Initiative Designer converts gaps into chartered initiatives with economic mechanisms and milestones. The Governance Dashboard runs the monthly and quarterly review cadence. The Execution Tracker updates performance quarterly and reallocates resources to where the evidence says to concentrate.
EBITDA from AI
AI adoption sized as a named, budgetable EBITDA line item — with a delta, an implementation cost, an owner, and a delivery date. Runs as the seventh area in the 90-day roadmap, as a standalone workstream inside the VCP, or as part of the exit evidence package. The output is a figure that goes into the value bridge, not a slide about AI potential.
Exit Readiness — for PE-backed companies
The same 18–36 month programme used for founder-led businesses, adapted for PE-owned assets where the owner already has a financial and strategic thesis. The focus is on translating the hold-period value creation track record into a buyer-ready equity story: clean financials, a management team that can be backed independently, and a data room that survives diligence without restatements.
A single operating view across your portfolio.
Most fund-level portfolio monitoring relies on quarterly management accounts and a slide deck prepared by the company. Portfolio Intelligence gives GPs a standardised, real-time operating view — built on the same data that runs the VCP governance cadence inside each portfolio company.
A cross-portfolio dashboard that surfaces what actually matters — EBITDA bridge by company, initiative progress vs. plan, exit readiness score, and capital allocation signals — without requiring a portfolio management team to build it manually each quarter.
EBITDA bridge by company
Actual vs. plan, by initiative, by quarter. Variance explained at the mechanism level — not just "volume was soft."
Initiative health tracker
RAG status, leading indicators, and resource allocation across the initiative portfolio. Updated from the governance cadence, not from a PowerPoint.
Exit readiness score
Quarterly readiness score per portfolio company — financial, commercial, operational — so you know which assets are exit-ready and which need 12 more months.
Capital allocation signals
Which companies are delivering ahead of plan and absorb more management attention or capex. Which are behind and need intervention before the value leaks permanently.
Management KPI standardisation
A common KPI framework across portfolio companies — so you can compare DSO, gross margin, and net revenue retention across assets, not just within them.
LP reporting ready
Structured to feed quarterly LP reports with consistent, auditable operating metrics — not a slide deck assembled the week before the LP call.
Mid-market acquirers across Europe.
Mid-market PE funds
Funds investing €20m–€200m in European mid-market assets — typically 5–15 portfolio companies at any point. The value creation infrastructure VBP provides supplements the fund's operating partner capability without requiring a full in-house team.
Family offices with operating assets
Family offices that hold operating businesses directly — typically without a dedicated portfolio management function. VBP provides the governance and operating-partner infrastructure on a fractional basis across the portfolio.
Corporate M&A teams
Corporates running active bolt-on programmes who need post-close value capture support beyond what the internal integration team can provide — particularly for carve-outs and acquisitions in new geographies or sectors.
Searchers & ETA operators
Searchers who have completed a first acquisition and are navigating the transition from deal execution to operating owner. The operating partner provides the COO-level capability that most search-fund acquisitions are missing from day one.
Not sure where the value is in a specific asset?
The Value Bridge Read is an outside-in assessment of a business — the value creation levers, the concentration risks, and the EBITDA bridge — delivered by a senior partner in a single working session. Used by acquirers before the LOI, and by PE funds before the 90-day plan is built.
The Value Bridge Read — acquirer edition →Ready to build the operating infrastructure around the deal? Let's talk.
A senior VBP partner will walk through the programme, scope the right entry point for your situation, and give you an honest view of where we can and cannot add value.