How does Management Due Diligence help?
Firstly, it’s not about us, it’s about you. A fresh, objective perspective, strong, well-evidenced opinions, and practical, detailed outputs for investors and management teams to provide all the support they need to hit their grow plans and make a success of their business.
For Investors
We provide a deep understanding of the subtleties of the individuals and what drives them, as well as the team dynamics, so that investors have a really detailed, in-depth view of the team they’re investing in, and we give solid, practical advice on how to best support and get the best from the team to deliver the business plan. We also explore issues such as alignment, exit, structure for scale succession and the bench strength of the wider team.
- Individual strengths, limitations, motivations, aspirations
- Any potential gaps in the team
- Team structure and dynamics
- Bandwidth and succession
- How to best support and work with the team
- Best fit non-executives or new hires
- Growth plans and exit
- Organisational structuring and scaling
- Drill in on issues of concern to the investors
For Management Teams
Through the MDD process we get to know management teams very well, which means we can provide them with an honest, objective, insightful but practical perspective on each of the team, and on the team as a whole, highlighting strengths and areas to build on to hit the business growth aspirations.
- Personal assessment and feedback for each of the team
- Feedback on team composition in relation to the business plan
- Highlighting potential gaps in the team
- Raises different perspectives and ideas about the business
- How to motivate and support each person through the private equity cycle
- Full management due diligence report on the team
- Personal development reports highlighting where each will have to step up
- Feedback discussion post deal
Management Due Diligence - Our Approach
There is not a ‘one-size-fits-all,’ cookie-cutter approach to the diligence process. Each PE House has different ways of working, specific pain points, different levels of access to the team and so we take these into account and fit our approach around these factors.
So far, we have worked closely with over 270 management teams taking on investment and so we really understand the pressures of the Private Equity deal process, for management and the investors, and what is required to successfully deliver on the business plan.
Flexible
We do understand the management team’s pressures, the many work streams they’ll have going on, and how much access the investors might have to the team in what is an increasingly competitive market, so we will work around their schedules to minimise disruption to the business. We want the MDD process to add value, to be a positive, helpful and enjoyable experience, a learning process not a tick-box exercise or a distraction. So, we can assess before, during or after the transaction, working at both the individual and team level.
Honest and open
We listen (no, really listen), to truly understand the issues so that we can develop a fresh and accurate view and offer direct practical advice to the team, the individuals and the investors. We work in a spirit of openness, we share our views, with clear evidence, with individual assessments with the each of the team, take management through our assessments as a team, and provide practical advice to the CEO, no theoretical frameworks, no jargon, no fancy graphs for the sake of it.
Developmental
We see our role as supporting management, to get them into the best shape for this new world of investment, individually, and as a team, to better understand themselves, grow and develop, and so work positively, constructively and in partnership with their new investors, and helping those investors by getting the management team stepping up and structured for growth. We make sure the team get real value from our interventions.
POSITIVE
Management teams all see the MDD process, as a really positive experience, based on the feedback we have, as it allows them to better understand themselves and their colleagues and how they can step up and work better together. We are often used in a reassuring role with the management team, as an opportunity, during ‘deal fatigue,’ allowing them to open up and discuss their fears, hopes, aspirations, motivations often for the first time.
Teams we’ve worked with
Here are some of the teams it’s been our privilege to work with over the last few years. All unique, all energised and pushing their businesses forward.
