Throughout the PE deal lifecycle, there are various drivers for CVG engagements.
Establishing the strategy (early in the hold period, often years 0-2.5)
- "100-day" planning (including pre-close)
- Set strategy for hold period
- Deeper/more detailed strategy planning than what was developed in CDD
- Leverage and build upon investment thesis developed during due diligence
- Detailing strategy post 100-day plan
- Crystalize key features of the strategy after the 100-day plan is drafted
Resetting the strategy (mid-hold period, often years ~2-4)
- "Re-underwriting" strategy - especially with any underperformance signals
- New opportunities - pricing, new products, services, bundles, go to market, etc.
- Evolving market/competitor dynamics
In general, these opportunities are driving ongoing performance and ensuring the investment remains on track for an attractive return during the mid-hold period.
Determining valid ongoing value gen prospects (end of hold period, often ~1 year before exit)
- Determining the ongoing growth prospect - validating and articulating current positioning to optimize timing and exit outcome
- Finding and pressure testing future growth plans - validating and articulating the next phase of growth to maximize exit
Corporate
Strategy & Planning
- Help establish corporate vision, mission, and roadmap
- Set commercial priorities
- Establish strategic initiatives and timeline for completion
- Performance management (e.g., metrics to measure)
Maximize Growth
within Core Markets
- Identify and refind value proposition with customers
- Refind product to adjust product-market fit
- Better target attractive customer segments
- Modify go-to-market and sales strategy
- Identify cross-sell opportunities
- Perform competitive assessment to refine winning strategy
Identify and
Capitalize on New Opportunities
- Evaluate new markets and prioritize adjacnet markets to pursue
- Evaluate/socialize new business models to test feasibility
- Evaluate new products for potential product-market fit
- Help prioritize potential avenues for growth via relative attractiveness assessment
Price
Improvement Analysis
- Understand customer willingness to pay - elasticity measurements
- Explore alternative purchase bundles and other pricing/packaging models
- Develop more sophisticated pricing techniques based on key price driving factors
- Architect a value maximizing price/package bundle
M&A
Thesis Development
- Develop thesis framework for evaluating where to play
- Establish M&A criteria for evaluating specific assets
- Develop a target list of companies and evaluate target list against a prioritization filter
- Establish sources of sales-side synergy potential
