How we create value for our investment companies
We bring management the following:
- The very best insights on retail, consumer products and services, and in-store marketing
- Years of experience as well as routine contact with companies in each sector we operate.
- A network of experienced senior executives around the globe who actively run businesses in these sectors.
- An understanding of the "must know" information investment professionals need to make decisions quickly.
How we create value for Private Equity and Venture Firms
We are highly experienced
We have worked with deal teams to evaluate 100's of companies—including up to 6 month assignments working with senior management to rationalize their strategies pre-acquisition/investment.
We have a clear strengths and great process
Typically we are asked to address specific business questions around:
- Overall Strategy & Business model assessment
- Competitive assessment—overall strengths, weaknesses and genuine threats impacting the company
- Functional strategy and capability reviews in Sales, Marketing, Technology, Finance and General Management
- Organizational assessment—management quality and competencies as well as the organizational effectiveness
We can move quickly
We can often get specific feedback from the market in less than 24 hours. Our policy is to look at a company for up to 4 hours as an accommodation if it is in one of our sectors. As it makes sense we will agree with the Deal Partner as to our mutual interests and what follow up work we will provide.
We provide on-going Advisory and Board work
After the transaction we can provide advisory or board services for both management and the investors.
How we engage with our Investment partners
Our goal is to invest in great companies. How we engage with clients is tempered by this interest. In general in every deal engage we work with the lead investor to agree on the scope of work. This typically ranges from simple opinions about the company's prospects to detailed due diligence including competitive and customer assessments, business model evaluation and related strategic questions.
We will look at any deal for a few hours. Once we agree that there is enough interest on all sides to invest more time we have certain fee and investment expectations. We typically agree up front on:
- The Right to Invest... We receive the right to invest at the same time, in the same share class, with the same terms and conditions as the private equity or venture firm we are working with. We will agree on the level of investment with the lead Partner before we begin our work. Our equity investments generally range from $50k to $500k.
- An Advisory Fee. We typically will look at any investment for a few hours at no cost. If we collectively decide to move forward we typically receive fees for the time our professionals invested during due diligence and post closing. These fees are based on actual time spent and are billed at standard daily rates. Our Advisory Fees and Expenses are not dependent on deal success. These fees and expenses are billed monthly and are payable upon receipt. Our actual out of pocket expenses for travel and other deal related costs are billed along with our advisory fees.
Board Representation and Compensation—we are often asked to serve on the Board or Advisory Boards of our investment companies. We would prefer a Board Seat in those situations where our advice continues to add value for management. We expect to be compensated for this value added.