In the second acquisition of a business services M&A strategy, the investment thesis was based on revenue growth, a small component of operational synergies, and a partial integration of proprietary technology systems. By analysing the technology, operations and staffing of both target and portfolio company (pre-deal) we designed a value creation strategy that reduced costs by a further £14.8m over three years, and delivered an additional 18% uplift in EBITDA in the years preceding exit. We also identified additional technology investments that would shift the valuation multiple.

To ensure that value could actually be realised, we authored an implementation plan with timings, roles, KPIs, governance and measures of success, which was designed to minimised revenue risk.

As part of a technology due diligence we identified an opportunity to reduce costs in the operation of a proprietary service delivery platform - by migrating the on-premises system into the cloud and then transforming the architecture to cloud-native.

We designed the cloud-native architecture and costed its development, and created a high-level migration plan with costs, resource requirements and risk register.

We reviewed a vendor proposal to implement a new CRM and ERP system in an industrial services portfolio company. We checked the operational assumptions around the proposed business process redesigns, interrogated the projected service quality improvements and cost efficiency gains, and reviewed the suitability and pricing of the proposed technology options.

Our insights were used to identify a more effective solution, from a different vendor, at 23% lower cost.

When investigating a telemedicine services target it became evident that the technology and legal structures would deliver a return on investment far below expectations. Re-engineering the existing technology would give a very poor ROI, so we designed an alternative technology platform, articulating the technical architecture, costs, skills and schedule to implement, and the associated product roadmap.

And with the investor’s consent, we conducted a global search for an alternative target to identify a more mature company with better technology and a better fit for the investor’s existing portfolio businesses.

When investigating a UK-based SaaS Edtech business, we established that the target’s proprietary content generation platform was a market differentiator, but the proposed technology feature release schedule was too aggressive for their current staffing levels.

So we designed an alternative staffing and product release plan – that would deliver the projected revenues of the investment thesis at an improved EBITDA.

We rationalised the product portfolio of a $1.4bn global telecoms operator across mobile voice and data services for civilian, military and blue light customers.

To achieve implementation we designed product retirement plans and product feature migration plans, frameworks to renegotiate contractual terms with suppliers and customers, and the architecture of customer outreach plans to drive market adoption.

We developed the technology business case that helped a global satellite communications hardware manufacturer raise $100m growth capital. By defining a core technical architecture, pricing models & approach to market, we developed an enterprise-wide product strategy to capitalise upon emerging global market demands. Our strategy reversed $261m of declining revenues, increased market share and delivered a sustained increase in EBITDA.