Why IT Integration Is Quietly Killing Your Buy-and-Build Returns
Build-and-buy is one of the most powerful strategies in private equity. Done well, serial add-on acquisitions can achieve returns that organic growth alone can’t match. By the third add-on, most platforms aren’t scaling. They’re surviving. Reporting fractures. Security exposure grows with every deal. IT goes from strategic to reactive. Technology shifts from an enabler to a drag on every transaction. The problem usually isn’t the team; it’s that the operating model was not built for six integrations. […]
The Bottom Line on IT Integration: Why EBITDA Depends on Business Integration
IT integration protects your EBITDA. Business integration scales it. Most sponsors conflate the two, and pay for it at exit. Here’s what actually happens post-close on buy-and-build platforms: One ERP. Inconsistent pricing discipline. Centralized reporting. Decentralized decision rights. “Standardized” processes that behave differently by business unit. These aren’t system problems. They’re operating model gaps that technology makes visible but […]
The Synergy Gap: Why PE Firms Miss Value Targets and How to Prevent It
Most PE firms enter a deal with a clear value creation thesis. The problem is what happens after close. For lower-middle-market firms, those investing in companies with enterprise values between $25 million and $500 million, the gap between planned and realized synergies is one of the most common and most expensive issues we see. […]
Digital Maturity: What It Is, How to Achieve It, and the Digital Maturity Model to Drive Business Transformation
Before you learn to run, you must learn to walk. Before you take leaps in business, you must evaluate where you are today. Digital technologies are no different. Understanding your company’s digital maturity is the first step in driving value – and profitable business transformation — through digital technologies. Without understanding your current state, and […]