Private EquityHow We Work
Over the course of more than 35 years of private equity investing, we have helped many exceptional management teams build world-class businesses.
Business development approach
We have developed deep networks in the ecosystems of the sectors in which we operate. Our industry teams work closely with management teams, industry leaders, bankers, consultants, and advisors so we can be highly targeted when pursuing investments, and also able to react quickly and decisively when evaluating opportunities. As with all aspects of our business, we highly value and nurture close connectivity with our partners in deal sourcing and frequently work with buy-side advisors.
Portfolio company value creation
We take a long-term, active approach to helping our companies achieve their full potential. But that doesn’t mean we become operators – we are committed, supportive, active investors and board members.
Our Portfolio Support Group (PSG) team collaborates with our investment professionals to introduce resources, best practices, and relationships that help companies realize the full potential of their businesses and achieve our joint value creation goals. The PSG team has deep and varied backgrounds and expertise to provide the support a company needs. This team also has the scale and depth to handle larger-scale support needs.
Customized approach
We start working with our companies early, to help define the value creation approach. We are actively involved from before the investment closes, all the way through our chapter with the company. Each portfolio engagement will not look alike; we customize our specific approach and resources from a well-defined set of best practices. Frequent examples of where we seek to help our management teams are in growth strategy, board construction, M&A execution & integration, capital structure optimization, pricing, distribution, globalization, systems implementation, and talent recruitment. We tailor the engagement around the needs of the management team and company, prioritize the biggest drivers of equity value creation and bring the right resources to support management in realizing the potential.
The Berkshire network
Relationships are important to us in all aspects of our business. Our Advisory Directors and Operating Directors bring decades of management and sector expertise to both the diligence process and ongoing value creation plans for companies. We have also developed a community of executives across our portfolio who can serve as resources to each other. Our annual executive conference and other CXO forums build and reinforce this special community. We believe that connecting our management teams with one another to help them compete and succeed is a key part of our role in helping our portfolio grow.
Ending our investment chapter
When we start thinking about realizing our investment, we work with portfolio management teams to optimize timing and exit strategy. We take the long-term view and are proud to see our companies flourish well past our ownership chapter. We are flexible in considering exit scenarios and work hard to achieve the best outcomes for our companies, their management teams, and our own investors. A majority of our companies have been recapitalized by financial investors and/or management teams or sold to strategic buyers. Our mandate is also flexible enough to accommodate many multi-chapter and partial liquidity scenarios.
