I’ve
had a number of conversations with my clients in recent years in which funds
told me they didn’t appreciate the scope of Hanover’s offering in terms of private
equity until they started working with us. Yes, we can
fill senior roles with the best talent in the market – but that’s only part of
our offering.
I’ve
heard this comment a number of times now, and wanted to put into words what it
actually means when we say the “full lifecycle of our private equity offering,”
and the value and support it brings to our clients.
What is full private equity lifecycle support?
Full
lifecycle support is the triangulation of engagement between advisors, who
manage transactions in the market, large cap and mid-market private equity
funds with their disparate and diverse investment theses, and owner founder
assets seeking private capital.
We
sit at the heart of that triangulation, and share IP – within confidentiality
constraints – between the different parties. We’re not just there when a firm
is looking to fill a role, but throughout.
For
example, advisors know the funds and vice versa, but we provide support by
reminding them of some of the assets and transactions both coming into and
already in the market that they may be aware of but have not yet actioned. We
can provide further insight (again, within confidentiality constraints), access
and process development.
There’s
a uniqueness to this dialogue with both advisors and funds, where we
additionally support owner founders or assets seeking private capital to drive
growth and expansion, potentially cash out, internationalise, target new
addressable markets or make acquisitions. Hanover has both the expertise and
contacts to formulate and formalise these introductions between vested parties.
Your three key areas of support
The
three key areas of support that Hanover provides across the private equity lifecycle
are:
- Transaction
support for advisors and funds with regards making the transaction happen
on both the buy and sell side
- Due
diligence with regards to domain expertise and
broader transaction support
- Origination
support, identifying assets and owner founders looking for private capital
and supporting the agenda by way of introduction
We
are also able to support owner founders with access to trusted advisors and
facilitate introductions to funds where the investment thesis is aligned.
One
of the areas we have deep expertise in is supporting the agenda for growth.
Once a transaction has happened, we’ll support you to deliver the value
creation, whether that’s internationalisation, buy and build, bolt-ons, land-and-expand
or better integration into existing portfolio assets.
More than an executive search firm
Should
you be mid-flight, 24 or 18 months prior to exit, Hanover can provide leadership
support. Whether you have concerns that
require change or to be ready for sale, we can support that agenda, too.
Not
only that, but we can also make early fund introductions to assets that are
looking to come to market, naturally with the agreement and acquiescence of the
existing investor group.
If
there are owner-founders or CEOs navigating a transaction, we can help give you
access to leaders in existing fund portfolios to better understand their
respective approach to investment.
When
the exit then happens, we provide leadership support.
Leaders may have cashed out and want to go plural or perhaps take on another
operating role. They’ll need access to and may be keen to have discussions with
other funds to evaluate their options. This we support especially amongst those
funds that may have been part of the process but were not successful in landing
the deal.
The
analogy I often give to people is this: Hanover is great at organising dinner
parties. We know who to invite and who to sit next to each other. Yes, we offer
all the ‘usual’ services an executive search firm does, but our strength really
lies in our emotional intelligence. It’s our breadth in being able to marry
leadership with assets in a way that allows growth to happen – because it’s our
understanding of interoperability across C-level capability and the individuals
within those businesses that matters most.
If you’d like to chat about Hanover’s private
equity offering, contact us here and let’s
set up time for a chat. Our work covers firms on both sides of the Atlantic,
across EMEA and APAC, so we’re global in scope but also have localised market
provision to cater for your specific needs.
