Private Equity Portfolio Company Marketing Services
For the complete lifecycle of a private equity portfolio company
BIGfrontier brings 20 years of experience working with private equity funded companies across the entire lifecycle of the portfolio arc: acquisition, growth and sale. We work with the internal staff to manage critical communications to all audiences, including employees, customers, partners, analysts and shareholders. Our goal is to maximize value creation at each stage while minimizing external FUD and preparing the company for a profitable exit.
Bookending the lifecycle
Corporate acquisition can be one of the most challenging periods in a portfolio company’s lifecycle, and exposes a company to a significant turbulence both internally and externally. Competitors will take advantage of this change of control to spread negative information about the portfolio company in a land grab for customers and key employees. It’s imperative that a solid communications program addressing the workforce, customers, analysts and the media be put in place prior to the flurry of public news releases, sales meetings and employee town halls that mark every acquisition. This plan should be developed well before the announcements and, in some cases, it may be impossible for the internal staff to conduct this sensitive process.
BIGfrontier has worked with many Private Equity companies on developing these plans and either working with existing staff or conducting a full launch.
Post-acquisition BIGfrontier can assist with sales and marketing coordination, identifying new business channels, lead generation, managing analyst relations and a revising the corporate vision and narrative.
Preparation for sale
The second critical phase occurs as the Private Equity company readies a portfolio company for sale. Sales cycles within private equity portfolio companies involve a high level of activity typically conducted by an insular staff. A company sale is typically not broadly discussed for a myriad number of reasons involving the deal itself and employee and customer retention.
The safest way to approach handling a company sale is through outsourcing development and management of all communications materials to a third-party communications provider. Deal flow can be enhanced and accelerated through generating a tremendous amount of external interest in the company, increasing the noise to maximum volume. BIGfrontier has conducted extensive pre-deal campaigns, yielding higher returns and shortening the sales cycle.
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