Build a value creation plan with milestones and metrics a private equity sponsor will accept.
Leadership & Management
Leading a Private Equity-Backed Business Through a Value Creation Plan
Lead a private equity-backed company through a value creation plan, from the 100-day plan and EBITDA growth levers to sponsor reporting and exit readiness.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Taking investment from a private equity sponsor changes what leading the business actually means, because the new owner expects a specific, time-bound value creation plan rather than a general commitment to doing well, and progress against it is reviewed on a much shorter and more structured cycle than most executives are used to. This course sets out the mechanics of that relationship: building and agreeing a value creation plan with the sponsor, executing a 100-day plan that establishes early credibility, and pulling the specific EBITDA growth levers, including pricing, cost, working capital and buy-and-build acquisitions, that the plan depends on. Practical exercises cover the board reporting formats sponsors expect, management incentive plans and sweet equity, and the operational and financial readiness that a credible exit requires, built from realistic portfolio-company scenarios rather than any single company's history.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Execute a 100-day plan that establishes early credibility with a new sponsor and board.
Identify and prioritise EBITDA growth levers across pricing, cost and working capital.
Evaluate buy-and-build acquisition targets against the agreed value creation plan.
Prepare board reporting packs that meet a private equity sponsor's reporting expectations.
Explain management incentive plan and sweet equity structures to a leadership team.
Assess operational and financial readiness for an exit process ahead of a sale or refinancing.
Who Should Attend
Chief executives and finance directors of newly private equity-backed businesses.
Operating partners and portfolio managers working across several PE-backed companies.
Executives preparing a business for a private equity investment or buyout.
Finance directors responsible for board reporting to a private equity sponsor.
Leadership teams tasked with delivering an agreed 100-day or value creation plan.
Corporate development leaders managing buy-and-build acquisitions for a portfolio company.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Understanding the Private Equity Ownership Model
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1How Private Equity Sponsors Think
- Explain how fund structures, hold periods and return targets shape a sponsor's expectations.
- Distinguish a sponsor's priorities from those of a founder-owner or public shareholder.
- Identify what a sponsor's investment committee will scrutinise during ownership.
- Read a term sheet closely enough to understand its effect on management's incentives.
Session 2Building the Value Creation Plan
- Structure a value creation plan around a small number of measurable priority levers.
- Align management and sponsor expectations on timeline, milestones and required investment.
- Set metrics and reporting cadence that will track progress against the plan.
- Negotiate a value creation plan that is ambitious without being operationally unrealistic.
02Executing the 100-Day Plan and Early Priorities
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Designing the 100-Day Plan
- Prioritise the handful of actions that establish credibility within the first 100 days.
- Sequence quick operational wins alongside the diagnostic work a longer plan requires.
- Communicate the 100-day plan to employees without creating unnecessary anxiety.
- Identify early risks to the value creation plan that must be flagged to the sponsor quickly.
Session 2Early Organisational and Team Decisions
- Assess the existing leadership team against the capabilities the value creation plan needs.
- Make early hiring, exit or role-change decisions without destabilising operations.
- Set the management operating rhythm expected under private equity ownership.
- Establish data and reporting infrastructure needed to track plan progress accurately.
03Driving EBITDA Growth and Performance
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Commercial and Cost Levers
- Identify pricing, mix and revenue levers most likely to move EBITDA within the hold period.
- Evaluate cost reduction opportunities without damaging capability the exit valuation needs.
- Assess working capital levers, including receivables and inventory, for cash generation.
- Prioritise levers by impact and implementation risk within the sponsor's timeline.
Session 2Buy-and-Build and Operational Improvement
- Evaluate add-on acquisition targets against strategic fit and integration risk.
- Plan post-acquisition integration so the cost and revenue assumptions behind the deal are realised.
- Apply operational improvement methods to core processes identified in due diligence.
- Track EBITDA bridge components so drivers of performance remain visible to the sponsor.
04Governance, Reporting and Exit Readiness
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Board Reporting and Sponsor Governance
- Prepare a board pack that reports performance against the value creation plan clearly.
- Manage a board meeting where sponsor directors challenge underperforming metrics.
- Explain management incentive plan and sweet equity mechanics to affected employees.
- Escalate plan risks to the sponsor early enough for corrective action to be credible.
Session 2Preparing for Exit
- Assess operational and financial readiness for a sale, secondary buyout or refinancing.
- Prepare the management presentation a future buyer's due diligence will expect.
- Identify value creation plan gaps that would concern a buyer during diligence.
- Plan management's own role and incentives through and beyond an exit process.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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