Our One Crowe model unlocks opportunities for private equity client

Our private equity client acquired two smaller targets, experiencing rapid, inorganic growth that consumed its leadership team’s focus. The client lacked robust internal teams, processes, and tools to help manage the integration process, resulting in disparate systems (enterprise resource planning (ERP), human resources (HR) portals, payment services, and more) with siloed reporting. While the client made initial efforts to stitch the data together into a custom data store for reporting through Microsoft Power BI™, it needed help identifying and implementing a more robust solution as well as continuous improvement initiatives. Plus, a lack of centralized strategic sourcing and procurement provided additional operational issues. With our One Crowe model, we pulled together a team composed of seasoned specialists in strategic sourcing, performance and operational improvement, data analytics, and IT advisory to address these challenges.

The client’s leadership team had established inorganic growth and set a target for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). However, it faced a variety of challenges. First, it needed to integrate data from a variety of source systems into a single enterprise data warehouse. Then it needed the ability to create cross-dimensional, self-serve dashboards that could be used to develop actionable insights.

In addition, the private equity client was facing sourcing issues – specifically, it had no standard way to manage materials from a cost, profitability, or performance perspective due to a lack of centralized purchasing agreements. These immature material management practices affected both productivity and morale in its team. Plus, the business was experiencing declining performance in customer service-level agreements (SLAs) and lacked a supporting accountability structure to identify the root causes.

The private equity client engaged Crowe to establish and facilitate integrations from the close of the deal through ERP integration, while simultaneously standing up an internal integration management office. The Crowe team also was engaged to conduct operational and IT due diligence on a uniquely complicated and transformational acquisition target for the client, the close of which would double the client’s revenue, technician count, and geographic coverage. Additionally, Crowe helped integrate six companies into the client’s business.

After performing a variety of data-driven analyses as well as hundreds of direct stakeholder interviews, our team was able to understand the full scope of our client’s problems – and determine the true root causes. Our team created assessment reports that highlighted the depth of our investigation as well as the critical components that needed to be addressed. From there, we tailored solutions to meet the individual needs and challenges of the business.

We worked with the private equity client to build a robust and bespoke integration life cycle playbook with references, processes, and tools. Then, our team facilitated the initial deals; augmented their business capabilities during the transition; and supported the recruiting, hiring, and training of an internal client integration team so that they could be prepared for future deals. Our team also implemented flexible integration solutions for a variety of deals (including asset, stock, proprietary, and nonproprietary deals) and integrations (including consolidations, turnarounds, and add-ons).

With data now readily available from multiple systems, the client can create cross-dimensional analytics that pinpoint issues and performance improvement opportunities, allowing it to manage the business more effectively. Additionally, the client now has built-in enterprisewide sustainability from a data and analytics perspective – instead of relying on one or two people to pull data, it now has software to help it make data-driven decisions for the business in real time.

While each integration presents its own specific challenges, one constant is that the unexpected always should be expected. And when you work with a team that’s able to consider the big picture as it works with you to develop unique solutions, it helps do more than solve short-term challenges – it helps maximize the long-term value of your investment.

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