H&Z Management Consulting - Consulting with head, heart and hand

Private Equity

Valuation is more than EBITDA. Procurement is more than savings. 

Value creation and sustainable improvement require the right partner.

Private Equity Building

Providing comprehensive expertise at every stage of deal execution

 

Private equity is in our Head, Heart, Hand DNA. Our private equity consulting experts help private equity firms create greater returns at every stage in the investment life cycle, creating value and sustainable operational improvement in portfolio companies. 

 

Traditional strategies are not enough. A New Purpose of Procurement is needed. 

 

The purpose of Private Equity is value creation in portfolio companies, and with half of all business value originating in the external part of the value chain, smart PE firms have always leveraged procurement excellence as a way to lower costs and drive value. 

 

However, traditional growth strategies are no longer enough to sustainably increase profits. PE firms must now penetrate much deeper into the organizational structure of their investments and optimize their business performance. New methods for increasing value are essential. 

 

The New Purpose of Procurement focuses on Supply Chain Resilience, Sustainability and Value Creation and enables PE firms to support their portfolio companies with a complete range of levers, driving EBITDA not just through value creation but through sustainable valuation improvement. 

What we do 


As private capital expands at a rapid pace, private equity firms can create unprecedented value. Our advisory services cover the entire life cycle of an investment. 

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Pre-transaction Due Diligence and 100-day Rapid Impact Plans

Commercial Due Diligence (CDD), Operational Due Diligence (ODD), and Sustainability Due Diligence (SDD) 

Pre-transaction, we conduct a comprehensive range of Due Diligence activities, for all classical industries including industrials, industrial goods, industrial technology, aviation, medical devices, healthcare, business services,plant construction, and mechanical engineering. 

 

Commercial Due Diligence (CDD) assesses a company's commercial attractiveness to provide in-depth knowledge of the target company and the market (trends, customer, competitor, technology)in which it is positioned, 

 

Operational Due Diligence (ODD) assesses the business model and operations of the target to ensure a good fit for the buyer. ODD is important for assessing potential in value creation in Supply chain, production and procurement.  It’s also a useful tool for helping PE firms to kick-start the value creation process, in readiness for post-deal operational improvements or integration. 

 

ESG Due Diligence (ESGDD) assesses the target company's Environmental, Social, and Governance performance, and has become an essential component of M&A deals. It helps identify existing risks not only within its own operations but throughout its entire supply chain. ESGDD becomes even more important with the proposed EUSDD proposal, in which in-scope companies would be required to conduct due diligence on the impact of their operations on human rights and the environmental risks of their 'value chain', and to adopt measures to prevent or mitigate identified adverse impacts. 

 

 

During the pre-transaction phase, we add additional impact through the identification of cost reduction potentials, leading to value increase and resulting in higher margins. Our experience is that this significantly improves the leeway for investors during the acquisition process.  Post-deal, we help clients develop and execute aggressive, targeted plans of action for the first 100 days post-closing to capture near-term opportunities and ensure the success of their investment. Beyond the first 100 days, our support is focused on near-medium term improvement models, developed with an exit strategy in mind, and aimed at transforming the performance of portfolio companies in high-impact areas. Portfolio projects are customized, with scale and timing driven by client need. Our services range from rapid assessments of portfolio company business capabilities to comprehensive turnaround of performance, redesigning processes, operations, and products from the ground up.  

 

Our approach is characterized by a focus on implementation that’s evidenced by our award as a Hidden Champion. 

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Procurement: Rapid Savings Impact and Value Creation Plans

Increasing operational Procurement efficiency with  rapid P&L Impact, inflation mitigation and the development of Value Creation Plans  

We make immediate P&L impact through our Rapid Savings Initiatives. 

 

  • We create Spend, Supplier and Contract transparency through analytics 
  • We deliver structured programs of current supplier renegotiations and supplier days to deliver rapid benefits, both savings and cash
  • We focus on upcoming orders, tenders and activity to optimise short-term benefits 

 

In parallel, we work closely with the portfolio company to identify all potential opportunities, to quantify and prioritise them and to build out the medium-term Value Creation Plan, which is agreed with both PE owner and portfolio company management. 

 

We are also able to provide guidance on the effectiveness of the current procurement organisation and direction towards an optimised Target Operating Model.  

 

Our projects in this phase deliver rapid P&L savings impact, inflation mitigation, operating model blueprint and the Value Creation Plan.

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Procurement Value Creation

Creating value by implementing Procurement Cost Reduction and Cost and Value Engineering programs

We execute strategy to deliver P&L impact.  

 

Our expert procurement teams leverage deep sector knowledge, procurement expertise and a suite of implementation methodologies to implement Procurement Value Creation Plans. 

 

  • We deliver cost, quality and operational performance improvement through Strategic Sourcing
  • We drive mid-to-long term step change improvement through Category Management
  • We drive value and innovation from key suppliers through Supplier Relationship Management
  • We leverage our deep Cost and Value Engineering expertise to tear-down product, build up should cost models and optimise value from a product perspective  

 

Working “hands-on” collaboratively with portfolio company teams, we ensure knowledge transfer, ensuring that benefits are realised and that portfolio company resources are developed, and capability is embedded for sustainable performance.   

 

Our projects deliver EBITDA improvement and embed sustainable procurement capability improvement. 

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Transformation in Procurement

Building sustainable improvement through the development of procurement functional excellence  

A key element of sustainable performance improvement and valuation is procurement capability.  

 

We work with portfolio companies to develop the Enablers of Procurement Excellence, from Target Operating Model, People & Development, Systems & Tools, Core Processes, Performance Measurement through to the implementation of Sustainable Procurement. 

 

We accurately benchmark procurement capability and build the Transformation Roadmap. Our change consultants work closely with the portfolio company teams to embed improved performance, whether that is Sourcing, Category Management, Contract Management or Supplier Relationship Management. 

 

Our digitalization expertise and knowledge of procurement technology ensures clients are able to leverage systems and tools, and our procurement technology implementation expertise from group company Aneon can deliver technology change “hands-on”. 

 

We help you rethink procurement, through Value Creation, Cost Out, Digitization and Sustainability. It’s in our DNA. 

Our Success Stories for Private Equity

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Our Experts for Private Equity

Harald Enz

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Harald Enz - Experte für Einkaufsthemen bei H&Z

Richard McIntosh

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Richard Mcintosh

Markus Contzen

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Markus Contzen