Connecting Investors, Investee Companies and Executive Talent

Business Origination

  • Our consultants and researchers are constantly looking for businesses that will be attractive to our private equity or private investors
  • These can be “carve-outs” from larger corporate entities or privately-owned businesses in need of growth capital or where the owners are desirous of an exit
  • Such companies are found though our own research or through the many conversations we have with Pathfinder Executives in our network
  • We are able to help clients wanting to sell on a company through a “secondary” or subsequent disposals particularly when these are though an introduction to another or a larger private equity firm or private investor within our network
  • We are keen to advise the owners of private or public companies who wish to attract capital or effect an exit

Pathfinder Executives

  • Pathfinders are the senior executives our clients ask us to find who each have an outstanding command of their sector or sub-sector.
  • As such they know how capital can be deployed and we support them to identify potential acquisitions that will be attractive to our clients, usually “carve-outs” where they have some understanding of the situation
  • We work with them to produce a “teaser” or overview in order to give the potential acquirer or investor enough information to adequately explore the opportunity before deciding whether to engage in due diligence
  • We compile a list of the most likely private equity houses to be interested in the deal and approach them usually singly with what is effectively an off-market opportunity
  • Should a private equity firm wish to progress the opportunity, their own processes or their professional team conduct due dilligence and the transaction
  • The Pathfinder and Hill Coates will often bring together a management team to offer to the investor with the teaser
  • Alternatively the Pathfinder may offer himself/herself as the chairman or chief executive and we place the remainder of the management team as required
  • We constantly look for and are pleased to hear from executives who truly have “Pathfinder” capabilities

Management Teams

  • We can be formally retained to undertake an executive search assignment to place the required management team whether or not we have been involved in the origination,
  • Requests for Information are sent to the client prior to our attending a briefing meeting
  • The consultants and researchers to be involved attend and often use an Orientation Brief to show our understanding of the sector and investee company
  • We then gather sufficient information to enable us to produce a full proposal covering the background to the role, the candidate specification, our search strategy, remuneration, timescale and level of confidentiality
  • Once this is accepted it usually takes 6-8 weeks to arrive at a shortlist of between 3-5 candidates for the client to interview
  • We support the interview, negotiation and appointment process which often takes another four weeks to complete

Finding Capital

  • Our private equity clients are very keen to meet executives or management teams who wish to lead a Management Buy Out
  • We work with MBO teams to compile a list of the private equity firms most likely to be interested in the opportunity
  • We help develop an overview of the opportunity which we use to introduce the MBO team and the opportunity to our private equity clients
  • We usually do this singly to present an off-market opportunity, the convention being that private equity firms will tell us quickly whether they wish to progress the opportunity, enabling us to move it swiftly on if necessary
  • If wishing to progress matters, the private equity company conducts financial and commercial due diligence and, if this is successful, they then place the transaction in the hands of their professional advisers
  • We often benefit from executive search work to place additional management team members and usually receive an introductory fee from the acquirer

Leadership Consulting

Hill Coates Associates provides leadership consulting services through our associate company Pendleton King who specialise in:

  • Developing the effectiveness of professionals and individual leaders through both assessment and coaching
  • Developing cohesive teams through a programme of workshops, which enable alignment, enhance their clarity of purpose and interdependence
  • Designing, leading and contributing to executive education programmes to enhance the effectiveness of key groups of leaders in organisations

Assessing individuals is a process driven by data that describes a leader’s developmental potential and current level of performance.  It includes: psychometric questionnaires and 360 degree feedback, in-depth psychological interviewing, reporting and feedback.

Executive coaching is offered to individuals who want to develop and change the way they lead and manage within their organisation and helps them to:

  • Develop communication and influencing skills
  • Manage conflict more effectively
  • Set strategic direction and lead its implementation
  • Build resilience and the ability to handle pressure and stress

The central concept in Pendleton King’s approach is that complete leadership is only likely to be demonstrated by teams comprising leaders with complementary skills and attributes working effectively together. Team development workshops aim to facilitate this approach and are based on the belief that teams that plan strategies and tactics together are most likely to become committed both to the plans and to each other.

The team development process may include either full assessments of each team member, or the collection of psychometric and 360 feedback data so that the attributes and capabilities of the team members can be discussed during the team workshop.  Careful facilitation ensures that this discussion is open, positive and energising and it invariably leads to constructive, honest discussions that can lead to significant breakthroughs in team dynamics.

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