• M&A Advisory

M&A Advisory

Overview

From origination to exit, and working closely with owners, investors, and management teams, we provide a range of services to grow portfolio company value throughout the private equity ownership lifecycle.
Common Challenges faced by Private Equity Clients and their Portfolio Companies
  • Increasing Need for Growth and Commercial Capabilities to Drive Exit Value
    Financial restructuring and operational efficiencies are no longer sufficient to reach growth expectations. Organic growth and commercial capabilities are becoming even more critical in ensuring a valuable exit. Our Agile Strategy Development approach and Commercial Capabilities Assessment can help.

  • Manufacturing-Led vs. Market-Driven Approach to Strategy
    Many of our PE-owned clients have great products and engineering but are driven by what they can do rather than by what the market and their customers want. Deep voice of the customer understanding is often the most common outage among PR portfolio companies. Uncovering key external insights through proprietary research informs market-driven product and offers that will be sought after by customers.

  • Understanding Historical Business Performance and Pressure-Testing Future Growth Projections
    During diligence and often early in the investment, clarifying and aligning on where and how a company is making money is critical to help understand where to focus and or fix the business. And during a sale process, deconstructing future growth projections by determining “what has to be true” (e.g. market growth, share gains, pricing, etc.) provides insight into overall forecast feasibility.
  • Need for a Holistic Organic and Inorganic Growth Strategy
    After identifying growth opportunities in the core business, as well as potential adjacencies, our clients often need a clear understanding of make/buy decisions, what each one is worth, and what’s required to realize them.
  • Brand Portfolio Optimization
    Many of the portfolio companies we work with are a combination of previously independent brands and companies, often with overlapping products and customers. Determining the strategic role of the brands and business units that comprise these companies, and the products and offers on which they will focus, is critical to overall portfolio optimization and growth.

We are Here to Help

M&A decisions come with high expectations, but also a level of uncertainty — from picking the right markets to aligning brands, shaping the right offer, or knowing what customers really want. These gaps can stall growth or weaken the deal’s potential. Denneen helps cut through that uncertainty by bringing clarity with sharp insights, clear priorities, and practical strategies that drive value at every stage of ownership or investment. If you’re facing tough growth choices, we’re here to help you move forward with confidence.
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HOW WE CAN HELP

Origination and Early Deal Advisory

We conduct initial research on potential targets, and offer quick turnaround CIM reviews, putting our strategic and commercial lens on sales materials and future forecasts.

Value Creation

Whether it’s working with the management team to build an enterprise-wide strategy to meet and exceed ownership expectations, or a targeted engagement to help identify and realize growth opportunities in specific areas of the business, Denneen offers tailored solutions to identify and realize a range of value creation opportunities.

Commercial Due Diligence

Our commercial due diligence capabilities are grounded in the company’s core competencies in growth strategy.  Gaining a deep and proprietary understanding of the commercial landscape, including the market, customers, and competitors to inform valuation.  We have the experience to assess and pressure test the seller’s growth strategies, initiatives and financial forecasts relative to market outlook and historic performance.  Our commercial backgrounds and expertise also allow us to provide unique, value-added perspectives that go beyond what a team of research analysts can deliver. 

Exit Planning

Demonstrating historical performance, updating the external market study, and refreshing the growth strategy with a 5 year forward viewpre-exit, and outlining a credible growth trajectory are all critical valuation drivers that an engagement with Denneen can help to deliver.

Insights on M&A Advisory

Explore How We Think

White Paper

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A Framework for Strategy Assessment
The year 2020 was far from a normal one. Given the incredibly turbulent times caused by the global pandemic that continues to impact daily lives worldwide, many business leaders made different strategic choices that ranged from identifying and capitalizing on new sources of value to merely finding ways to stay in business.

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Considering ALL Topline Growth Choices
As a consultant at Denneen & Company, a firm that focuses on growth strategy, not surprisingly, we have many conversations with clients on potential ways to grow. While our approach is to assess the entire enterprise, identify growth opportunities, and collaborate with clients to develop a clear, choiceful, and achievable paths to growth, we often find that many companies aren’t fully considering, and in some cases are neglecting, the range of potential growth choices. For those interested in growing topline sales, to help ensure that you’re exploring all avenues to growth, outlined below are eleven different growth choices to consider in your strategic plan going forward.

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Strategy Adaptation in Turbulent Times
Amidst the unprecedented impact of Covid-19, we recognize that many of you are now faced with significant uncertainty, often requiring revisions, and in some cases, wholesale changes, to your goals and strategic choices. To help guide your path forward, we developed a new white paper: ‘Strategy Adaptation in Turbulent Times’. We hope that you find it an interesting read and relevant to your current and future strategy development and decision-making.