FREE. NO OBLIGATION
The Company Governance
Health Check
A 45-minute deliberation across six governance dimensions. By the end of it, you will know what a PE buyer would find in your company today. No pitch. No follow-up unless you want one.
45
MINUTES
6
QUESTIONS
0
OBLIGATIONS
What PE sees when it looks at your company.
Most founder-owned businesses do not lose PE conversations on fundamentals. They lose them on governance gaps a buyer finds in week one of the data room — board minutes that read as rubber stamps, related-party transactions that were never documented, management accounts that cannot be produced on demand. The health check shows you what they will find before they find it.
Who this is for: founder-owned or family-owned businesses with revenue above 20 million dollars, targeting a first PE investment or buyout in the next 12 to 24 months, with no prior institutional investor oversight. If you want to know what a PE buyer will find before they find it, this conversation is for you.
1. BOARD GOVERNANCE
A PE buyer’s governance counsel opens the board minute book before the financial model. Minutes that read as rubber stamps signal a company that was run by its owners, not overseen by a board. That perception affects pricing before any formal negotiation begins.
2. FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Can you produce institutional-quality management accounts on demand, with variance commentary, forward-looking narrative, and KPI trend lines? Or would producing them take two to three weeks of preparation?
The quality of management accounts is one of the first signals a PE investor uses to judge whether the business can operate under institutional oversight. Accounts that need weeks to produce suggest a business that does not run on institutional rhythms.
3. OWNERSHIP HYGIENE
Does anyone in your management team or shareholder group have a financial relationship with the company beyond their employment or equity? Any consulting fees, property leases, loans, or supplier arrangements? And are those formally documented with evidence of arm’s-length pricing?
An undisclosed related-party transaction is not just a governance finding. It is a credibility finding. When a buyer finds it, their question is not what is this worth — it is what else has not been disclosed. That question makes them price every other risk higher.
4. REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
Regulatory compliance gaps found during buyer diligence become price chips in the negotiation. The same gaps identified during your preparation become managed items with a resolution plan and a timeline.
5. DATA ROOM READINESS
If a PE firm sent you a standard information request today, how long would it take you to produce a properly indexed virtual data room with your corporate structure, board minutes, material contracts, IP documentation, HR records, and three years of financial statements?
A data room that takes six weeks to build delays a process and signals operational immaturity. One that is already built and properly indexed signals the opposite before a single diligence meeting takes place.
6. INVESTMENT NARRATIVE
In two minutes, can you articulate why your business is a lower risk acquisition than it looks on paper, with specific governance evidence to back it? Or is your equity story built on growth projections rather than documented institutional quality?
A PE buyer prices risk as much as return. A governance-anchored investment narrative, backed by documented evidence, is the difference between commanding a premium and accepting a discount at entry.
WHAT CHANGES
The same company. A different conversation.
The health check does not change your business. It changes what a PE buyer sees when they look at it. The difference between a governance-ready company and one that is not is almost never fundamental. It is preparation.
WITHOUT PREPARATION
What a buyer finds
Board minutes that read as retrospective ratifications. Related-party transactions that were never documented. Management accounts that take weeks to produce. A data room built under time pressure during the process. Every gap becomes a price chip.
WITH PE READINESS
What a buyer finds
A board minute book that reflects genuine governance. Documented, arm’s-length related-party transactions. Management accounts produced on demand to institutional standard. A data room already indexed and ready. Governance that tells the story of a company that is already operating at PE standard.